"Well if they didn't hate me before, they'll be after my head now," Ryan muttered as he bounced the baby pony on his knee, the little one giggling as he tried to figure out what to do next. 'It's too late to try and go back to drop her off and I'm not even sure they'll let me get close enough to do so if I try again now.' The baby let out a burp and floated off of his knee, Ryan looking at it in shock as it floated up to the ceiling and giggled down at him as he shook his head.
"I should probably take you to Zecora," he muttered as he picked her up and placed her into the backpack, sighing slightly as he looked at most of his supplies resting on the table. It would be too dangerous to keep them in there with the baby, so he was going into the woods with only his baton and the eggs that Zecora had given him. He arranged the baby so that her head and front two hooves poked out of the back as he left the castle, the baby giggling as he moved through the forest, the night just beginning. He had barely been in the forest at night, but it felt more dangerous than it did during the day. He could see eyes watching him and the child from the shadows, unnerving him a bit as he headed to the zebra. He made it there with no interruptions, but he was aware that he was being watched the entire time.
"I swear it is too late for this crap," Zecora grumbled as she opened the door as he knocked, looking at him with an annoyed look before she saw the baby that was in the backpack. "Tell me now what are you doing with that?"
"It's a story and one I really don't feel like telling out in the forest," Ryan said as he looked behind him, Zecora nodding and moving so the two could come inside. Ryan took off the backpack and gently rested it on the table, allowing the baby to crawl out and look around the room, Zecora giving her something to entertain herself with while she talked to the human. "So, when the ponies "found" where I was staying, they decided to create a giant mob to get rid of me, it worked out great, and while they were doing that I took the time they weren't in Ponyville to go through the houses and...Borrow some more supplies." Zecora raised an eyebrow at the borrowed line, but she said nothing to interrupt him. "So I made my final stop in the bakery and grabbed some food along with a knife before I heard a sound, though when I turned to see what it was no one was there."
"Yet it is now obvious who snuck or teleported into your bag," Zecora said as she patted Pumpkin on the head. "So things for you are getting bad."
"That's what I was thinking they’ve got to notice that she's gone by now and it's likely that they'll kill me if they find me," Ryan said with a sigh as he sat back in his chair, looking at the ceiling with a frown. "Ugh and I was hoping that they'd just forget about me and let me fade into oblivion, but now they're going to hunt me down."
"They are not as evil as you believe, but they only know you as a creature from Everfree," Zecora said as she looked down at Pumpkin, who was trying to get to her staff on the table. "If getting caught bothers you to no end, how about I drop her off in Ponyville instead? I can say that I took her after I beat you, which judging from your bruises would be true." Ryan thought about it for a few minutes, but he shook his head at the idea.
"No, if you do that they might figure out that you've been helping me," he said to her as he looked outside at the rising moon. "You've helped me out far too often for me to ask you to do this. Besides, this would be something that I think you would consider good training." Zecora smiled as he said that before he stood up and sat against a wall, closing his eyes as he began to doze off. "Wake me in an hour or so and then I'll get the pony back to her home." He began to softly snore after he said this, leaving Zecora to sing the little pony to sleep before she looked out towards the town.
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Ryan narrowed his eyes as he looked at the town from the edge of the forest, seeing that there were only a few lights on in the town. That at least told him that he wouldn't have to deal with the entire town this time and while he expected the parents of the filly to be up due to worry, he hoped that he could get her back and leave before they noticed him.
'If not, I get to tell God that I died by colorful ponies,' Ryan thought to himself with a shake of his head, focusing back on the task at hand. He waited another minute to see if any more lights came on before he moved from his cover, silently moving across the field towards the town and when he reached the town he immediately stuck to the shadows. As he silently moved through the streets, he noticed that there were guards in the town now, though there weren't that many it still put him on edge.
