Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Truth at Last

The warmth of light and strange, serene sensation it gave Ray was the only comfort from the oppressive heat of the last week. He hadn’t known he had been waiting for this exact moment, that split second that lasted long enough for him to enjoy and leave before he could become too attached. Indeed, even as he had the thought, the wayport's warmth and absolute light began to dim, darkness finally being comprehended in his vision. It was well enough as it had lasted though, leaving him with a contented smile on his face in preparation for whatever conversation he needed to have with Twilight.

Blinking, he looked around slightly, noting he was indeed in the throne room, and for a second, he naively thought maybe Twilight had forgotten tonight was the full moon. However, he knew better to believe anything of the sort, especially with how strained everything had become. Something wrong was going on here, the empty throne room and blackened stain-glass windows darkened…

Ray started, whipping out his kharamh in one hand and his knife in the other. Looking around him wildly, his eyes darting to each window, he called out, “What do you want from me now, Spectre?”

Summoned by its name, the Spectre suddenly materialized out of thin air, though considering this was its world now, perhaps it was simply the air itself. That thought chilled Ray. The Spectre may be able to strangle him with a simple will. Though he figured any way he worked it in his head, the Spectre could easily kill him regardless.

“Put your weapons away, lordling, you know they can’t do anything to me,” it ordered dismissively, its shadowy figure taking on the shape of a tall man, back turned to Ray.

Gritting his teeth, he returned the kharamh to its place across his back but kept the knife in hand. The Spectre’s head turned slightly toward him, the shadows taking on a dark skin tone as features began to form, noting the knife. “Still on about that killing yourself business?”

“Only if you force my hand,” Ray said slowly. “But I know you won’t make me. I’m still too valuable.”

“Oh, and what gives you such confidence,” the Spectre asked, sounding almost amused.

“I’m uniquely valuable to each of you Aspects, a prospect to either defend or utilize,” Ray summarized knowingly. “There’s something in me that’s more valuable than Twilight or I could have ever guessed. Something yet to be unlocked.”

“That keen intelligence serves you immensely,” the Spectre noted. “Why did you ever give up on pursuing your greatest strength?”

Ray paused for a second. His greatest strength? He was smart, certainly, but it wasn’t to an unbelievable degree. He just knew stuff. “What do you mean?”

“You have a mind far more capable and durable than you ever could have guessed,” the Spectre admitted. “There’s more possibilities and strength to you than even we could have hoped for, enough to rival even that Matriarch of yours.”

“Matriarch of mine,” Ray questioned, catching the odd way the Spectre had noted the World Weaver. “She’s fighting with me, but not under my order.”

The Spectre laughed at that, a hauntingly earnest sound that made Ray flinched. The Spectre finally turned to face him, his surprisingly accurate human face smiling at him. Though it wasn’t Ray’s expertise, he couldn’t tell if the smile was humored or simply sardonic. Either way, it was honest.

“The Matriarch follows you because she is as obsessed with what you are and what you may become,” the Spectre exclaimed. “You aren’t simply allies; she is your devotee as much as any of the Aspects’. I would dare to say that she even loves you as much as she loves the Aspects. You, the burning hope of the future, a stick in the eye of every plan ever created! It’s almost too ironic to be real, the Matriarch’s juxtaposed position of being fascinated with your arrival and your potential when compared to how stoutly she believes in this inconsequential plan.”

“Everyone keeps saying I’ll be something more than anybody could have ever imagined,” Ray grumbled, crossing his arms, careful not to slice himself with the knife in hand. “But I’ve already done that by becoming the general the Fallen want to follow and the warlord Equestria needs to protect it.”

“Pah, you’ve only broken free of those mortal expectations, the ones that blindly confined your future to one possibility in their minds. Fools, all of them, to think that something as malleable and indestructible as you would be simply Equestria’s savior. Honestly, why do you defend them? It takes more than love to sacrifice such potential for something as minute as war.”

