Rust In The Breeze

by Twisted Brew

First published

After so many years of running with no destination in mind, this wayward human decides that its time to go home; To Ponyville!

The cynical bastard, formerly known as Ryan Curtis, was no more. That person had died and been left to rot, leaving someone else in his place.
Rusty Nails, a human that finally broke free of his past, has found happiness over the years and is ready to start enjoying life. However, the mistakes of his former self have started to haunt him. Even while assuming a new identity, the memories of who he was before would occasionally resurface, plaguing his mind and tormenting him mercilessly.
After all this time of adventuring and discovering the man hidden beneath the monster, he is finally ready to return to his old home and make amends for all of the wrongs that his former self had committed. Unknown to him; There's more than just a few hurt feelings to make up for.

FEATURED: 9/9/18
FEATURED AGAIN: 12/15/18
FUUUUUUUUUU: 2/5/19
I HAVE ASCENDED: 4/28/19
BARELY SOBER ENOUGH TO REGISTER: 11/1/19
I'M JUST GONNA STOP NOW: 1/21/20
I LIED!!!: 12/12/20

Chapter 1

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The train came to a slow, but still pretty rough stop in the town of Appleoosa, creating a cloud of dust as the wind following behind it kicked up a countless amount of dirt and sand. The engine quietened as the horn sounded off to alert passers by of its arrival. The weather was as expected in a desert during the middle of the day; The air was warm and dry, the sky cloudless and blue, and the sunlight was beating down on all who who dared to live in such a climate.

Unlike the usual train that passed by, dropping off ponies that decided to travel out here for whatever reasons they may have, this was a supply train. The only ponies on board were the conductor, a few engine workers, and a three-pony family that hid in one of the empty carts; Accompanied by their furless friend of course, Rusty.

The door to the supposedly empty cart slid open. Steel Hoof, an older stallion with brown fur and a grey mane, dressed in an old, worn and torn suit, stepped out and took a deep breath of the hot, desert air. A smile spread across his face as he took in the area around him, ready to take on the day and whatever it had in store for them. Turning back to the cart, he held out his hand.

In response to his kind gesture; Scarlet, a salmon pink mare with a long, flowing red mane, gently grabbed his hand and stepped out as well. Once free from the confines of their mobile home, she brushed off her equally worn out dress and leaned in to give her husband a short, but sweet kiss.

"Incoming!"

The couple looked back to the cart, separating as they took a step back. Just as they had made a clearing, Rusty came flying out, landing in between the two with a colt, that looked nearly identical to Steel Hoof, piggybacking on him. The young pony was giggling with glee, even as he slid down the creature's hooded form.

"Let's do it again!" Rod exclaimed, the smile on his face being almost too much for his illegitimate brother to say 'No' to. Luckily for him, he didn't have to.

"Maybe another time, dear." Scarlet said sweetly, picking up the colt and holding him in her arms. "You know the rules; Work comes before play."

Though clearly disappointed, Rod understood and submitted to his mother's words. "Yes, mommy."

"That's a good boy." She finished with a smile, poking his nose playfully.

Steel Hoof broke away from the group, walking a few feet toward the front of the train. "How's it going, Steam?" He called out, a small latch opening up just enough for the conductor to stick his head out.

Steam looked out to them, running a hand through his nearly black mane before grabbing the cigarette from his mouth so he could speak. "Steel, ol buddy!" He called back, a great big smile going across his ash grey features. "How was the ride?"

"Pleasant, as always!" Steel replied with a short laugh.

"I hope so, cause we're not staying for long!" Glancing toward the station, he spotted a clock and pointed at it. "You got 'till six o' clock! Make it count!"

After looking at the clock, Steel did a playful salute to the conductor and turned back to rejoin his family. "Alright everypony." He began, clapping his hands to make sure he had their attention. "We've got just a little over an hour to get what we need. Scarlet and Rod; You're the cute ones, so you're on money duty."

"Rusty and I will gather supplies." Steel threw an arm around Rusty, pulling him close to his side. "We'll meet back here ten minutes before the train is set to leave. Sound like a plan?"

"Yes, sir!" Rod saluted, earning a grin from his father, Scarlet nodding in his direction as well.

"That's the spirit!" And on that note, the group broke into their respective teams of two and went off in opposite directions.