'I should probably thank Zecora for putting Pumpkin as she called her to sleep, I hate to think how shitty this would go if I had an awake baby on my back while doing this,' he thought as he slipped past a guard and moved closer to the bakery, seeing that he had predicted right about the parents as the lights were still on. He waited until he guard closest to him went around a corner before he moved, silently running to the front door. He then slipped his backpack off and gently took out Pumpkin, the plan being to leave her on the door step, knock, then run like hell. He had placed her down and was about to knock when he heard voices talking.
'I really should leave' he thought to himself before placing an ear to the door to hear what they were saying.
"...But she's our baby! We just can't sit here while she's out there in the claws of...whatever the shadow is!" he heard one of them say, figuring that it was the father by his tone and voice.
"Don't worry, I promise that we'll get her back," another voice said, but this one he recognized as the unicorn from the library.
"Then make sure that you save the shadow for me, because I'm going to tear him apart when I get my hooves on him!" The mother.
"How do ya even know where to begin looking?" a pony with a southern accent asked and he figured this was Applejack.
"I've found a footprint every once in a while, but I've noticed that it never seems to be far from the edge of the forest," Twilight said to her friends, Ryan beginning to worry about his safety. "And while I may not know where it lives, I have figured a few locations that might work. The field, the old castle or even the abandoned village might be a few places that could be housing him." Ryan could feel himself slightly beginning to sweat and he realized that he might have underestimated their thinking ability. "Yes Pinkie, you have a question?" he heard Twilight ask.
"I'm just wondering why you're talking about finding his home when he's right outside?"
"Ah fuck," Ryan said before he turned around and sprinted as fast as he could, almost to the houses across the streets before he heard the door get torn off its hinges and the exclamation of the mother as she saw her child. He chanced a glance behind him to see that while the mother and child may have reunited, the ponies were now chasing after him with the rainbow one he choked out flying at him with speeds he didn't think possible.
"Come here you!" she yelled as he reached inside of his bag and pulled out one of the smoke bombs that Zecora had given him, throwing it at his feet to create a massive cloud of smoke. Rainbow flew right through the smoke and slammed into a building, but she was up a few seconds while she looked around for the human.
"He went this way!" Pinkie yelled as she hopped towards a section of the town. Ryan was running as fast as he could, not caring in the least if he ran past guards on the way there. He knew that ponies were faster than him and that the flying ones could probably catch him in seconds, so he'd have to use his only advantage. His trickery. He had just turned a corner when a bolt of magic flew by his head and he saw Twilight running towards him.
"Halt!" she yelled as she ran after him, but he spun on a dime and wall kicked up to the top of a building, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as Twilight tried to follow him on hoof. What bothered him more than the ponies chasing him was all the lights coming on in the houses and he knew that if all the ponies came out he was screwed.
'Need...to make an escape,' he thought before he dove off the roof and rolled as he landed on the ground, spotting a window and opening it to climb inside. He closed it behind him and waited in the darkness, hearing Twilight and the others run past. He thought for a minute that he had lost them when he heard Pinkie say that they had passed him. 'Is that damn pony a psychic?' he asked himself as he threw another smoke pellet out the window when he heard them get close, escaping through the front door while the ponies tried to clear the smoke. 'I can't keep this up much longer. I need to think of a way to get rid of them all at once,' he thought as he saw Twilight create some kind of barrier to push through the smoke. He reached into his pocket to see that he had only two eggs left, which meant he had maybe one last chance.
"Will you slow down!?" Rainbow yelled as she flew at him at full speeds. Ryan ducked and rolled to avoid her attack, but then he saw his shield go up to deflect whatever kind of magic Twilight was trying to use. He heard her gasp in disbelief and the momentary distraction gave him a moment to think. He saw that he was almost to the forest, but knew that they would continue to follow him in there. He needed to at least get some distance before they could get inside. So he did what any sane person would do. He stopped running and turned to face the ponies.
"So, you've finally decided to stop?" Twilight asked him as she and the other five stopped beside her, although Fluttershy and Rarity stayed further back he noticed. "Since you obviously have no place left to run to, how about I ask you some questions? Like why did you foal nap a filly only to return her later that day?" Ryan said nothing in reply, but he placed his hands in his pockets as he waited for the right moment to move.
