Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Outflanked

“Nothing,” Ray summarized with a sigh, slouching down in the comfy chair. It was the first time in a month that he hadn’t sat in something that wasn’t dusty and hard, a luxury he had no doubt his soldiers were craving.

Across from him, Twilight stopped writing, setting down her notebook with a pathetic amount writing on it. The summary of a month of exploration. Eighty miles of nothing north, thirty five miles of nothing south, and a whole frontier of nothing forty miles into the land. They had dedicated a huge amount of time and energy into discovering nothing, only those endless golden grasses and rolling hills that stretched eternally. Thinking about it just made Ray angry. Where the hell were the damned minotaurs and what the hell were his soldiers supposed to do but sit and wait to be attacked?

“I don’t know what to do about it, Twi,” he mumbled in defeat. The alicorn nodded in thought, bidding him to continue. “I mean, we were ready to unleash all hell on them when we landed, and on day one that’s what we did! Then, it’s like they simply vanished into thin air, having never existed at all. It’s become detrimental to the morale of the Fallen at this point. Hell, even Skalos is on edge. We just have no clue where the minotaurs are or what we can do but sit and wait for something to happen.”

“Two months and no fighting since day one,” Twilight repeated, glancing briefly at her notes. Then, with a sad laugh, she prodded, “I thought you and your soldiers would be happy about not having to battle through the landscape day after day.”

“Maybe, but that’s what we prepared for and that’s how we planned to defeat our enemies,” Ray explained. “I mean, we are pretty lucky to not have to face enemy after enemy, but that fact that we haven’t seen even a puff of dust from them puts us all up in eaves. We just don’t know where they are. In spite of all of our evidence that there has to be more of them out there, it honestly feels like we’ve trapped ourselves into a golden void.”

“Is there anything we can do to help,” Twilight questioned, picking up her notepad eagerly.

“Frankly? No,” Ray answered with a sigh. The mare deflated, letting the notebook drop from her magical grasp. “This war seems to already have come to a stalemate. We can’t explore deeper without jeopardizing our camp and opening up our flanks reserves to an attack. If we want to truly take to the offensive, we’d have to bring all of our soldiers on a slow march that will be easily visible thanks to the dust kicked up. It would give our position, we’d have to abandon some of our vital equipment for mobility’s sake, and we’d somehow have to keep the army from breaking up thanks to the rolling hills. Our defensive strategy just isn’t working, but thanks to the Tauran landscape, we just don’t have the capabilities to establish an offensive campaign.”

“Shoot,” Twilight huffed, falling back into her chair, equally as grouchy as him. Then, after a moment of silence, she sat up slightly and asked, “Tauran?”

“Oh, yeah, Kraven and some of the other ‘intellectuals’ have begun giving everything names,” Ray muttered with a shrug. “According to them, we’re on the Tauran Plain fighting the Tauran War. They named the golden grass sungrass and the type of dirt brittlestone. It isn’t very inspiring, but at least we have names for things now.”

Pausing, he chuckled slightly and added, “The soldiers have started calling this one large patch of flat sungrass ‘the Dry Mess’ and that valley Kraven named after me ‘the Deep Crevice’. They’ve also given the ocean the codename ‘heaven’, so now whenever they’re not on duty, they go to heaven.”

“Huh,” Twilight shrugged. “Soldiers are kinda strange.”

“You have no idea,” Ray laughed, contemplating slightly. “I mean, we almost lost a soldier because of how much he was trying to get around. This real smartass Fallen, Linium, keeps trying to get under mares’ tails, and he almost got his ticket punched by a fed up mare while I was out scouting. It was a whole fiasco that I missed out on, but at least he still has the black eye. Zecora refused to heal him after she heard why he had earned one.”

“What does a black eye even look like for a Fallen,” Twilight questioned through a giggle.

“Real weird, honestly. It swells up with discolored glowing that’s a bit duller than the normal Fallen glow. I don’t know if you knew this, but the Fallen bleed the color they are, so Skalos bleeds light blue. It also glows.”

“That might have something to do with their bullwater consumption down there altering their blood somehow,” Twilight guessed.

“Well, according Fallen, they’re all kinda like physical ghosts, so I’m guessing it just has to do with the fact that their normal bodies died off and what’s left is sustained by Luna’s magic,” Ray clarified. “Though there have been quite a few complaints about there being no bullwater to drink. I wonder what’s in it that’s got them so hooked.”

“No clue. I took a sip of it once and almost threw up,” Twilight confessed. “I’m not sure why anypony would want to have a drink of the stuff, let alone enjoy it.”

“When in the Harkening, what is there to do but try strange, glowing water that just happens to be abundant,” Ray joked. “I mean, I might be seriously considering how far inland I could walk without seeing hide or hoof of those minotaur bastards.”

Twilight shook her head slightly, telling him, “Don’t let those thoughts cloud your judgment Ray. So far, your sharp thinking and skillful planning has resulted in great success for you and your soldiers. Don’t let that falter.”

“Yeah, I won’t, it’s just a recurring thought thanks to how dull everything has been so far. It’s pretty miserable as well thanks to the heat. While the days are cooling down for fall over here, it feels like the heat just keeps getting worse. It hit forty six the first day my scouting party left.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight exclaimed, though when he glanced at her, he saw why. She was standing on her seat, staring at a clock on the wall, and as soon as he noticed the time, he realized why as well.