“Does it,” Ray questioned. “All I need was a purpose and people to protect, it seems. Maybe that’s where you’re wrong.”

“Wrong, no, but I understand now,” the Spectre said, turning away from him. It had developed its body to be a bald, browned man with deep wrinkles and calloused hands clasped behind its back. It wore something simple, a black robe that didn’t really begin or end. It simply… flowed. “There is simply beauty in mortals, foolish beauty like the scrawled drawings of a child.”

“What do you know about children,” Ray jabbed, pointing his knife at the Spectre for emphasis.

“What will you ever know about children, Ray,” the Spectre shot behind his back, not even turning to regard the human. He paused at that. The words stung worse than he had expected, the jab of loneliness he felt from the realization that what the Spectre said was indisputably true crippling his resistance. Still, he simply took a deep breath. That was a worry for much, much later.

“What do you want,” he asked huskily, pursing his lips.

“You’re worn Ray,” the Spectre stated. Another point he couldn't argue on. “After only three months of war, you’ve only had one battle and you are still exhausted. You don’t have anything to fuel you. How long do you think you’ll be able to last until you must take action and fill your bloodlust? You already demonstrated to your entire army how eager you are to bathe yourself in unholy viscera again. Will you tattle about me and this encounter to Twilight? Will you tell her how you wish to dive your spear back into flesh? Will you tell her how you yearn to feel powerful again?”

“What is there to hide,” Ray countered with a shrug. “It’s better to expel the poison than absorb it.”

“Poison? Poison? No, this desire within you, this want to be exactly as you are is not an evil, unhealthy thing,” the Spectre explained with emphasis. “What do you think it is that all Aspects are banking on to win them this eternal struggle at last? Your kindness? Your compassion? Your sense of goodwill and loyalty? No, those are attributes that simply add dimension from your powerful, violent soul. There’s no denying what you are, Ray. You’ve spent the last half of a year proving to those around you that you aren’t the creature they discovered bawling in the hills outside Ponyville. You are… godlike. A mortal with the soul of the most powerful creature to roam Equestria. It isn’t poison, that desire to be powerful, but inheritance. Equestria freed you, and I can amplify you.”

“I keep telling you no,” Ray stated bluntly. Something about the Spectre’s sudden passion caught him off-guard, and even knowing that it was probably just pandering, an unwelcome thought crept in. How much of what the Spectre’s saying is a lie?

“Why do you keep telling me no,” the Spectre asked, another stab of genuine confusion to the supreme’s tone. “What if tomorrow you were to fight a most horrendous battle, outnumbered and outflanked, your waves crushed as they broke against the minotaur’s? What would you do if ten thousand of your precious Fallen were killed in a matter of a few hours, your army scattering desperately as they broke rank and ran for fear of their lives? What if Skalos and Yarem and Garish and all those others you have come to love were torn asunder right before your very eyes, leaving you alone against ten thousand more minotaurs? What then?”

“I would kill every minotaur until they finished me,” Ray responded resolutely. “Even if I were the only one left alive by twisted providence, I would fight until I bled dry or my head was removed from my shoulders.”

“And that is where I would come in to help you, lordling,” the Spectre dictated with an air of confidence. “Then, when you were the last one to stand amid a field of dead friends and bloodied foes, I would surge you with the power to- “

“At what cost,” the human demanded, shouting to silence the Spectre. Its face seemed shocked at the outburst. He dared interrupt it? Lowering his voice, he repeated, “At what cost?”

“Honestly, Raymond,” the Spectre inquired.

“Of course,” he answered with a hard stare.

“Your mortality,” it growled ethereally. “You would never have to fear death or destruction from anyone or anything ever again. For time and all eternity, you would live.”

“Why would I want to live in a world controlled and contorted by you,” he asked. “You seem like the kind who’d be a cruel, careless ruler that would snap the neck of any person who even thought to disagree with you. You can reach into the minds of others and harass them into nigh on madness. Sometimes I wonder if you’re even real, but then I have this nifty little scar on my shoulder to prove otherwise.”

