> The Wild Man
>  by Luckless
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Departure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, where would you recommend to go where I'll be alone, but can still reach town with this thing?" I asked the waitress, pointing at the box truck outside.  
It was 3 years since that day I'd taken my revenge, and I'd made it pretty damn far in that time.  I started out in New York City, and managed to smuggle myself all the way to Alaska through Canada.  And let me tell you, The Canadian border patrol were pretty crappy at their jobs.  I'd found a large dirt path that my van could fit on, and off I went.  Even the Alaskan border patrol sucked, and in much the same way.  The goal of making it to Alaska, was to be as alone and as far away from society as possible.  This was the solution.  Unfortunately, I had to deal with a lot of other people on the way.  Every time I had to talk to someone, my skin crawled, one of the few remaining sensations I could still feel from my damaged, burned skin.  
"About 10 miles down the road, there's an old road that goes down to an even older iron mine about 40 miles out.  No one goes out there anymore, so you should be perfectly alone out there.  Plenty of game roam about out there, so if you're into hunting, you won't have to worry about food or coming into town for it."  She said reflectively, and very slowly.  Likely trying to remember the place, which suggested that it didn't get used much.  Perfect.  
"Thanks miss."  I plowed through the rest of the cup of coffee and the plate of eggs, paid my bill and the tip, and left the roadside diner without so much as another word.  But that crawling sensation persisted until I  got myself into the truck.  I shivered, and started the van.  
The engine hummed to life rhythmically, and I shifted it into gear.  I looked down with pride towards the mpg gauge, which read the enormous number of 28.2 miles per gallon.  That engine and modifications I bought really paid itself in dividends, especially seeing as how I didn't use my own money.  Had I left the truck unmodified, it would be stuck going at 5 or 6 miles per gallon.
I shifted another gear, and left the curb into the street without traffic.  I started up the stereo, and let my music roar, more specifically, Meet the Monster by Five Finger Death Punch.  Most of the people I met up here in Alaska seemed to be repelled by the rough guitar, and singer Ivan Moody's deep growling singing.  To me though, it moved my heart in ways I couldn't begin to describe.  
I let the music play and switch songs as I drove, sometimes singing along if I knew the lyrics well enough.  The turn came along after a while.  I was grateful for the lack of traffic, because the opening to the road was so narrow, I needed to tackle the turn widely, which meant crossing over into the other lane.  
The waitress either lied to me, or hadn't been here in too long, cause the "road" was too bumpy and unkempt to be given such a generous title.  No, this was more like a giant, overglorified animal path that I was lucky to enter and not get stuck in.  I bounced with the few things in the back that weren't tied down, though I hardly made as much noise on the old but comfortable seat.  
When I came to a clearing, I decided, Fuck it, I'm done for the day.  I stopped the truck, got out the wood planks, and positioned them in front of the tires.  I'd learned long ago that it was an incredibly stupid idea to leave your VERY HEAVY vehicle in the dirt, which could easily be turned to mud if it rained, which your tires would sink into.  At least with these boards, I'd have a much better fighting chance to get out again and not need someone else's help. 
I hated being helped.  Help was pity, and I hated being pitied.  Even thinking about it left a foul taste in my mouth and a steady headache that would last for an hour.
After I mounted my truck on the planks, I surveyed my surroundings.  Lots of spruce trees populated the area, and even more bushes.  The spot I'd chosen was a couple of yards away from a small creek, flowing with crystalline water.   And best of all, so far away from the road that I couldn't hear any vehicles in the distance.  No people, no civilization.  Just me and the wild.  Perfect.
A smile crept across my face.  Finally, I could be alone, finally, my long three year journey had come to an end.  
Peace.
All I had to do now was set up and let everything take it's natural course.  My new place of residency quickly morphed into a more permanent setting.  I pulled out the awning over the back entrance of the truck, two poles holding it in place, set up blinds in the windows, and dug out a fire-pit.  It was about a foot deep, a metal mesh over it to cook meat on, and I had a single log to sit on.  Hell, I even managed to finagle my way with the temperamental solar panels so they charged up the batteries inside the truck. 
I looked over my home warmly.  This is it.  This is home.  Now that I'd finally gotten it thrown together, all that daydreaming of how great it would be to live like this finally came together, and it felt better than I'd imagine it would feel.  All this time, I figured that I'd be caught or something for what I'd done.  But no.  I'd gotten away with it.  I wrestled my freedom from the physical manifestation of demons, and found my own slice of Heaven.  
I looked to the sky, and there was the sun, shining away at about the angle for it to be only about 11:00 AM.  Too early for drinking.  So what now?  Well, I could always go hunt.  My food stores mostly consisted of rice, and salt for preserving any meat from future hunts.  A lot of it too.  Eh, screw it.  Let's go.  
I dug out a .308 bolt action rifle out of my collection from the truck.  I didn't know much about it, just that it was old, reliable, and never misfired, jammed, or broke when I used it.  I just had to keep cleaning it, and it worked as perfect as perfect can get.  Which now that I was thinking about it, sounded pretty stupid.  Whatever, it made sense to me.  To make sure I would remember how to get home again, I brought my knife to carve grooves into tree bark as a sort of impromptu path.  
So off I went.  Carving into the trees as quietly as I could, and trying to remain low enough to the dirt to stay in the cover of the bushes.  I stalked for hours, listening to the forest around me.  It just felt so right, so natural.  
Then, I heard the rustle of something heavy going through the bushes.  I eased my way around some, and looked towards the offending noise.  And damn, was I lucky.  Standing in front of me, was a big ass moose.  It was so close, that I could take easy aim at the head, where I knew the .308 round would make short work of the brain.  Up the rifle went, and I clicked the safety off.  The moose saw me now, and stared at me, refusing to move.  
I eased down my breathing, and fingered the trigger.  The moose still didn't move, just staring at me.  
I squeezed.
*BANG*

Ok, I've made smarter decisions. I thought to myself.  
I'd shot that moose bull right in the head, killing it instantly.  All I'd thought about was how much food it would provide me with.  But I failed to make the connection with the quantity of food, with the weight of it.  Seriously, this thing had to weigh half a ton!  at least I'll be set on food for a while, maybe even have good enough bones to carve and sell off.  Hell, at least I have the pelt.  Maybe I could make a nice coat?  Or hell, even a new blanket.  It wasn't keeping me very warm anymore, full of holes, and older than the Priest in the orphanage.
I finally reached camp, and dropped the moose legs, which I'd been pulling on for the whole time I was making my way back.  I lean over backwards, and my back cracks noisily.  Once I straighten, my blood rushes to my head, and I feel all woozy and shit.  The way I imagined people feel when they get high.  
But it doesn't last long.  My head is clear in a moment, and I go over to the truck to pull out my knife and hunting kit.  I proceed to remove some... ahem, problematic organs, and dispose of them.  I proceeded to skin the moose, and hastily began treating it so it wouldn't rot.  It involved me scraping off all the fat on it, and rubbing a good deal of salt on it.  I left it in a plastic garbage can full of water, and made a note to myself to change the water later.  I made use of the next hour butchering the carcass of the moose, cutting the meat into small bits that I put into clean, sealable buckets.  I had to seperate about 30 pounds worth of meat that wouldn't be suitable for steak-like meals, and instead reserved them to be made into soup.  I didn't leave out the heart or liver either.  What little remained, I turned into bait for fishing.
I looked to the sky, and saw the sun beginning to take it's dip below the horizon.  Well, today's been a productive day.  Time to turn in.  I washed my hands in the stream, letting the current take away the blood, and what refused to leave naturally I rubbed off.  I headed back to my truck, and climbed in, closing the door with a satisfied sigh.  This is what I'd suffered for.  Peace and solitude.  
I pulled my bed down from the wall, set up the legs, and fell onto the thin, but comfortable mattress.  The second I closed my eyes, sleep came to whisk me off.

Celestia
I've lived for a very long time, and in that time, I had made it my purpose to forge the perfect society with, and for, my little ponies. One can only see hatred and suffering for so long before one finds themselves determined to change it.  At one point, they had been a racist, violent culture that only tolerated each other for the sole fact that they needed to live.  That wasn't to mention how they treated other races that were more different.  Ostracized, outright abused, and even in rare cases murdered.  And in a little over 1,200 years, I'd finally managed to do it.  I made what I found to be as perfection.  Through love, kindness and prosperity, I'd achieved the respect, love and obedience in return from my subjects.  I passed laws and structured the legislature to be fair and as unbiased as possible.  I'd even managed to structure a primitive form of democracy among the various cities and towns that covered Equestria.  Now, Equestria was the most friendly and welcoming country known to ponykind, and hopefully the world.  
But that was simply from my perspective.  I'd never seen any of this tolerance and love towards other races first-hoof, and my advisors never really gave me examples when they made these claims.  When I dug a little deeper with my guards from every town and city, I found that the only truly accepted races were pony kind.  Anything that wasn't a pony was generally regarded with some amount of fear or hesitance.  The minotaurs were feared for their large bulk and aggressive tendencies, but that was simply their culture in Labyrinthia, as were the Yaks from Yakyakistan.  The dragons were truly ones to be feared with their plainly sociopathic or psychotic behaviors and mindsets, but there were some good ones out there, including Spike.  The griffons were a sad story, what with their recent fall from glory and their civilization going to ruin as it seemed every griffon was for themself.  The sad tale of Gilda was one such a story.  Finally being able to visit her friend Rainbow Dash, her abrasive personality came to clash with the rest of the ponies, especially Pinkie Pie.  
Combine this with Ponyville's overreaction to a Zebra made me seriously wonder if I had truly made Equestria that paradise for all beings I had intended to make, or rather put a wine bottle cork into a fiery volcano and declared it safe.  The only way to be sure, was to test my little ponies.
So for months, with my sister Luna, I scoured the universe, searching for an intelligent being that would suit the task I sought to be filled.  We found worlds filled with nothing and devoid of life most of the time, and the few times we found life at all was primitive and unintelligent.  Even rarer were the times we found intelligent life.  Three such worlds out of millions that we had searched had intelligent life.  One was too full of war, and on the brink of self destruction, another was far too afraid of anything and everything different or new to even be worth trying to find a suitable subject to help with my test.  The third one was a strange mix of both, and none of these at the same time.  The inhabitants, humans, were incredibly diverse.  They relied and valued their individuality like no other, and that individualism is what brought them through, and caused some of their worst moments in history.  There were terrible people, yes, but there were unbelievably good ones too.  As much as I would love to request one of these good humans to come to Equestria, too many of them had good lives that I couldn't bare the thought of taking it away from them, or even to ask.  
Besides, I needed somepony, or rather someone, who wouldn't be wholly consumed by anger or love.  No, I needed someone who would be cautious and act with careful thought as to what to do, yet be capable of reciprocating the love given.  A reactionary reasoning type of person.  And I found exactly the one that was perfect for this.  Now all I needed to do, was ask him, and try to get him to say yes to coming.  
However, Luna wasn't so enthusiastic about my choice.
"HE MURDERED HIS ENTIRE SCHOOL!  HOW CAN THOU POSSIBLY DESIRE TO BRING HIM HERE!!!!"  Luna screamed.  I was very glad for the fact that these walls were soundproof, or else all of Equestria would have bleeding eardrums.  
"Luna, calm down.  You aren't looking at the context or all the facts."
"Oh?  Tell us, what could possibly change in this monster in a measly three years?!"  Luna countered.
Could she really not see what was so plain to see?  "Sister, did you not look into his past?  He suffered terrible wounds, and lost his parents in a fire.  He wasn't even allowed to mourn in peace, as we were when ours died.  He was mercilessly tortured every moment of his life from that day on.  For a good while, he was quite insane and delusional.  It isn't his fault he snapped.  If any of our ponies were subjected to what he suffered through, I doubt they'd be as lucky as he is to have regained his mind so soundly and quickly, or do as comparatively little damage.  I've seen many ponies over the years go on violent rampages for less."
Luna stiffened a little, hardly noticeable to an unpractised eye, but over a millennium of experience provided me all I needed to know.  Her resolve of not using Brian, the human in question, for the test was beginning to weaken.
"Tell me, did you ever peer into his dreams, Luna?"  
Luna looked away in thought, "Once or twice.  We were a little more predisposed trying to keep the nightmares at bay from our subjects.  He only ever seemed to dream of living alone."
"Yes, but those were only a few of his early dreams.  When you provided me access in your domain, do you know what I saw in his sleeping mind?  Nightmares unlike any we have ever dealt with.  Before and after he committed the act.  He was so racked with terror that it disturbed what little sleep he did manage to get.  Humans may be more strong willed and go without sleep longer than our ponies, but once they reach a certain threshold, they lose grips with reality.  Once Brian finally managed to get some decent sleep for once, he realized what he'd done.  And do you know what he felt?"
"No, but do enlighten us."
"Guilt, horror, and regret.  I do not mean to make you feel bad over your own situation Luna, but his depression and guilt in comparison to you is like comparing a beach to a granualit of sand.  You may have created the Tantabus to torture yourself with, but his nightmares were, by far, much worse.  His nightmares still send a chill up my spine to this day simply from the memory."  One such chill went up my spine as the memory of his emotions briefly touched my thoughts, "However, he has now come to terms with what he'd done.  This test of mine could be the best thing to have ever have happened to him."
Luna sighed in exasperation, "So be it.  We shall commune with him in his dream, and thou shalt summon him if he agrees." 
Turning, Luna beckoned me over to her bed so we could proceed with comfort.  Her bed, as did her room, seemed to match in perfect accordance with Luna's personality.  The poster bed was simple in it's design of stained black wood frame, and dark blue blankets and black and blue frilled pillows with designs of distant constellations sewn into the fabric.  The bed made no sound as we mounted it, and held firm against underneath our weight, though still gave way dispelling any misnomer of it being wood covered in some velvet sheets.  It was much different than my bed, which anypony would sink into like a massive, overstuffed feather pillow.  
"Sister, are you sure?"
Always the cautious one Lulu, but at least you dropped Old Equestrian for at least a bit. "Yes, I am sure.  Whatever happens, should he accept, will be a direct comparison and perfect measure for how our kingdom treats other races and the new.  Shall we begin?"
With a nod, she lights her horn, and I follow suit.  The spell is simple in principle.  It allowed me to follow Luna into the dream of the human and let me interact with them while there.  Even with access to her domain, it is still not my place nor within my power to influence anyone.  The situation would be best compared to a fish.  In its home in the water it can do as it pleased and go wherever it found itself.  However, once on dry land, it must be in a water tank, allowed to do very little.  Such is my situation.  Without Luna to latch onto, I can do nothing but observe if she grants me access.
We gently touch our horns together, and we are emerged into the dreamscape.  It was structured around the universe that everything resides.  Planets are outlined and marked by the dreams of its' inhabitants here.  Thus, outside of Equestria lay an enormous baby blue void that seemingly went on forever.  However, even with as little contact she had, Luna quickly found Brian in his faraway world.  Asleep and in one of his many nightmares.
I stood transfixed, halted in place within the emptiness.  This nightmare was new, one I hadn't seen before.  One thing, amongst many, that humans differed in ponies were there dreams.  Whereas ponies' dreams often dealt with emotions and desires, humans usually consisted of memories, random fits of unadulterated randomness and chaos, or none at all.  Perhaps this was look into see the difference in mentalities and psychology, or maybe the experiences between our two species was enough to make the differences.  
The case being did not matter.  It was the nightmare he was suffering that did.  He was caught in a small, burning room.  For some reason yet known to us, he was fighting against a flaming door, instead of the open window that cast holy light in, promising safety.  His body was much smaller than that of his current body, but he still threw himself with unnatural vigor.  Finally, the door collapsed, and we saw what he had been fighting for.  His parents, faces blurred out of the ravages of time whittling away at young memory.  They lay unmoving together in a tight embrace, burning.  He cried out in anguish, for the ceiling to collapse upon him, setting his body on fire, and grazing his face.  
By this time, Luna managed to recover from her horror, halted the dreams' progress, and changed the scene to something much more relaxing, a campsite in the middle of a forest with a dying fire pit, and a massive box on wheels which faces away from us.  Sitting on a log in front of the fire roasting marshmallows, was Brian.  He looked about, confused, as if he knew something wasn't right.  He jumped to his feet, turning all about, fear immediately dominating his mind again.
"Let us hurry, before his terror takes hold again, and reverts."  Luna spoke with ernest, genuinely concerned about the psyche of the poor boy while also plowing into his dream orb.  I followed her in, and hoped that he would be amiable.
Inside the dream, I found that I was still in my pony form.  Which was odd.  I'd figured Luna would have changed our appearance to match that of Brian's familiar species.  
I voiced my confusion through our mental link which, hopefully, still remained exclusive to us.  Different minds react to outside stimuli differently Sister.  Some ponies choose to see one thing, while others choose to see same thing, only slightly different.  While any sentient being sleeps, they won't see the same thing as another.  Your student Twilight will not see us as Prince Shining Armor would see us in her dream, nor would Applejack see the same as her brother Big Macintosh unless the dream was shared and our true form would be forcibly seen by the natural law of the dreamscape.  Brian's dream mentality matches how he thinks in the real world.  He tries to see everything as it is, and thinks things from as simple a point of logic he can muster.  He judges nothing until he has seen enough to form an opinion based on what he knows is factual as it appears to him.  Right now, his mind knows that two aliens have entered his dream, and he doesn't know why, other than that we want something.  Since our appearance in the dreamscape is a direct manifestation of our selves, it also projects itself into the dream, where the dreams' owner would manipulate the image to their understanding, biases, and imagination.
I think I get it, So would it be accurate to say he is actively trying to control his bias and imagination in favor to try to better understand what and who we are, and what we want?
Luna nodded in affirmation, It appears We were wrong about him.  He very much seems to be a very rational being, now that he isn't tormented by insanity and abuse.
I beamed as Luna finally came to the conclusion I had made myself.  Come, let us introduce ourselves Lulu.  We had been standing in the overly exaggerated blackness of a shadow during our conversation, out of sight of the still nervous human.  We stepped slowly into the light, letting Brian first see a small piece of ourselves before showing our entirety.  We saw one of his... hands, I believe they were called, grip the handle of a knife that had been sheathed on his belt.  He's nervous and hasn't the slightest idea of what's happening.  He's simply taking a precaution Tia.  That long, unused nickname brought me out the nervous thoughts I wasn't aware I was sharing with her.   I was too busy second guessing myself already with this small act of fear, doubting that I had chosen the right person for the test I was about to conduct.
"It's alright, Brian, we aren't here to hurt you."  I said softly, "We just want to ask you something."
He looked at us with a critical eye, studying us, and Luna shared with me knowledge that Brians' mind was practically in disarray as his mind tried to understand what was going on.  Yet the dream remained absolutely stock still, as though nothing was happening at all.  Even the fire froze.  
Finally, a little flash of understanding flew across his eyes, and he relaxed, "You aren't mine."  He stated dismissively.
"Yours?  Do you perhaps mean to say, you know we aren't a product of your imagination?"  I asked.  Honestly, I knew the answer.  I just wanted the confirmation from him.
"Yes. I understand that.  However, before you ask me something, please indulge me this one request," and before we could answer, "How have you managed to invade the sanctity of my mind?"  His question came out with a snarl of indignant anger.  His word choice justified his anger, and I shared my hypothesis with my sister.
I do believe that humans, especially Brian, value their minds as something that cannot be shared.  The most likely reason, is that their mind is the only true sanctuary of privacy for them.  For all terms and purposes, we are rudely trespassing. Luna surmised.
Then let us be quick about this. "My sister is a very powerful alicorn, and one of her magical abilities is to view, and enter dreams to help dismantle nightmares.  This includes yours for the time being, as the spell required to stretch across the universe to your mind takes a lot of mana to accomplish.  We apologize if us intruding offends you."
He looked at us with an unwavering look of suspicion, "And you're here why?"
This was actually going remarkably well, better than I had enitially thought would be his reaction would be.  I'd fully expected him to panic.
"Well, we rule over a significant kingdom, and we've been conditioning our subjects to be loving, kind, and welcoming to all.  And it has come to the time that I believe that they should be tested, if for nothing else to see what we can improve on.  We have searched the galaxy for potential candidates, and you are the best we can find.  We would like you to come to our world, and integrate if possible."
His face scrunched up in confusion, "Let me get this straight.  You want me to go to your world, and try to integrate with your people because you want to see how nice they are?"  I nod in affirmation, which only gets him to grin, "And how, exactly, would I be getting to your world?  It's not as if I have a space ship that can transport me all the way to wherever you are."	
"We will take care of that.  We would magically transport you to our world, along with your belongings, if you agreed to come."  Luna added with no humor in her voice.
Brian's face switched back to being serious, "Magic, bloody hell.  Ok, let's say I'm interested.  You seem to know plenty about me, so you probably know what I need to eat to live.  Will I be able to survive on your planet?  Would I be able to find clean water, a source of protein, and fruit?"
His concerns are quite practical.  Luna thinks to me.
And very understandable.  If I were to have a choice to go to some unknown planet, I'd like to know I could survive there.  "Our planet has several rivers and streams.  The location we plan to summon you to has a stream right next to it.  As for your diet, we need to discuss some of the things that live here."  Subtly, Brian seemed to become slightly nervous, "Many of the creatures on our planet bear a striking resemblance to many of the creatures on your planet, however many of them have some semblance of intelligence that's very close to ours."
"Ok, what can't I eat?"   Brian interrupts, sounding very leery of what's to come.
Wow, that wasn't something I thought he'd say.  "Cows, camels, sheep, buffalo, ponies, horses, minotaurs, zebras, griffons, dragons, yaks, hypogriffs, seaponies, some lizard, cat, and mole people and our one and only draconequus Discord.  These are all creatures that are as intelligent as you or I."  Looking at him, I found that Brian was literally counting the animals he might still be able to eat on his fingers, and then his toes when he ran out.
"So, do you have deer?"
"Yes."
"Elk, moose, pigs?"
"Yes."
"Squirrels, turkey, boars, ducks, caribou?"
"Yes." Luna answered, trying very hard not to sound annoyed.
"Rabbits, fish, geese, beaver, otters?"
"Yeees."
"Bears, chickens, wolves, cougars?"
"Yes, but why bears, cougars and wolves?"
"Well, bear fat makes a grease that's very good at keeping bugs away, and they make good steaks when cooked right and with the right spices."  Brian continued on listing a large amount of wild life, all of which, we had.  It was rather surprising how many animals he could list, and what he was willing to eat.  He even asked if our culture had ponies that smoked tobacco. Which, sadly, we did.  I'd been trying for a very long time to get my ponies to stop the nasty habit, but I wasn't going to enact a law preventing it, so they kept smoking it.  Brian seemed rather pleased about this, something about being able to restock his supply when he ran out.
Finally, he asked what I hoped he wouldn't ask, "So how would you describe your kingdom as?  I'd like to 'feel out your society' if you will."
I sighed, "Well, we are a bit like your species, but we have some different shortcomings when compared to humanity.  Your race are hunters, and very individualistic, which helps you when learning about new things.  Rarely do you fear something without trying to learn about it first to know if or why something should be feared.  Ponies, however, are a prey type race.  We have a sort of herd mentality, which helps when there's a threat since we all come together to fight it.  However, when a threat is only perceived, and they come together, one misstep can lead to absolute disaster.  As I've said, my goal has been to condition them into being a better race, one that's a beacon of all that is good.  With you being so different from us, I'm hoping to put all my work to the test, and finally know that my kingdom is what I set out to create it to be."
We stare into each others' eyes, like some sort of contest.  He is thinking, sister, and quite intensely so.  He is debating whether the development of our people is worth more than his comfort, and it appears as though he is settling on coming to Equestria.  
I couldn't muster a response to that.  In fact, I was so surprised to his reasoning to come, I nearly missed his next question, "So what will you be doing should I come to Equestria?"
...I hadn't thought of that.  "I'm not entirely sure."  
He grunted, "You said you had magic right?  Any spells that could erase small bits and pieces from your memory?"
"Yes, where art thou going with this?" Asked Luna.
"Well, you could bring me to Equestria, but block out our encounter here until some point in my progress.  That way, we can go about this whole thing without having any bias or predetermined agenda to be carried out and I will have a more honest reaction when dealing with your people for the first time.  It would be as much of a test for you and me as for your people.  However, you'd need to leave enough memory or a mental block for me to not kill anything that thinks like us so I don't murder anyone for food.  Only question is, when will we set the memory spell to end?"
I chuckled, "You are far more intelligent than we gave you credit for Brian."
He snorted, "I already have a few ideas.  One could be when we come into physical contact or are within a certain distance of one another."
"Because if we are that close to one another, the situation would have gotten to point where we'd need to remember in order to resolve the situation."
He nodded, "Right, or if I die, or kill someone."  Our faces must've been quite alarmed for him to fire out an explanation so quickly, "Before you go there, let me tell you why!  You said that your people have a herd like mentality of sorts, so what if that leads them to attack, or try to kill me?  You must understand, I'm going to fight back.  And in a fight, there are no guarantees besides someone getting the crap beaten outta them.  If I die or kill someone, it has gotten bad enough to warrant your involvement, and end this thing."
I cringed.  I may have been a warrior at one point, but a thousand years tends to soften people, so the notion of killing was revolting, "Let us hope it doesn't come to that."
"Indeed, it would be quite unfortunate for one of our subjects or thyself to pass before their time.  However, We believe there is still one last way in which the memory spell shall be cancelled.  That being we receive word that thou have made friends with one of our subjects.  That way, we will know that our test hath been passed."
Brian gave a toothy grin, "Well, I think we've come to a decision, eh?  Let's get this party started!"  
My sister and I returned his smile.  Together, we began structuring our spell as we focused our magic through our horns. 
I have a good feeling about this, sister.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My internal clock woke me up with it's usual abruptness, and as usual, perfectly at 6:00 in the morning.  Three years away from the church orphanage did nothing to change this constant of my life.  I tossed off my heavy comforter, and stood up to start breakfast.  I grabbed a bucket of moose meat, and made to bring it outside with me.  The moment I opened the door, however, I knew something was wrong.
I couldn't tell what species of trees surrounded me (which really worried me since I've seen so many), and the clearing was much smaller than it had been yesterday.  The stream I'd parked next to was much larger, and it was far warmer than it had any right to be in Alaska.  Then there was the sounds of the forest.  Nothing sounded like the Alaskan wilderness I'd been traversing for the last three weeks.  In fact, it didn't sound like anywhere I'd been.  The birds sounded like a stock sound a tv show used, and the animals were unnaturally quiet around me.
Ok, this is strange as all hell.  But priorities.  Eat first, then go down the trail and see if I can find someone to tell me what's up.  With this in mind, I put the grill cover over the pit, and started a nice little fire.  Putting a fair sized piece of moose meat on the grill, I tended to the cooking until it had turned brown through and through.  My meal wasn't exactly great, but I didn't exactly have any spices on hand to screw around with, so there wasn't any room for complaint on my part.  It was a meal, and I was thankful enough for it.  
Shrugging off the clothes I went to sleep in, I put on a fresh pair of jeans and a brown t-shirt.  I grabbed my empty metal framed pack if in case I could forage for wild vegetables or anything useful.
I put out the fire, and was about to head out down the trail before remembering a particularly nasty incident in the Canadian wild with a hungry bear.  While I had been out hunting, a bear had come to my open truck for a free meal, and I ended up walking in on it about to tear at what was left of my deer venison soup.  So I closed the door, and locked it after picking up my 12 Gauge pump shotgun.  Mean little bastard could take down anything with a well placed slug and had saved my hide against angry predators more times than I'd like to admit.  
So with my assets covered, I started my hike down the trail, lighting a cigarette while I walked.  The Eagle 20's sometimes made me think I was smoking a breath-mint from the way the smoke tasted and went down my throat.  I didn't particularly like it, but I'd already opened the pack, and I wasn't going to leave it for later or I'd never finish it off.  It helped that it lacked a mean punch and could occasionally give me a strong high that unbalanced me.  Dozens of random strangers had told me I should quit, and that these things would kill me, but I don't care.  The nicotine relaxes me and I feel good after a while, and after what I'd done, I figured I deserved it.
While I walked and smoked, I took in my surroundings.  The path itself was just wide enough, and dirt hard enough that my van could make it out if I so wanted to.  The bushes were clumped together, and a quick check told me that it had enough space underneath for me to hide under.  It struck me as odd that any bush would grow like this, but I tossed the thought away as something that was a waste of time thinking about.  Instead, I worried over the fact that none of this looked like it had yesterday.  Could I have gotten drunk last night and gone on a wild driving spree before stopping in that clearing?  But there wasn't any hangover or insanely dry mouth, so I figured that was highly unlikely.
Eventually, I found myself at a part of the trail which became dense in the trees spacing, and many more bushes which clogged up the path.  Pushing through it, I found myself on a much larger, and dare I say maintained dirt road.  Looking back at the brush I came out of, I found that it perfectly hid the path.  Going to make it a pain in the ass to get my truck out though.  I'll have to cut down the trees and pull out the bushes. 
I looked down both sides of the road.  To the left, more dark forest.  To the right, a faint light at the end of it.  I shrugged, it was as good a direction as any.  I walked on, puffing lightly on my cigarette.  The nicotine began its' buzz, a dumb smile crept across my face.  I walked and walked, humming a tune that belonged to no song while my head drifted to the clouds.  This was nice, walking in the middle of the forest, smoking, and the sound of heavy breathing behind me.  Nothing could be bet-... Wait, what?
I spun around, and what should I see?  A demon from hell, that's what.  It was a mix of a lion, a bat, and a scorpion, and HOLY FUCK THOSE ARE BIG TEETH!  My shotgun found itself in my hands before I could think, and I pointed the barrel at it shakily.  
"GET AWAY!  GO!  D-d-d-don't make me shoot you!"  The hellspawn took no heed, and growled angrily at me, taking another step.  
"I'm serious!  Get!"  It crouched, preparing for a pounce.  That was it, I undid the safety, and pulled the trigger.  My gun boomed, and the monster recoiled with a groan, a hole having materialized in its' chest.  However, it remained standing, and took a shaky step forwards.  I took a step backwards, pumped my shotgun, and fired again a little higher.  Another hole sprouted in its' neck, and the monster collapsed, body twitching out of control, but still alive.  I fired again, the shot blew apart a large chunk of its' forehead.  The brain may be shredded, but the nerves were still being supplied with small trace amounts of oxygen from when it could still control its' breathing.  So the nerves, without the direction of the brain, randomly shot signals about the body with abandon, the powerful muscles shaking as if the body had been electrocuted.
I... I killed a demon.  I took a step back, my mind slowly bearing down onto me.  This wasn't a demon.  It was a monster.  A manticore.  I'd killed a mythological hell spawn monster.  
"Fuck this!  I'm not dealing with this shit today!  Answers can wait, I'm going home!"  Angrily, I stomped my way back to camp.