Leaving the station behind, Steel led the way to town. He reached into his suit coat, slipping his hand in a pocket and grabbing a handful of the bits concealed within. It wasn't a lot, but it should be enough to stock them up for the next train ride. Holding the bits in one hand, he slid them into the other with his thumb, counting each one individually in head.

Rusty pulled up on the hood of his rust red coat, making sure that it was steady. It wouldn't be enough to hide his more distinct features, but nopony would suspect he was any different from them at first glance. Taking the time to look around, he spotted a small row of market stalls.

Grabbing Steel with a hand, he pointed to the stalls. "There's your spot, buddy."

Steel flashed him a toothy smile. "Good eye, Rusty." Standing in place, he went through their small sum of money one last time. "What do you recon the price of water will be?"

"Anywhere else, a case would run us about twelve bits." Daring to go over the landscape one last time, he couldn't help but feel like the odds wouldn't be in their favor. "But, I get the feeling water is a little scarce out here. Might wanna up the ante."

It's not too often that Steel would find himself frowning, typically being the one to find the best of any bad situation. Life wasn't the easiest for him and his family. What little currency they had was essential for their survival. "That might leave us a little short on food." He said, managing to put his smile back on as he handed the bits over to Rusty. "But, we've braved through worse."

Rusty accepted the bits, pocketing them quickly. He used to envy Steel Hoof's ability to smile no matter how bleak a situation may have seemed. Over time though, he learned to do the same. Now he just felt like a hairless knock-off of the poor, kind soul that was this stallion. The two nodded to each other and agreed to meetup back at the station before dividing.

Steel has been all around Equestria, further even. This gave the pony a pretty good idea on how to do things in certain areas. One thing that he managed to win ponies over with was his charisma. He was always lively and willing to offer kindness even when none was returned. This affected almost everypony he crossed, earning him both attention and hospitality. If he really wanted something, he could get it without even an ounce of deceit. He was just a very likable pony.

Rusty, on the other hand, didn't have it so easy. His personality would win over ponies over time, but his appearance always threw them off and made it slightly more challenging as a result. Still, he always tried hard to make the very best impression he could and be as likable as any other pony. Time seemed to fly by as he wandered the dirt roads that were laid out before him, searching for any place that would sell water. His prayers were finally answered as he stumbled upon a small store, the signs out front conveniently stating that were selling bottled water. Without further delay, he entered the little marketplace and took in the surroundings.

It was a nice spot, albeit smaller than most of the shops he's visited. There were some shelves decorated with knick-knacks of all kinds, a few tools off in the back, some non-perishable foods by the counter, and a large cooler behind the counter.

With his goal now in sight, he pulled down his hood- not wanting them to think he's some sort of thief- and approached the sales pony standing in front of the cooler. Naturally, her eyes went wide as the tan coated mare spotted him, brushing her light brown locks from her face to make sure she was seeing him correctly.

Doing the polite thing, Rusty flashed her a smile as he reached the counter. "Howdy, howdy." He greeted in a soft tone, ignoring her stare as he pointed to the machine behind her. "How much for a case?"

Dumbstruck, the mare could only 'Uhhh' at him for a few seconds before finally processing his question. "Oh! For the uh..." She glanced back, her brain still trying to catch up with her. "For the water?"

"Yes, ma'am." Rusty confirmed with a nod.

"Right! Yes...The water!" The store clerk put on a weird smile as she tried to continue. "It's uh..two bits per bottle. Seventeen for a case."

"I'll take one case then." Rusty reached into his pocket and pulled out the bits, counting what he had and placing the amount on the counter. This left him with three bits total that he placed back into his pocket. He hoped to high heaven that Scarlet and Rod would pull in a decent amount during their rounds. Otherwise, things were going to be pretty tight for the next few days.

Accepting his payment, the mare opened the cooler and pulled out a box wider than her chest. She placed the box on the counter, looking much more at ease as she opened it to examine the contents. "One...four...ten...twelve." Satisfied that everything was in order, she closed the box and slid it over to her odd-looking costumer. "There you are, sir!"

"Thank you, kindly." With that out of the way, he could head back to-

"No disrespect, sir; But..." The shop pony began, causing Rusty to freeze in place. "What uh...what exactly...Are you a-" Now feeling more than a little nervous, the mare couldn't find the words she was looking for. With how kind this creatur has been thus far, the last thing she wanted to do was offend him.