“I guaranteed your sanity and my callousness with that maneuver,” the Spectre pointed out darkly. “Admit that you don’t mind your scars. You display them at any chance you get, showing off your violent tapestry of conquered wounds like they were a testament to your strength.”

“Aren’t they,” Ray probed. “I’m a survivor. Somehow, I’ve cheated death and established myself in this world as if I belonged.”

“But you still know you don’t,” the Spectre responded darkly. “There is a solidarity in that, isn’t there?”

“Of course,” Ray responded with a smile. “I don’t belong here and I never will. That makes me valuable and exposable, doesn’t it? You’ve realized that, surely?”

The Spectre drew itself up, obviously thrown off by Ray’s sudden mirth. He seemed good at catching it by surprise. “It does.”

“Then you won’t want me,” Ray informed it, his confidence growing. “I’m not only exposable to whoever uses me. That includes myself. I’ve already threatened to kill myself if you ever attempt to take control of me. What’s stopping me from simply ensuring that when this is over, nobody will use me?”

“You’re being used,” the Spectre questioned, a strange smile spreading across its fake face. “I thought you were controlled by nobody.”

“I’m a tool, held by many, but refusing to be used unless I want to be,” he spat.

“How noble,” the Spectre grumbled, staring at him for a long, silent minute. Finally, it guessed, “I’m not going to convince you today, am I?”

“Nope,” Ray surmised.

“And what if I kept you here?”

“It’d be our loss.”

“Very well then,” it sighed. Suddenly, the world around him became that vibrant white, a beautiful array of blank brightness and warmth. It was much more sudden than before, leaving him just as he felt the serene touch of its heat.

“You’re late again,” Twilight suddenly said from somewhere in front of him. He could pick up the relief in her voice even as she tried to push disappointment instead. His vision restoring, he forced himself to smile at the mare.

“I make a point of it,” Ray replied. “If you get used to me coming at the same time all the time, then when I don’t come-”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Ray,” Twilight snapped, an honest look of fear in her eye. “Don’t you dare.”

Ray shut his mouth, nodding. He could respect that. “There’s nothing to report, yet again. We’ve given up on scouting, as we don’t want to overextend ourselves from the main camp far too much because we’re at the point where it would take over a day of running alone to get back to camp. So, we’re planning a change in strategy.”

“Go on,” Twilight insisted, sitting down as he paused.

“Well, we brought the war to the minotaurs, but we expected them to continue it for us,” Ray explained. “The minotaurs haven’t been seen in the three months since that first attack, and because we eliminated them so completely, they might not even know their forces never invaded Equestria. For all we know, that group of minotaurs was sent to destroy Equestria and die. Thanks to how barren the sungrass hills are, I wouldn’t be surprised if it took several more months to come into contact with the minotaurs again. So, we’re taking the war into our hands once again and diving deep into the minotaur’s land. Hopefully we’ll find another army or something to guide us to the next battle.”

“You’re going to leave your defensive position,” she questioned, looking startled. He nodded, prompting her to ask, “Completely?”

“One hundred percent of all infantry and archer divisions will be moved in conjunction to a planned attack on an unknown enemy,” Ray informed her, quoting the order he and the five generals had signed verbatim. “We want to have another complete victory, and considering it is our hope to crush the enemy inside their inhabited homeland, all units will be engaged.”

“And what about the camp itself,” Twilight asked, now looking much more panicked. “What about leaving the coast defenseless?”

“Not defenseless,” he assured her. “We have an estimated three thousand spiderlings defending the coast, including every broodmother. Most likely, though, is that we will see any movement they attempt to make on the coastline if they move as unintended. Marching, especially in great number, generates a huge cloud of dust from the dry ground that can be seen for miles around like a smoke signal. It would be impossible for the minotaurs to sneak a threatening force past us and into a dangerous position.”

“It sounds kind of like you're asking to be proven wrong,” the alicorn muttered nervously. “How do you intend to outmaneuver them if you can see each other’s movements?”