Rainbow Dash
I was practicing my flying, adapting my body to tolerate high G-forces with tight turns at increasing speeds.  Over time, pegasi could feel out exactly how much pressure they were forcing on themselves.  With pride, I could truthfully claim I could rack up an astro-... astro-something amount of G-forces, given I wasn't distracted by anything.
I had been a particularly sharp banking maneuver when I heard thunder roll through the air from the Everfree, breaking me out my focus, and sending me straight for the dirt.  Hastily flaring my wings, I managed not to get a muzzlefull of dirt and land on my hooves.  Another crack of thunder boomed from the forest, raising the hairs on my back.  It was an unnatural sound, a sound that brought dread into my mind.  Thunderclouds couldn't make that sound, even if there were any over the forest right now.  
Oh, pony up!  Stop acting like a little filly, and find out what that was!  I puffed out my chest, took to the air again, and took off for the forest.  The booming sound had been close, not too deep into the forest, so I wasn't going to be in too much danger.  Not that I couldn't handle a scuffle, it's just that you don't go blindly into a fight that you can't size up first.  
I broke into the trees along the path that went to Zecora's place, which was in the general direction of where the sound came from.  Maybe Zecora made a new potion and she's trying it out?  Maybe one backfired on her.  Hope she's ok, I still owe her for wrecking her house.  I didn't get very far before I came across a grizzly sight.  A manticore, freshly killed with blood still oozing out of multiple wounds.  I felt sick, my stomach writhing in nausea, prompting me to bend over, and puke.  
I wiped my muzzle clean of excess bile, and peeked at the body again, What could do this?!  Just kill something and leave it to rot?  I've gotta get Twilight, she'll know what to do!

Initially, Twilight had brushed off my heebie-jeebies with some nonsense about how it had just been another, larger predator that had killed it.  It hadn't been until I mentioned it's wounds, that she finally looked up from the book she was buried in, and asked me to repeat what I'd said.
"It had three holes in it!  It's head was blown apart, it's neck was barely there, and the chest looked like something exploded out of it!"  I think those were the words I used.  It was a few minutes ago, and I was antsy.  
Now that she was here, Twilight looked between fascinated, and on the verge of puking like I did, "What could do this?"  She asked.
"I don't know.  You're the Egghead of Eggheads.  If you don't know, I doubt anypony else would."
She gave me a sour look, "While I appreciate the compliment, would you please stop calling me an egghead?"
I shrugged with what I assumed was a smug smile, "Then what would you call yourself?"
She paused, unsure with how to answer, "Maybe an intellectual?"
"Too many syllables, and it doesn't roll off the tongue.  Now, what do you think could've done this?"
"I don't know."  She turned her gaze back to the dead manticore, "It's been badly mutilated for sure.  But there aren't any gashes teeth marks to indicate it was any predator I know of.  Only thing I could think of that could take down a manticore that live in the area are hydras which are big enough to not have a problem eating this quickly, Ursa's, and Timberwolves.  None of which are even really that close anyways.  Their territories are a ways from here.  Then there's the fact that nothing has been eating the body.  It couldn't have been dead for long."  She looked around the body a little more, trying to uncover any secrets, while at the same time trying to keep her lunch down.  
My eyes passed over the ground idly, unsure of what to do, when I saw something shiny.  Three somethings to be exact.  I trotted over to look at them better.  Three hollow cylinders that ended with brass caps, "Hey Twilight, I think I found something!"  I gave the strange objects a sniff, and instantly regretted it.  The burny stench filled my nose, and made me gag.
Twilight rushed over, and eyed the objects with fascination.  She took them gently in her magic, and brought them to eye level.  It was actually really funny to see her repeat my mistake, and I couldn't hold down the chuckle that fought itself out of my throat.  She shot me a glare, but resumed studying them.
"I think this has some burned black powder inside this."  She said.
"Black powder?  You mean the stuff we put in non-magic fireworks?"
She nodded, "Exactly that.  I wonder if this has something to do with the manticore?"
I looked back at the dead body, and looked away quickly, "I don't know.  Shouldn't we, uh, move the body off the path?"
Twilight shrugged, "I guess.  Only Zecora really uses it, but it would be polite to do it so she doesn't have to."  Her horn lit up, and the body was surrounded in it's blow.  The body was lifted up, and tossed roughly over the trees into the distance.
"Huh, wasn't expecting you to do that."
"Do what?"
"You know, just toss the evidence.  I figured you'd want to study it for any secrets it might have."
Twilight just smiled knowingly, "I've got a really good memory.  Besides, I doubt an autopsy would've revealed anything.  These shells will be enough.  Come on, let's get back to Ponyville.  I think we should tell the mayor to get the guards aware that something new and dangerous is in the Everfree."
"Good idea."

Brian
I was finishing up with getting the tarp over the truck when I saw the body of the monster I'd killed sail overhead like a plane.  I stopped for a good minute, before I went about in a nervous hast to finish with the tarp.  It'd keep the van dry, slope the wind off to keep it from rocking, and give me a little overhang to keep me dry if I wanted to be outside or needed to do something in the rain that I didn't want to bring inside the van. 
"Fucking monsters." I had an unpleasant flash back to how I'd gone insane when I was still in school.  Damn you.  Why the hell couldn't you control yourself?  I finished securing the tarp, and sat down on a log.  
Memories flooded back to me.  The daily beatings, the nicknames, how they'd burn me, strip me in my sleep and keep me from getting a good night's sleep to the point where I'd pass out in the street or in class, how shattered and broken they made me.  Then the names, how they brought my dead parents into it, the constant fear for my life.  
But I shouldn't've done it.  I should have just shouldered it a little longer.  Not... I remembered again, and shuddered, that.  Misery and regret was a toxic cocktail.  I needed a drink.  I went into the van, and pulled out one of the many bottles of Everclear Vodka.
"Why forget the night when you can clear the fucking hard drive?"  I asked sarcastically, and started chugging.  Surprisingly, it didn't burn as fiercely as other alcoholic drinks did, but that was perfectly fine.  It was nearly pure alcohol, so why not?  Nearly half the bottle went down before I stopped myself.  Didn't want to get alcohol poisoning.
I plugged the bottle, set it aside, and cried while I waited for the alcohol to kick in.  With misery and regret dripping from my voice, I sobbed, "I'm so sorry."
Thankfully, I didn't remember much after that.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
Vodka, you are my best friend, and my worst enemy.  I had woken up on the highest branch of a tree, but at least I didn't have a hangover.  Vodka was funny like that.  Fucks you up, then leaves you without a fuss until you tangle again and fucks you just as bad as last time.  
I got myself down just in time to be met with a heavy downpour.  I rushed inside, and debated the wisdom of traveling in the rain.  I'd get incredibly wet, and probably uncomfortable from the water seeping into my clothing, but I generally didn't mind that.  My big problem arose to whether or not I'd be able to find my way back in the rain since it was so dark and the rain was so thick.  If I paid extra attention to my surroundings, I figured I would be alright.  Plus, animals didn't like to travel in the rain, so I most likely wouldn't have another run in with another monster like before.  So there was that.
I decided it would be for the best to go out, but I made sure to don my trench coat and a rain hat.  It had a brim that looked much like Indiana Jones' preferred hat, but it had a flap on the back and a face mask that would do well to keep the rain from going down my jacket.
I figured, in retrospect, that bringing a shotgun with me last time would've unnerved the locals, had I met them.  So this time, I took with me my .308 bolt action rifle, the same one that I'd killed the moose with.  I shouldered it to cross over my back, and started off down the path, squelching through the mud.  
The forest was very peaceful with the rain pittering and pattering on the leaves, the trees, the mud and my own clothing.  In fact, it was tranquil, seeing as how there was no animals making any noises or movements.  It was such, that I couldn't bring myself to disturb the peace with a whistle or even a hum.  I found myself mutely happy.  I met the fork, took the same turn as before, and found myself right where that abomination had attacked me.  It was then that I remembered that I hadn't cleaned up my shells, but there weren't any around.
Where'd they go?  Could the locals have heard the gunshots and come to investigate?  But wouldn't they have seen that monster?  No one could've chucked that thing like I saw yesterday.  Who... no, what could've done that?  I was forced to leave my question unanswered, and my good mood fouled with nervousness.  What other creatures live here?  And why haven't I heard of them on the news or something?  
This bothered me to no end while I continued my treck out of the forest.  When the trees finally gave way to the grassy plain, I was still unnerved, and I found myself gripping the stock of my rifle in a vain attempt to calm myself down.  The path led me away from the forest, and despite being made of dirt, laid resolutely solid.  But it still wasn't a pavement road, and this escalated my anxiety even further.  Just where the hell am I?
The path became forked once again, and seeing as how there wasn't any definitive clue to where civilization was, I chose to go right.  As the saying goes, "Right is always right."  I walked for a bit, and the rain started to lighten up to a drizzle as I put distance between myself and the forest.  As I progressed, an orchard presented itself to me.  I couldn't tell what kind of tree they were, but suffice to say, they weren't meant to be in Alaska.  My heart started pounding as the realization struck me.
I couldn't be in Alaska, hell, I didn't know where in God's green Earth I was.  Fruit bearing trees wouldn't be able to survive the harsh Alaskan winters, and animals like that demon monster couldn't possibly exist.  So where was I?  Just... find the farmhouse!  Just find it, and ask where the hell this is, and leave!
I continued along the path, and the trees abruptly ended as the path broke away to reveal a... building.  Two buildings and a couple of sheds in fact.  Barns.  But no farmhouse in sight.  One of them had some glass pane windows and a porch with a decorative guardrail, so maybe that's the domicile?  My nervousness growing, I walked up the path, completely oblivious to the blue blob that was eying me from one of the clouds above.  
I stepped up onto the porch that moaned weakly beneath me, and came up to the door that was built just like a barn door.  Split in half midway up, and on their own hinges.  
What kind of people are they? I asked myself as I knocked on the door.  
I heard someone from the other side mumble about who could be out at a time like this, Of course, me., and a strange sound approach the door.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say that those were hooves.  Maybe they have steel bottomed boots on and they just got inside without the time to take them off?
The door opened to a sight I didn't think I'd see.  An orange coated, stetson hat wearing, pony.  It's head was raised, coming to an eye to eye height with me, which if it were a person, would be a considerable height, seeing as I was 6 foot 5 inches tall.  Just as I blinked in surprise and disbelief, the pony recoiled, and with a cry, spun on its' hooves and bucked.  My thought process barely had enough time to restart itself for me to try dodging, but one of those hooves caught me across the face, and I heard the sickening crack of bone breaking.  More specifically, MY FUCKING NOSE!!!!
I cried out myself as I lost my balance, and stumbled into the porch railing, which I then proceeded to tumble over into the mud on the other side.  I scrambled to my feet, clutching my nose.  I mumbled out a, "What the bloody hell," which sounded more like a garbled grumble.  
"Don't worry AJ!  I got it!" came a voice from above.  I had just gotten back onto my feet to look up to another existence defying creature.  A horse with wings.  Needless to say, with the burning pain in my face and my current level of shock, the name of said creature didn't register.  What it was doing, did.  It was flying behind a cloud, and gave it a strong buck.  
Thunder boomed, and a deathly powerful shock hit me in the face.  Time went still as pain wracked through my system like I'd been lit on fire all over again, except even from the inside, or like grabbing a live electric fence with my whole body and incapable of letting go.  My head was overcome by the worst pain I could ever imagine, and even as it hurt to do so, my back and limbs were forced to extend to be ramrod straight.  
Time resumed, and I fell face-first into the mud, twitching uncontrollably with unnatural guttural undulating sounds.  Finally, I couldn't stay awake, the pain overcoming me before my swelling panic attack over the now re-emerging memories of being on fire came to me.

Rainbow Dash
Me and my weather team had successfully taken control of the rainstorm that had built up and bled out of the Everfree Forest.  All we had to do was let it run its' course, and watch over it so it didn't worsen.  It didn't take that many pegasi to supervise the storm, so most of the team had gone home for the day, and I'd taken my post over AJ's farm.  About an hour or so in, I spotted a strange figure walking on the path towards Applejack's farm.  It walked on it's hind hooves like a minotaur,  but wore a long coat and a funny hat that covered its' face.  Then there was that odd stick it had on it's back, which it was gripping tightly.  
I didn't like the look of it, so I kept my eye on the suspicious creature.  I was silently hoping that it would simply walk on by the farm, but no, it walked straight on up to AJ's house, and under the porch roof, obscuring my sight.  Better prepare a lightning cloud, just in case.
I quickly gathered up some of the rainclouds, and agitated them into lightning clouds with a few powerful punches.  I heard it knock on the door, and all of a sudden, I heard AJ cry out, and the creature tumbling over the guardrail into the mud.  
It attacked Applejack! "Don't worry AJ!  I got it!"  The creature was just standing up and looking towards me when I bucked the cloud as hard as I could.  My reward was a powerful lightning bolt that struck the creature straight in the face.  Score!  "Take that you jerk!  That's what you get for messing with my friend!"
The creature didn't answer.  It stood incredibly straight, and fell onto its' face into the mud, trembling while making odd mumbling sounds before it started to slowly stop moving.  That was... weird.  There were an incredibly small number of creatures that couldn't take a lightning bolt. Our ambient magic shielded us from the electric shock.  The only exception I could think of were the Griffons, and that only applied to artificial electricity that were found in Joy-Buzzers or from electric conduits.  At worst, they'd be stunned, not so... that.  I glided down to the ground to join Applejack, who'd come out to investigate the creature herself. 
"What, is it?"  I asked.
She shook her head, "Ah don't rightly know.  Twilight probably would, she's smart like that.  You go an' tell 'er, Ah'll drag it to the library."
I didn't like the thought of leaving AJ with a creature which had just tried to attack her, but she could handle herself, so I grunted in reply, and flew off to Twilights'.  She'll know what it is, then we can send it back where it came from.

Brian
Consciousness flooded back to me violently, and I became acutely aware that I hadn't dreamt of being struck by lightning, and when I opened my eyes, discovered that I'd been struck by lightning by a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, also hadn't been imagined.  Neither was that BROKEN NOSE!  I groaned in pain that the head ache and nose were ever so generously giving me as a "waking up present".
I noted that there were four ponies, and a strange bipedal purple lizard in the room.  One was the one that had kicked me in the face.  The second was the one that had nearly killed me with lightning, and the third and fourth were totally new to me.  The purple one with a disturbingly curious smile on its' face, had a horn and a haircut that you might see on a nerdy girl.  The term "unicorn" seemed aptly put.  The other was an incredibly shy and scared looking yellow coated, soft pink maned pegasus.
It was at this point I tried, and failed, to move.  A quick glance at my arms and legs showed that I was nude, and bound to a rack with thick bindings (which were mysteriously loose), and when I opened my mouth, I was aware that I had a gag in my mouth.  I scanned the room quickly, and saw all my stuff placed on a large table in the far corner.
The unicorn... SPOKE, "Oh goodie, he's awake!"  That's... how? ... THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!  I whined behind my gag as both my heartbeat, and my breathing escalated dangerously.  Ponies can't talk!  
The yellow pegasus trotted up to me, and soothingly told me, "It's ok, we're not going to hurt you."  while caressing my arm.
FUCKING BULLSHIT!  Your friends broke my nose and struck me with lightning!  LIGHTNING DAMN IT!  I edged myself as far away from the pegasus as my bindings would allow.  
The thing looked... hurt by my fear.  It actually winced, and seemed to be on the verge of tears.  It took a few steps back, "I'm sorry Twilight, but I think it's too scared right now for me to talk to it."
"Twilight" smiled at the yellow and pink pegasus, "Oh, don't worry Fluttershy.  I'm sure it'll calm down eventually.  Besides, by morning, I should find out all I need to know to find out what he is and where he came from.  Come on, let's have some tea."  They all turned their backs to leave, and I seized the moment to wrench my arms and legs free from bondage, and then untie the gag from my mouth.
They had just gotten to the stairs, which where they stood, they only needed to take a sidelong look to see me.  Which they took.  The orange one gasped, "It's free!"  
Damn it, should've waited until they'd left.  I thought to myself.  But I wasted no time.  I lunged to the table, and grabbed my rifle.  I'd had it on safety, and there wasn't a round chambered, so I didn't have enough time to ready it when the rainbow one flew at me with a battle cry.
I basically used my rifle as a club, swinging it up from underneath to catch it squarely in the jaw, flipping it backwards to the other side of the table with an, "Oof!"
I turned back to the group.  The unicorns' horn was glowing, and my gut told me that was a very bad thing, so I chucked my rifle at it.  The rifle smacked the unicorn right between the eyes, and "Twilight" sank to the floor with an out of touch "Uhugh,"
"Why you little!"  The orange pony cried, and it leapt off the stairs straight at me.  Apparently, these things didn't really know how to fight, as I quickly and easily grabbed the forelegs, and flipped it straight into her friend, who was just getting up.  They ended up in an what would have been a hilarious position which I would've laughed at had I not been so scared for my life.  Their lips were pressed firmly against each other, and both sets of legs were spread apart so their bellies were pressed against each other.  
I turned back to the remaining pegasus and lizard thing, who hadn't moved an inch since the whole fight started.  I figured that they were too scared to do anything, so I would keep my eye on them, but not be totally terrified of.  My rifle had fallen off the stairs onto the floor beneath, so I quickly retrieved it, loaded a road in the chamber (just in case) and kept it close as I put on my clothes again, albeit stiffly and in great deal of pain.  The last article was the hat/mask, which I found that I couldn't put on without firing off more pain than I deemed worth to get the thing on.  So I jammed it in my pocket.  
Something shiny from the other side of the room caught my eye, and I turned to see a mirror.  In it, I saw my mangled face.  I cringed at seeing the damage to it.  My nose had certainly been broken, having been forced in a completely wrong direction, almost to where the nostrils were being stretched to point right.  Blood had poured generously from both nostrils, covering my upper lip and jaw.  My eyes were bloodshot, and the undersides of my eyes showed badly bruising tissue.  However, that was just the broken nose.  Spread across my face was a lightning patterned, third degree burn from where the lightning had impacted that went across my face.  The skin that wasn't directly touched, was in ugly shades of yellow bruising that turned black over veins and bone.  It covered my face, my neck, and what little flesh my shirt and coat exposed.
Damn, those two really fucked me up.  I had to fix my nose up, and as much as I paled at the thought, I had to do it.  I grabbed the broken bone, gave a high pitched whine, and bent my nose back into place with a scream, and collapsed to the ground clutching the area around my nose.  Ok, I'll finish it at home.
I shakily got to my feet, and grabbed my rifle to leave.  "Fluttershy" and the lizard were looking sick, and terrified at me at the same time.  I glared at them, and beckoned with my head for them to get out of the way as I stepped forwards.  This seemed to somehow steel the lizards' nerve, even though his companion quickly complied.
"No way!  You hurt my family, and my friends!  You aren't leaving you big jerk!"  Somewhere along the lines of what had happened today, I'd stopped being able to be surprised over the mind boggling impossibilities that had been presented to me.  I didn't care that this lizard thing was talking, just that it was stopping me from leaving this strange prison run by ponies that shouldn't have existed in the first place.  
I grabbed it by the green spikes on its' head, lifted it off the ground despite it demanding me to let it go, and dropped in on the floor away from the stairs.  He made a very similar sound to the rainbow pegasus, but I, again, didn't really care.  I stepped over the moaning unicorn, and continued my up the stairs.  I reached the final step when something grabbed my leg, and I fell onto the final platform.
"Look you little asshole," I started, my voice dangerously level, "I have no idea where I am, I've been kicked in the face, got my nose broken, struck by lightning, and strapped down by freaks of nature, THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST!"  My voice had risen in volume to a roar, "IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T GOT IT YET!  I'VE HAD A VERY BAD DAY!  I WANT TO GO HOME, AND IF YOU HAVEN'T LET ME GO BY THE COUNT OF 3, I'M GOING TO DROP KICK YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!  One!"  I only had to say one, and whatever had grabbed me let go, and scampered away quickly.
I picked myself up, cleared my throat, and spoke more calmly again, "Thank you.  Now with all do respect, fuck off."  I walked through the doorway, and found myself in the middle of a giant library.  CAUSE OF COURSE THAT MADE SENSE!  I growled into my hand, and made my way to the door.  I opened it to find that it was still raining, and I was in the middle of a town with Victorian age, English looking buildings.  They had hay roofs, and white plaster-eske walls with wooden supports.  
An aneurism seemed to start growing out of my headache.  I was painfully sure that there wasn't any buildings like these in Alaska, or anywhere is America for that matter.  And I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as talking ponies, pegasus's or unicorns.  Know what, fuck it.  I'm going home, and sorting it out tomorrow.  I left the library, slamming the door as hard as I could, and stalked my way through the quiet town.  
Despite being absolutely lost, I still managed to find my way out of town, and directed myself towards the forest.  I walked along the edge until I found the path I'd left the forest in, and retraced my way back to my truck.  
Inside of my truck with the door closed, I undressed myself, and took out a small mirror to get a better look at the damage.  And God have mercy on me, I looked even worse.  The bruising on my face had gone into a disgusting, sickly looking black, but I found that wasn't the worst of it.  My body was also suffering a shit ton of bruising.  Black bruising ran along my bones and veins, while putrid yellow bruises everywhere else except for a few areas around my neck which were an angry red.  