“Oh, crap,” he stammered, standing up. There were no words between them as Twilight lit her horn, enough of a warning for Ray to prepare for the teleportation. In an instant, his surroundings were purple and sparkly, though unlike Discord’s teleportations or sunports, it was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Sorry we’re late,” Twilight exclaimed. “I kept him for a few moments too long!”

“More than a few moments,” Discord replied as the others let out a collective sigh of relief. One of the great things about Twilight’s teleportation was that it didn’t leave him temporarily blinded, giving him enough time to prepare for the onslaught of hugs. Crouching down, he embraced the group waiting for him outside his home, much smaller than it had been last month. Nonetheless, he was overwhelmed by the group of ponies and a draconequus.

“What took ya so long this time,” Apple Bloom questioned as she nuzzled up against him. “Did somethin’ happen?”

“Actually, quite the opposite,” Ray answered over the embraces. In spite of himself, he chuckled at how buried he was. “I’ll explain momentarily.”

It took a few seconds to get everyone off him thanks to the quick and sloppy way in which everyone had piled on him, but he didn’t mind. It gave him time to see who all was here. The CMC, AJ, Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Discord were all it seemed.

“Hey, where’s Pinkie,” he asked as everyone settled in the grass.

“Oh, being a momma and whatnot,” Scootaloo answered for him, twirling her hoof as she said so. “Lil’ Cheese is a hassle of a little guy, and, well, Mr. Cheesy has gotten all sortsa gigs going for him right now. We’re afraid they might have to take an extended trip to Canterlot once it's safe enough just to tie up things with his business.”

“Once it’s safe enough,” Ray questioned grimly, glancing at Twilight. She hadn’t mentioned anything about Canterlot or what dangers might be going on in the city, but to be fair, he had done most of the talking anyways.

“More civil disruption, mostly,” Twilight informed him. “There are currently a whole group of ponies that are demanding I be removed from the throne for getting us into a war.”

“Funny, I don’t see any of them out there dying on Taura,” Ray grumbled, glancing at the distant mountain where the city stood. “Need me to make a stirring appearance next month to promote some civil obedience?”

“No, that would give ponies the wrong impression,” Twilight quickly proposed. “Besides, there’s already a vigilante taking matters into his own hooves. The situation is… complicated and delicate. Adding another x factor into the whole mess would cause far too many problems for far too few solutions. This is an Equestrian matter, and since we made it explicitly clear that you and the Fallen are not in fact a branch of Equestria, it would be controversial for you to intervene to say the least.

“If you say so,” Ray half-heartedly agreed. He wanted to talk more about it and the vigilante, but knowing the kind of conversation that would spark, he let it go.

“Hey, you mentioned, um, death…” Rainbow began uncomfortably. “Does that mean that…?”

“No, we didn’t fight another battle,” Ray quickly reassured. “When I said nothing happened, I meant it. I mean, there was a whole bunch of logistical stuff we changed around and a reorganization of a spear unit after internal disputes, but that and this strange valley I helped scout out were the least boring aspects of the past month. Mostly, it’s just been the same old golden grass and rolling hills that seemed to cover the entire continent.”

“Well that does sound disappointing,” Apple Bloom agreed with a frown. “Yer sayin’ there hasn’t been anythin’ at all to write home about? Not even a sight of ‘em?”

“Nope, not a mite of dust to tell us where they might be,” Ray shrugged, just as disappointed as his audience. “I mean, the most dangerous thing we’ve faced in the past two months has been the hills themselves. It’s kinda funny, but if a Fallen slips up on the hills, the ground is so tough that it’ll tear them apart something bad.”

“Oof, that ain’t a pretty thought,” Applejack grimaced, rubbing her shoulder uncomfortably. “Well, at least yer safe and unharmed. Though ya do seem… disappointed.”

“I won’t get into it with y’all, but the way we want to fight this war is like a cliff against the sea, letting the waves exhaust themselves against us,” Ray explained, crossing his legs. He sighed subtly at the soft green grass and cool dirt, but continued, “The issue is, we established our cliff, but there aren’t any waves coming. Now we have to decide if we should continue waiting for the waves to come while the wind erodes us or if the cliff needs to become a landslide.”

“That was oddly poetic,” Rarity noted with a smile. “Have you been preparing that speech?”

“For Twilight, yeah, but it’s applicable wherever and whenever this question is asked,” Ray admitted. “Either way, even if we did catch sight of them, it’s not like we could just march out and attack them. It will be at least three weeks of organization and training to transform our army into an offensive force, let alone all of the technical processes of ensuring our movements are calculated for striking. I mean, by sheer chance alone we’d have to go unseen during that entire preparation time in order to strike first.”

“Unless you transitioned now, but that would mean if you were attacked, you wouldn’t be positioned for that,” Rarity summarized, the others nodding with understanding.

“Exactly,” Ray confirmed. “This war has already ground to an unexpected stalemate, and there doesn’t seem to be a thing we can do to get ourselves out of it without taking a risk. Still, plenty of my soldiers say it's worth the risk. Mostly because they’re bored and on edge like everyone else, but they do make a compelling argument. But disregard all of that. The war- if you can call it that- is still far away and in our favor. For now, I want to know what’s up with you guys!”

“Well, th’ girls have been dyin’ ta tell ya somethin’,” Applejack said with a shrug. “I’m guessin’ it’s somethin’ private like since they won’t speak a word of it ta th’ lot of us fer some reason.”