“The exact logistics of the plan are not set in stone yet,” he smoothly explained. “We just barely approved of the plan tonight. Everyone agrees that this is a necessary step to prevent our soldiers from becoming disheartened and shaken. You haven’t had the opportunity to see what it’s like, but trust me, it’s like a golden wasteland out there. It’s unnerving to be surrounded by a wasteland with the slightest hint of life, as if the land itself is withholding something from us.”

“I don’t like it,” Twilight protested lightly.

Ray wanted to point out it wasn’t her choice, but recognizing that it was her uncertainty talking, he calmly told her, “Nobody does. It’s an unprecedented shift in strategy that may lead to higher casualties than we expected. It’s necessary, however. If we don’t we’re going to possibly waste every advantage we’ve worked for and the lives we’ll lose.”

“Okay, if that’s what is best,” she agreed hesitantly. “Is there really nothing else?”

“Of course not,” Ray replied with a depressed smile. “It’s the Tauran plans.”

“Then I’ll let you go,” she said with a slight smile of her own. “Fluttershy’s waiting.”

---

Ray materialized in front of his own house, the surprising feeling of a chill the first thing he noticed as the sparkles of Twilight’s magic faded. It was autumn in Equestria. Right when the heat was getting worse, the temperature was getting colder here. He thought that was strange considering the two continents weren’t on different hemispheres. He chalked it up to the land being much more open, much less lush, and much drier.

He felt his weight sink slightly in the grass, cold moisture tickling his bare legs as he stood in a patch of long, soft, green grass. He sighed as, for once, the smell of dust and sweat was replaced by anything else. Rain, actually. That probably accounted for the moisture and how chilly it was out, a gust of cool air giving him goosebumps. How had he lived without this, the rich moisture and coolness of a habitable frontier?

He opened him eyes, gently moonlight giving the land enough brightness to be mystifying and beautiful. He had always found the open green hills outside of Ponyville welcoming and serene, but contrasting them to the dusty, dead golden hills of the Tauran plains, it was impossibly spectacular. In spite of himself, a gentle smile spread as he stared at those lively hills, glistening with the beauty of moonlight. He sighed, a weight leaving his chest. He hoped that somehow he could let his troops see this sight once more. It would do them all so much good, to see something as simple and beautiful as moonlit grass with sparkling stars of water on them.

“Ray,” a meek voice questioned from the doorway of the home he stood in front of. His home, with the garden still carefully maintained, even the ones in front of the windowsills. Smiling, he felt another weight drop at the sight of Fluttershy. Finally, someone to talk to.

“Hello, Fluttershy,” he greeted with a slow smile. There was something relieving about this all, the calm, silence that was interrupted periodically by the chirp of bugs and rustle of creatures in the grass. “It feels like it’s been so long.”

“It really has,” she pointed out with a frown. She held the doorway only partly open, and she asked, “Aren’t you cold, Ray? It certainly isn’t a decent enough temperature out there to be comfortable, I would think.”

“It feels good, but I’ll come inside,” Ray said simply. “I’m guessing we’re alone, right?”

“Um, yes,” Fluttershy nodded, brows furrowing slightly. “How did you know that?”

“Nobody peeking out the windows, no panicked greeting party, and you didn’t glance around when I asked,” he told her distractedly as he stepped into the house. His house. Noting the slightly perturbed look on the mare’s face, he chuckled slightly and told her, “I’ll be less observant, if that’ll make you more comfortable.”

The pegasus didn’t say anything instantly, shutting the door softly behind him. As he settled down on the lapis lazuli couch, he noted the tea tray was set for three instead of just two. Waiting for Fluttershy to settle down on the rocking chair across the coffee table, he pointed to it and asked, “Is Discord supposed to be joining us tonight?”

“Only if you want,” she responded, her eyes darting to the third cup. There was something in her voice, the slightest downward lilt that gave him enough of a clue to question.