I bit down my disgust, swallowed some bile, and braced myself for what I had to do next.  I downed a generous amount of Jack Daniels, gingerly placed my fingers on my nose again, which had started bleeding again, and forced the bone into the general place it should be.  It hurt immensely, but I managed not to make it worse.  Finally, I plugged my nose with some tissue paper, and tenderly cleaned my face up of blood.  
Finished, I let out a pained sigh, and slowly laid down on my bed, going to sleep without bothering to eat.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
The fire swarmed me, burning away everything that I was.  My eyes melted in my skull, my skin charred and fell away from me in ash.  My bones lasted only a little longer, before they too turned to ash.  Then, again I was back to my own body, suffocating under the heat and smoke that choked my lungs.  
"MOM!  DAD!"  I coughed heavily, spitting up a piece of my lungs.  I stumbled around the burning room.  Said room was devoid of detail, walls grey, and certain areas about the room appeared distorted in a static that you'd see on a tv when the channel you're looking for wasn't there.  I stumbled to the door made of plain planks.
The voices came.  NO!  PLEASE!  LEAVE ME ALONE! I cried.  These voices taunted me, scorned me, laughed at me, and made all sorts of cruel jokes. 
All of which, I'd heard while in that infernal Catholic orphanage and that damned school.  Memories of being pricked with needles, held down by students to be burned with lighters and matches, thrown out of bed in the middle of the night to be beaten, being thrown down stairs, beaten in mob fights, and robbed of my every belonging.  You've had your fun with me!  Now leave me be!  
I tried to open the door, but it refused to move.
"Oh, but Brian, don't you miss us?  After all, we had soooo much fun together!" Father Kimberly growled out.  
I bashed the door with my shoulder, and it fell away just slightly. 
NO!  You made my life a living hell you bastard!  You helped those monsters torture me!  You took part in it!  You discredited me to the police so they wouldn't investigate!  YOU BROKE ME!
He chuckled evilly, "Oh no!  You've been insane for years, BOY.  Long before we came to meet.  I just gave you that little... push."  
I rammed my shoulder into the door again, and what I'd done came flooding back to me again sa the door flew open to reveal my parents, buried beneath the burning rubble, screaming in agony as the fire burned them away.  
My memories took me back to the Orphanage, when I'd truly lost my mind.  How I crippled Father Kimberly, stole his money and alcohol, his valuables, and set his study on fire with him in it.  How my plan with the bomb, how...  My dream shook violently as I screamed, and it fell away just as the roof cave in.

I woke in a cold sweat, sitting up quickly and screaming at such a volume I didn't rightly think I could reach.  My nightmare had seen fit to torture me in the waking world as well, the violent movement disturbing my bruises, and rejuvenating my splitting headache.  I grabbed my head, and fell off the bed in a heap on the ground, worsening my pain.
But it didn't matter, I was crying.  Oh dear God, why did I do that?  WHY??  Please, if you're listening, if you're even here in this messed up world, please... forgive me!  I laid on the ground for hours, balling my eyes out, hating myself and regretting my horrible crime.  The government was right to want to capture me.  Right to deem me deserving of the death penalty.  Right to want me dead in every sense of the word.  Right to give the bounty for death.  They were right.
A little voice inside me spoke up, "Then why don't you die?"  
The voice stopped me.  It stopped my thought, it stopped my breathing, it stopped my heart from beating for a second.  My eyes crawled over to my collection of guns.  "It would be so easy.  Just one trigger pull, and you would've paid your penance."   My imagination drew me to crawling over, getting the Colt M1911 pistol I'd stolen from a gun store, pressing it against my-
FUCK!  What the hell is wrong with me?
"Besides the obvious?"
SHUTUP!  
I slapped myself across the face, which... was incredibly stupid.  My hand not only agitated my bruises, bringing fresh waves of pain, but my hand had gone across my nose, bending it out of place again.
You idiot!  Now you have to do it all over again!  I forced myself into a sitting position, and took my nose in my hand.  Ugh, fucking ponies.  I twisted my nose back into place, and screamed again.  
I panted heavily, and my stomach chose this moment to remind me of my missed meals.  Ok, insanity pending, I think it's high time for me to eat something.  My stomach agreed with a happy growl.

Meanwhile, at Sugarcube corner:  Applejack
We'd recovered from our severe flank-whooping only minutes after the creature left with ice-packs on our heads, and laying on the couch, courtesy of Fluttershy and Spike.  After she woke up, Rainbow took flight and was nursing a very sore jaw and a loose tooth, I was fretting over my pride, and Twilight was trying not to go cross-eyed over her new lump between her eyes.  
"How did that thing beat us so easily?"  Rainbow asked through her discomfort, "I mean, we kicked its' flank at AJ's farm!"
I groaned, "I think we surprised it.  Plus, we didn' have yer lightning to knock it out."
Twilight's head audibly snapped to face us, "WHAT!??!"
Rainbow recoiled, "Yeah, uh, I hit it with lightning?" she smiled unsure.
Twilights' eliquinte response was a bunch of sputtering, "B-b-but his magic should've protected him!  How could it knock him out?"
Rainbow shrugged, "Heck if I know.  Only things I know that are sensitive to lightning are water creatures.  Griffons are too, but you already about that, don't you?"
"Yes, but..." Twilights' face morphed into horror, "Oh sweet Celestia!"  
I'd never seen such a look on Twilight before, and that worried me.  Keeping my voice as level and soft as possible, "What is it Twi?" 
"Those black lines and patches on its' skin, I don't think that's natural.  I think those were elctro-shock bruising!"
Everypony except Fluttershy, who gasped in horror, stared blankly, "And what's that?"  Rainbow asked.
"There's an incredibly rare genetic and magic disorder that doesn't shield creatures from lightning.  This is especially common among the lizard people in the farthest reaches of the badlands.  In layponies' terms, the lightning short circuits or overloads the nervous system causing organ failure and death at worst-" everypony sucked in a breath, "-or causes the blood vessels in the body close to the skin burst.  With the lizard people and their scales, the only visible signs of this are some discolored scales, and our fur covers the damage.  What we saw was the uncovered effects of Fulgar Nascendo Syndrome!"
We couldn't breathe.  
Rainbow Dash wasn't flying anymore, "So... I almost..."  She couldn't finish, but she didn't need to.  We knew what she meant.
I put a hoof over her shoulder, "Don' feel bad Sugarcube, ya couldn't have known that would happen."
She looked down, and whispered so quietly that I barely heard, "But I still feel bad about it."
"But that wasn't the only pain he was in."  Fluttershy's voice surprised us with the moroseness that bled from her words, "After he beat you three up, he put on it's clothes, and looked in the mirror.  He didn't like what he saw.  His nose, you remember how it was turned weirdly, and that red liquid was pouring out of it?"  We nodded, "It wasn't supposed to look like that."  She let those words sink in, and comprehension collectively dawned on us, "It's nose was broken.  When he twisted it back into place, he nearly collapsed in pain.  I think that was blood coming out of his nose.  That means that it was broken very recently."
Rainbow looked even more guilty, "So I broke his nose too?  With one little bolt of lightning?"  That didn't sound very likely.  As strong as lightning seemed to react with the creature, I doubted that lightning would do that much.
Fluttershy shook her head, "No, he had to be hit really hard in the face, probably a glancing blow that he couldn't dodge out of the way from."  My heart stopped.  So that's what that cracking sound was.  I broke his nose!
"I-uh... I think that was me."  All heads turned towards me.  I gulped, "I heard a knock on the door, so I thought that somepony had gotten caught in the rain.  I wasn' expecting him to be there, and I... panicked."
Nopony said anything, so I finished, "I bucked him in the face, but he sorta fell away from it.  Almost thought I'd missed him until I heard the crack. I thought that was just the sound of a hoof hitting him."  I felt so bad over that.  Because I panicked, I broke his nose.  Because I panicked... I led Rainbow to think he attacked me.  And that got him really hurt, almost dead.
"Oh, Celestia, this is my fault."  
Twilight cleared her throat, "Ok, well, let's change the subject!  Fluttershy, what can you tell us about him?"  Twilight sounded nervous, obviously uncomfortable over this strange new territory for her.  
"Well, to start, I'm pretty sure that he had been set on fire once.  His skin appeared to have scars akin to what burns leave, and if I had to guess, it healed poorly and without any magic.  When it was healing, the skin set in a way that made it look stretched, while building up in some areas over others, and was a very angry red.  When I first looked into his eyes, I saw terror.  He was scared of us all.  He didn't know where he was, and he knew he was trapped.  He didn't trust me when I said he would be alright.  I had the nagging suspicion that he was intelligent, but I couldn't be sure.  I couldn't see enough from him to find out.  After he beat you girls up, he put his clothes on, but he moved stiffly.  I think his bruises were bothering him."  Rainbow suddenly found the ground very interesting, "He always kept an eye on me and Spike and kept that strange stick close to him.  At first, I thought he was still scared, but when I saw his face, my suspicion seemed much more realistic.  He was being methodical, thinking out every action he did.  
"He went up to the stairs, and he, told us to get out of the way.  He scared me, so I did, but Spike stayed in place, and yelled at him.  He picked Spike up like a doll, and dropped him to the floor and started to walk up the stairs with some difficulty.  Spike grabbed his leg, and the creature fell.  Then, he spoke.  He was angry but trying to hold it down.  But as he spoke, he slowly failed at keeping his voice down.  From what he said, I know he's lost and that he's never seen ponies before.  He thinks we're freaks of nature.  He threatened Spike to let him go, which Spike did, and he stood up.  Then he said... goodbye, I guess, and cursed at us."
"He laid a curse?"  RD asked, now confused.
Fluttershy shook her head, "No, he used one of those words your not supposed to say."  She hesitated, looking back and forth, before very quietly whispering the word.  
Uh, ok.
"I'm, not sure what to say about that."  Twilight said, and we all nodded in agreement, "Anything else?"
"He left.  He didn't take anything, and didn't say anything else.  He just, left.  I think he went back to where he had found shelter."
It needed to be said, so, I morosely spoke up, "I think we owe somepony an apology."  We owed him that much, and everypony nodded in regretful agreement


Brian
I was miserable.  I was suffering from withdrawal from the cigarettes, my bruises and muscles aches, and my nose still hurt.  The meat was taking forever to cook, and my stomach was beginning to start a rebellion against me.  I didn't feel up to smoking and appeasing the addiction and the smoke made cooking food smell funny, I didn't want to waste any alcohol or painkillers on pain that I could tolerate, and I didn't really have anything to satiate my hunger until the meat was cooked, so I was left to my physical ails.  
Having little to do, I checked on the moose skin, fearing the worst.  I must be one of the most unlucky people in existence, because I'd left the skin in the water for too long without retreating it with salt.  The skin had become weak, and ripped apart in my hands, while the fur easily fell off.  The skin was ruined.  Worthless.
I dumped the garbage can full of waste and bad water into the brush, and tossed the can at the van.  Nothing can ever go my way, can it?  I asked myself rhetorically.  At least the meat is still good.
I sat down heavily on the log by the fire, and turned the meat over.  The large slab of meat was starting to brown nicely.  If it kept up like this, it would be ready in a few minutes.  
*Rustle Rustle*  The bushes shifted, and I instantly had my knife in hand and in a combat ready pose, regretting that I didn't have a gun on me.  
"Who goes there!?"  I demanded.
Out from the bushes came a pony, and my mood was further soured.  I cut it off before it had a chance to say anything, "The hell do you want?"
The pony stopped moving, and stared at me.  Despite being a completely different species, I could see the emotions and thought process cross its' face.  I saw surprise, confusion, a tinge of fear, uncertainty, and finally rested on curiosity.  While the pony thought up a response, I studied it.  
The pony wasn't a pegasus or a unicorn, so it was like the orange one that broke my nose.  It's coat was between a light brown and tan, and it's mane was deep blue with streaks of black in it.  It was actually a really good color combo and assorted nicely with the long hair.  The ponies eyes were extremely different from the other ponies I'd seen.  Whereas my captors had round iris's and bright eye colors, this one had a dark, blood-red eye coloration with a cat-like slint for an iris.  The pony was actually kinda pretty in an artistic sense.
The rest of the pony wasn't really much to say about.  The pony was a little thinner than the ponies who'd held me captive.  The rainbow pony was thin, but lithe, the orange one had been muscular, and the other two had been neither of those.  They didn't look strong, thin, or fat.  This one looked slightly malnourished.  Not to where it was ridiculously so, but very noticeable.  The skin underneath the fur was very close to appearing tight.  The last few details were even more trivial than my observations on it's body type.  Her tail matched the same color pallet and pattern as the mane, and was long, while the pony wore large... saddlebags for a lack of a better term.
The pony responded just as I finished observing it, "Nothing, really.  I smelled the meat cooking," the voice was feminine, and she pointed at the makeshift grill, "and I wanted to see who would be cooking it.  Not many ponies eat meat."  She paused to think for a second, "Um, what are you?  What's your name?"
My suspicion of the pony dissipated very slightly, enough for me to sit down.  I found it highly unlikely that someone besides me would be out in the middle of the forest after a rain unless it was about me.  Still, she hadn't done anything yet, and seemed genuinely curios.  
Might as well indulge her.  "I'm a human, name's Brian."  
"Nice to meet you Brian!  My name's Midnight Star!  What are you doing out here?"  She sounded friendly, no sign of deception or malicious intent.
"Living.  And right now, trying to cook my..." I looked up at the sky.  It was a cheerful blue, and the sun appeared to be nearly straight above me, "Lunch.  Wasn't able to eat yesterday."  As if to punctuate my statement, my stomach rumbled.  And as if by providence, her stomach rumbled too.  It was louder, but didn't have the same "I haven't eaten since yesterday" sound to it.  More of a "feed me something good damn it!" kind of rumble.
She laughed nervously, "I don't suppose you have enough for two?  I skipped breakfast."  she shyly put a hoof to her belly.
Well, she seems friendly enough.  Hasn't done anything yet either.  No reason to be inhospitable.  "Sure, how much would you like?  I've got plenty, enough to last me a month before I have to go hunting again."  
Her face brightened, and she looked at the cooking meat in front of me, "Could I have a bit more than that?"  
More than... that?  I looked back at the slab of meat.  Most of it I was actually planning to save for dinner the piece was so big.  And she wanted more?  
Apparently noticing my look of surprise, she chuckled again, "It's not often I get to eat meat.  Most ponies look down on it, and it's painfully hard to get.  I want to enjoy as much as you're willing to part with.  As you can see," she turned slightly to show her side to me, and patted her belly, "I've got the room for it."  She was smiling good-heartedly.  Ok, so she is really thin by pony standards.  Don't really know why she had to emphasize that.  Maybe she was trying to break the ice?  
I gave her an amused smile, but didn't say anything about her choice of words, "Sure.  I'll get a table out and let you take your pick."  I swiftly stood up, sheathing my knife, and went over to the van.  Tied to the side was a folding table covered in a tarp to protect it from getting dirty.  Rapidly, I took it off the van, and set it up a couple yards away from the fire.  I grabbed a bucket that had some of the larger cuts of meat, and set it down next to the table.  I peeked over at the meat on the grill, which was turning into that perfect coloration.  I produced my one and only plate and a fork from the van, and retrieved the meat from the grill, and left it on the corner of the table.  
Midnight trotted over to my side as I pried open the meat bucket, and grabbed a few slabs of meat.  They were bloody, and relatively the same size of the meat I'd cooked, about 2 inches thick and almost 2 feet long.  Yeah, now that I thought about it, that meat was going to be tomorrow's breakfast too, maybe lunch too.  
I slapped the two pieces of meat on the table, and turned to Midnight, "Just how much bigger than my piece would you like?"  
Midnight was staring at the meat, drooling, "Huh, wha?  Oh!  Sorry, uh... could I get another half size of one of either piece?"  She was looking longingly at the meat, and I could see the pure desire she had for it.  I nodded, and grunted in affirmation.  
"Hey, I'm not asking for too much, am I?  I mean, it doesn't look like you have much."
I blew a raspberry, "Nah, it's fine.  I've got more meat in more buckets.  They're hanging in the trees.  Besides, a good host provides amply for guests, and you, Midnight, are my guest despite the lack of a permanent house."  I drew my knife, and admired the long blade.  The Marines made a good choice in knives when they chose the KA-BAR knife.  I sank the serrated black blade into the raw meat, and started cutting, putting my weight into each sawing motion.  My bruises ached, my muscles ached, and the exertion the cutting motions were requiring was a little unexpected.  A minute later, and I had cut one of the slabs of meat roughly in half, leaving it slightly lopsided.  I tossed the slightly smaller piece into the bucket, and closed the lid.  I figured that if she couldn't finish it all, it would be a good snack to take with her for later.  
"Sorry, but I don't have any spices for the meat.  Ran out a week ago, and haven't stopped at a store to get more."  I said as I placed the two pieces of meat on the grill.  They barely fit, but they did.  
I looked back at Midnight, who had a happy grin, "Well, good thing I was out gathering!  I've got some nice natural herbs that taste wonderful!"  I gave a smile to be polite.
"Then I'll bet you'll be getting a real good meal, eh?"  
She grinned toothily, "One in a lifetime!"  I saw her teeth, which were much different than what I had pieced together should have looked like.  Her teeth were very sharp.  It was an interesting detail, but I decided against asking about it at the moment.  
I ate as much of my food as I could while keeping an eye on the new meal being cooked.  Which was about two bites.  The meat was good, don't get me wrong, but there was just so much of it!  Then I tended to Midnights' food.  She handed, or hoofed (I guess), a stalk of plant life, which reminded me of Oregano or something similar.  I held it over the meat, and crumbled it up, spreading the small bits evenly over the steaks and rubbed it in.  
I recalled an especially good seasoned tenderloin steak I once had, "Man, these would be really good with some lemon-pepper."
I was suddenly aware of Midnight being right next to as she gasped, "You're right!  That would be perfect with this!"  She paused, "By the way, what is this?  I mean, it's so thick and big."
I shrugged, "Moose.  Big old bull."
Again, she gasped, "You took down a MOOSE!  How?  No offense, but you're kinda small and scrawny to take down something that big."
I smiled.  For whatever reason, I found that statement kind of funny, "You're right, I am a bit smaller than a moose, but it's not like I killed it with my bare hands.  I had my gun with me."
"A gun?" 
I shrugged, "Yeah, uh, do you ponies have any projectile weapons?"
"Yeah, we have crossbows."
"Ok, good, I've got a comparison then.  Think of a gun as several times more powerful than a crossbow, and many times more accurate too."  
I looked over to her, and she seemed entranced in awe.  Heh, she looks kinda cute like that.  Actually, she looks pretty cute in general.  Like a big teddy bear.
"Wow, I'd like to see it in action sometime!  Maybe I could go with you when you go hunting next?"  
I smiled, "I don't see a problem with that."  I turned the meat over, and asked for more of that spice, and she handed another stalk.  I broke it in half, handed one back, and crumbled the herb over the meat and rubbed it in as well.  
Having finished most of the work for now, I sat down on the log to watch.  Midnight took a seat next to me, kinda close too.  Closer than I was used to.  
Don't think about it too much.  You're a social outcast, you don't know the first thing about human norms, so what makes you think you know anything about pony norms?  Just act like there's nothing wrong.
"So where you from?"  She asks as cheerful as ever.
Oi.  "Hope you like stories, it's a long one."