“Really,” Ray inquired, glancing at the CMC. The girls had minded their manners, but now that the prospect was mentioned, they all had mischievous grins. “I’m a little worried.”

“We’ll leave ya to it, if’n you’d like,” AJ told him. “I couldn’t tell ya what it might be, but those grins only came ‘round once before, an’ then a whole hayload of chaos occurred.”

“I wasn’t even involved yet either,” Discord added. A brief glance at the draconequus revealed a whole lot more to Ray than he intended to see, the story of the last month quickly being told. He rested his paw somewhere on Fluttershy’s back while the mare rested her head on his chest. He didn’t know what all he had missed in the past month, or even what had begun to unfold between them, but he gave the pair an enthusiastic smile as he stood up. Both Fluttershy and Discord instantly began to fidget at his acknowledgement, but he masked his eye roll as he turned to the three fillies.

“We were really hopin’ you’d be here tonight,” Apple Bloom exclaimed excitedly. “C’mon! Thanks ta how late ya are, we’re gonna hafta be fast ‘bout it.”

“Fast about what,” Ray questioned, noting how the others failed to follow them. Was this coordinated somehow? Applejack had said though…

Regardless, he followed them closely, but he soon picked up that they were taking the path through the Everfree towards the Acres, the one he had traveled hundreds of times. It was strange running down this path now, thinking back to how he had once been so naive and new to this world. The first time he had taken this path… he couldn’t remember specifically? Had it been Skalos who guided him down this path? Was it Fluttershy who had ensured him this was the safest and most obscure path? Twilight? It all felt so long ago now, so foreign a concept that he didn’t know each step of this path by heart. And yet, it had been a long while since he’d traveled it as well.

Three months, perhaps. No, probably longer. It was strange to actually realize that it was all so long ago, yet so short as well. Earth felt like a distant memory but the sights, sounds, and smells of the Pittsburgh allies all remained familiar. Being human, being a two-legged and clothed creature still felt normal, but something had changed as well there. Even now it only occurred to him that he wore no shirt, his chest and scars laid bare as if it were a common sight. The lack of clothes was normal here, but the amount of scars was alien to both worlds…

He truly was an Orphan of the Cosmos, the life he had lived and continued to live now abnormal by any standards. He felt continual weakness whenever he thought of the Spectre or the Aspects, knowing he had no way to fight such horrifyingly powerful and absolute creatures, but at the same time even the Matriarch respected his combative prowess. He almost laughed at that. Had the Matriarch been attempting to prove her point by subjugating herself and her spiderlings to him and the Fallen, or was it a simple act of reverence? Either way, her prophetic words continued to be fulfilled with his every action. Even now, being here, a giant among the ponies and the symbol of their hope, he had become distinguished and disassociated all at once. A monstrous hero.

“Wait up Ray, you don’t know where we’re going,” Sweetie Belle suddenly cried, snapping him from his contemplation. He turned over his shoulder to find that he had gone far enough ahead on the trail that the trio were hidden in the foliage. With a sigh, he turned and began to walk backwards across the slick mud towards the sound of the girls running.

“Sorry, girls, I guess I wasn’t paying all too much attention,” he began as they came into vision, stumbling between two trees. While he didn’t even think about the roots, bushes, and puddles that marred the path, for the three fillies, they caused significant issues for them. He had forgotten about it, as he so often did with the Fallen. Somehow, he figured that might have been a very minor reason humans appealed to Twilight for conflict. No matter the terrain, a human could fight there.

“‘S alright, we know yer a superhero of some sort,” Apple Bloom panted, making her way around the tree. “We’re basically heading to yer awesome trainin’ grounds anyways.”

“AB,” Sweetie whined.

“What, he knows this path way better than us and where it leads,” Scootaloo defended the earth pony. “He’s not as gullible as Big Mac or Button.”

“It’ll still be a surprise no matter what it is you have planned,” Ray assured the trio. “I mean, I had no idea any of this was gonna happen anyways.”

“See, it’s all good,” Apple Bloom pointed out, resting a muddy hoof on her friend’s shoulder to put her at ease. “Now, let’s get-”

A shrill snarl interrupted the filly, causing her to let out a fearful yelp. The other two jumped backwards slightly, all three yelling something that he didn’t understand, the words too mixed and mashed. Still, he got the gist of their panicked yells, whipping around to face whatever was behind him, his right hand unsheathing his knife blade down.

A pair of green eyes glowed briefly in the darkness of the canopy, but as soon as Ray’s eyes met them, it leapt from its shady cover, revealing its wooden body. Ray didn’t have any time to assess, only react as he ducked to his left, slashing upwards while dodging past the charging beast. His knife sliced deeply into the hard surface of the wood, but ultimately slid out of it as the momentum of the beast carried it past the human.

Refusing to allow it any closer to the girls or even turn its attention to them, he followed the slash by jumping onto its back, his skin grating on the rough bark. Still, that did the trick, causing the beast to writhe around in an attempt to throw him off. Pained slightly by his skin rubbing off on its coarse wood, he rolled away, landing softly on the ground. A small stick or stone dug into his back as he did so, causing him to yelp in sharp pain as it broke skin. Unable to be deterred, though, he kicked upwards as the beast opened its large, canine mouth to bite him, snapping it closed with a loud crack.