"Okay, so you don't like that one? How about who are you, what are you doing here and why have you stolen from us?" Twilight asked, walking slightly ahead of the others. "Because what you have done is not only against the law, but has also endangered many other lives with your actions. I know that you are an intelligent creature and are capable of understanding what I am saying so I ask that you at once-"
"Shut the hell up," Ryan said, smiling the moment their eyes went wide before he whipped out the lightning bug egg and stinkbug egg and threw them both at the ponies hooves as he covered his eyes. The ponies both shielded their eyes and began to gag as the twin eggs went off at the same time, leaving them both unable to see or think straight due to the smell. It took them a few minutes before they were able to see again and when they could they found the human long gone.
"Curses! We lost him again!" Twilight yelled, but Pinkie ran by her and waved for the others to follow her.
"Come on girls, my Pinkie sense is telling me he went this way!" she yelled, the others congratulating her as they followed her into the forest. To their shock however they found that their run took them to Zecora's hut, where the zebra answered sleepily when they knocked at the door.
"Why am I bothered at this time of night? Could this not wait till tomorrow Twilight?" Zecora asked the ponies, but Twilight quickly explained to her what had happened. "I have seen no dangerous monster come by. And no Pinkie, I do not lie."
"Can we at least check your place? To be safe?" Twilight asked. Zecora thought about it for a moment before she moved to the side and allowed the ponies inside. "Now Pinkie, are you certain that your Pinkie sense felt him come this way?" Twilight asked her friend as she looked under a table.
"Well, I've never used Pinkie sense to chase a human, so it might be a bit off," Pinkie muttered as she looked inside the cauldron to see a murky brown stew. "But I thought for sure he went this way." Applejack opened the closet to find only some weird voodoo stuff and she shook her head at Twilight, who sighed before turning to the zebra.
"We're sorry to bother you Zecora, but we need to catch this creature," Twilight said as her and the other ponies left the hut. "Let us know if you see anything weird." Zecora nodded and waited a moment before she looked to the cauldron.
"They are gone, you can come out." Ryan burst through the murky stew and hung over the side of the cauldron, breathing heavily as he looked up at her with both surprise and rage in his eyes. "Now kindly get out of my breakfast you lout." Ryan pulled himself over the edge and collapsed to the floor, Zecora walking over him as she looked inside the cauldron. "It seems some jerk has ruined my stew. Now what should I do for my brew?"
"Start by adding more flavor, that shit sucked," Ryan panted as he pushed himself back up, looking down at his soaking clothes. "Though I got to admit, that was a much better hiding place than the closet. You knew they would look there, didn't you?" Zecora smiled as she reached under a hidden floorboard and pulled out his backpack, which she then tossed to him as he got up.
"I know many things, yet I do not know the pain you bring. I have knowledge of many things yet to come, yet I do not know what you have done. You hate yourself for some reason being, but whatever it is I am not seeing."
"Care to tell me how you know so much about me?" Ryan asked her.
"Only if you reveal the cause of your dread, otherwise I'm going back to bed," she said sleepily and Ryan took the hint.
"Thanks for saving my ass back there, I don't know if I could have gotten out of it without your help," Ryan said to her as he headed for the door, the zebra nodding before she blew out her candles. He had to move by the light of the moon, but it was enough so that he could find his way back to the castle, though he was constantly on guard in case Twilight did try to seek him out there. Once he had arrived back at the castle, (with no Twilight to his thanks) he picked up his guide and went to light the candle on his desk...before he felt a cold sensation wash over him and he moved his hand away from the stick.
'There's plenty of moon light, I don't need the candle,' he thought as he added to the Elements of Harmony pages, adding the bits about Pinkie's sense and how Rainbow was so damn fast. 'Yet I have the ominous feeling that my life is going to get harder from now on. Guess I shouldn't complain though, it's better than being dead...right? Ha...I should be dead, I shouldn't have survived. I don't deserve it.'