“Enough of the formalities, Fluttershy,” he said curtly, sitting up. “What do you want to talk about?”

The mare looked affronted by the sudden firmness to his words, flushing as she shied away from his eyes. What was going on? Slowly, though, she looked back up at him, settling slightly into the chair. Finally, she said, “It can be a bit of a shock to remember how blunt you can be.”

“Forgive me,” Ray stated flatly, looking around the living room again. There was nothing that he remembered being out of place, he didn’t hear anything but Fluttershy’s soft breathing, and overall, the house seemed… hollow. “Where’s Ohs?”

“She and I had a long talk about you a few days back,” Fluttershy began to explain with a blush. “She came to the conclusion that it would be better for you if it was just us talking.”

“Then why set a place for Discord,” he questioned, finally looking back at the mare.

“Well, if I’m being honest, it’s a place for anyone you may have wanted to join us,” Fluttershy explained, her eyes darting away as Ray’s own briefly met them. There was shame in those eyes. “Discord, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Twilight… anypony, really. I-I-In case you were, y-y’know… uncomfortable.”

She said the last word so quietly that Ray almost didn’t pick it up, but as soon as he did, he leaned back into the sofa, sinking into it softly. It was strange that he hadn’t sat on anything soft for the better part of three months. Even in his last visits, he had either been standing or walking. There was nothing in the Tauran plains that was soft or comfortable, not even the sleeping pads. They always got too hot if you left them closed, and sleeping on them got you too cold.

“Ray, I know this is- or, uh, might be- an uncomfortable talk we’re about to have,” Fluttershy began, trembling as she stared at the tea cups. He had to stop this.

“Fluttershy, what is this all about,” he asked, skipping over her flustered pep talk completely. “Is it about us? Do you think I’m stunned or burned because you and Discord are a couple now, indisputably? Do you feel guilty about that?”

“Well, yes,” the pegasus agreed, shocked.

“Don’t,” he ordered, sitting upright again. “Do you think that just because I had feelings for you, I’m going to feel bad now that you’ve moved on with someone you deserve?”

“Ray, what’re you-”

“Listen carefully, Fluttershy,” he began, taking a deep breath to soothe himself. He had known this conversation was coming. He had known it ever since the last visit, and he had prepared. “I saw the way you two looked at each other, the way you two still do. I came into this world in the middle of your romance and interrupted it terribly, clinging to the first thing that gave me any sort of positive attention. I drove a wedge between you two and confused you. I’m sorry for that, I truly am, but I’ve grown and realized how misguided and misinterpreted my emotions were. I gave up on them, cut myself off from you quite intentionally. Because I don’t love you as a partner. I love you as a symbol, as a piece of Equestria too pure to be tainted. That’s where my drive comes from. I want to protect you not because I need you to be mine, but because I need you to be the one thing in this world that remains as untainted and precious as the green grasses of Equestria.”

“I… I don’t understand,” Fluttershy mumbled, looking shocked.

“I mean to say that I’m happy for you and Discord, and that you should not be sad for me,” Ray told her with forceful gentleness. “I was the one who caused this rift between us, but that’s okay. We were never meant to be anything more than friends. You and Discord, though… you have the potential to be the symbol Equestria needs in these trying times. Your love for each other is astounding; even I can see it, and I’ve been disconnected from you all for almost nine months now.”

“W-W-What do you mean, you can s-see it,” she stammered, flustered.

Quirking a brow, he quickly listed, “Your face turns red, your eyes dart, you tuck your tail around yourself, your wings tremble a little, and, of course, there’s the slightest hint of a smile in spite of your nervousness. To name a few…”

“You really need to not be so good at that,” she muttered, humiliated. In spite of herself, knowing she was found out, she smiled widely. “I guess I do have a tell.”

“Don’t ever play cards,” he agreed, slowly relaxing back into the sofa again. The crisis, it seemed, had been averted. Smiling softly at her, he asked, “So tell me about him, about both of you. Like I said, I’ve missed so much already.”