Rolling backwards, he leaped to his feet. The beast seemed to struggle to open its mouth correctly with how hard it had been forced to close, the jaw bent as a pitiful growl escaped it. Still, it bared its teeth dangerously, claws digging into the mud. Without a second thought, Ray threw his knife forward. Being not even ten feet apart, the knife flew soundly into its head, sticking out between the beast’s forward-facing green eyes. The beast stumbled briefly, obviously hurt but not quite finished. Taking a few steps forward in spite of the beast’s snarling, Ray kicked the lodged knife as hard as possible. With another splintering crack, the beasts entire wooden head snapped in half, the rest of its body falling into various different piles of wood.

“Huh, a timberwolf,” Ray finally realized as he retrieved his muddy, sap-covered knife from the broken head. Then, he glanced up at where he had last seen the girls, finding all three still there, perfectly still. Of course they had stood by, refusing to abandon him even in the face of danger. It was sweet and dumb all at once, but glancing at the pile that had been a dangerous timberwolf, he let it go. The danger was gone anyways. “Hey, girls, uh, we probably should get headed back…”

“Ray, that was…” Sweetie began, staring in a confusing mix of shock, horror, awe, and… intrigue.

“Awesome, straight up, no doubt,” Scootaloo finished with a breath. “That was absolutely insane, Ray! It took you, like, what, twenty seconds to deal with something the Elements of Harmony took hours to deal with! You’re flipping insane, dude!”

“But yer bleedin’… a lot,” Apple Bloom finished, astonished. Ray glanced down at himself, and indeed he was a bit scratched up on his chest, stomach, and shoulders. There was one particular gash near his collar bone that must have been from an off branch on the timberwolf’s back. “We need ta get ya washed up! How bad does it hurt?”

“Not badly at all, but yeah, true enough,” Ray agreed, looking around. The Everfree was silent around him, as if by killing a timberwolf he had silenced the forest itself. They were near the edge of the forest… in fact, he knew the orchard was maye a hundred or so more feet this way. The lake water was pure and unpolluted for the most part, so he could wash up there for a little bit and maybe find something to stitch up the deep gash and stop the bleeding in Skalos’ old hut. “Alright, we’re going to head down to the lake. There’s a little hut in the side of the hill facing it that will be unlocked. If it isn’t, get me and I’ll open it for you. I need to clean these cuts and dress this one near my neck real quick before we head back.”

Noticing the way all of the girls still seemed shaken by the timberwolf, he reminded himself that ponies weren’t Fallen, and quickly added with his most charming smile, “That was one helluva surprise, girls!”

---

The walk back had been completely silent, the girls not even whispering amongst themselves. To be fair to them, Ray had decided to basically hover behind them in case any opportunistic or aggressive timberwolves decided to mess around and find out again. When they had arrived at the moonlit lake, they had found the door to the hut locked, so he broke it down for them before dipping into the lake. While usually cold regardless, thanks to the changing of the seasons arriving soon, it was especially chilly. It was a bit off putting, especially since the water wasn’t salty like the ocean he had almost become accustomed to.

Wiping the mud and blood off him, he counted fifteen different chafes or scratches other than the big gash across his collar bone, which still leaked a good amount of blood. Confirming that the jab into his back was just a nasty little bruise, he set to work ensuring that the gash would mend. The cool water seemed to get all grit and grain out of it and the bleeding slowed significantly, but it was still enough to warrant stitches. Luckily, Zecora had been able to teach him some rudimentary stitchwork, the basics mostly.

Searching Skalos’ hut as the CMC watched silently, he found a wooden pin that he poked a hole through to make a sewing needle, but lacking any string thin enough, he turned to the girls.

“When’s the last time any of you bathed,” he asked, sheathing his knife.

“Um, I did just a few hours ago, to be ready for tonight,” Sweetie muttered, turning red.

“Wonderful,” Ray replied before prominently plucking a hair from her mane. The filly flinched slightly, but remained wordless otherwise as he walked back out to the lake. Submerging himself under the water one last time to clear away his blood, he set to work sewing himself closed while waist deep in the water. He was barely finishing up when the violent rustling of grass nearby drew his attention. Being very careful not to ruin his stitches, he slowly turned to face the noise, keeping his head cocked to the side and out of the way of his handiwork.

“Well if that isn’t an image to remember…” Fluttershy trailed off as she came to the bank of the lake, mane glowing in the moonlight.

“Ah, so we’ve been gone for a bit too long then,” Ray surmised with a smile, holding the wooden needle and string with one hand while using the other to cut the stitch. “The girls are inside the hut, waiting for me to be done cleaning up.”

“You really think you can just brush off that,” the pegasus questioned with barely restrained anger. “You’re cut up and bleeding in at least a dozen different places!”

“Sixteen,” Ray corrected before wincing as he tied the stitch. “And yeah, I kinda was hoping you’d just shrug it off. The girls already feel bad enough.”

“But you’re literally piecing yourself back together,” the pegasus protested, outraged. “You can’t shrug off something like that even if it makes the girls feel better. It wasn’t their fault that you got injured, anyway. Or at least… I think.”

“It’s not the worst I’ve suffered,” he countered, pointing at his vivid stomach scar. It seemed to glow in the reflected moonlight, the mottled patch of white tissue haunting. “Besides, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Some timberwolf appeared out of nowhere and decided it wanted a taste of some exotic meat. So, I killed it.”

“You killed it,” Fluttershy questioned, raising a brow. “Timberwolves don’t really… die, they just disassemble. Unless you split its headpiece.”