"An alien?" Rusty finished for her, having heard this question more times than he could count. Despite the re-occurrence of this question though, he never let it put a damper on his mood and would instead choose to humor those who asked. "In a sense, I am." He almost laughed as he watched her eyes light up at his response. Knowing what she would ask next, he decided to have a little fun with her. "I come from a world far, far away from here."

"A world rich with technology the likes of which this one may never see!" Leaning over the counter, the shop pony listened intently to what he had to say. "I've only been here for a few short years, but I gotta say; I think I like it better here. You ponies are absolutely remarkable."

The mare blushed, leaning back as she reached up and started playing with her mane. "Well, I-I...I don't know about that-"

Rusty reached over the counter, placing two fingers to her lips as she shushed her. "Don't sell yourself so short. It's ponies like you who have given my life so much more meaning than it once had." He went on to say, causing her blush to deepen. "If it wasn't for this world and all of the wonderful creatures, I never would have lived this long."

Pulling back, the shop pony now dead silent and completely still, Rusty grabbed the box in front of him and lifted it onto his shoulder. "Have a lovely day."

It took her a few seconds to recollect herself, but she managed to respond just as he went out of the door. "You too... um..."

"Rusty Nails!" He called back, leaving the flustered mare alone in her shop.

She was cute. I wonder how long it would take to seduce her.

Rusty smiled as he walked back down the road, throwing up his hood before he could draw any attention to himself. He really enjoyed talking to other ponies like that. Given his unique species, they would think that there was something special about him. It was this belief that gave him the opportunity to make them feel special. Granted, the way he went about doing this was as simple as it came, but that's what he loved the most about his life. The simplicity of being nice and surviving made everything just perfect in his eyes.

Still ignoring me, huh?

The walk down here took longer than Rusty had anticipated, but at least he kept tabs on which directions he took. The only problem now was whether or not he would make it back to the train in time. Still keeping a tight grip on the case he was holding, he glanced in almost every direction as he tried to find a clock.

Do you have any idea how boring this is for me?

Rusty couldn't spot any way to tell the exact time. A few years back, he tried learning to tell the time through the position of the sun, but was never very accurate with his readings. With his attention elsewhere, he nearly made the mistake of bumping into a few ponies. He apologized, of course, but kept trying to find a clock so he would know whether or not he would need to start running to catch the train.

Heads up!

As fate would have it, the next Pony that Rusty bumped into ended up colliding with him head on. The impact caused both parties to recoil, dropping their respective items; Rusty losing his grip on his water case, and the pony releasing the arms of a wagon they were pulling.

Placing a hand to his head, Rusty rubbed the spot where they made contact. His sights immediately went downward, where he spotted his fallen case and a hat. "I'm terribly sorry." Keeling down, he grabbed his water case and the dirty stetson. "That was my fault, I wasn't paying attention..." His words trailed off as he stood back to his full height, his eyes widening as he got a look at who he had bumped into.

Farm Horse!

Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres, the pony who's family he considered to be his own flesh and blood at one point, was standing before him, her eyes sealed shut as she attempted to massage away the headache she now had. Part of him was actually a little excited to see her, but that was nothing compared to the amount of pain and guilt that immediately resurfaced upon laying his eyes on her.

"The fault aint all yers." Applejack said through gritted teeth, more out of pain than anger. "Ah didn't have my eyes rightly where they should have been either." She opened her eyes, seeing the odd pony she bumped into apparently refusing to look at her. His head was aimed down, the faded red hood making it nearly impossible to see his face. She followed his gaze, noticing her hat in his grip.

Rusty all but shoved the stetson into her hands, quickly retracting his own and slipping it into his pocket before walking around her. "Sorry, but I'm in a rush."

Applejack held on to her hat, unsure of how to feel about all of that. He was probably the weirdest pony she's met in a while. Not to mention he had the strangest looking hand she's seen since...Her mind came to a rather preposterous conclusion, but not one she could so easily overlook. Turning around, she eyed the odd 'pony' walking away from her at a rather suspicious pace.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she focused on every little detail. Nothing seemed out of place, aside from the exposed wrist she could just barely make out from this distance. It looked like it hardly had any fur on it, which is very odd for a pony. Keeping her sights on him, she caught a glimpse of his face as he glanced back at her. Her heart stopped for a few seconds as she spotted the scruffy human's, unshaven features; His muzzle-less mouth, the smooth skin on his forehead, those messy locks of yellow hair.