Half an hour later
"Ok, that's the whole of it.  Oh, the meat's ready."  I grabbed the tongs next to the grill, and used them to carry them over to the table, "Soup's on!"  
Midnight squealed in delight, and rushed over to the table with a manic grin.  "Would you like a fork and knife?"
"Please."  Her eyes were drilling holes into the meat, and her tongue lopped out, licking her lips.  
Damn that's a long tongue.  I wonder how her teeth don't rip it apart?  I thought as I took out my KA-BAR again, and handed it to her handle first, only to realize that she didn't have any hands to hold it.  That didn't stop her though, her hoof grabbed the knife, and she got to work cutting the meat while I fetched a fork.  I only had my back turned for maybe 10 seconds, and when I turned back, she'd gotten all of the meat cut into manageable pieces, and was eating off the plate without the use of her hooves, knife abandoned to the table.  
"Would you like that fork now?"  I asked, somewhat in awe with the speed she was eating.  
"Uh unge muh mund!"  She mumbled through her food.  I'll take that as a no.  
Seriously, she was inhaling the steaks.  It was going very quickly.  Uh... I'm going to get her something to drink.  Water, let's go with that.  Seeing as how she was a pony, and likely needed more than I did, I grabbed a few tall glasses, and set them in the stream.  I'd already drank out of it the first day I woke up, and I wasn't suffering from any adverse effects, so I figured it was ok to drink.  
I got back to Midnight just as she was finishing up the last of the steak.  She had juices dripping down her chin, and she had a euphoric grin plastered to her face.  I offered her the water, which she puffed out a, "Thanks" and quickly downed the water.  
She placed the last glass on the table with a great gasp for air.  She looked over at me meekly, "I don't suppose you have any more I could have?  That was really good, and I really want some more."  
I stole a glance at her belly, which was now hanging with a significant bulg.  I shrugged, "If you think you can handle it.  Honestly, I'm still surprised you managed to eat as much as you did."  I handed her my piece.
She giggled, and proceeded to dig in with as much vigor with what had been my plate as she had with her first meal.  Again, the moose meat disappeared down her throat.  When she finished, she sighed, content.  
"Oooh!  I've never been able to eat like that, and it was absolutely amazing!"  She looked around the campsite, and apparently didn't find what she was looking for, "Do you have something I lay on?  I'm really full, and I would like to lay down."  
I nodded.  I knew exactly what she'd like.  I got back into my truck, and brought out my bean-bag-"bed".  Basically, a giant bean-bag-chair that I only ever slept in when I got wasted or had been having trouble sleeping.  I set it down a yard away from the fire, and beckoned to it.
She smiled thankfully at me, "Thank you."  She eased herself into it, and laid on her side facing me.  I sat down on my log, and stretched my legs a little.
"So, an alien, hmm?"  I nod.  She grinned, "I bet you've got questions.  I know I do."  
I nodded, "Yeah.  For a start, where am I?"
"You're on Equus, in the Everfree forest of Equestria."
I nodded, drifting my gaze off to the forest, "So, why's it so hard for you to get meat?"
She shifted, "Well, it's kinda complicated.  Have you seen any other ponies yet?"
Have I ever.  "Yeeah.  Let's just say that we didn't meet on good terms."
"Well, most ponies are herbivores, so they don't eat any meat.  My dad is an earth pony, and my mom was a bat pony.  That's where I get my eyes and diet.  Bat ponies are omnivores, but they need a healthy amount of protein which they can't get from most plants.  Since nearly all bat ponies make their living in the guard, so the crown pays for their diet.  But I'm not eligible to enter, so I can't get any meat unless I want to spend huge amounts of bits on imported food from Griffonstone.  Oh, and bits is what we call our money, by the way.  Even when I can afford the meat, most ponies look down on eating meat, so I can't really eat it with my friends.  So, that's the reason why I look so thin most of the time, and why it's so hard."
I could sympathize with her.  Not being able to eat what you need to be healthy must be making her miserable.  I felt... compelled to help, "You know, I could help out with that if you want.  I've got a lot of food myself, and I can always go out and get more."
Midnights' smile melted my heart, "You would do that?  For me?"
I smiled goodheartedly, "Hey, we omnivores need to stick together.  Besides, I like your company."
Somehow, she smiled even more warmly, "Thanks.  That's really nice."  Then she smirked, "But you do know I'll have to pay you back, right?"
I snorted, "Details.  Anyhow, I got another question.  Why were you out here?"
"Well, I was hoping to come across some beehive or some recently diseased animal I could eat.  But I got distracted gathering some herbs that I could use to spice up my meals.  Then I smelled your little barbecue."
Huh, didn't know a vegetarian culture would know what a barbecue was.  
"Any more questions?"  I thought for a moment, and shrugged.  Without thinking, I looked up at the sky, which was starting to darken.
"Damn, we've been here for a long time.  It's already getting dark."  Midnight went rigid, and her head jerked up to face the sky, and she immediately blanched.
She gave a hesitant laugh, "I don't suppose you'd mind me staying for the night?  I may be half bat pony, but the night vision didn't cross over."
I gave her a warm smile.  It was amazing how such a short amount of time it would make me like someone, "Sure thing, you can sleep in the bean-bag-bed.  Come on, let's get inside."  I put my things away, making sure to put the bucket back into the tree, and opened the door to the van.  With a smirk, I beckoned to the truck, "Ladies first."
She giggled, and hopped up into the van bed.  I tossed the bean-bag-bed into the van after her, and came in closing the door behind me.  Inside, Midnight was looking intensely at my bed.
With a hoof, she pointed at it, "What's... this?"  She almost sounded disgusted at the sight of it.
I shrugged (I seemed to being doing a lot of that lately), "It's my bed."
She slowly turned her head to face me, "No, really.  What is it?"
Where was she going with this?  "My, bed."  
She shook her head, "That isn't a bed!  It looks more like a short, rotting shelf!  How can you sleep on that?"
"Quite easily."  
She harrumphed dramatically, where I thought she was doing it for a comedic effect, "Do humans normally sleep on wooden boards with blankets that are falling apart?"
"Well, no, not really.  I've actually been meaning to fix that, but I've never been able to get enough furs to make a mattress or new blanket.  I use it more to keep my back straight, and I only sleep on my bag when I'm really drunk, in pain, or when I'm having trouble sleeping."  
She raised an eyebrow, "Well, while I'm here, you are not, I repeat, ARE NOT, sleeping on that thing."  She gave me a snarky grin.
I gave her my own sly smile, "Then where would I be sleeping?"
"The bean-bag-bed."  She said automatically.
"Ok, where will you be sleeping then?  The 'shelf'?"  I let her think about it, expecting a harsh realization.  That didn't come though.
"On the bean-bag-bed with you.  I mean, it's really big, enough for the both of us."  She sounded like there wasn't anything wrong with that.
"Uh, question.  Is there no, stigma, about peo, eh, ponies sleeping together?"
She shook her head, "No, besides, even if there was, we're not doing anything, and we're out in the middle of the forest.  Nopony would wonder in on us anyhow."  She grabbed my shirt sleeve, and through clenched teeth, "Come on bigh ghuy!  Leth get to sthleep."
I wrenched my sleeve out of her grip with a weak twist of my arm, "Not yet, I want to get into something more comfortable."
"Yeah, that reminds me, why all the clothes?"
"Eh, it's a big social taboo for humans to go around nude.  Usually, it's something reserved for lovers or for... explicit things."  With that, I took off my shirt, and tossed it in the corner, "I don't really care either way.  It's mainly a comfort thing for me, and it's decent."  
I looked back over to Midnight from the corner with my shirt, and I saw Midnight staring at my torso.  I knew exactly what she was staring at.  Years of experience taught me what people, and now ponies, were thinking when they saw the scars.  She took hesitant steps towards me.  When she was only a foot away, she raised a hoof up, and felt my scarred skin.  The nerves under the damaged skin were long since deadened to touch on the surface, and quite frankly, I was surprised I was able to feel my bruising.  Needless to say, I couldn't feel her hoof going over my skin.
Her eyes were glistening, "What happened to you?"  She looked up, and my heart clenched.
Reluctantly, I told her, "I was caught in a really bad fire when I was a kid.  Needless to say, I didn't get away unscathed.  I got this in the same incident."  I point to the scar on my face.
I was not prepared for what she did next.  She reared up on her rear hooves, and hugged me.  She had been taller than me when all fours, and when on her hind hooves, the height disparity was even more prominent, as I was being pressed against her bulging belly.  I could actually hear her stomach churning.
"I'm so sorry Brian.  That must have really hurt." She said somberly.
I smiled, even though I knew she couldn't see it, "It's ok, it was a long time ago."  That may have been a lie, if my dreams and all the abuse I'd suffered over the years for it counted.  
Midnight lowered herself back down to all fours, though she left a hoof on my shoulder, "How much of you was burned?"
I fiddled with my pants' zipper, and let it drop, "From the bottom of my feet to my collarbone.  My, eh, delicates were spared though from the extra layer of clothing."  I kicked my pants over at the corner my shirt was in, grabbed my pajama shorts, and put them on.  
When I looked back to Midnight, she looked to be hurting really bad, and a tear managed to drip down her cheek.  I smiled softly, and wiped it away with my thumb, "Come on now, no use crying over the past.  I'm ok now."
"I know, but for somepony to go through so much suffering is terrible, and I feel really bad for you.  I mean, you may be a bit jumpy, but you're a good stallion."
I chuckled at her word choice, and smiled warmly at her, "I'm not exactly a pony, or a stallion, but thanks.  That means a good deal to me."  I meant it.  Already, in one day of knowing her, I was valuing her word, and deeply appreciated her concern and care.  
Her face screwed up in confusion, "You're a mare?"
I laughed deeply, "Pffft! No, I'm a man.  It's a pony equivalent to a stallion though."
Her lips quivered in a smile, before laughing herself, "You humans are a weird bunch."  Don't I know it.  "Come on, let's go to sleep."  She gave me a prod towards the bean-bag-bed, and I complied good naturedly.  
I laid down on the side of the bag, and Midnight followed.  Once she was comfortable, she reached out to me, and pulled us towards each other for a hug, "Goodnight Brian."  She yawned, giving me a show of her sharp teeth, snuggled her head into the bed, and promptly fell asleep.  
I quietly snickered, "Goodnight Midnight."
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
I woke up at six, like usual, to an odd, but very nice feeling I'd never felt before.  I was warm, hugging something warm, and unfathomably comfortable and happy.  I didn't really want to, but I peeled open my eyes, and looked at what I was hugging.
A pony.  I was staring at a pony that was sleeping right in front of me.  My mind started screaming in panic as I remembered my last encounter with ponies.  That is, until I realized that  I knew this pony.  It was Midnight.  She was sleeping peacefully, her mouth hanging open, tongue lolling out of the corner of her mouth.  She looked, cute.  My mind kind of short circuited, and I felt my face flush with heat.  Ok, I know what this is.  Time to go!
I gently extricated myself from her to avoid waking her up.  She mewed in her sleep, obviously missing her sleeping companion.  She shifted, squirming around in the bed, but she didn't wake up.  I smiled at the cute pony, and opened the door as quietly as I could.  The wheels the door ran on to be raised onto the ceiling still creaked even with how slowly I lifted it.  I looked back to Midnight, who was still asleep, but frowning.  
My stomach rumbled, demanding food.  I guess I know what I'm doing.  Making us breakfast.
Hopping down out of the van, I started preparing the fire, setting the dry wood on fire with a few matches.  Within a few minutes of me poking and prodding the sticks and logs around, the fire was burning away.  I laid the grill guard over it, grabbed a bucket, and slapped some meat on it.  But thinking back to yesterday, and how much Midnight ate, I slapped on the largest chunk in the bucket.  Another turning in my stomach told me to relieve myself, and it was now that I realized, I'd never thought of where I would do my business.  I wasn't 'going' near my living area, I don't think I'd be able to handle the smell, so I'd have to go a ways out.  I decided that I'd just run out into the brush, and do it in the bushes.  
Coming back feeling disturbed and ashamed of my lack of forethought, I washed my hands downstream a ways, and splashed my face with some water.  Ok, let's check on the meat.
Back at camp, the meat was starting to turn brown, so I flipped it over, and watched over it, letting it cook.  The smell began to waft up to my nose, and I felt my mouth water.  It looked good, it smelled good, I hoped it tasted good too.  From inside the van, I heard hooves thudding against the metal floor.  Out came Midnight, eyes mostly closed, sniffing at the air with a whimsical grin.  
"Do I smell more meat?"  She murmured.  
"Yep.  I take it you want some?"  
She moaned, "Oooh, meat for dinner, and meat for breakfast.  I must have died and gone to heaven."  I chuckled.  Some of the smaller pieces had cooked well enough, and I had an idea.	
"Hey Midnight, catch!"  I tossed the smallest bit that was about the size of one of my fingers, at Midnight.  Her eyes widened, and she quickly opened her mouth to chomp down on it.  She eyed me mischievously as she chewed once, and swallowed.
I tossed a larger piece, which she also ate.  A few more and I was tossing them in different directions.  Each time, she moved into position, and snatched it out of the air.  All I had left now, was the largest slab of meat, which had taken up the majority of the grill.  I examined it critically, and took it off, putting it on the table, which I'd forgotten to put away.  
"Eat up!  I'm going to make my breakfast now."
She gave me a wide smile and a, "Thank you," and chomping down eagerly.  I laid out a small piece of meat about the size of my hand, and watched it cook.  Not even a minute passed when I heard a manly burp.  I turned around to look at Midnight, who was blushing and trying to hide it with a hoof.
"Sorry."  She muttered shyly.  I just chuckled, and went back to observing my food.  Midnight walked over to me, and sat up next to me, leaning into my side.  She sighed contently, and watched it with me.
"Brian, I forget if I've told you this, but thank you.  This has been great."  
I wrapped my arm over her shoulders in a friendly embrace, and gave her a good natured jostle, "Your welcome.  Honestly, it's been nice for me too.  You're the first person I can call a friend, and it feels good spending time with you."
She snuggled into me, "I'm happy I made you feel good.  That's why I'm sorry to say, I have to go home.  I bet my dad is having a panic attack over my absence."
"Don't worry about it, I understand.  Swing by anytime you want.  If I'm not around, I'll probably be out exploring or hunting.  I'll show you the path out."  We stood up at the same time, and I took the meat off the grin to eat on the way.  It'd cooked well enough, so it should be safe for eating.  
Midnight went back into the van, picked up her saddle bags, and left with me.  While we walked and I ate, I noticed that Midnight was looking a lot better now.  Her coat seemed to gleam, her eyes had a brightness that wasn't there before, and she was walking with a spring in her step, even with the added weight in her stomach, which was now hanging lower than last night.  I figured that this meant she was getting healthier, and we came to the split.
"Ok, take a right, and you're on your way out.  Take a right, and you'll find a farm.  The left should take you back to Ponyville."
She smiled at me, and gave me a bear hug, "Thanks Brian, I'll see you soon!"
I returned the hug, "I'm going to hold you to that."  
She giggled, and went back on all four.  She trotted off, giving me a friendly wave, which I gave back.  
I smiled, and still felt good as I made my way back to camp.  I finished off my meat, and got back home.  I put away my meat bucket, which was getting pretty close to being empty, and sat down with little to do.  
Huh, looks like I forgot about this part.  The boredom.  Well, time to explore.  
Before I left, I put out the fire, cleaned and stored the table, grabbed my .308 rifle, and closed the van.  Let's see what this place has to offer.


Midnight
I trotted along the path happily.  I'd met somepony who had finally understood me.  He shared my love for meat, and was so generous that he let me eat my fill not once, but twice, and had further welcomed me to visit again to eat with him.  In fact, I think he liked me, even.  He hadn't even noticed my lack of a cutie mark, or my frail form.  So I didn't have to explain my lack of ability to gain one, or how unhealthy my diet was.  Before I'd fallen asleep, I'd felt him hug me and murmur happily.  Even for something so alien as him, he was kind of, cute in a way.
After his initial distrust, he'd warmed up to me, and was very friendly.  His species customs regarding wearing clothing were odd, but noble in a way.  That led me to thinking about his horrible scarring.  Simply remembering the scars sent a shudder through my body, and I felt bad for him.   Nopony should feel such suffering, no matter how little they cared about it and brushed it off.  I wonder if those marks are from that fire?  I'll have to ask him later.  
I came out of the forest canopy, and drank in the sunlight and it's warmth.  Being in the forest was fine, but the sunlight was always welcome.  But the peace of the night and the purity of the moonlight was occasionally better.  Mom had explained that as the thestrial bat pony in me.  
As I continued trotting along, my belly started to feel much heavier, and the food inside sloshed and gurgled.  Soon, I had to slow down in a slow walk to catch my breath and ease my aching legs.  I walked into the outskirts of town, and made my way home.  As soon as I crossed the threshold, my father grabbed me in a tight hug.
"Midnight!  Where were you?  I thought you'd been killed!  I was worried sick!" He yelled.
From the kitchen, I heard Sundance go, "Oooh, she's in troubllllle!"
Oh, ponyfeathers.  "Sorry dad.  I lost track of time with somepony I met in the Everfree."
He froze, "You met somepony... in the Everfree?"
"Yeah, he was very nice."
My father recoiled a little.  That was probably a mistake. "He?  Who is this... he?"
I nervously chuckled, "His name's Brian.  He isn't exactly a pony."
Dad's eyebrow rose, "Was he a Griffon?"
"No.  He isn't anything any of us have seen before.  He isn't really from around here."
My father was looking a little unnerved, his eyes looking frantic, "What is he?  Did he hold you captive?  Did he try to hurt you!?"  He grabbed my shoulders and shoved his muzzle against mine.
I pushed him away, "No!  He didn't hurt me or keep me captive!  He's a human, even though that shouldn't mean much to you.  We talked a bit, he gave me some delicious food, and let me sleep in his home for the night when we saw the sun going down."
Dad looked me over, scrutinizing every inch.  His eyes slowly widened until I thought they were going to pop out of his head, "What did he feed you?  And how much did you eat?"
I chuckled nervously again, and put a hoof to my belly, "He gave me moose meat, and he let me eat as much as I wanted.  He even said I could come back to eat more."  
"He... WHAT?!"
"He gave me meat.  What's wrong with that?"
He roared, "HE COULD HAVE EATEN YOU!!!!  That's what's wrong!  It's some unknown creature, who knows what he eats?  It could eat ponies for all you know!  It could be fattening you up to eat you!"
"How could you say that?  You haven't even met him!  He's gone through so much suffering, yet he was nice and caring.  His eyes never left my face the whole time.  He even woke up before me to cook us breakfast!  Would some bloodthirsty monster do that?"  This was the first time I'd ever gotten angry with dad before, and it... felt wrong.  I didn't want to be angry with him, I just wanted him to understand.
"I don't need to meet him, to know that it isn't safe for you to see him again!  I don't care how nice he is, you are going to stay away from him!"
"I'm 20 dad!  I can fend for myself!  Besides, he wouldn't hurt me."
"And how do you know?"
"Because I'm the first friend that he's ever had!"
"And what does that tell you about him?"  He said unphased, still stubbornly refusing to see eye to eye.
"That he's been suffering for all his life!  When he was only a child, he was badly burned in a fire that killed his parents.  He was bullied for over a decade from the kids in his orphanage, his school, and his guardians!  No one ever tried to be his friend!  It's a miracle that he opened up to me in the first place."  I reflected on that last sentence.  It's a miracle that he opened up to me.
For a while, my father was quiet, not saying anything.  Finally, he spoke with a stoney voice, "I want to meet him before you see him again.  But your mother is going to go with us.  We're waiting for the weekend."
I sighed in relief, he'd finally relinquished the point, and come to a compromise, "Thank you."
"You still haven't told me exactly how much he gave you."
I chuckled, feeling all the tension draining, "He gave me some very generous portions, at my request.  You know how rare it is for me to get to eat meat."
He frowned, "That I do." he sighed, "I really wish you'd inherited my dietary habits instead of you're mothers'.  All of your brothers have it."
"It certainly would make it easier, but then again," I licked my lips dramatically and playfully stuck out my tongue, "I wouldn't be able to eat such good food."
Dad shook his head with a smile, "You and your humour.  By the way, until this weekend, you're grounded."
"WHAT!?!"

Brian
I was smoking another cigarette as I walked through the dense foliage.  After going down the path, and taking a left, I'd come to a hut built into a tree.  I was not ready to be meeting any new ponies or whatever the hell else was in this forest, and tried taking another path.  This path had dissolved into an animal trail with plants encroaching tightly on either side.  I was getting increasingly irritated and was contemplating giving up and going back when the path opened up to a giant clearing that housed a crumbling castle.  
Cool!  I felt my inner child grab hold of me, and I had to investigate the castle.  Forget the danger!  This was awesome!  I still had some semblance of caution to take my rifle in my hands, and entered under the gate, which even after it's blatant age, was still standing proudly.
The courtyard was small, the only remaining decoration being a water fountain that no longer flowed.  Moss and vines krept up the walls from between the worn cracks between the grey bricks, and there were some collapsed areas spread about, but the main entry gate still stood with its' rotten door hanging open.  
Still curious, I entered through the castle door, and looked inside.  It was extremely dark, which was a testament to the longevity of the roof.  I took out a flashlight from one of my many pockets, and scanned the room with the beam of light.  I was in a empty hallway, and my light couldn't reach it's depths.  So I walked on, taking in the architecture.  I wondered exactly how old this place was.  It was obviously old enough to be in the process of crumbling, but not old enough to have fully collapsed.  If I'd had to guess, it had been abandoned for 500 to 1,500 years.  Maybe longer.  The hallway split off to many different rooms, most of them being old amory rooms, a few guest rooms, and a kitchen.  I didn't linger in these, for everything had broken down with age to the point where taking anything would be a waste.  
Finally, I came to a massive throne room.  The rug was in tatters, but the two hanging banners were in decent shape.  If I ever go into that town, I might get a good price for those.  I slung my rifle over my shoulders, and started climbing along the many handholds in the bricks.  I was a good thirty or so feet above the ground by the time I got to the first banner.  It was nice, depicting the night sky with stars and a glorious moon.  I unhooked it from the wall, and let it fall to the ground, the gold frame clanging against the ground.  I climbed over to the other one.  This one seemed slightly less magnificent, having a few mountains and golden orbs, but little else to make it a treasure.  Still, I took it down.  All of a sudden, the wall rumbled and spun around with me still on it.  When it finally stopped moving, the force of it sent me flying across the new room and onto the floor.  
"What the hell was that?!"  I stared at the wall in disbelief and shock.  I flailed my arms in a general 'what the heck' gesture, and felt around the door.  I couldn't see anything that hinted at the fact that wall would spin again, until it spun again, and threw me back into the room I'd been in before.  
"Ok, seriously.  WHY!??!"  I punched the door out of exasperation, and picked up the banners.  
I looked to the side of the throne pedestal, and found another door.  I tried opening it, but found that the nob had rusted in place.  I kicked the door, barely moving it.  I took a few steps back, and rammed my shoulder into it, throwing it open and bruising my shoulder.  I rolled my arm, and continued in.  Inside, I found a bedroom.  It was odd, the apparent royals living behind the throne room and in a direct path to the castle doors.  
The room was divided in two, one decorated in dark colors reminiscent of the night, and the other designed in bright colors for the day.  This, along with the two banners, confused me.  Why was the castle divided like this?  Were there two royals that lived here?  Did they not like each other and fight?  I couldn't know.  Again, most of the things in here were rotten and unusable.  The wood for the bed posts have long since buckled under the weight, and the mattresses had springs sticking out from the bed.  There were a few nicknacks spread about the room, but nothing particularly valuable.  It was mildly irritating, but whatever.  It was still cool being in here though.  It was like an entirely different world in here, lost to the ages of time.  Although, I guess I wasn't too far off with it being a different world.  I wasn't on Earth anymore, that much was obvious.  But I couldn't bring myself to be sad over the fact I was somewhere's else.  I could literally build a new life from the ground up, I just needed to learn the rules, and take everything with some thought and understanding.
I went in deeper through the castle, and with my new determination, reviewed my first encounter with the natives of this world.  That orange pony, who'd I'd been harboring anger with along with the pegasus, had kicked me straight in the face.  Initially, I didn't think that there had been any reason for the attack.  Thinking now, though, I realized that it probably hadn't seen anything like me before, or had bad experiences with something resembling me.  Maybe I just scared it?  That would explain what that pegasus had reacted.  Probably figured I was attacking its' friend.  Still, LIGHTNING?!!?  That seemed really excessive.  I couldn't help but wonder why it would do that, even if it thought I was attacking the orange one.  
I left figuring that out when I knew more, and continued through the castle.  I was in a new hallway now, devoid of any new details.  I was so focused on the walls, that I didn't notice that I'd stepped on a trap plate.  The floor opened up beneath me before I could react, and fell through, the floor resealing.  I tumbled down the slope beneath the floor screaming in terror, and landed in a heap.  
"Ugh, what is with this castle?"  I asked myself pointlessly.  I turned my light around me, and found that I was in a small, empty trap room with a single hole on one side.  I'm not trapped, am I?  My heart dropped, and felt hopeless.  In a desperate attempt at freeing myself, I stuck my arm through the hole, and felt around on the other side.  There was nothing.
*FWOOSH*  Me and the banners were sent spinning out of the room with another revolving wall.  
"I am so done with this damn castle."  I removed my hand, and looked at my new surroundings.  
Severed... pony legs holding fire sconces.  What... what in the actual fuck is wrong with these ponies!?  I pinch the bridge of my nose and groaned in both irritation and discomfort from the still sore nose.  Seriously, who does this kind of shit?  Psychopaths?
I got out of that hallway with an undignified haste, and kept walking.  In another hallway, suits of what could only be pony armor flanked the walkway.  They were kinda cool.  Dark, spiked, and made to look frightening to any enemy soldiers who may or may not be superstitious.  One pedestal, on which they stood, was strangely empty.  I walked up to it, looking for any evidence that it had been taken.  No tracks around it, no dust imprints, nothing.  Then, and I really should have seen this coming, the platform flipped, forcing me in.  I slid down another ramp screaming, and was promptly dumped on an outdoor ledge, barely coming to a stop before falling off a VERY tall height.  I looked to my left, just as lightning struck in the distance, booming.  I'm not proud of it, but I screamed like a little girl, and recoiled away from the vicious stone dragon with glowing eyes.  The space I'd just occupied flipped again, leaving me trapped on the ledge with the stone monstrosity.  
Ok, not alive.  It can't hurt you.  I told myself while backing away, only to bump into another one.  Itcan'thurtyouitcan'thurtyouitcan'thurtyou! I screamed in my head.  I proceeded to inch around the stone beast, hugging the wall, and kept on doing so until I found a window and crawled through.  My heart was beating hard and fast, while my breathing was nearly at the level of hyperventilating.  
Ok, calm down, you're ok.  You're ok.
HOLY SHIT I NEARLY DIED!  Not ok!  NOT OK!
I crumpled to the floor crying in terror.  After a few minutes of that, I came to the only logical conclusion, "I'm getting the hell out of here!"
I tossed the banners, and ran through the corridors and past many rooms, not bothering to check for traps or to admire the stonework.  I got lost more times than I could count until I finally ran out the main doors, past the fountain, out the gates, and back into the forest screaming.
I ran all the way home just like that.  Once I made it back, I leapt inside the van, closed the door, and hid underneath the bean-bag-bed.  I don't know how long I was under there, but eventually the adrenaline from the fear died, I fell into a fitful sleep.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
I moaned, getting off my bed.  It'd been a few nights since I'd visited the castle, and when Midnight had visited.  I didn't know what happened to her, but she hadn't spent enough time alone in the forest to run into anything, so I figured she just got caught up in something and hadn't been able to come by.  I mean, there was no way she'd forget about the food that worked like ecstasy on her.  
I arched my back, listening to the orchestra of cracks and pops.  Looking in my mirror, I was pleased to see that my bruises were healing nicely, and a brief feeling of my nose told me that it was healing quickly too, but still needed some time.  I think I've been stuffed in here long enough, time for a walk.  
I left the van, taking with me my shotgun, loaded to alternate between slugs and buckshot rounds.  I was still a little terrified over that monster I'd met that first day, so I really didn't want to be unprepared.  I even brought with me a few extra rounds just in case.  
The forest wasn't exactly lively today.  The birds were quiet, the animals were hiding, even the wind didn't seem to dare move.  It installed a feeling of dread as I walked to the fork in the path.  Maybe today was a bad time to stretch my legs?  I thought to myself.  I came out of the bushes, and looked around.  
Ok, seriously!  What is this place's problem with me?  A giant snake, thicker in body than I was tall, was slithering along the path.  RIGHT.  AT.  ME.
I drew my shotgun, and pointed at its' dragon-like head, "Give me a break will you!  I've had enough monsters and mythical creatures for a week!"  It didn't stop.
I growled in frustration, and pulled the trigger.  My shotgun boomed.  The monster hissed in pain from a fresh gushing wound in its' side.  The blood that landed on the ground fizzled and hissed, turning the grass black.  Oh shit, I think this thing's poisonous. I so brilliantly deducted.  I reared up at me, hissing at me in anger.
I heard something I really didn't want to hear, especially at a time like this, "HALT!"  
Of course, I didn't listen.  I cocked my shotgun, and fired at the head of the demon snake once again.  I wasn't entirely accurate, but a fine green mist still poofed into existence from the neck area.  From the sight of the wound, I'd say I just hit it with some buckshot. I cocked my shotgun again, and fired  a little higher at the still recoiling snake.  This time, the head jerked backwards, and it fell over on itself.
With one threat down, I spun around to face what the forest had in store next.  Three ponies, wearing what I assumed was guard armor, were holding their ears in pain.  Spears, swords and a net were laying about in front of them.  They weren't 20 feet away from me, with their weapons drawn.  
Oh yeah, they were just going to have a nice, friendly chat!  Weren't they? I sarcastically asked myself.  The guards recovered, shaking their heads, and looked at me with a mix of fear and anguish.
"You're coming with us, beast!"  One of them said.
"Hmmm, how about... no." I answered with a deadpan glare.  I cocked my shotgun for emphasis.
"Then you leave us with no choice."  Another one growled, picking up his sword in his mouth.
Oh, I'm leaving you with plenty of options.  Before another guard could pick up his spear, I shot the spear, blowing the sharp tip off and leaving it as a poor excuse of a staff.  "Looks like somebody doesn't like to play fair."  I muttered.
The guards waste no further time, and charged me.  I reversed my grip on the shotgun, and swung at the feet of the closest guard, who was trying to slash me with his sword.  I barely managed to duck underneath the blade, and he leapt over the butt of the stock.  I dodged out of the way of the massive thrown net, and twisted around a staff strike.  I rammed my shoulder into the staff wielding one, and while he was recoiling, smashed my stock into the side of his head, crumpling the armor.  
One down, two to go.  I curved my body around a stab attempt from the sword wielder, and kicked at his knees.  I heard a crack of bones being displaced, and the guard cry out in pain, dropping his sword to clutch his limb.  I turned to the final guard, who'd just managed to reclaim the net.
We didn't move for a bit as he eyed his unconscious, and moaning friends.  He looked conflicted on what to do, so I decided to give him a little push, "Leave.  If you keep this up, I'll only break you, then no one can get these two out of here."  That seemed to do it.  He wrapped the net around his fallen companions quickly, and started pulling them away.
"This isn't over."  He hissed.
"I know.  You just bought yourself some misery when it does though."  I'd had enough for the day.  
When he was out of sight, I started to get rid of the body.  If Midnight found the time to come back, I didn't want her accidentally getting hurt by this thing.  I walked around the pools of blood carefully, and grabbed it by the tail.  Pulling with all my might, I managed to pull the damn thing deep into the brush away from the path.  Having finished, I went back home.  
"I think it's time for some whiskey."