“Oops,” Ray muttered emotionlessly. The mare’s face dropped entirely at his confirmation. Before she could protest, however, he ordered, “Girls, time to go. I’m all cleaned up and Fluttershy is here.”

He glanced at the doorway of the hut, catching sight of the girls moving away from the broken-down entrance. So, they had been listening in. Good.

“Girls, the coast is clear,” Fluttershy insisted, recognizing what he had done. She sounded upset to say the least, but it was obvious that she didn’t want to force the fight too early, especially in front of the CMC. There was a second more of deliberation before the three fillies finally emerged, all looking very downtrodden. He couldn’t tell whether they had been crying or if they were simply tired, but their eyes refused to be dragged from the ground even as he stepped out of the lake. He had to act fast or the night would leave everyone with a sour taste in their mouth, and if something did happen…

“Girls, what was that surprise you guys had planned for me,” Ray asked softly.

Apple Bloom stopped and sniffled a little before finally admitting, “It was gonna be a real wonderful birthday party, even better than th’ one ya had last year.”

“Well, that’s funny, because…” Ray trailed off, his jubilant demeanor and false confidence fading in an instance. It couldn’t really be… but he would have remembered right? His own birthday had to be coming around sometime, but not nearly so soon, and definitely not on such a convenient day.

“Well, yeah, technically today isn’t your birthday,” Sweetie began, looking up with the slightest smile.

“But also, technically tomorrow is, like, fifteen minutes away,” Scootaloo finished with a true grin. “So, while the party won’t start on your birthday, it sure as hay is gonna end on it. Besides, ya don’t have to celebrate your birthday party on your birthday. Pinkie says so all the time!”

“Well, ain’t the damndest,” Ray murmured softly, running a hand through his hair. He resisted wincing at the way it pulled slightly on his stitches, but regardless, Fluttershy took note.

“Ray, you probably should get that properly checked,” she pointed out with concern. “And you still need to properly bandage your other fifteen open wounds as well.”

“They’ll close in a second,” he remarked candidly, beginning to walk away from the lake, hoping to cause the girls to actually lead him where the supposed party was. “That’s the great thing about the little cuts. They’ll bleed a bit and seal themselves right up without needing to give them a second thought.”

“Ray, one of those ‘little ones’ is as big as my hoof,” Fluttershy half-heartedly attempted to discourage, but in an instant, she was outnumbered.

“If Ray says he’ll be fine, he’ll be fine,” Scootaloo exclaimed, rushing to catch up with the human. He gave Fluttershy a cocky wink as he passed the befuddled mare, two more fillies quickly joining him.

“Yeah, he hasn’t been wrong yet,” Sweetie quickly agreed. “I mean, you’re still kicking and strutting like a stallion in his prime, so you seem pretty okay, right?”

“You bet,” he replied with a surefire grin. “After facing an entire army of huge minotaurs, you think some little stick dog is gonna rough me up too much to have a little fun?”

“Heck nah,” Apple Bloom exclaimed with a whoop, leaping in front of the moving group. Fluttershy had begun to follow after them, but each step seemed very reluctant. “Come ta think of it, that timberwolf looked like a little puppy next ta ya!”

“Come on, the party is just over here, in a clearing behind the homestead,” Sweetie encouraged. Already, Ray could see a dim light, probably part of an illusion to not lead him on to the fact that there would be a party there. It might have worked without his knowledge of the party about to happen, but-

KABLAM!

Ray practically tumbled to the ground as the party cannon went off maybe ten feet from him, hidden in the bushes. Pinkie lept from the said shrubbery while lights strung up it the trees suddenly turned on, cleverly hidden from him until this moment. The rest of the Apple family came bursting from the house while the others came out around the corner Ray had been told the party would occur.

“Happy birthday,” the entire party shouted, followed quickly by Applejack yelling, “What the hay?”

Unfortunately, the falling over had undone Ray’s patchwork stitching, reopening the wound and allowing a riverete of red to run down his chest. What followed was fifteen minutes of yelling and demands for Ray to be still as they set about properly dressing the wound, all while the CMC told exaggerated tales of their encounter with the timberwolf. All the adults seemed to share the same concerned look with each other, and while it went right over the heads of the girls, Ray was perfectly on level with them. As soon as the bandages were secured, he stood up, much to the protest of basically everyone. Only Discord seemed content to allow the party to actually begin, though Pinky was obviously distressed by the delay.

But the delay inevitably ended, and with his shoulder wrapped with probably too much cotton, the music and food began. As if knowing that they had to cram all of the fun into just the short two hours, the party roared in spite of how many fewer ponies there were from last time. Unbothered by his injury, Ray went immediately to partying, carefully navigating his way so he was never too close to Fluttershy. The mare wanted to talk, and from the looks of it, there was certainly a need to allow her to speak her piece. Ray repressed it regardless, hoping to burn out the time before there was a chance for them to be alone.

In spite of his hopes, after maybe just an hour, the CMC were already drowsy and looked as if they would fall asleep while trying to shuffle along to the music. Applejack and Rainbow looked… pleased to be there, but he knew they had other plans on their mind once he left. Pinkie tried to keep up a facade of partying her heart out with them, but she was clearly tired as well. In fact, everybody except him and Discord seemed worn out by the late hour and intensity of the night. Even Twilight, who had left briefly with a promise she’d be back before he left, had looked rather haggard, unimpressed and just as stressed as him by his lack of useful or encouraging news. While everyone else was simply happy Ray hadn’t been put in danger again, only she and him recognized the progressively dangerous lack of enemy movement. Should the cliff face become a destructive landslide or remain still as the waves moved elsewhere?