“W-Well, I’m sure he’s told you about how we met. Really met, I mean. He had that whole conquering Equestria plan again, but, after he realized friendship was much more powerful and much more valuable, he let it all go. He still makes the occasional joke about invading Equestria now and then, but he’s really turned around from that time.”

“With your help, right?”

“I wouldn’t take all of the credit, Celestia and Luna and Twilight forgave him and welcomed him with open hooves. But… well, a few weeks ago, we went on another of our silly dates, and… he told me that I had to be the only pony in all of history that ever could’ve existed to change him from the tyrant he was. He said that without me, he would have still been another stone statue in the gardens.”

“One I would’ve shattered,” Ray admitted to Fluttershy’s surprise. It was best not to leave the truth unspoken. “You saved his life both literally and figuratively. You need to start recognizing your value to others, Fluttershy.”

“Hypocrite,” she answered, looking up at him carefully. She pulled herself up, her timidness gone in an instant, a spark of determination in her eyes that made him realize something. He had removed the one thing protecting him from the onslaught she had undoubtedly been building for him. “Ray, why are you so resigned?”

“Pardon,” he asked. There were dozens of different ways to interpret that. What did she mean?

“Why have you accepted this fate, one ensures you’ll always be fighting or alone,” Fluttershy inquired honestly. “You could have turned your back on us, ran off into a place where we wouldn’t be able to find you or you would be able to fight us off. You wouldn’t have to deal with us, those minotaurs, or that thing in your head. Why did you commit to us, especially after discovering exactly why you were here?”

“Because it’s my purpose,” he began with equal integrity.

“But why,” she demanded, standing up. “You keep saying it’s because you love us ponies and that it’s your purpose, but you don’t have to do either of those things. You didn’t ever have to!”

His brow furrowed at that. “I don’t think I ever had a reason not to love you though. Twilight used your good nature to convince me, but it wasn’t by any fault of your own that led me down this path. In fact, it was the genuine goodness in each other that forced me to face the truth. For all my life, I hadn’t believed there was any true or pure thing, that everything was corrupted by greed or hate or paranoia. You and Rarity and AJ… Rainbow and Pinkie… the CMC… you all proved me wrong, convincing me that perhaps that contempt I held was miscalculated and simply a reflection of what I felt my entire life. I always tried to protect my siblings. I got suspended once for beating up my sister’s bully. Killing Kaleb and Jackson wasn’t some random spout of violence. It’s always been there, Flutters, I’m just too damn good at hiding it when I’m with others.

“The thing is, when Twilight brought me to Equestria to save you all from the minotaurs, she did so with the thought that it would cure the final issue to peace in Equestria. Unbeknownst to her, she brought an x factor into the equation. The Spectre and I have had a few good chats since it revealed itself, and the Matriarch has confirmed what I feared. It seems that no matter what my intended purpose was, the Aspects have a much greater and much more pressing need for me in their ethereal plans. Whether or not I was fighting your war or not, there would still be the battle with the Aspects over who gets this luxury weapon. The Spectre just got here first.”

“Why do you speak so bluntly now,” Fluttershy asked after a beat of silence. “I remember for the longest time, even after your last visit, that you would always cover the truth with a cute anecdote or parable. Today, for perhaps the first time, you’re letting your mask slip and showing me… you. Why today?”

His mask had slipped. That hadn’t been intentional. Maybe…

“Flutters, I don’t need to remind you how dangerous what I’m doing is, and with this added threat of the Spectre and whatever other Aspects are pining for me, it seems that there will be no return to Equestria. I used to think it was better for me to die out in the Tauran plains so you and the others wouldn’t be forced to face a monster in your own land, but something much darker has come. Honestly, I don’t know if I should let myself die out there or force myself to keep on living. On the one hand, the Spectre seems so hardline focused on me and my potential as its tool that it may just be better to remove myself from its arsenal. On the other, I know the Spectre better than anyone else on Equestria, it seems. If it does give up on me and chooses to prey upon anyone else, then maybe I’ll be able to stop it and the destructive threat an Aspect war poses on Equestria.”