Midnight
The days had passed by SOOO slowly.  With nothing to do, and being confined to my bedroom was not at all enjoyable.  I could read a little, but we didn't have very many books, much less ones I enjoyed reading.  So most of the time I was just tossing a ball at the wall and catching or whacking it back at the wall.  Since I'd met Brian, I could swear I'd gained weight, although without a scale, it was impossible to really tell.  I know I at least felt a lot better and had more energy than I could spend cooped up in this room.
Finally, Saturday arrived, and I could finally come out.  Only when I did, I came across my mother, who was incredibly angry.
"You went out into the Everfree again?  I thought I told you not to do that without someone being out there with you!  And spending the night with some unknown creature?  What were you thinking?"
I winced a little.  Sure, I didn't really think I'd done anything wrong, but my mom's anger always kind of hit me a little harder than anypony else's, "I was hungry and hoping to get something in there, and nopony else dares go out there, so I'm not really left with many options."
Mom groaned, "Honey, I know you have my dietary needs, but you really need to be more careful!  What if that thing ate ponies or something?"
"Then I could've fought back and ran.  Besides, he was nice."
Mom sighed, then smiled, "Was he cute?"
I felt myself blush, "MOM!"
She laughed, which was always nice to hear, even though it was at my expense, "I'm sorry dear, you just make it too easy.  So, your father tells me he fed you some of his meat?"
I nod sheepishly, "Generously."
Mom looked at me more studiously, "Did you gain weight?"  There was a hint of jibing in her voice, so I just rolled my eyes, which got her to giggle.
"Ok, are we doing this?  I'd like to get this irrational fear of my friend out of the way."
"Sure hon, let's just get your father first.  Celestia knows he's going to want to see this friend of yours."
Turns out, dad was already prepared to leave, having already packed some lunch to eat later.  I secretly hoped we'd eat it at Brian's camp, but that was probably a long shot.  I really wanted it to go well so I could be with Brian again.  I loved his cooking.  And his company of course.  We went on our way to the Everfree, where I had to take the lead since I was the one who knew where I was going.  
When we got to the turn that would lead to his camp, the air had a really bad smell to it, and we all gagged at it.
"What is that smell?"  Dad asked, trying to hold down his breakfast.
Through a pinched nose, mom answered, "Basilisk blood.  Very poisonous."  She pointed at the ground, where we could see large pools of green, which I assumed was the blood, "I've fought a few in my time in the guard, and I've seen what even the blood can do to a pony.  Don't touch it."
We gave it a lot of space as we walked around it, and I led them into the hidden path.  They raised their eyebrows questioningly, not seeing the path until we were in a little deeper.  We walked for a few more minutes, and I could smell the cooking meat from here.  My mouth watered at the thought of the juicy, tender meat he made.  
I can't wait!


Brian
I took a third shot of whiskey before I decided I'd had enough, and started cooking breakfast.  It was a small chunk of meat that could fit into the palm of my hand, but I wasn't really all that hungry anyhow, so I'd probably wouldn't eat much of it anyhow.  Faint clopping of hooves entered my ear, and I looked up, hoping it was Midnight.
I wasn't exactly prepared to see her flanked by another two ponies which, unsurprisingly, I didn't recognize.  Midnight's bright smile did little to sway my fears when her companions were stone faced.  With all the stress in the past few days, I found my hand resting on the handle of my knife.
"Hey Midnight, who're your friends?"  I tried to sound friendly, but I think I was doing a bad job at it. 
She waved excitedly at me, "Hey Brian!  These are my parents.  When I didn't show up that night, dad got a little angry and... grilled me on where I'd been."
Inwardly, I scowled.  I really didn't like people, or in this case ponies, knowing where I lived.  But this was Midnight, surely she wouldn't bring ponies who were going to attack me.  
One pony was standing a little in front of Midnight.  She looked very much like her daughter, red cat-like eyes, dark mane colors, but certainly looked much healthier and stronger than Midnight did.  Her fur was dark grey, her mane was a monotone dark turquoise.  The other one gave me a sense of masculinity, slightly more buff around the chest and little muscle in the rear legs, and a more sloppy and shorter mane.  His fur was a pale tan, his mane black with a blue streak, and had an odd mark on his ass.  I vaguely remember my captors having marks, but I wondered why Midnight and her mom didn't have one.  His mark was of a log of wood being cut in half.  His eyes were a deep blue, and were more rounded.  
I stood up slowly, my joints groaning over the recent labors, "Afternoon, nice to meet you."  I stretched out a hand.  I was starting to wonder if I'd done something that they didn't know what to do with, and was about to retract my hand, when the mare put her hoof in it.
"It's nice to meet you too Brian, my name's Ebony Moon, and my husbands' name is Wood Cutter."  Well that's a very literal name.  
I looked over at Midnight, who was glancing between us and the grill.  I grinned knowingly at her, "Meat's pretty much done, help yourself Midnight."
Just as she was about to grab it and start eating (likely swallowing it whole if she was going to eat like she had last time), Wood put a hoof on her shoulder, holding her in place.
Heavily laden with hostile suspicion, he asked, "And what, exactly, is this meat?"
"Moose." 
The parents' eyes went wide, "You killed... a moose?  You?"
I nodded, "I can cook some up for you if you'd like.  I've got plenty."  I made the offer more out of trying to diffuse their aggression than to make friends with them.  The Ebony nodded with a smile, while Wood looked a little green and shook his head.  Didn't know that their fur could change colors.  Interesting.  
Wood finally let his daughter eat the meat which disappeared in less than a second, while I opened up a meat bucket, and tossed on some bloody steaks that had come off the shoulder of the moose.  While I turned and flipped the meat, Wood took out a small picnic and both parents took the opportunity to ask me questions.
"So, where did you come from?"  Ebony asked, sounding a lot more friendlier than her husband.
"Uh, I came from a country that you have no real chance of visiting.  Even if you did, you'd scare the everloving crap out of everyone you met."
"And that is?"
"America."
"America?  Never heard of it."  Wood stated, sounding like he didn't believe me.
"You shouldn't have.  It's on a completely different planet."  I flipped over the steaks.  
They were quiet for a bit, before Ebony started laughing, "I'm not joking.  I literally come from a different world, and I have no idea how I got here."
She stopped laughing, and raised an eyebrow.  Her husband asked the ensuing, and predictable, question, "And how do you know that?"
"Because on my world, the whole planet has been explored, and I've never heard of or seen talking ponies, or living, breathing mythological monsters.  It's a dead giveaway."
They didn't say anything for a while, before Wood asked another question, "So do you eat just meat?"
I shook my head, "I can eat other things too like fruits, vegetables and bread, but meat is just easier to get a hold of when I'm out in the bush and less dangerous to experiment with."
"Bush?" 
"Another word for forest."
Again, Wood asked another question, "Ever eaten a pony?"
"DAD!"
I stared at him for a second, "Would you mind repeating that?  I don't think I heard you right."  He couldn't've said what I thought he said.  Cause it wasn't possible.  No one would ask that, or even think that. Right?
Sounding irritated in me asking him to repeat himself, "I asked whether you've ever eaten a pony before."
My stomach churned angrily, and I felt sick, "Oh hell."  I stumbled away from my spot next to the fire to scramble away into a bush and throw up violently.  And dear Lord it hurt.  My muscles screamed in agony at the sudden convulsions while my mind recoiled in horror at the thought of eating a pony, especially when ponies here were intelligent.  
While I was hurling, a felt a hoof tapping my back, and heard Midnight saying, "There there, get it all out.  You'll be alright."  It was her voice that calmed me down and stopped the heaving.  
I was breathing heavily, my head hanging, "I... hugh... think that should... *pant*... answer your question."  I spit out some bile, and sat down.  Midnight sat down next to me, a hoof still on my shoulder and patting me.
"Are you alright?"  She asked concerned.
I put a hand over her back, and patted her, "Yeah, yeah I'm alright.  Just... really disgusted at the thought of eating something that can talk back to me."  
I shakily got to my feet, wiped my hands on my pants, and started working the meat again.  
"Wood, please don't ask questions like that again.  I've gotten the crap beaten out of me this week, and I really don't want to go through any more hurt from puking my guts out."
"I've got a question."  Ebony said.
I gestured meaninglessly at here, "Go ahead."
"When's the meat going to be ready?"  Both Midnight and Ebony asked in perfect synchronization.
I studied the meat carefully, trying to judge how well it was cooked, "I'd say it's about ready.  Depends on whether you like it a little bloody."
"Yeah, I'll wait."  Midnight sheepishly said.
We waited a little longer while Wood ate.  Finally, after an uncomfortable wait, the meat was cooked, and I served it up to my guests.  Midnight, like before, dug in like a starving animal, while her mother ate a little slower, and stopped after eating a football sized portion.  Midnight proceeded to clean the table.
"Celestia, Midnight!  If you eat like that, you're going to get fat!"  Ebony joked.
Between bites, "Don't care!  Too good!"  Remembering last time, I brought out the bean-bag-bed.  When she finished, Midnight crawled into bed with a content sigh.  I smiled warmly at her, glad that she enjoyed my basic cooking so much. Although, Wood looked slightly disgusted or sick at this display.
"I must say Brian, you cooked the moose very well."  Ebony complimented.
I nodded, "Thanks.  Had a lot of practise."
Another pause proceeded, and Wood finally broke it, "Well, I guess it's alright for Midnight to visit, so long as she tells us first."  From the bed, Midnight squeed.  Wood continued, "Well, I think it's time for us to take our leave.  You coming with us Midnight?"  
She shook her head, "I'll be back later.  I don't really want to move right now.  WAAAaay to comfortable."  We chuckled, and Midnight's parents packed up and left.
Clapping my hands together, and cheerfully, "Well!  That went well."


Twilight
The guards that had arrived yesterday came out of the forest to report back on their patrol.  They'd attracted a massive crowd, and once they arrived at the library, it was easy to see why.  All but one of them were badly beaten.  One had a severe concussion which would probably lead to permanent brain damage and bleeding, while another had a badly dislocated and broken knee.  He'd have to go through extensive therapy and a long recovery.  The only remaining guard had dragged them out of the Everfree, and seemed totally unharmed.  I helped them to the hospital to drop off the wounded guards.
"What happened?"
He growled, "We came across that thing you captured.  Before we tried to apprehend it, it killed a basilisk with a strange weapon.  It sounded like a louder version of thunder, and blew holes into the basilisk.  Then, it refused to be brought in, so we tried to force it.  You can see the results."
I stared at the guard in disbelief.  They'd tried to capture the creature?  Even with such dangerous weapons?  They were lucky to get away with their lives, and I told him as much.
He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, probably not the smartest thing we coulda done."
I shook my head, "At least he didn't want to kill you, or he would have."
The guard frowned, "Nevertheless, he resisted arrest, and assaulted three Royal Guards.  It's getting an arrest warrant as soon as the paperwork can be filled out."
I gave a disapproving glare, "I don't think so.  This was entirely your fault.  I think a better solution would be a 'Dangerous Creature' and a 'Do not Approach' classification, and write a encounter policy for the guards."
He scowled at me, "After what it did to my friends?  No bucking way!  He's going down, one way or another!"
I groaned, "I understand that you're angry, but this is what you should have expected when with the way you went about this.  Now I'm not saying you deserved or asked for it, I'm saying that's what you got with how you acted."
He growled again, "I'm going to wait for my friends to get out of surgery."  It was clear that he was done talking, so with a sigh, I left him alone in the waiting room.
Outside, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were waiting.  As per usual, Rainbow piped up first, "So what happened to those guards?  I heard they were beat up pretty bad."
I sighed again, "They thought it was a good idea to try and capture the creature, and they got into a fight.  They lost, badly.  One has a bad concussion, and another has a badly broken and dislocated knee.  The creature apparently let them go after he knew that they were beat.  Ugh, the situation was bad enough before, and they just made it worse!  Now I have to add this creature to a classification system and write an encounter policy for it."
They looked at each other, slightly confused.  "Uh, Twilight?  You mind telling those of us who aren't eggheads what your going to do?"
I facehoofed, "I'm going to make sure that ponies don't try to interact with him, and tell the guards how to not make him angry."  
"Oooh, yeah you should probably get on that."  RD said matter of factly.  Thank you captain obvious.
Pinkie spoke up for the first time, which to be honest, was surprising that she'd been this quiet for so long, "I don't get it.  Why would anypony be this mean to each other?"
I wrapped a hoof around her comfortingly, "It's not really mean, Pinkie.  Just a lot of really big mistakes, misunderstandings and overreactions.  If we're careful, we can still try to make peace with him.  In the meantime, we should also see if anypony else has interacted with him.  Can you girls go ask around?"  
They quickly agreed, and ran off to opposite corners of the town, asking ponies along the way.
I groaned, thinking about the situation, "Celestia give me strength."
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
Much to my surprise, after Midnight's parents left, she asked for more meat.  She'd already eaten a good amount of food, and any more I wondered if she would burst.  But she knew her limits, so I brought out the last bits of meat from the bucket.  Said pieces were much smaller than the pieces I normally cooked for her, but they made up for in quantity.  
When asking her if it was enough, she grinned playfully, "Perfect."  I shrugged and started cooking, but being in front of the fire for so long, and it being the middle and therefor hottest part of the day, I was beginning to cook like the meat.  So I took off my shirt, and tossed it at the van.
"Huh."  
Still watching over the meat, I prodded, "What's up?"
"Your skin, it's not as yellow and black last time I saw you.  Are you ok?"  She asked concerned.
I considered how to answer that, "Well, certainly better than I could have ended up as.  I'm still healing up from being struck by lightning, aaand a broken nose."
"Lightning?  What did lightning do to you?"
I looked back at her with a confused expression.  What did she mean by that?  "It nearly killed me.  I'm lucky I just got this bruising."
She blinked, "Really?  Your magic doesn't protect you from electricity?"
"Magic?  That exists here?  Uh, I guess my answer would be no, it doesn't.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that I don't have any magic period, that I'm aware of."
Her face is engulfed in surprise, "Sweet Celestia.  Do you know who hit you?  They need to apologize."
I shrugged and refocused on the meat, "Don't know their name.  I just know it hurt like bitch, and what they looked like."
"Tell me, maybe I know them."
Again, I shrugged, "Alright.  Baby blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane, redish eyes, and a mark on their butt.  Don't remember what it was though.  Pretty lithe, about as... well, was about as skinny as you."
She laughed, "Are you calling me fat?"
I snorted, "Hardly, more like you're gaining back your health.  I don't know much about ponies, but you looked starved when we first met."
She gave one last laugh, "Yeah, but in all seriousness, it sounds a lot like Rainbow Dash to me, one of the Element Bearers.  You're sure about the mane color?"
"Yeah, kinda hard to forget.  What's an 'Element Bearer'?" I asked using my fingers to quote.  I turned the pieces of meat over.
She paused for a second before answering, "Right, alien and all.  I forgot that not everypony is very well informed on the last few years.  The Element Bearers are six mares that carry the Elements of Harmony.  Each Element represents one of the aspects of friendship.  Generosity, honesty, laughter, kindness, loyalty, and magic.  The pony you described sounds almost exactly like Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty.  Why did she hit you with lightning?"
"I'm not entirely sure to be honest.  I mean, I've been trying to figure it all out myself.  The first day here, I knew I wasn't where I should be, so I went out looking for someone to tell me where I was.  It was raining pretty bad, but I was getting a little spooked, and I really wanted to know what was up.  So when I came up to a farm, I knocked on the door.  When the door opened, this orange pony got scared or something, and tried to kick me.  That's how my nose was broke.  After I stumbled over the porch rail, and picked myself up, 'Rainbow' whatever yelled something about not worrying, and then I got hit with lightning.  Passed out shortly after, and woke up in the basement of some sort of library.  Fought my way out, and I went back home."
I could practically feel her emotions boiling off of her, chief among them, anger, "Looks like several ponies owe you an apology.  They shouldn't have attacked you outright like that!"
Her anger startled me.  I'd never seen this side of her before, only happy and loving, "Calm down, ok, just calm down.  Did they overreact?  Oh yeah.  Did they almost kill me?  No doubt.  But I've learned from you that humans don't exist here.  In fact, I'm not really surprised with how the orange one acted.  I probably just surprised her, and Rainbow just jumped to conclusions.  Huh, that actually makes sense.  I think I just solved my own question."
She growled, "But that doesn't make it ok!  They almost killed you!  They need to apologize to you!"
I turned over the meat again, "Look, this is really in a grey area here.  With what you've told me, Rainbow probably didn't know I can't take lightning, so it really just goes into that part of logic where nothing really makes sense and the choices available must be chosen carefully.  Right now, I'm going to just forget it until I see her again or something.  Then we'll see how it goes."  I examined the meat some more, and seeing it done, I announced it.
When I turned around, Midnight's mood had performed a total 180.  She was now licking her smiling lips in anticipating glee, "Yeah, this debate can wait.  Food now!"  She sounded so excited, and I gotta say, it lifted my mood considerably.  
I smiled at her, and laid out the new meal on the table, taking a small piece for myself.  While I chewed nonchalantly, she shoveled everything down with increasing speed.  In fact, I still had half my piece left when she finished with a loud burp.  
With half lidded eyes, her eyes rolled up, and she groaned with satisfaction, "You know, as much as you and mom tease me about it, I don't mind if I get fat on your cooking.  It'll be worth it."  My heart swelled with pride and gratitude.  I wasn't too sure about ponies and their regards to obesity, but I took it as an incredible compliment nonetheless.
Midnight groaned in pleasure again as she slowly made her way over to the bean-bag-bed, and collapsed into it, facing away from me.  As I watched her antics, I saw her blank hind legs, and I remembered a question I had earlier.
"Hey Midnight, I got a question for you."
Sounding very relaxed, "What's that?"
"How come your father and all the other ponies I've seen have marks, but you and your mother don't?  Matter of fact, what are they anyways?"
It was small and almost unnoticeable, but she seemed to flinch, "Well, Cutie Marks, the marks you've been seeing, are the marks most ponies get when they discover their special talent.  It usually gives them insight on what profession they should enter.  As for me and my mom... well..."  She sounded depressed and on the verge of her voice breaking, like she was remembering some bad memories.  
I couldn't bear to see her feel bad, so I joined her on the bed, and started stroking her mane, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that would hurt you.  You don't have to keep going if you don't want to."
Midnight struggled to a sitting position, her meal weighing her down, and leaned into me, "No, no, it's alright.  Just some painful memories from school.  You see, bat ponies, like my mom, don't get Cutie Marks.  I inherited that trait, so I didn't get one either.  I don't really look entirely like a bat pony or an earth pony either, so I got bullied a lot over that when I was a filly.  To ponies, a Cutie Mark is pretty much everything.  It defines us, and not having one after a certain age makes ponies feel worthless.  The name calling certainly doesn't help." 
I hugged her with an arm, "Again, I'm sorry.  I know what it's like to be endlessly tortured by others, so I can relate."  I made eye contact with her, "Just know this.  I don't care what you look like, you're always going to be my friend."  Calling someone my friend felt alien to my mouth, but I managed not to botch the job.
Midnight smiled, eyes beginning to mist.  She wrapped her hooves around me in a tight hug, "Thank you Brian.  You're a great friend."
I smiled and returned the hug warmly, "Hey, don't mention it."
We held each other for a good long while, enjoying each others' presence and warmth.  
You know, this wasn't that bad of a day.