Indeed, the question had frequented his mind just in time for Apple Bloom to hilariously fall over sideways, yelping as she quickly awoke. The blunder roused a light chuckle from Ray while the other two fillies teased her, but thanks to the late hour and setting moon, there was no doubt they were too tired to really get into it.

“‘M guessin’ we should be gettin’ some sleep now, huh,” the youngest Apple asked with a sheepish, sluggish smile.

“Yup,” Ray replied, his voice slightly choked. Nerves from having to inevitably face Fluttershy? Sadness that this was the last he would see of the girls for a month at least? Both, probably. Strange how his nerves faltered thanks to one tiny mare and his emotions broke because of three tinier fillies. He crouched down and numbly accepted the weak hugs from the CMC, not for lack of effort but rather lack of energy. He bid them a thorough goodbye regardless of what he felt looming over his shoulder, rubbing Apple Bloom’s head as he promised to see her next month.

Then they were gone, and it was just Ray and the adults. Other adults? No, not other adults. He was sixteen, as much a kid still as he would be on Earth. Hell… sixteen now…

“We need to talk.” Surprisingly, it was Rarity who came with the opening salvo, and not Fluttershy. Looking up, he noted that AJ, Rainbow, and Pinkie were on either side of him, with the house to his back. Flanked.

“Of course,” he replied, even smile as much a welcome as a warning. He was ready for this talk, but he knew they weren’t. “What to start with?”

“Firstly, sorry your party was so short this year,” Pinkie began, sounding so genuinely apologetic Ray felt compelled to respond.

“No, no, this was perfect,” he replied with a genuinely enduring smile. “This was great, especially for being only an hour or so. Thanks for the effort!”

This brightened up Pinkie considerably, in spite of the fact that she knew what they had to discuss next. Fluttershy finally took the offensive, asking, “What has been happening, Ray? You’re different, much more different now than you were even when you left. Last month, you barely spent any time with us and Twilight covered your flank when you left maybe an hour later. It’s almost like you were obliged to be with us…”

Ray took a deep breath. How to explain without causing them pain. He still loved them all dearly, he still wanted to be with them, but he needed his mind to be elsewhere, always, to be prepared for that inevitable day when months of overthinking paid off for a singular, decisive moment. Ponies though, his friends, they couldn’t understand where he was coming from, not when he had so much on his mind that their own couldn’t comprehend without shattering… He had been flanked. How to work around being flanked?

“The first time I worked here, in the orchards, I required Applejack to be right beside me and teach me how to help,” Ray began, staring out over the orchards. They were lush right now, almost ripe. Yes, harvest season was soon, the Running of the Leaves maybe just a month out. “Then, though, I learned and grew. I didn’t need the Apples to hover over me to help cultivate the trees, to care for and nurture them and harvest their fruits. I was able to do the work effectively and efficiently myself. As soon as I had learned, I didn’t need the Apples’ oversight, just their guidance.”

“Ya can’t seriously think we’ll let ya off with a pretty little story about learning, right,” Dash questioned, sitting down and folding her front hooves. “For months now, long before you even left for the war itself, you’ve been distant as the stars. Ya throw yourself into training for weeks on end without warning, leaving us to think the worst. Ya go on a weeklong sea trip and come back with news of this Spectre dude, hide away in the depths of Tartarus, and we haven’t even touched on the giant spider!”

“No, but I can use it to preface what I’m going to say next,” Ray softly explained. He was in position now, ready to collapse their flank.

“Not a chance,” Rarity interrupted before he could speak. “Every time you give us one of your deep and profound speeches, it always comes at the expense of yourself. You’re intolerably noble, to a point that even the mistakes that are our own you would take upon yourself. Incurably noble, I should amend. We know your thoughts and tricks, and you know our worries and concerns. It allows you to evade what we actually wish to discuss, giving us a dose of confidence and protection that wears off once the truth is remembered.”

“You promised me that you would always tell me the truth,” Fluttershy continued crushingly. “You’ve kept that promise by avoiding any discussion at all. So, now that we have you trapped, you’re going to say everything we’ve been trying to hear, the truth within you that we have no way of guessing and knowing. For the more than a year we’ve known you, it has been nothing but masks and false fronts, pretending to be something, saying your someone else, playing off different emotions to manipulate us into not thinking twice. Well, we’re all sick of it, tired of your fabrications. We want to know Ray. Are you here for our sake or yours?”

Outflanked. Outmaneuvered. He had underestimated the strength of their front. They had overestimated the strength of his. If this was what they wanted to know then… No. No false fronts. He had promised the truth. With a sigh, he would give it to them.

“I’m here for yours,” he answered, raising a hand to show he was still thinking. “These trips have been for your sake namely. It’s a shame, really, because they should be for my sake, to keep sane or to keep capable. I just can’t let you be in the dark about it though, left to wonder if I’m dead or alive, injured or maimed. It’s cruel to do so. In a sense, it’s still for my sake, so I don’t have that guilt weighing on me, but ultimately I feel you still need to see me alive and well to ensure you aren’t concerned when I’m gone.