“Those are some… awful things to say,” Fluttershy grimaced. She stepped around the table to sit down by him as she asked, “How can you even tolerate thinking those things?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, shrugging. “I’m not really sure I was ever built for convoluted emotions or deep philosophies. Sure, I’m good at noticing things and manipulating circumstances to be exactly as I want, but most of the time… it’s because that’s how I think things need to be. I mean, I just did it with you and Discord, talking exactly how I wanted and distracting enough that… you wouldn't see how I had manipulated it away from more sensitive topics.”

“Topics such as,” the pegasus prodded, resting a hoof on his knee encouragingly. “You’ve been more honest with me today than ever before. I think it may be doing you some good. Please don’t stop now.”

“Well, I’d say like how you don’t deserve something like me,” he stated frankly. “You deserve someone who makes you their priority individually. I’m too much of an idealist and a general at the same time.”

“But do you think you deserve love,” she asked, staring at him with genuine care. Now that he had removed the worry of him still having feelings for her, it was as if she understood his every word and intonation with clarity. He had unlocked a dangerously healthy ally in his fight with the Spectre. Still, he had to be careful.

Leaning back slightly, looking away for once, he surmised, “I don’t really think I can find a companion in this world. I mean, I’m the only one of my species, and with the closest thing resembling a human being, well, the minotaurs I’m slaughtering, it seems impossible for me to love any of them.”

“But there are the dragons,” Fluttershy pointed out with a smile. “Many of them are about the same size as you and they’re bipeds. Changelings can also change their-”

“No offense, Fluttershy, but I don’t really think I’m into… cross-breeding,” Ray tried awkwardly. “It’s fine anyways. I don’t think that with my past and future, any Equestrian creature will be able to love me more than they fear or respect me.”

“Wait, what’s wrong with respect,” the mare questioned, tilting her head slightly. “Wouldn’t you want respect in a relationship?”

“Respect for the person, not their actions,” he clarified. “They’ll either respect that I’m the savior of Equestria and constantly pander to that idea of who I am or they'll expect from me the image of sheer perfection Twilight created around me. Either way, it won't be who I really am. Nobody will ever understand who and what I am except for those who want to use me. Not even me.”

“But we can try, right,” Fluttershy pushed, patting his knee.

He met her eyes for a brief moment, a spark of encouragement in them giving him the strength to say, “Yes, we can try.”

“That’s all I need to hear for now,” Fluttershy responded with a smile. She reached out and hugged him softly for a second, a hug that was neither desperate or afraid. It was… a friendly hug that trusted him, that was okay if he pulled away. He smiled softly as he reached one arm around Fluttershy, patting her back gently. After a comfortable few seconds, she pulled back and said, “It’s about time that we actually did make good on those promises we made, the ones to be honest and transparent.”

“Indeed,” Ray agreed with a diminished grin. Then, looking over at the tea left forgotten on the table, he admitted, “I’m about ready for some nice, sweet tea. All I’ve had to drink this month is warm water with sleeping powder haphazardly mixed in. I could really go for anything else right now.”

Fluttershy giggled at that, standing up and reaching for the tea and cups. With perhaps her most innocent and caring smile to date, she asked, “Jasmine or rooibos?”

Author's Note:

So, a little explanation for the silence. I just spent two weeks in Germany with this chapter finished, but thanks to not having my laptop on me for fears of travel damages, I couldn't post it until just now. Most of the editing was done on my trans-Atlantic flights, so there may be some shaky editing here and there, but overall, I hope it's all good still! As always, questions, comments, and concerns are welcome!

Comments

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11535726
Fair enough, I guess. Then again, you're making a complaint on realism on a My Little Pony fanfiction website, so pick your poison, really.

[Bronyshot2020]

I am not sure what to feel about specter right now lol

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11535775
You aren't the only one...