Several days later: Twilight
I wasn't entirely sure what I expected in my search for ponies who'd seen or interacted with the creature, much less their reactions to it being put on danger lists.  The only sightings my friends could collect were the ones from when we dragged it to the library, and even then, there were only 5.  When they learned how violent it was and it's weapons, they quickly became paranoid, and avoided the Everfree even more so than before.  Rumors quickly spread about this strange new creature, often highlighting viciousness and some even claimed it ate ponies.
However, today my lack of information ended.  A couple had recently been found to have had extended interaction with him, and I was going to be interviewing them in a few minutes.  I had everything I needed prepared well in advance.  Paper, quills, ink, tea, and several plush pillows to sit around a table.  Even my number one assistant Spike had contributed to the interview by baking several of his lemon meringue cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies.  All I had to do now was wait for the clock to tick down to the time that they'd agreed to meet.
When the clock finally ticked down to the final minute, the door opened, and in came two ponies.  One was an earth pony, but the other surprised me.  She was a thestral pony, dressed in the Thestral Night Guard Armor.  When she entered the library, she took off her helmet, which I remembered from one of my books to be one of the regulations of the guard to remove any headwear when they entered a building.
"Good afternoon!  Thank you for coming in.  Please!  Have a seat and help yourselves to some tea and treats."
"Good afternoon, Miss Sparkle.  Thank you." The Thestral answered polite and uniformly.  They sat at the table, and immediately poured themselves some tea.
"Might I know your names?  I'd like to write orderly reports on all interaction with the creature."
They nodded, the stallion answering first, "My name is Wood Cutter."
"And I am his wife, Corporal Ebony Moon of the Night Guard."  I scratched down their names at the head of my first note page.
"Alright, and when did you see the creature?"
"The same day that the guards came back from their fight with it.  We were on our way to meet with it when they came back into town, so we totally missed it until we got back."  Wood sounded very angry about this for some reason, but that wasn't what got my attention.  They had gone to meet with it.
"You met it?"
Ebony answered this time, "Yes, our daughter had gone out into the Everfree looking for food, and had stumbled on his camp.  She stayed with him, ate some of his food with him, and stayed the night because she lost track of time, and night fell before either of them realized how much time had passed.  She may be half Bat pony, but she didn't inherit my night vision.  So she stayed the night, and came back in the morning."  I processed this with a slack jaw.  This creature had been very hostile towards ponies, and yet he welcomed a complete stranger that had invaded it's territory?
"Did he do anything?"
Ebony shook her head, "That's just it.  He didn't really do anything.  He cooked her some food, talked with her, and gave her a place to stay the night."  I scribbled this all down, hoping that I would be able to make sense of this while reviewing the notes later.
"Ok, so, you went to meet it.  What happened when you arrived?"
Wood answered a little tense, "He was cooking his... meal."
The emphasis on meal was odd, and I felt a little bit of foreboding at it, "What was it?"
Wood swallowed, "Well, he was eating meat.  Moose meat.  I know that my wife and Midnight, our daughter, needs to eat meat, but it still makes me feel a little sick."
Well, that would explain the teeth. "Ok, what happened next?"
"Well, he offered it to Midnight, because that's what she'd eaten the first time she visited.  But I only let her after I got him to tell me what it was.  He offered to cook more for us, but I declined.  We asked him some questions while he went about cooking it."
They learned something about it?  "What did you learn?"
"Well, he claims to be from a country called America, and, get this, that it's on a different planet altogether."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he seemed quite serious about it, and he also claimed that he had no idea how he got here.  Turns out, he doesn't eat just meat, but it's his main source of food since it's easier for him to get in the forest.  Then, I asked him whether or not he ever ate a pony."
I could feel the blood drain from my face, "A-and?"
Wood looked away, "He asked me to repeat what I'd asked, and when I repeated myself, he ran off to a bush and started throwing up. He said he finds the thought disgusting, and didn't want me to ask any more questions like that again, since he has apparently been getting beaten up a lot recently."  I let out a sigh of relief.  Good, he isn't as bad as the rumors make him out to be.
Ebony continued for Wood, "Then, Midnight and I ate the food, and we left.  Midnight stayed though.  She was feeling too good from her meal to want to move, so we left her there in his company.  Whatever he is, he seemed trustworthy enough, and seemed to like her.  So we haven't kept her from seeing him, and she goes pretty much every day.  Nothing bad has happened so far, so we haven't objected.  Too much."  She glared over at Wood.  Something tells me that Wood doesn't like this creature.  But maybe I can still arrange a meeting with this creature through them!  Then we can resolve this whole thing!
"Do you think that you could arrange a meeting with him?  We've had some, misunderstandings with him, and my friends and I need to apologize to him."
They glanced over at each other, "We don't really know.  Midnight's been talking about him, and apparently, he really likes his privacy, and doesn't really like ponies.  We'd have to get Midnight to help us though.  We've kinda forgotten where his camp was located."
I squeed, "OOoh!  Thank you!  Please, get her to come here as soon as possible!  I really need her help with this."
They nodded, finished their tea and deserts, and asked if I needed anything else.  I told them that I didn't and they left.  I had the biggest grin on my face as I finished up my notes.  A little bit more, and I could write to the Princess about this interesting development.


An hour later
A pony knocked on the door, "Come in!"
The door creaked open, and in came a very interesting pony.  She had pony-esk colored fur, but her eyes were obviously that of a Thestral.  Her fur was incredibly long by pony standards, and very healthy.  She was also a little taller and heavier than most ponies.  Not fat like Mrs. Cake, but not average either.
"Hi, I'm Midnight.  You wanted to see me?"  She asked sounding nervous.
"Yes, you're parents tell me that you've been meeting with the strange creature that we've been seeing recently.  Could you please tell me about him?"
She nodded, and took a seat at the table, "What would you like to know?"
I smiled excitedly.  She was the best source of information on this creature, just short of the creature itself, "Does he have a name?"
"Y-yes.  His name is Brian."  She didn't say any more, so I asked my next question.
"Do you know what he is?"
"Uhm, what do you mean by that?"
"What species is he?"
She nodded, "Well, he said he's a human.  Why do you ask that?"
I finished scrawling down these new notes, "I want to know everything I can about him.  Now, just to confirm, he's omnivorous?"
She nodded, but didn't say anything.  This quietness was very odd.  Most ponies would open up about whatever topic was brought up unless they were trying to be tight lipped, or the very few who were socially awkward or shy.
"Is something the matter?  I would have thought you'd be talking more about him."
She frowned ever so slightly, "Brian is very... individualistic.  That, and he's had some very bad experiences with ponies.  He doesn't like ponies knowing about him, and he really likes his privacy."
I winced, knowing I was a part of his bad experiences, "Ok.  Uh, next question.  Your parents mentioned that he came from another world.  Is it true?"  She nodded.  I hesitated with my next question.  It regarded the original 'incident', "Do you remember him to be in any pain since you've known him?"
She scowled, and angrily spoke through clenched teeth, "Yes.  He doesn't talk about it, but when I first saw him, he was pushing through pain to move.  I asked him later about some colors on his body changing, and told me he got it when he was struck by lightning.  They were bruises.  The lightning had burst most of his smaller veins and arteries, and only days later did they start to fade.  It nearly killed him.  In fact, he said he was lucky that he wasn't dead. His nose was also broke, by the way."
I flinched at her words, slightly horrified that our worst fears were confirmed, and tried to choose my words carefully, "Do know his thoughts about this?"
She huffed, "Yeah.  Frustratingly enough, he's surprisingly neutral about it.  He certainly isn't happy about it, but he managed to calm me down when I first heard this."
Inwardly, I sighed in relief.  If he was calm about it, we had a chance at organizing a meeting, and I asked, "Do you think he would meet with us?"
Her face didn't change, but she at least changed her tone, "I wouldn't know.  I'll ask him next time I visit."
I thanked her profusely, "When can you visit him?"
"I'm not going to tell you.  After what happened with the guards, I'm not going to risk giving them a clue to find and follow me to his camp."
I wilted even further at her words.  I was feeling even more guilty by the sentence.  
"Anything else?"
I shook my head, "No, thank you for coming.  Please tell me his response when you can."  She grunted, stood, and left.

Same day:  Brian
I'd run out of food.  With Midnight coming every day and feeding her voracious appetite, she'd quickly depleted my stores.  Every bucket was empty, even the containers I'd stored the smaller bits of meat and bone marrow that I had brewed into soup.  It was time to go hunting.  The question was when and where I should go hunting.  I didn't like the idea of hunting in the Everfree with all it's terrors, and I wasn't too sure what could manage to survive here with all the giant predators.  
When was an easier question to answer.  ASAP.  Even though I knew it wasn't the main reason that Midnight was visiting me every day, but I still felt profound pride and happiness when I saw her enjoy what I cooked, especially when she brought spices to cook the meat with.  Plus, I wanted to be able to eat too.  She said that she was going to be coming early today, so I could take her hunting too.  She did say that she was interested in seeing my guns in action.  
I grabbed one of my stronger rifles, a Ruger Hawkeye rifle.  It fired a .375 cartridge, and I had once used it to kill a bear in Minnesota.  I loaded it with three of it's 5 shots, and waited for Midnight to arrive.
The nearly inaudible clopping of hooves was my signal that she was coming.  When she rounded the bend, I saw her.  She was looking much healthier now.  Her fur had lengthened, now at the length that I'd seen German Shepherds have, and the glistening hairs displayed incredibly soft fur.  She had grown as well, gaining two inches to the shoulder, and gained what I assumed was the weight she was missing, plus a little more.  I didn't know if it was a natural thing, but her hips were wider, and her belly hanged.  How it hanged, I couldn't really derive an accurate comparison.  She didn't have the same form as the other mares I'd seen, even if the number was relatively low, but it wasn't like I'd seen horses back on Earth to where the belly would move outwards as well as down.  Her face also seemed to have a more full look to it.  When I remembered what her face had looked before, I would describe her as gauntly anorexic.  Of course, I'd mentioned to her before how much more healthier she looked, and she blushed heavily through her fur.  I couldn't help but think that I'd accidentally made it sound like a flirtatious compliment.  However, I didn't say anything further besides a "You're welcome" when she'd sputtered out a thanks. 
Now, she looked anxious, and that was new to me.  I understood and could recognize anxiousness, but I didn't know what would make her anxious.  I greeted her with my usual warmth, and she approached me.
"Hey Brian.  Umm, I've got something to tell you about."
I raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"
She scratched at her hood, "Well, the Elements found out about you through my parents, and they want to meet with you."  She didn't say anything further.
I was very surprised.  These ponies obviously didn't like me, so wanting to meet me wasn't something that I'd figure they'd try to do.  I was suspicious, of course.
"How many want to come?"
"Just the Elements I guess, but maybe a guard or two.  What do you think?"  She looked at me with unsure eyes.
I sighed, and thought about it for a second.  If I did this, I could probably get them off my back and leave me alone.  But the risk of me getting captured again wasn't something I liked about it.  I still came up with an answer though.
"I'll do it.  But I've got some conditions for them.  Only one other pony besides the Elements can show up.  If they're a unicorn or has a net, I won't show up.  If I see a pony in the sky that's not one of the two pegasi in the Elements, I'm not coming.  We meet at the border of the Everfree on the path, and it'll be at sunrise.  None of the Elements can have weapons on them, but their one extra, may.  None of them can be flying, and need to be lined up so I can see them all."
Midnight blanched, "Ok, I'll... try to remember that."
I decided that it was time to change subjects, "Well, you know how you wanted to see my guns in action?  Well, now's the perfect opportunity.  I'm out of meat, so it's time to go hunting.  You know of anywhere's that would be good for hunting?"
A gleam entered her eyes, replacing her earlier anxiety, "Yeah!  The Whitetail Woods.  Can we go now?"	
I nodded, and she squealed in excitement, "Come on!  Let's go!"  She practically sprinted back down the path, and I had to scramble to catch up.  She led me to the main path, and we took a right.  We never left the trees though, and we took a right into what looked like an animal path with how the plants hugged at us as we traveled.  We walked a few miles, and came across a much more defined and traveled path.  
Midnight gestured to the surrounding area, "This is the Whitetail Woods.  Animals travel through here a lot, and you can usually see lots of creatures even if you're loud.  They're not very afraid of most ponies or other animals."  
Knowing that this was going to be easy, I smiled, "Then let's get going and find us some breakfast."  Midnight smiled, showing off her white teeth.  
Following habit, I stayed off the path, stood in a crouch, and stalked about with my rifle slightly raised.  Midnight mimicked me, lowering herself almost to the ground.  Like she said, we didn't have to wait long until we saw something.  It was a fat little beaver.  Beavers were really slow, so I wasn't going to waste a bullet on it.  I got up right behind it, took out my knife, and buried the blade into the back of it's head.  The nerves kicked in, and it started flailing for a little bit before it's weight affecting the kicks. I removed my knife, cleaned the blade on its' fur, and handed it to Midnight.  She grabbed the tail with her teeth, much to my confusion, and we continued on.  
Almost immediately, I saw another animal.  More specifically, a buck whitetail deer.  Like the beaver, it was fat for its' kind.  I glanced over at Midnight, and gave her a grin.  I raised my rifle up, aimed, and fired.  
*BOOM*
The buck recoiled, having been shot right in the heart.  It took three steps, and collapsed.  I stood up straight, and looked back at Midnight again.  She had dropped the beaver, and was holding her ears, while staring at the downed animal.  
"You like?"  
She nodded.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian
I woke up at 6 and well before dawn, just like always.  After reminiscing over the successful hunt yesterday and how excited Midnight had been over my little demonstration, and her enjoyment over the deer and beaver.  I was also happy about how I'd gotten a fair amount of animal furs that I could work with.  The deer hide was the most productive, giving me a few square feet of material to work on preserving.  However, the beaver would be something that I would have to be imaginative in using.  Maybe a small bag?
My thoughts ended as I finally addressed the fact that I was meeting the ponies today.  I had my plan of where to wait, and what to do when they showed up.  First, though, I was going to brew my coffee, treat the skins with salt again and replace the water.  I didn't have a brewer, so I roughed it like always.  I boiled the water, let it sit for 30 seconds, and sprinkled in ground coffee.  I stirred a bit, let it sit a little, then stirred again.  I dripped in some stream water, stirred again, let it sit, and poured my coffee into a 40 ounce coffee mug.  What?  I like my coffee.  I paid special care to use a mesh strainer to filter out the coffee grounds, which I tossed as soon as I'd finished pouring.  
I got the last of what I needed, my black trench coat, my shotgun with buckshot loaded (cuz you can never be too careful), my rainhat that I wore the first day I saw the ponies, a pair of binoculars, and a small bag of meat I'd cooked last night.  I left my site, closing the door and ensuring everything was taken care of.  I arrived at the meeting place, and got into a position that they'd never think to look, and would scare the crap out of them when I revealed myself.
Let's get this shit over with.

Twilight
Midnight came by later that day, and by the looks of it, had eaten with the human Brian.  With her, she brought wonderful news!  Brian agreed to meet, but under some strange conditions.  It could only be us, plus one other who couldn't be a unicorn, we had to come in a line, take no weapons with us, had to come in a line, bring no nets, there couldn't be anypony flying around within sight of the Everfree, and it had to be at sunrise tomorrow.  
I had already gathered the girls, plus the commanding officer of the guard in the town and the mayor.
"So what is it that has you calling us here?" Asked Mayor Mare.
"The creature, also known as Brian, has agreed to meet us on the border of the Everfree Forest.  He's set a list of conditions for the meeting.  First, we arrive at sunrise."  Rainbow groaned.  As I proceeded down his list, everypony grew increasingly uneasy.
The commander spoke up, "This sounds much to much like an ambush.  We're arriving in the morning, so the sun will be in our eyes and we can't see too well.  With his weapons, and allowing him to see you arriving in a line, we're providing perfect targets.  Not to mention we'll be in his territory, so he'll know exactly where to go and where to hide and wait in.  Keeping his history in mind, I find this highly likely.  Him allowing another pony coming seems more like a small concession to get us to come."
Fluttershy, of all ponies, decided to dispute this, albeit softly, "It sounds more like he's trying to avoid capture again.  He knows that he's being hunted, so the best option for his freedom would to get us to leave him alone willingly.  He didn't want there to be any extra unicorns, and no nets, two of the biggest threats to him being able to run."
Applejack grunted in acknowledgement, "That makes sense tuh me.  It's a smart move if it works."
"But did he really have to want sunrise?  Couldn't it be midday or something?"  Rainbow whined, abhorrent to the idea of waking up a few hours earlier than normal.  
Collectively, we sighed and rolled our eyes, "Honestly, darling, it wouldn't hurt you to wake up a little earlier.  I understand a lady needing her beauty sleep, but you bring it to a whole new level."  Rarity bemoaned.  
The Mayor spoke for the first time, "Twilight, I understand why you brought your friends and the Commander here, but what do you need from me?"
"I need you to call a town meeting, and alert all ponies to stay away from the Everfree and for the pegasi especially to remain on the ground.  Since you have the greatest authority that they recognize, and wouldn't panic to.  You are our best option with Brian's demands towards the extra ponies not being seen to be met."  I turned to address the Commander, "I would like to know if you want a guard to come with us.  Would you?"
He nodded, "I would.  I already have a pony in mind.  Swift Steel is his name.  He's our fastest pegasi here, and proficient with a crossbow.  He was also not around for the altercation between the guard and Brian, so he will have the least amount of personal bias against him."
"Good, good.  Have him come over just before dawn, and we'll head over to the meeting place.  Does anypony have any questions?"  No one spoke up, "Then meeting adjourned.  Girls, you can stay if you'd like."  My friends nodded, while the Mayor and the Commander left.  
The day dragged on, and we spent most of it nervously wondering what would happen tomorrow, and trying to describe to Rarity and Pinkie Pie what Brian was like from our experiences.
"He's going to be very twitchy, so don't move too fast, and don't try to surprise him.  Pinkie, that goes double for you."
"Aaaaw!  But I wanted to give him a surprise welcome to our world party!"
"If all goes well, then we'd just need to give him some time to trust us and then you could give him a party.  But that means everypony must be on their best behavior." Rarity consoled Pinkie, while shooting a glare at Rainbow and Applejack, who looked away ashamed.  After a moment of drilling holes in their heads, Rarity asked, "What did you say he looked like again?"
Fluttershy, having the best memory when it came to the differences between animals and other races besides pony, took the opportunity to utilize her knowledge, "He looks a bit like an ape, but also much different.  He stands upright on his back feet, and is nearly completely hairless except on his head, parts of his face, groin area, and armpits.  He has hands, like Minotaurs, but more dexterous.  But most of it you might not be able to see because he wears clothing all the time."
Rarity sucked in a dramatic gasp, "CLOTHES!  ALL THE TIME!  Tell."
Fluttershy wilted under Rarity's intense gaze, and I figured that she wouldn't be able to answer, so I did, "He wore boots on his feet, pants to cover his legs, a shirt for his chest, and a long button coat that went down to just below his knees.  He also wore a strange combination between a hat and a mask that hides his face."
Rarity's face drooped, "Egh!  What horrible taste in fashion!  It appears he will need to learn what is fashionable here."
Rainbow weakly chuckled, "Yeah, I don't think he's going to care.  Twilight, do you really think I need to go?  I'm the last pony he's gonna want to see."
Applejack nodded in agreement, "Yeah, we hurt him real bad.  I don't think it'd be wise for us tuh come."
"No, his terms said that all of us were to show up.  That means that you're coming with the rest of us."
"Yeah, but what if when he sees me and AJ, he flips out!?  What if, because we come, everything is ruined?"
"If you don't come, it'll be ruined anyhow.  It's best to have a chance than to give up without trying."  More idle chat pursued until night fell, and we fell asleep.
When we woke up in the morning, packed a lunch for us and several food stuffs that Brian might like, and met Swift Steel, who had just arrived at the library.  We quickly informed him of all he needed to know, and we headed off, with more than a little of Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to convince the rest of us for them to stay.  Needless to say, their efforts were futile, and they stayed with us.  When we came to the intersection, we got into the specified line, and continued on towards the Everfree.  
When we approached the tree line, Brian wasn't there.  Besides the trees and bushes, there wasn't anything here.  We were maybe 20 feet away from the treeline when a figure dropped from the tree canopy into the middle of the path.  Everypony let out a short gasp of fright, taking an instinctive step backwards.
It was Brian, wearing the same clothes he'd wore the first day, and with a different weapon strapped to his back.