“I see you and hear you, though. I should be utilizing these trips more, relaxing more on them, using them as a time to settle myself from the dangers and strife of the Tauran plain. I’ll need to start doing that more, but I can’t make promises that I’ll be able to stay the whole night every time. Some days… will be too difficult, or too delicate, to ensure me being here completely. It’s the risk of war. I want to be here, though, not just to be a sign to you that everything is going to be okay. I can’t ignore what I am, anymore though. I’ve been lying to myself more than anyone.”

He stood up, spreading his arms out, baring the scrapes, bruises, and scars that covered his chest, stomach, and shoulders. “I’ve been a lot of things and am a lot of things, a melting pot of ideas, efforts, and personalities. What you see right here is the answer Twilight always needed for the minotaurs, but never wanted. She brought me because I was the perfect person for this task in more ways than she could have ever imagined. Sometimes I think it wasn’t even really her that decided I was the one to come to Equestria. The Matriarch- that giant spider- called me the Orphan of the Cosmos and nigh-on prophesied of the change I have and would bring to not just Equestria, but the universe itself. I’m a pseudo-deity in her eyes, a kid in your eyes, and a fearless general in the Fallen’s. But in my eyes?” Ray paused, chuckling slightly. “In my eyes, I’m the perfect catalyst to bringing down everything known and unknown.”

“Ray,” Rarity pressed, resting a hoof against his shoulder.

“The Spectre, it comes and goes, but his presence remains. I had a thought, once, that it might be the one that was controlling the minotaurs, forcing them to fight me. I thought it ridiculous, because why would it send something to fight me that would kill me? It all made sense after the first battle though. If it really is the Spectre who’s behind this whole war, then this isn’t meant to endanger me. It’s a test, a challenge for me to overcome and learn from, to prepare me for whatever the Spectre really has in mind for me. Its reach seems to be extended beyond just Equestria. It’s not too far of a stretch to think that it intentionally picked me out from Earth and forced Twilight’s hand with this threat, to bring me here for some incomprehensible reason. I’m its weapon, and this war is arming me for whatever plan it has next.”

“The Aspects, the Matriarch, the Princesses,” Fluttershy muttered, scanning the ground as she connected the pieces he had given them. “Ray, this war isn’t a staging ground for something greater. You are the battlefield everypony’s fighting to control, the valuable commodity that all sides need in order to defend or push their interests.”

Ray’s eyes widened. He hadn’t thought of that before, but not that the little mare had taken a crack at the information, she had pieced together the puzzle he thought he had already solved. It may be only half the truth, though. Something felt distinctly incorrect about their theories even as they were spoken, like taking a step in the right direction but onto a thorn.

“Oh, sweet Celestia, I didn’t think I’d make it back in time,” Twilight suddenly exclaimed as she appeared not too far from them. With her she had four large jugs of something that glowed, and while it took a confused moment of analyzation to realize what it was, it struck him like lightning.

“Bullwater,” he breathed, a genuine smile breaking out. “Twilight, thank you!”

“It was nothing,” she replied with a smile. “It only took so long because I couldn’t teleport directly into or out of Tartarus.” She paused, noting the solemn faces of her friends. “Did I interrupt an intervention? My bad.”

“We were done anyways,” Ray responded, looking up at the moon. “It’s almost time for me to leave anyway. If we’re quick about goodbyes, I can make it to Zecora’s with fifteen minutes to spare.”

“I guess,” Fluttershy agreed reluctantly, also noting the hour. With a sigh, she stepped forward, wrapping a hoof around his leg. She didn’t look up at him as she muttered, “Just take care of yourself, please. We still have so much more to talk about.”

In spite of how she addressed it to everyone, Ray felt she meant specifically between them as well. He would have time to prepare an honest answer for her, for whatever she might need to say to him. Brief condolences and goodbyes from the others followed shortly, though he noted Twilight didn’t say a word. As he stood back up from hugging Rarity, he gave Twilight the slightest of nods, acknowledging that she would be accompanying him to the waypoint. Still, he waited politely as the mares dispersed, AJ and Dash entering the homestead and Rarity walking down the path with Fluttershy. Interestingly, Pinkie and Discord were teleported away by the draconequus’ magic, leaving the Princess of Friendship and the Orphan of the Cosmos alone in the cool night.

“So you must have heard all of that, then,” Ray presumed, watching as Twilight’s face fell slightly. She was sneaky enough, but the human knew much more than her when it came to both the Harkening and the Apple’s farm.

“Yes, the whole conversation,” she said with a frown. “You’re getting much too good at that.”

“I don’t see it as a problem,” he responded with an equal measure of confidence and caution. “Being keen in observation and quick in presumption saves lives.”

“I meant that you never let your guard down, even here,” Twilight clarified. She turned, carrying the jugs in her magical hold.

“Well, for how much of a peaceful place Equestria is, it hasn’t proved to be very safe for me,” Ray noted. “At best, I can go a few months without some major endangerment to my life. Tonight’s just happened to be very easy to deal with. Besides, there have been enough attempts to observe or question me by gods of all sorts while still here.”

“Gods,” Twilight questioned, quirking a brow at him over her shoulder.

“Celestia, Luna, the Spectre, the Matriarch,” Ray listed. “I guess the Matriarch has confirmed to me that she’s mortal, though, so maybe just the three.”

“Celestia and Luna aren’t gods, Ray,” Twilight explained. “None of us princesses are. We’re simply- as you put it- pseudo-deities, immensely powerful, unageing… but still mortal in the sense that we can be killed. The Spectre though… well, if it's not an Aspect like we theorize, then maybe it is to classify it as a god.”