Brian
I dropped from the branches that I'd made my stay on, bringing with me my coffee in hands, and landed on the ground, coming to a knee with my head bowed.  The ponies gasped, startled.  Looking up, I saw what I'd already seen from nearly 300 yards away.  One guard (who I didn't recognize from the guards that had attacked me), and the 6 Elements.
My eyes locked onto the two who had nearly killed me, and I was alarmed to how angry I became just looking at them.  I balled my fists, and breathed loudly and angrily, trying to both convey and settle my anger.  The ponies flinched, but stood where they were.  I took off my hat, and stuffed it in my pocket.  
"What do you want?"  I kept my tone level and emotionless, trying to further calm myself despite how little it seemed to do.  Seriously, calm down. 
Being angry ain't gonna help you.
The purple one spoke up nervously, "Hello Brian, m-my name is Twilight Sparkle.  This is Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.  We're here to... well, apologize for how our first meeting went."  My anger vanished only to be replaced with an odd bit of confusion and gratitude.  I never known anyone to apologize for hurting me, but I still appreciated this first.
Twilight looked over to Rainbow and Applejack, giving them a nod.  They stepped forwards, Applejack took off her hat, holding it to her chest while bowing her head, and Rainbow looked down at the ground, slouching.
"I know that it doesn't really make up for it, but, I am sorry Brian.  You caught me off guard, but it ain't no excuse to react like that.  I hurt you badly, and I don't know if I can ever make it up to you.  Could you ever forgive me?"  I listened to Applejack's words, how it fluctuated with pained words.  It was clear to me that she deeply regretted what she'd done, even though all she'd done was break my nose.  I'd had worse done to me, even if it has seemed unwarranted.
"In time, I believe so."
Rainbow Dash went next, "Yeah... uh, I'm sorry about electrocuting you bro.  We cool?"  She offered up a weak smile.
That's it?  Really?  That apology was really short, and an almost 180 compared to Applejack's.
I narrowed my eyes, "I'm not so sure you understand what you've done, Rainbow Dash.  You nearly KILLED me.  In fact, I'm lucky to be alive!  It's like a one in a 1,000 odds for me to have survived a lightning strike.  And you act like we're lifelong friends, and this was some prank in bad taste?"  My brows were furrowed, her short "apology" having irritated me with the insincerity.  It was enough that she nearly killed me, but now she couldn't at least attempt to make a good "I'm sorry".
"Hey, I apologized.  This is where you forgive me.  I don't know if they have this on your planet or whatever, but once someone apologizes, you forgive them."  She was furrowing her brows now too, even though she didn't have a reason.
That arrogant little bitch!  "Yeah, and where I'm from, you have to mean it when you say you're sorry, and you work to gain back the trust you lost.  When you give a halfhearted, forced apology, it means nothing!"
"Now hold o-" Twilight began, but Rainbow was already starting up again.
"Are you calling me a liar?!" She growled as she closed the distance between us and shoved her face in mine.
"I'm saying you either don't care, or you're insincere." I growled right back.
She quickly eyed my clothes, "You look uncomfortable.  Why don't you slip into something more comfortable, like a coma?"  She asked angrily.  Everypony there gasped in shock, which was becoming really irritating now.
"That the best you've got?  HA!  I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and STILL shit out a better insult than that!  If I wanted to kill myself, I'd jump from your ego to you IQ!  I'd explain that to you, but I've neither got the crayons, nor the time to draw it out for you!"
*SLAP*
"You jerk!" She screamed.  
I lightly touched my cheek, where the hoof had hit me. I tasted iron in my mouth, so it would seem that she split it open on the inside, "Oh, you shouldn't have done that."  I hissed.  I balled my fist, and before she could react, I absolutely leveled her.  Her head snapped the other way like a rubber band, and she hit the ground limply.  For a second, I wondered if I'd killed her with that punch by how she fell.  But after a second, she moaned in pain, and rolled over.
I looked up to the group, who were looking at me with horror in their eyes.  I flipped them off, "Get your poor excuse of a friend, and leave me alone.  I'm going home."  
I turned to go home, but stopped when Twilight stuttered something out.  "What?"  
"W-we're sorry about our friend.  Just know, that if you ever want to come into town, you'll be welcome."
I snorted, an odd, out of place smile crept across my face, "Yeah, right.  I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.  We both really know that I won't be accepted, especially by your friend on the ground."  I didn't let her reply as I stomped off into the forest, rubbing my head trying to alleviate the building pressure and migraine.
I'm so fucking done.  This is a job for Everclear Vodka!  May it wipe the whole damn hard drive that is my brain.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight
That... could have gone worse?  At least he's only angry at Rainbow and not everypony. I groaned, pulling at my face with my hooves.  Rainbow was the biggest worry I had in this meeting, and it had fermented into a disaster.  She was starting to get up, though it was obvious she was really out of it.Time for damage control.
"We should go after him, try to apologize again."
"Again?  I'm of the impression that we've progressed past apologizing.  This is the time to let him calm down, and leave him alone like he wants."  Rarity said.
I shook my head, "I don't think we can.  We may not get another chance to talk to him after this, so we need to follow him while we can.  Come on."  
I started trotting down the path into the forest.  Listening, I could tell that they hesitated before coming after me.  We trotted quickly to catch up to him, and eventually, we could see his tall form stomping ahead.  We stayed close to the fringe of the path, so if he turned around, we would be harder to see.  However, he never did.  He never did look backwards though, in fact he never strayed from the path for a good long while until he took a left turn.  
We delayed our advance slightly here, to give him time to move down the path before we advanced again.  We found that there was a tiny deviation to the path edge where Brian had entered into.  A little further down the path, we could see the remains of dried blood from what must have been from the basilisk that Fluttershy deliberately looked away from.  There was such a large amount, that all of us were unnerved by it, even AJ and Dash.
How dangerous could he be if we really anger him?  Could we even stop him?  We took the same turn and nervously followed the trail, taking great care to not brush against the brush or make any noise.  We probably didn't need to worry about noise though.  In the distance, we could hear Brian yelling in rage.  If he was saying anything, we couldn't make it out.
When we finally arrived, we finally knew what his camp looked like.  A massive box on wheels faced us, a giant door opened up to reveal a poorly made bed, several unknown items, and a few crates.  His site was loosely centered around a fire pit that had a grill over it, which Brian was currently stomping around in his rage.  He brandished a VERY large knife, and chucked it at a tree.  The blade sank deep into the tree, engulfing half of the blade.  In his other hand, was a large bottle with a clear liquid in it.  He took a deep gulp of the liquid as he approached the knife, gasped, and wrenched the knife free of the tree.
Finally, we could here what he was angry about, "WHY THE FUCK DO THESE THINGS HAVE TO BE SO FUCKING HARD!  Why can't one damn thing go my way?  Why does there have to be assholes everywhere I go?  What did I ever do to deserve this shit?!  COME ON!  I'm waiting for my peace damn it!  Where is it?  When will I be put out of my misery?"  He sat down heavily on the ground, breaking out into sobs.  He screamed in anguish into his hands, and flicked the blade into the ground.  
As he cried, he no longer looked like the formidable, dangerous creature we'd thought him as.  He looked... pitiful, sad, lonely, without hope.  Like he had given up.  On everything.  This was something that nopony had ever seen, or felt, and we didn't have a clue to what could have caused this.  Surely, it couldn't have been us, right?
Fluttershy moved, quickly going up to Brian, and putting a hoof over his shoulder.  He looked up, and seeing that it was Fluttershy, scowled and threw her hoof away, standing up quickly.
"What the hell do you want with me?!!?  I thought I told you to leave me alone!"  He roared.
"W-we really want you to know that we ARE sorry about Rainbow Dash.  She's a very brash pony, and doesn't think things through very often.  But, we've never heard of someone reacting the way you did, and we'd like to know why, if that's ok."  I said, trying to calm him down.
A disturbed chuckle escaped his throat, a smile starting to cross his face, "You want to know why?  You want to know why I hate the fact that she doesn't seem to really be sorry?  For nearly killing me?  I'll tell you why.  I was bullied my entire childhood, and whenever those bastards were forced to apologize, they'd always say sorry in the same fucking way.  They didn't mean anything, just something they did to get out of trouble, and they'd do it again a minute later.  No one ever helped me, no one ever cared.  I am the definition of society's outcast.  It wasn't enough that I should have died multiple times over, they just had to hurt me even MORE."  He started drinking again, swallowing over and over as he chugged down the strange liquid.  
When he didn't say anything, Fluttershy shyly asked, "What happened to you?"
He finally stopped drinking, gasping out a breath, "I burned.  I was tossed down a set of stairs, I was driven out of MY OWN FUCKING MIND BECAUSE OF THOSE ASSHOLES!"  It was then, that we smelled it, the overwhelming smell of alcohol.  That drink he was gulping down, it was alcohol.  Strong alcohol.  "When I was a kid, my apartment burned down, me in it.  My parents died in front of me, my entire body was burned.  It took me years to recover.  Then, school and the orphanage.  The kids stabbed me with pins, set my clothes on fire, pushed me down flights of stairs, tripped me, punched me, beat me near to death in gang beatings.  At the orphanage, they never let me get any sleep.  I had to go places to sleep.  I was always so tired, so tired and hurt.  So I lost my mind for the longest of time.  And I... I... oh God I did something terrible."
He put his hands to his face, eyes peering through his fingers, "What did you do?"  I asked hesitantly.
He looked at me, his horrifying gaze sending shivers down my spine, "I... ENDED it.  Permanently."  The weight of his words hit us like a sledgehammer.  He most likely meant the worst of implications.
He sighed defeatedly, "Now you know why I hate insincere apologies."
Rainbow, to our surprise, stepped up to him looking extremely guilty, "Brian, I've never really had to say that I'm sorry often.  I haven't hurt anypony like I had to you before.  I just... don't really know how to do this.  I am sorry, for not thinking and rushing to conclusions that nearly killed you.  Can you forgive me?"
Brian looked up, eyes barely opened, mouth hanging open in a drunken stare, "I don't know."  
Rainbow sputtered, "How could you not know?!!?"
He blinked, raised his bottle and gave it a little shake, "Cuz 'm drunk.  Want some?"
Rainbow groaned, rolled her eyes, and grabbed the bottle.  She took one swallow and she started coughing hard, "Holy *cough* horseapples.  That's strong!  Stronger than AJ's cider."
"Oh really?  Hand it over RD."  Applejack grabbed the bottle out of Rainbow's hoof, and took a few gulps before she too started coughing, only not so hard, "Ok, that is strong.  That's like trying to drink a rainbow."
Brian laughed, "It's like battery acid, but fun."  
"What's battery acid?"  Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Drunk.  Tell you later.  Now hand it over."  Applejack handed the bottle back over, and he proceeded to drink the last of it down.  After seeing Applejack and Rainbow, who were both known for being able to drink other ponies under the table, nearly cough it back up, his feat of constitution was all the more amazing.  
He swayed a little in his seat, and looked back up at us, "Keep me..." he paused, and looked around, his head lolling about, "...outta the trees."  He stood up, shaky and legs trembling, and stumbled to his odd... whatever it was... box on wheels.  He seemed to nearly fall against it, before pulling himself up onto the platform inside, and dragging himself to a low hanging shelf, and then heaving himself onto it.  I was about to ask him myself what he was doing, when I heard a snore rumble from inside.  
"Of course, he's asleep."  I grumbled.
"Um, what do we do now?"  Fluttershy whispered.
"Well we can't leave 'im here by himself like that, so I think we should spend the night."  AJ said.
"Plus, we can keep an eye on him."  Swift Steel added.  His voice was a little high pitch, something kind of odd for a stallion.  This was the first time he'd spoken since this morning, and I had started thinking that he might be a bit of the quiet type like Fluttershy.
"And we can see what kind of other world stuff he has!  Maybe he has laser guns or something!"  Pinkie exclaimed.
"Personally, I'd like to see what kind of fashion humans have.  Maybe it could give me some ideas on a new line."  
Already, I was seeing where this would lead.  If Brian woke up to us rummaging through his things, drunk or otherwise, we'd quickly lose any trust or good relations we'd just achieved.  But before I could even open my mouth, Applejack beat me to the punch.
"Ah think we should wait until he wakes up.  It ain't right tuh look through someponies' things without them even knowing about it, much less without permission."  Some of the girls groaned, but relented.  "Don't mean we can't go in and just look." she added with a mischievous wink.  She trotted up to the box, and jumped in.  Rainbow followed suit soon after, and then Pinkie.
"Ooh!  Look at all this neat stuff!"  
"Pinkie!  Don't touch!"
"Too late."
*Thwump*  
The sound of a book hitting the floor thundered through my ears, the horrifying sound of a hardcover book taking abuse sending me into the box to recover the priceless artifact.  
"Pinkie!  This is a book from another world!  Do you know how important it could be?"
She chuckled sheepishly, "Oops?"
"Keep it down.  Tryin' tuh sleep."  Brian mumbled from the bed.
I pursed my lips, startled at the sudden speech from the sleeping human.  I cast a look at everypony in the dwelling, and raised a hoof in a shushing motion.  
We looked around some more, finding an odd chest filled with more of the strange weapons, discovered more books with odd titles written by humans with strange names, machines that I couldn't derive the purpose of, some high tech looking speakers, a bunch of supplies and large knives, but not much in the way of personal effects.  
"Seriously, does this guy have any personality to him besides edgy and intimidating?  I've seen more personality in a cake."  Rainbow grumbled.
"He probably does, we just don't know the whole story.  We can ask him when he wakes up."  
"Fine, I'll wait."


7 hours later
Rainbow was flying around anxiously, her face screwed in impatience, "Argh!  When is he going to wake up!??!"  It wasn't like her irritation was misplaced.  He'd largely slept without moving or making a sound besides when he told us to be quiet.  It was unnerving, especially for somepony who had just gotten up a few hours before going to sleep again. 
I shared her thoughts, and was about to voice my own concerns, when we heard groans and a few expletives from within the box on wheels.  He shifted a bit inside, and soon his unmistakable form came into view.  And he looked terrible.
His eyes sported large dark rings under them, not to mention being bloodshot through thinly open eyelids.  He had a general look of illness to his face with how his eyebrows hanged low over his eyes, and mouth hanging open slightly.  However, what was more apparent to us, was that he wasn't wearing a shirt.  We all got to see his torso, which was completely covered in ugly burn scars.  Black splotches ran along his ribs and other bones, contrasting in a frightening display.  
He coughed roughly, and looked at us, "Huh, so it wasn't a dream.  You really are here, and you really did apologize." He grunted, and hopped out of the box.  He made his way to the stream, knelt down on his knees, and used his hands to drink from the stream and splash his face.  From there, we could see his back, which was similarly scarred and had the markings over the bones.
"Brian, dear, what are those black lines on you?  I admit they have a... brilliant, contrast to your skin, but they hardly look fashionable."  Rarity asked as delicately as she could.
"They're bruises, from the lightning."  He said this with a bored tone, but I could see Rainbow flinch from this.  This raised some questions though.  Most species, no matter how small or big, that got bruised could easily heal from it in a few days.  However, it was well past a week since he was struck, and he still had them.
"Does your magic not help you heal?"  I asked.
He shook his head, "Don't have any magic."  He splashed his face again.
No...magic?  That's... that's impossible!  "Uh, Brian, everypony has at least some magic in them.  The only way we can't have magic in us is if we're dead."
He shrugged, "Well, I ain't exactly a pony, now am I?"
My eye twitched, "Brian, would you mind it if I performed a spell on you?  It's just to see how much magic is in you, and it won't hurt.  I promise."
He shrugged, and noncommittally said, "Sure."
I charged my horn, and cast the spell.  The way the spell functioned, it was like opening up a second set of eyes with the way how the spell allowed you to see all the magic that flowed through the air and the things around us.  I guided my spell towards Brian, but I didn't feel anything.  Just the grass, and then the stream.  Nothing was in between them.  I could feel the imprint of the grass below Brian, but not him. 
H-how?  That's impossible!  How is he alive?I stopped powering the spell, and stared at Brian, the living, breathing anomaly, an impossibility in nature.  
He looked over, and snickered, "So was I right?"  
I dumbly nodded, "You don't have any magic.  H-how are you alive?"
"What can I say? I'm a stubborn son of a bitch."  And splashed himself again.  With a groan, he stood up.  "If you don't mind, I've got some work to take care of."  He walked over to a large bin, which we had no idea what it was made of, reached in, and pulled out... a... SKIN.  He pulled out skin!
Fluttershy gasped loudly, her eyes fixed to the remains of what looked to be a deer, "Why do you have that?  What poor little animal did you kill?"
He glanced over at Fluttershy with a bemused look, "It's a deerskin.  I'm in the process of tanning it so I can use it for a new blanket.  The one I have right now is falling apart."
Fluttershy got right into his face, "So you killed a innocent deer just so you could take it's fur?  How dare you!"
He scowled, and pushed her gently away, "I didn't just take the fur, I harvested the meat and bone marrow too.  Everything I hunt I use as much of as possible.  It's disrespectful to only use one part of anything and leave the rest to rot."
Everypony turned green, but he didn't take any notice.  Instead, he went on with his grizzly business. He layed out the pelt across the table, and started rubbing salt on the skin side.  He continued like this for a good while, only stopping to go over to the bin.  He poured it out into the brush, took it over to the stream, and filled it again with water and salt before submerging the pelt.
My academic curiosity took over, "What was that you were doing?"
He stretched before he answered, bending over backwards prompting a cacophony of cracking bones, "As I said, I'm tanning the hides.  It's to preserve the hide and keep it from rotting."
"How does the salt and water work to do this?  Seems kind of pointless to me to use water and salt at the same time."  I was generally confused with this, it just didn't make sense.
Again, he shrugged, "Don't know.  I just know it doesn't work with just using salt or water alone. It works, so I don't question it."
"But... if you don't know how something works, then why do you use it?"
"Because I can see that it works.  That's enough."
A vein began bulging from my forehead, and my eye twitched.
Before I could speak my rebuttal, a familiar voice made itself known, "Sooooo, I take it the meeting went well?"
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere in New York:
It had been a long day at work, 8 hours of running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off in a deli, and he was ready to drop into bed, and go to sleep.  Which is exactly what he did.  He'd been working nearly every day just like this, and had stayed up all night several times within the last two weeks to ensure he got to the early morning shifts on time.  How he really wanted to have a day off to write, but the overworked man couldn't catch a break.
Nearly an hour into his slumber, the human was visited by a certain pink pony.  Being as quiet as she could, she tip hoofed over to the comatose human, and pounced.
"Luckless!  Wake up!"  She roughly shook Luckless, waking up violently.  He grabbed the knife off of the nightstand, and his eyes darted frantically around in the darkness.
"Who's there?"
"Me of course!  Pinkie Pie."
"Huh?"  Luckless turned on the lamp, and saw the pink pony now standing on his bed by his feet, "What the fu-?"
"No time for swearing!  It's time to get back to work!"  Pinkie grabbed his laptop, and shoved it to his lap.
"How did you- you... You're a cartoon character, how are you here in my room?"
"That's not important.  What's important is you writing your fanfiction again!  You've been AWOL for weeks!"
"No I haven't!  I've been working on- wait.  Hooow do you know about the fanfic?  I haven't told anyone I'm even a fan of the show, much less that."
Pinkie Pie gave him a grin, "My Pinkie Sense."
Luckless stared.  Not only was Pinkie in his room, but she knew about the fanfiction.  A cartoon character with 4th wall breaking abilities, has broken through all the laws of physics and logic, just to tell him he needed to work on a fanfiction.
"Damn it.  Alright, fine.  It's been too long anyways.  A few lost hours of sleep will be worth it anyhow."
"Good!  Now get going.  I'll know if you stop.  And then she was gone in the blink of an eye, back to wherever she came from.
Luckless sighed, opened his laptop, and got to work.

Brian
Admittedly, I wasn't feeling all too good.  I wasn't really thinking when I stormed into camp, so I grabbed the first thing I'd laid eyes on.  A bottle of 80% alcohol by volume potato whiskey.  Unlike it's Russian counterpart, this drink left a mean hangover, which I'd slowly built up a mental resistance to.  It still made me feel miserable, I just didn't fully acknowledge besides that it was there.  
While I'd been drinking, I thought that I'd seen the ponies come to apologize to me, and I was imagining it.  Turns out, no.  They really came by, and they stayed the whole time I was asleep.  I couldn't decide if I was pissed that they had directly ignored my wishes, or to be impressed that they were this committed to seeking forgiveness.
When Midnight showed up, everything seemed to improve, at least for me.  I instantly just felt... better.  Happier.
"Sooooo, I take it the meeting went well?" She asked.
I shrugged, "I guess so.  Want something to eat?"
She laughed, "Don't you know it!"
I smiled, and went over to the tree I'd stored the meat in.  I climbed it quickly, retrieved the bucket, and dropped back down to start cooking.  Of course, the uninvited guests were curious about what I was making.  They looked a little green after I told them, and even greener once I started grilling it.  Fluttershy looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than here.
While the meat cooked, I brought out the bean-bag-chair that Midnight seemed to like.  She settled down on it, her smile beaming as she hummed happily.  While I tended to the meat, Pinkie Pie, out of all of them, seemed to grow curious over the grilling food.
"What does it taste like?"
I didn't really have an answer for that, "Well, uh, I don't know how to describe it besides that it tastes like meat.  I mean, you can add spices to make it taste differently, like add barbecue sauce, hot sauce, lemon pepper and a bunch of other stuff."
"How about cupcakes?"
I blinked, "Uh, I don't think so."
"Have you tried?"
What the hell is this?  Does she not know or is she... ditsy?  "You haven't eaten any meat, have you ?"
"I actually have!  I was in Griffinstone and Gilda gave me this HOT soup.  I drank it and was like '*BLEH!* what is this?'. and she was like 'venison soup' all grumpily, and then-"  I stopped her right there by shoving my hand into her mouth.  Her rapid fire talking was giving me a headache.  Seriously, she spoke for only 4 seconds, and already I wanted to plug my ears.  It wasn't that I didn't like her talking, it's just with her voice and how fast she was talking, I just... couldn't take it.
"Pinkie, when you tried the soup, did it taste like it could be made to taste like cupcakes?  Yes or no."
I took my hand out, "Not really, I mean it just tasted so weird and unnatural."
"There's your answer.  My people have had nearly 200 some years to make cupcake flavored meat, but no one has managed.  Besides, it would taste... wrong.  Meat isn't supposed to taste like that."
Obviously uncomfortable about talking about this, Twilight cleared her throat, "Right!  Well, let's talk about something else, shall we?"
I grunt, "Yeah, like what?"
"Like gettin' you inta Ponyville.  Ponies are scared witless about ya.  I heard some talkin' 'bout formin' huntin' parties tuh capture you."  Applejack says.
What the fuck?  How did that come around?  I barely spent a few hours out in public, and even then I doubt any of them saw me.  Makes me wonder though, why didn't Midnight tell me?  I decided not to ask her about it, "And how do you think bringing me to town will solve this?"
Twilight took up the mantle of explaining this impossibility to me, "If they can see that you aren't all the things that they think, they'll stop fearing you!"
"And parading me through town is the best way to do that?  Sounds like a good way to get a black eye, or start a riot."  
Twilight chuckled self-assuredly, "Oh please!  Ponies wouldn't be that bad."
"You're right, they wouldn't be that bad."
"Exactly!"
"They'd be worse.  I'll be lucky if they don't kill me."
"Hu... what?  How'd we go from black eyes to killing you?"  Twilight asked.
"Twilight, I've had a long history of observing people.  When a group of people are together, and they're all afraid of something from rumours, the rumours get worse, and they'll take the most drastic action they have to combat what they're afraid of."
"Right, but these are ponies we're talking about.  Come on!  You can't seriously want to live in the middle of a death trap you're whole life!"
I shrug, "That was kind of the point.  No one goes to where they think they'll die.  Best place to hide."
They stared, dumbfound and horrified looks on their faces.
Before they could answer, I announced, "Meat's ready Midnight."  I'd cooked a meal that Midnight seemed to find her limit to eating, three large portions of venison that would have lasted me a week or two.
She gave me a big old smile, and a pony version of a bear hug, but putting all her weight on me since she couldn't balance right.  It was an odd, sort of awkward hug.  She was ridiculously taller than me, so when she hugged me, my face was pressed up against her bulging belly, and she was squeezing me against it.  But hey, it was fine by me, she was like a giant warm teddy bear.  Then she descended onto the grilled venison, eating like it was the first meal she'd had in weeks, which I knew wasn't true.  I'd fed her myself. 
The ponies all recoiled, sickened over seeing a pony actively eating an animal.  Rarity all out fainted (where'd that sofa come from?) and Fluttershy looked ready too.  Everypony else looked away excent for Pinkie, who looked longingly at the grilled goodness.  
Within a minute, the food was gone.  Midnight sighed contently, burped quietly, and went back to the bean-bag-bed with a satisfied smile.  Once there, she pat her distended belly a few times, and dozed off. 
"Oi, she could eat me outta house and home with how much she can put away."  I observed.
"Then why don't you ask her to eat somewhere else?"  Rainbow asked.
I actually thought about it for a second.  No really, I did.  First thing that came to mind, was that she was like me.  Couldn't eat just vegetables and whatever else they eat, so she was malnourished, and I wanted to help.  Another was that she was a really close friend.  My only friend in fact.  Then out of left field, came the thought, and she's kinda cute too.
I didn't even get the context of that thought.  Just those words, "she's kinda cute".  Was is sexual?  Was it innocent in a "AWW!  Look at that cute puppy playing with his mom!" way?  It actually bothered me that I didn't know the answer to my own damn thoughts.
I looked at the ponies around me, looking expectant, Oh shit, I forgot to answer! "Well, she kinda needs my help.  She has a diet like mine, and your people don't take too kind to it.  Plus, she's the only real friend I've ever had.  I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy.  Even go through with your crazy bullshit."  
Only after I saw Twilight's eyes light up did I realize my mistake, "Me and my damn mouth."

Hours later
I swear, one of these days I'm going to learn to shut up.
I screwed myself twice over.  One, I'd given Twilight the idea to get Midnight to pressure me into going.  The other mistake was to cook more meat for Midnight.  She'd barely digested anything from the previous meal, and was now so full, that she was getting winded from walking.  WALKING!  I just... I can't... eugh.
Now, I have a pony on my back.  A pony who was bigger than me on all fours and now filled up with a load of food.  I was hunched over, trying to keep all hints of stress subdued and unnoticeable.  At the same time, my legs were screaming in pain, and I was repeating a mantra to myself to keep moving.  Don't stop.  Keep moving.  Don't stop.  Keep moving.  Over and over I told myself this, trying to keep myself from stopping.  I really should have been in better shape.  I carried deer with less trouble, and often too.  Why is this so bloody hard?
"Hey Brian, ya doin' alright?"  Applejack asked.
"Yeah, 'm fine."
Applejack gave me a look, like she was both suspicious and slightly confused, "Ya sure?  You look a bit... exhausted."
"You can put me down if you like.  I can make from here."  My heart fluttered a bit when I heard Midnight speak.  
"Nah, I'm perfectly fine, unless you want to walk on your own."  
She hummed in thought, "Well, if you're offering a free ride, then I think I'll take it."
I snorted.  Don't really know why that was funny to me, but it was.  
The journey continued for another mile or so, and I was really feeling the effects.  I couldn't feel my legs from the knees down, and everything else just hurt.  If that wasn't enough, my head was swimming in an oddly lethargic pleasure.  Finally, we were at the village outskirts, and not a moment too late.  I thought my knees were gonna buckle.  
I set Midnight down, and asked Twilight, "You're absolutely sure about this?  What I've heard the townsfolk say about me isn't too flattering."
Twilight snorted, "Oh, I'm sure Rainbow got them to see reason.  They should all be in town hall waiting for our arrival."
Rainbow Dash, getting others to calm down?  Right.  I can see this going SO well.  I took out my flask, and downed a little bit of whiskey to help my increasing nervousness calm down a bit.
"Ya think drinkin' right now is a wise thing?"  Applejack asked.
"Probably not, but it's helping me calm down.  I know I don't express myself well, so I'm telling you right now.  I am outright terrified.  Here I am, walking into a town full of people who are terrified and likely to get into a frenzy, without my guns, not trying to sneak, in DAYLIGHT, and hoping everything goes alright.  Every nerve, which has never been wrong before, in my body is telling me to run, and I'm going against that because you two," I pointed at Midnight and Twilight, "because you asked me to.  I NEED something.  And right now, that something is alcohol followed by a cigarette."
I had just reached into my pocket to retrieve my cigarettes when Fluttershy asked, "What's a cigarette?"
I pulled one out, and lit it, "Some tobacco rolled up inside a tube of paper.  The nicotine in it relaxes me." 
"But isn't tobacco bad for you?"
"Everything taken to excess is bad for you.  Cigarettes are just a little more so.  In any case, being set on fire is way worse, and I'm still here.  So why not?"  I breathed in some of it, and let out a small cloud of smoke, "Come on, let's get this over with."  
We finished the last leg of the walk into town, me finishing the cigarette with a faint buzz in my head.  Twilight guided us to the center of it all, and without a single pony in sight, which I found incredibly strange.  At night, they hadn't come out of their houses, which would make sense if they were day trodders right?  But they still weren't outside.  Was this a ghost town.  Eh, maybe they were just at the town hall.  
We went around the back so we'd come out on the stage just as it started to rain, "Ok Brian, wait until I give you the signal.  You'll know it when you see it."  Twilight told me.  I just shrugged and waited off to the side behind the curtains.
Twilight and everyone else went out on stage, and her introduction started with something of a speech.  Mostly about how everything they knew about me was wrong, and that I was a nice guy, even if I was a bit abrasive and paranoid.  I saw my cue when she waved her hoof towards me, saying, "And please give him a Ponyville welcome, Brian!"  
I walked out on stage to a silent, terrified audience.  "Uh, hey.  What's up?" 	
"It's the monster!  Get it!"  A stallion cried.  With that single shout, the crowd was boiled up into a frenzy, surging to the stage where I stood in a stupor.
"Oh, fuck this shit!  I'm out!"  I turned tail, and ran for the door I came in, only to find it blocked by an earth pony that scowled at me.  In a flash of desperation, I jumped out an adjacent window.  It shattered with a loud crash, and I before I hit the ground, I bashed my head against a trash can.  When I finally came to rest against the muddy ground, I came to the harsh realization that something was in me.  That something, was a foot long shard of glass in my abdomen.  I groaned, rolled over onto my back, clutched the bloody glass, and pulled.  I stifled a cry, groaned, and chucked the glass back into the window.
"Eat shit assholes!"  I got to my feet, and started stumbling away from the noise in town hall.  My every step brought about growing pain in my body, quickly squashing any ideas on any speed faster than a stumbling walk.  I found myself leaving an alley into the main street.  Looking both ways was beginning to kill any hope of escaping.  The street was filled with angry ponies carrying, of all things, torches and pitchforks.  
Well, at least it can't get much worse than this.
"Hey, there it is!"
I cursed under my breath, I just had to think that, didn't I.  I turned around, and found a group of small ponies.  One was orange with a wild purple hair, another was mostly white and soft purple mane, and lastly, a yellow filly with red hair.  All of them staring at me with both terror and a strange curiosity, and blocking my only way out.  
I took a bad step on a tin can, and fell against a wall to a house.  My strength seemed to fade, and I groaned as I slid down the wall, moaning quietly in pain and wincing.  I glanced down at my hand, which had been covering my wound.  Even in the dim light, I could see the blood dripping from my fingers. Damn, I'm loosing a lot of blood.  I won't be able to last much longer if I can't stop it.  How was it that vet told me how to stop deep wounds?  Fuck.  I remember now.  
I made a *hush* motion with my fingers, took off my shirt, and braced myself.  I really wasn't looking forwards to this.  I sucked in a breath, and held it.  Here we go now.  Do this, you live.   Hesitate, or mess up, you... are... dead.  I rapidly shoved my shirt into the wound.  The idea, the ex-marine had said, was that the cloth would stop the bleeding from the inside and out.  Bad damn, did it hurt like hell.  Almost as bad as the fire.  
Unlike the fire, though, I was able to keep quiet.  For the most part.  Unlike the three fillies in front of me, who all let out their own, "Ewws," and, "Ughs."  They all stepped backwards, "Why did you do that?"  The orange one asks.
I growled in pain, "So I don't bleed out.  I ain't ready to die."  I stuffed the rest of my shirt into my stomach, clenching my teeth together and breathing slowly.  I gasped as I finished the last push, and rested.  I realized that I had been keeping my eyes shut, and when I opened them, my vision was blurry, two images of the same picture swaying in and out of focus.  Ok, enough screwing around.  Time to go.  
I pushed myself back up the wall, and turned towards the fillies, "Alright, outta the way.  I'm leaving."  I took a shaky step forwards, and it was as if I was  Moses splitting the Red Sea.  They took to the walls of the alley like they could melt into it.  I sadly eyed them, and shook my head.
"I guess rumours are more interesting than the truth, isn't it?  It's a shame that another planet has become a personal hell for me."  I left them behind, trudging through watery mud, cursing the day I was born, cursing why I was who I was, cursing everything, and questioning the same things.  In a few short seconds, I'd drained my flask, and left thirsting more.  
I wanted to pay no attention to my surroundings, and just wander off to no where.  But as angry and depressed as I was feeling, I didn't want to run into that mob and die.  Nah, I had to perform the best impersonation of every half decent spy in every spy thriller I'd ever seen.  Ok, it was Snake from a walkthrough of a perfect stealth run of Metal Gear Solid 5 the Phantom Pain, but still, that was pretty damn sneaky, and these ponies were easy to avoid.  They stayed almost entirely to the lit street, and only ventured into the alley's when they carried torches.  Not to mention their angry shouts were difficult not to hear, so it was easy to avoid them.   Those three from earlier must have been an outlier.  
Finally, I reached the outskirts of town, without having alerted a single pony.  The tavern I found myself in front of, however, was going to change that.  The Bottomless Draught taunted me with the aspect of more alcohol in my veins, something that promised to satisfy the nasty itch I had grown.  Of course, I could go home and do that, but a bar has a certain atmosphere that I could never resist.  Maybe the locals were ALL out hunting for me.  Maybe, they were secretly avid drunks and wouldn't be able to tell whether or not I was real or not, and the bartender a merciful soul who'd start a tab with me.  
I stepped through the door, sopping wet, my boots squelching with the thump of boots striking wood.  There were only two ponies in here.  The black furred and maned bartender, and a two tone purple pony who was trying to sing, but slurring her words so badly I couldn't understand a word of it.  At least she was still happy with her booze.  The bartender was, as the stereotype went, washing glass beer mugs.
The pony stopped momentarily to look at the drenched human, but while she immediately continued washing the mug, she kept an eye on me.  I looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the bartender.  2:30.
My boots continued their montra as I walked up to the bar, "Afternoon.  I'd like to start a tab, and get the strongest rotgut you've got in stock."  I sat down on one of the stools, which was a little short despite ponies being larger than me.  
The pony nodded, pulled a large, black bottle from underneath the counter, and filled the glass that had been freshly cleaned.  I drank deeply, emptying the glass.  Halfway through, I thought it was a bad idea.  When I finished, I knew it had been a bad idea.  This wasn't the average whiskey or cider or whatever.  This was something special.
"Homebrew moonshine yeah?  Wheat and corn base with some strawberries mixed in?"
The pony blinked, "How'd you know?"
I smiled, "If you drank as much as I do, then you can tell the contents of any alcohol you guzzle.  This stuff is as close to pure as you can get with a backyard distillery, and it's going to kick in really soon, and kick hard.  Good thing too, I won't be feeling the hole in me then."  I breathed in the sweet smell of a bar.  Sweat, a ting of blood, some must from the rafters, and most of all, alcohol that had come and gone.  
"So why ain't you panicking?  Mobs out there are ready to execute me over some rumours."
She raised an eyebrow, "This is a bar.  Stories here are about as reliable as a the customers I serve.  You learn to take it all with a grain of salt unless it's something you know is for a fact."
"Good to know someone around here isn't so easily swayed.  Can I get another one?"  I raised my glass.  
She nodded, and poured the glass half full.  When I gave a questioning look, she said, "Look, if you keep drinking like I think you want to, you're going to die."
I guzzled down the moonshine, thudding the glass back down, "Maybe that's what would be best, eh?  That'd solve all my problems in and with life.  Hell, it's like an abusive relationship, and I'm too much of a dumbass to leave it.  Kinda reminds me of a song from back home.  Wanna hear it?"
"Sounds like I don't have much of a choice.  Get on with it."
I sucked in a deep breath, and sang out my song from memory,

Somehow, in ways that defied my understanding, while I sang the music behind it played just like in my memory.  The mare in front of me had a pained expression, on the verge of tears, while the purple pony who sat a few stools down was already crying her eyes out.
"Wha cud make ya feel suh bad?  *HIC!*"  She asked through her tears.
"All the crap that happens to me.  That's what.  Sometimes I want to say fuck it and kill myself.  But I always remember that death is not an option.  It's a cowardly way of surrendering, of losing.  And I sure as hell hate to lose.  Living on is a great big middle finger to the world, and I'm keeping that one finger salute erect as long as possible."  The bartender filled my glass again, all the way this time.  I smiled, "Cheers."
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Midnight
I couldn't find him.  I couldn't find Brian.  No matter how far I looked, no matter how much I listened to the others talking, but no one had spotted him.  
I was searching near one of the bars, when I heard singing, a depressing song, about giving up and dying.  It sounded like Brian, so close.  I nosed open the door to get a look at the speaker.  There he was, hunched over the bar with no shirt, smiling, was the one and only human, Brian.  "Wha cud make ya feel suh bad? *HIC!*" Berry Punch asked through her tears.
"All the crap that happens to me. That's what. Sometimes I want to say fuck it and kill myself. But I always remember that death is not an option. It's a cowardly way of surrendering, of losing. And I sure as hell hate to lose. Living on is a great big middle finger to the world, and I'm keeping that one finger salute erect as long as possible."  The bartender, a mare I didn't know the name of, poured him another full glass of some liquid, likely alcohol.  "Cheers."
"B-Brian?"  He turned around to look at me, and I saw the glossiness in his small, intense eyes.  He squinted, and I realized he was concentrating as much as his alcohol riddled mind could manage.
"Eh!  Midnight!  How you doing?"  He proclaimed in sincere cheer, spinning around... with a bleeding wound in his belly, a small hint of a blood red shirt peeking out.  
"Brian!  What happened to you?"  I rushed over to his side, and examined the wound.  It was very clean, not made by wood.  Something sharp, like... ice, "Did you get this when you jumped out that window?"
He nodded, "Yep."  He drank some more of that liquid.
"What are you doing here in a bar?  You need help!"  
He stopped smiling.  He nodded, sighing, "I survived a bunch of shit Midnight.  This... I'm not sure I can kick it.  Ah, who am I kidding, let's kick my ass!  Wait, no, that's not right.  No, let's patch me up!  That's it, let's go."  And he stood.  He was a bit smaller than me, but by Celestia, he had a presence.  Drunk, and bleeding, he stood upright on two legs straight as can be with such sureness, it amazed me he had actually been wounded.  He took a few uneasy steps, turned to the bartender, and said, "I WILL, pay you back.  Even if it kills me."
"That's right.  You'll pay him back.  But we need to get you to the hospital so you can do that.  Ok?  Ok, great."  Isound so patronizing right now.
I get him maybe five steps down the road, and already I get discovered.
"There it is!  Midnight wounded it!"  Somepony yelled, and we were swarmed by an angry mob of ponies.
"Hey Midnight, why didn't you kill it?  You already hurt it, can't be that hard?"
I scowled, "First off, I didn't hurt him.  Second, he's a really nice guy.  Do you know why I was so skinny for so long?"
They looked to each other, not knowing the answer even though it wasn't a secret.  Finally, one of them spoke up, "Because you weren't eating enough?"
I scowled a little bit more, "Easy Midnight, that scowl doesn't look good on you."  Brian chuckled weakly.
I smiled sadly at him, nuzzling his shoulder a little, "Close.  Being half thestral,  my diet requires high levels of protein which can't be found in the food ponies normally eat.  And all of you look down on eating meat.  There isn't any other good way to get what I need to be healthy.  
"Then I met Brian.  That's his name, by the way.  He'd recently gotten, as he would say-"
"Got my ass kicked so bad I should have died."
"Right, that.  He had every right to hate me and all ponies for what happened to him.  All he knew was that he was attacked for no reason, But he gave me a chance.  He fed me food that I needed to get healthy again.  He let me eat as much as I wanted, and cooked it for me too.  Might I remind you that he lives in the Everfree?  In there, any and all food is both difficult, and very dangerous to get.  Food that he needs just as much as I do, and he shared.  He is no monster.  He's my friend, and I'm taking my friend to the hospital, whether you like it or not.  Now if you'll be so kind as to pull your heads out of your flanks and get out of the way, we'd be much obliged."
Most of the ponies looked ashamed, and stepped out of the way, except for one burley stallion who worked in the blacksmiths shop.
"So he fed you, huh?  What was it?  Ponies?!!?"
Brian took the lead with this one without a hint of the alcohol that must have been flooding his system, "You ponies always go to the worst possibility.  We ate moose and deer, you dumbass.  If something can talk to me, or used to, I don't eat it.  I'd be more than happy to talk to them if they're willing to do the same.  Eating an intelligent creature is like cannabilism to me, and that's just disgusting and not right.  I've heard your rumors, and they're all bullshit!  I never have, and never will, eat a foal OR children.  Now look, this is the second instance of you ponies hurting me so bad that I'm staying alive by the skin of my teeth, and I'm bleeding out here.  I've been beaten up enough in life, and I don't need you adding to it.  You've said your piece, even though it's full of shit, now leave me be damn it.  The shirt I used to stop the bleeding is only prolonging my bleed out, and the alcohol killing the pain won't last forever."
The stallion, lost for words, stepped out of the way, letting us pass.  We continued on our journey to the hospital, other ponies joining the crowd and being filled in by those already here.
I grew increasingly worried about Brian.  His strong disposition started wavering halfway there.   His head sagged, his eyes had a blank, distant look, and even though he was leaning so heavily against me he might as well be riding me, he still stumbled.  Despite his assurances that he was fine, I kept worrying about him, and tried to increase our pace to go as fast as he could go.  
When we reached the hospital, the nurse on duty at the desk gave me a pleasant surprise when she yelled for some orderlies to bring a gurney.  
The orderlies themselves only showed concern over Brian's still bleeding wound as they helped him onto the gurney.  I followed along, trying to assure Brian that he was going to be alright.  I doubted he could hear any of it.  His face looked emotionless with that dead stare of his.  Only his steady breathing told me he was still alive.
Finally, we reached the operating room, where there were already doctors ready to operate.  The orderlies gently used their magic to lift him up and deposite Brian onto the operating table.  
"Ok, let's hook it up to a EKG and sedate him.  Don't want him doing anything to mess up the surgery."   The attached a few medical wires to his wrist, where his veins were easy to see, and one of the doctors inserted a needle with a dirty yellow liquid into Brian's neck.  Once his eyes closed, they began.
First, they took out the shirt he'd stuffed inside himself.  The first tugs made the EKG machine start beeping eradically.  
"Let's hope that one good pull will take it out of him.  I don't think his system can handle gentle tugging."   And then the doctor used his magic to rip out the shirt, lifting Brian up off the table a little.  The EKG machine made the closest sound of sputtering that a beep could make, and flattlined.
"NOO!"
"Shock him!  Level one!"  The doctor yelled.  The unicorn on the other side of the table nodded, charged his horn, and blasted Brian in the chest.  His body shuddered, the machine beeped once, and resumed the flatline.
"Again!  Shock level two!"  
"Charging!"  The unicorn charged his horn again, taking a little longer than last time, but still sent that bolt of magic into Brian's chest.  This made his body jerk, lifting him off the table a little.  The machine beeped a few times, then flatlined again.
"Please don't die Brian."  I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek.
The doctor growled in frustration, "AGAIN!  Shock level 5!  I'm going to start patching him up while you charge.  Red Heart, start CPR!"
A white earth pony nodded, "On it!"  She got on her rear hooves, and started pressing down and left the chest rise repeatedly, occasionally breathing air into Brian while the surgeon used his magic to start healing the damage in his stomach.  
"Please Brian, don't die!"  I pleaded, a little louder this time.
"Ready!"  The pony charging his horn said.  The surgeon stopped mending Brian's wound, and Red Heart stopped CPR.  
"CLEAR!" He shouted, and sent the bolt back into Brian's chest.  This one was much more powerful than the others, and it made Brian jump violently.  Again, the EKG beeped, a little longer this time, but it wasn't steady, and soon flatlined again.  
The doctors tried again and again, eventually sealing the hole in him.  But each time, the beeping only lasted for a few seconds.  And each time, I grew a little louder.  
Finally, the doctors, who were covered in sweat, stopped.  They shook their heads, and put a sheet over his body, leaving only his head to be exposed.
Most of the staff left with their heads low to the ground, but one had the decency to come over to me.
"I'm sorry, but he lost too much blood.  We tried our very best, but There was nothing more we could do for him.  He's dead.  We'll leave you to your grieving."  With that, he turned tail, and walked out the door.
Tears were freely pouring down my face as I approached Brian's body.  I stared down at his face.  He looked so calm, so at peace.  It was in stark contrast to how I'd first met him.  He looked so... tortured when we first met.  But after a few days, that had started to change.  He'd slowly began to look happier, and he'd shown me a kindness no one other than my parents had ever shown me.  
All the sweet memories we had together only made me cry harder.  All the jokes we cracked, all the care we shared with each other, the hunt, the food he made for me.  I was beginning to understand what I felt for him.
"Brian, please don't die.  I love you!"



Brian
If I had to discribe what was going on, I'd say I was drifting in the middle of emptiness.  No light, no feeling, nothing.  Oddly, I felt at peace despite how I got here.  For the most part.  Something seemed to be missing, something wrong.  I just couldn't place it.  
Then, I heard a voice, "Brian, please don't die.  I love you!"
A flash of pain erupted through my consciousness. Midnight?  She's... she's standing over my... body.  Did I die?  I did.  And she... loves me?  Memories flowed through me from the moment I met her to the last moments.  I regretted how abrasive I'd been when we first met, but now, I regretted putting her through this.  Fuck it, for you Midnight, I'll do anything.  I'll fight like no tomorrow.  Now, LIVE DAMN IT!  I mentally screamed, trying to fill my being with willpower to bring myself back.  
But something, I didn't know what,  was starting to pull me down.. Oh no you don't!  I've got someone to live for, and I'm not going to die from some fucking glass!  I was burned alive asswhipe!   This is nothing!  I screamed again, rage this time.  I wasn't going to die like this.
I was no longer in that void.  I was laying down in a solid piece of metal, under a thin blanket, and breathing.  
I could hear too.  And I didn't like the sounds that were being made.  It was Midnight.  And she was crying her eyes out.  
"Brian!"  She flayed out on top of me, wrapping me in an extremely tight hug, "Pkease don't die!"
I coughed, and wheezed out, "Can't... breathe!"   
Midnight gasped, dropping me back down to the table a little roughly.  I closed my eyes for a second, whining.  When I opened them again, Midnight was over me, front hooves on either side of me.  She was down at me, teary eyed, staring down at me with a stunned expression.  To me, she looked a lot like an angel.  The ceiling light shined down on her long, beautiful hair, her large, caring eyes glistening in the light, and glossy fur, somewhat dirtied with my blood.  
Well, all angels are supposed to be warriors.  "Damn you look hot."  
I didn't think she could look anymore surprised, but her expression changed immediately to joyously crying.  Again, she wrapped me up in a hug.  Gentlier than her death grip, but this time, she let her weight down on me.  She was heavy, just like... well, I don't know how long ago it was, but whenever it was that I carried her into town on my back.  But I was no longer carrying her, just holding her as she cried into my shoulder.  
"It's alright Midnight.  I ain't leaving you.  I love you too."
> Chapter 12: Final chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia
Another long day of attending the Public Court Hearings, and more (mostly nonsensical) hearings had been held on everything from land disputes, to law reformations.  Almost all of them were from the nobility, which had existed since the first Hearthswarming.  The fact that they were the descendants of the original unicorn and pegasus rulers (the earth ponies honestly didn't care much for nobility being the ancient beginnings of a democracy, and had refused being included) and it being tradition was the only thing keeping me from just forcing the positions of the Senate  to be elected officials.  
Now that the day portion of the court was closed, I was going to lower the sun for Luna to raise her moon and starry sky.  She really beat herself up too much, she makes such beautiful pieces of art for all to see, and didn't actually harm any subjects as she believes.  No matter how many times I tell her.
I stand at our balcony, the highest the castle has, and was soon joined by my sister, "Shall we?" I asked with a warm sisterly smile.
She returned my smile with one of her own, "We-"
She was cut off, but I could barely acknowledge that.  My mind was swarmed with memories, memories that we had blocked with a spell to keep us from remembering.  Remembering Brian, and the test.   And with it, came the memory from Brian.  Of him dying on a surgery table, bleeding to death.  The memory slowly bled out as the spell began to affect the rest of the memory by recording through his body.  He was bleeding badly through a massive gash in his stomach, with a shirt stuffed in.  Before I could comprehend why that was there, they'd sedated him, and started pulling the shirt out.  
As soon as they had removed it, he flatlined.  They repeatedly used a shock spell to attempt to restart his heart, and while the unicorn charged his horn, the lead surgeon sewed together his flesh.  They worked for a little over an hour, but finally gave up once they had put him back together and another round of shocks.  Brian was dead.
We were finally released from the memory.  One look at each other, and we understood exactly what we were going to do.  Simultaneously, we teleported to where Brian had died.
However, we were surprised at what we found.


Brian
I was still hugging Midnight when there was a loud pop that startled the both of us.  Turning my head, I could see two new creatures.  Just as I was about to start questioning who they were and why they were here, some very key memories came back to me.  That led to one conclusion.
"I just died, didn't I?"   It was a stupid question, but better to be sure.
The dark alicorn nodded, "Indeed.  It would appear that thou hath great willpower even beyond the veil."
Celestia bowed her head, "We are so sorry that this fell upon you Brian.  If I had known that this would happen, I-"
"Don't apologize."  I interrupted, "Something like this was probably going to happen anyways, and I knew it.  But with great risk, comes greater rewards."  With that, I turned my attention to Midnight, who was staring dumbfounded at the Princesses, and kissed her on the cheek, "I do believe I have a girlfriend now."
The peck on the cheek seemed to bring Midnight back to reality as she looked back at me startled, but quickly morphed into a loving smile as she planted one on my lips.  
"I'd say that the test was a mixed batch, wouldn't you agree?" I asked them.   
They looked at each other, not looking as though they knew what to think, and eventually shook their heads.
"Regardless, we will be repremanding our subjects about this."  Celestia said.   
I couldn't help but shrug, "Do what you need to do.  In any case, I think that now it's safe, I'll be bringing my van out of the woods.  That way, Midnight won't be having that much of a trip to visit."  


In the days that came, I managed to cut a path for my van while Celestia and Luna did their thing.  By the time I finally got it out, the local populace wasn't running away screaming.  So that was a plus.  
The first to try talking with me were the three kids from the alley.  They were very hesitant, but some candy I had stored from my world certainly made whatever fears wash away.  Two of them introduced themselves as children of Rarity and Applejack, since they knew I knew their sisters.  The other lived with her parents on the outskirts of town.  Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were their names.  Mostly, they wanted to make sure I was ok.  After showing off my scars, they soon found me as "AWESOME!" Or so they put it.  
After the kids no doubt talked about the meeting with anyone that listened, more and more ponies started talking with me.  By the end of the first week in Ponyville, they were all laughing at themselves for being so stupid.  I ended up making a lot of friends, especially at the bar that Berry Punch frequented.
Me and Midnight, well, we went on dates.  After a few months, I became a citizen of Equestria, built a house that I opened a butchery in that attracted dragons, Griffons, and Hippogriphs from across Equestria, and became a successful business.   A year after and Midnight met, we married.  Of course, we couldn't have kids, but we stayed happy.  
Life, life was pretty good.  Might've started out like absolute shit, but it ended up better than I could imagine.