“If you princesses aren’t gods,” Ray backtracked, “then how do you possess so much more power than your fellow ponies?”

“The Aspects,” she responded tightly. “In some way, shape, or form, we represent something the Aspects wish to be accomplished in this world. The most successful of them would be, obviously, aspects of life mortals would wish to accept. Light, dark, love, friendship, they would all be naturally accepted as needed and wanted parts of life. Others, ones that have not been discovered or who conceal themselves intentionally, may need to manipulate their way into a representative.”

“So I really am a commodity for these hidden Aspects to fight over,” Ray mused with a smile. “Never thought a Pittsburgh kid would be so sought over.”

“Would you identify yourself as one still,” she asked genuinely.

“Not at all,” he responded, still smiling. “It’s just real funny what a label from another world means here.”

“And that is,” the alicorn pressed.

“Nothing.”

The rest of the walk was silent, both rather tired from the long night they had suffered through. While it was unlikely that Ray would get to sleep anytime until the next sunset, he figured he had enough energy to carry two of the jugs, easing the burden of Twilight’s magic. They were rather large and heavy, each clay container probably seventy five pounds each. Even with the large quantity of the bullwater, he doubted there was enough for more than a thousand Fallen. Deciding who would get a sip of the delicacy would be a whole mess, but in general, he was thankful for the act. While the others had probably wanted to give him a gift beyond a short surprise party, they also had to face the fact that he had no use for anything they gave him other than their time.

Within only a few short minutes, they were at Zecora’s cabin in the woods. It struck him as interesting how it was so close to Ponyville and the Apples’ at once, considering how secluded it felt, concealed in the tangles of the Everfree. Regardless, he stepped up to the front door of the cabin, staring at the ground. Setting up the waypoint here had been… difficult. The cabin was surrounded on all sides by marshy, often flooded ground, which made the path the only line of solid ground, and even that could easily become slick mud when wet. So, the only remedy was a giant seal in the ground, a metal disk taking up almost all of the clear space in front of the tree trunk cabin.

It was made of silver, a tough, shiny metal that had been theorized to capture moonlight the best. Indeed, even with the moonlight receding as day threatened to encroach on the darkness, it shone with silvery beauty. It had all of the intricacies engraven into it when the metal had still been malleable, which meant now that it was set in the mud, it would take a greater effort to ruin it in any way. While it was certainly muddy and had some brush already growing over it, a minute of clearing the surface off meant it was ready for use. It didn’t matter if the waypoint was dirty when he traveled to it since it was light being shot into it rather than light needing to be absorbed into every inch of its surface. Picking up the two jugs of bullwater from off the ground where he had left it, he glanced at Twilight’s.

“Um, would just leaving it on the waypoint work,” he questioned, gesturing to the floating clay.

“I doubt it, though we’ve never tried,” she admitted. Then, a flash of inspiration crossed her face and she quickly instructed, “Sit down in the middle holding your jugs. I’ll set mine in your lap. So long as you’re touching or carrying them in some way, I think they’ll be brought with you! Besides, you don’t need to be the one who activates the waypoint to be teleported. You just need to be the one the power is centered on.”

Doing as instructed, he held each jug under his arms while the other two were settled in his lap. He had to be slightly careful of his wrapped wound, but there wasn’t too much struggle to it. As soon as he was settled, Twilight began dragging her horn through the symbols, lighting it slightly. It wasn’t necessary to use her magic anymore since the waypoint had already been unlocked by her, but he guessed she was simply doing it out of habit. A little enhancement only sped up the process a little, not enough for the user to care much.

“It’s been lovely having a chance to talk with you, Ray,” Twilight said as she completed half of the symbols. “Thank you so much for your incredible work.”

“Only the best,” Ray replied with a slight yawn. “I’ll see you in a month.”

“See you in a month, then,” the Princess of Friendship agreed, smiling as the process was completed.

Light consumed him, cool and soft and silvery as the moon, the powers and comforts of light transferring him and the jugs. He noted that gravity seemed to be put on hold, as while he still felt himself carrying the jugs, they were simply weightless. In an instant, it was all gone, the light and everything.

Ray blinked at harsh firelight, grunting as he felt the weight of the jugs again. He barely had time to comprehend the twenty some Fallen gathered around him before one of them shouted, “Bullwater! Sweet Celestia, the lordling’s got bullwater!!”

This was followed shortly by another shout of, “The lordling got his ass handed to him by a buncha ponies too!”

Author's Note:

Woof, a bit of a hard chapter to get through for some reason. Hopefully well worth the wait. As always, though, questions, comments, and concerns are all welcome and wanted!

Comments

[TheVirtuousOne]

It's kinda sad that he's had to disassociate himself from his friends a little to stay in the mindset of battle. If he survives though, how is he gonna cope with the ptsd symptoms afterwards?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11509229
Tough to say, tougher to see.

[ShortCaveman]

I'm liking the story very much so far. I am curious about the new land how and where if it's into the world map of Equestria like if it's larger than the mainland or it's like an island type situation? Oh and if it's not too much trouble a picture or image of this new world for us kind of like a fog of War would be pretty cool.? but if not I can't wait to the next chapter👍!

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11510382
So, I do have maps of the new continent, but it's all very plot relevant, the geography of it and whatnot. I do plan on sharing these maps (probably in the "epilogue" of the epilogue), but for now I can't. Do know, these curiosities will help you greatly with plot understanding, though!