Applejack throws her hat on and starts walking, moving slightly faster than the human as she follows behind him. He turns a corner, giving her the opportunity to pick up the pace while he's no longer looking. Nearly running now, she rounds the corner and...nothing.

The person she could have sworn she saw was gone, nowhere to be seen. Her eyes dart every which way, looking for any places that he could have ducked off to. However, the only things in her sights were other ponies, a few connected buildinga, a long dirt road, and a small playhouse for foals, which she could see a lone filly playing in through its tiny window.

Unsure of what just happened, or if what she saw was even real, Applejack turned away from the path and went back to the wagon she left behind.

The filly within the playhouse peeked out of the window before turning to face her over-sized visitor, crouched down beneath the window with a box in his lap. She regarded him with curious eyes, expecting an answer as to why he so rudely barged in and asked her to pretend like he wasn't there.

Looking back at the filly, Rusty knew he was in a rough spot. This kid could easily turn on him if she wanted to and he really wasn't looking forward to that. But, what could he possibly do to make sure she wouldn't say anything?

I might have an idea.

Rusty took a deep breath, normally doing what he could to shut out the one part of his old self that refused to go away. If he were being honest though, it's saved his sorry flank on more than one occasion. And at least this suggestion wasn't as bad as some of the others.

Slipping a hand into his pocket, he pulled out a single bit and slid it across the plastic table in front of him. "You never saw me." The filly eyed the bit for a few seconds before collecting it and nodding to him with a smug grin plastered across her face.

I hate kids...

A loud, deep whistle tore through the play-set walls, causing Rusty's whole body to tense up. "Uh oh..." Was all he could get out as he nearly broke through the toy house's front door and started sprinting back to the train station. "Sorry!"

Rusty ran as fast as his legs could carry him, still holding on tightly to the case of water that he placed back onto his shoulder. The station wasn't too far off from him now, but as the final whistle blew, it started to leave without him. He pushed himself a little more, his legs beginning to cry out in pain as he ran faster. Making it to the station, he spotted the train just a short ways down the tracks, still moving slowly from having just started back up.

Without stopping, Rusty flew past several ponies waiting at the station, jumping off of the platform and running after the train. He was starting to catch up, but the train was moving faster and faster. By some miracle, he manged to get close enough to reach the caboose. It took everything he had to do this, but he did it.

Rusty jumped, grabbing onto the rail with his free hand and pulling himself up. He finally came to a stop, taking a few minutes to catch his breath as he looked back at the city of Appleoosa slowly disappearing behind him.


Azure looks out at the town of Ponyville from her spot on the cloud, watching as the sun begins its descent and night falls over her home. Ever since her talk with Big Mac earlier that day, she's kept mostly to herself; Sorting through thoughts and feelings with no real idea of what to do about any of them. Although she was happy to have learned more about her late father, something still felt out of sorts. She thought that, by learning about him, she would be able to move on with her life and no longer have to hold onto this emptiness that's filled her for as long as she can remember. Instead, it feels as though it's grown.

Having spent most of the day crying into Big Mac's shoulder, she couldn't produce any more tears. There were none left to be shed. But that emptiness, as well as that sadness that would accompany it, still remained.

The small amount of knowledge she had gathered wasn't enough. She wanted to know more, so much more. She wanted to know who he was, what he was, what he looked like, what he felt like, and how it would feel to be wrapped in his arms as he told her he loved her.

This wasn't a desire just to learn and hear about him, as it had started out. No. This was a need to know him, to see him, to be with him. But, no matter how much she wanted to, there was no bringing him back. Her father was dead and there wasn't a single thing she could do about it.

Resigned to simply wallowing in her own sadness, Azure rolled onto her back and looked up at the darkening sky. Before too long, the moon began to rise and she spotted the first star to appear before the rest began to shine through. Her eyes stayed locked onto that one star, never letting it leave her sight.

How about we make a wish?

Azure sniffed loudly, though no tears were forming, her feelings still managed to manifest. "W-Why?" She asked aloud, her voice trembling. "It's not l-like i-it'll come t-true..."

Honey, how many wishes ever come true?

Azure wasn't sure how to respond to that. Not that she would be able to, given how hard she was fighting herself just to keep from having another emotional breakdown.

Exactly! It's not about having it come true; It's about declaring what you want, getting it off of your chest and out into the open!

"W-Well it's s-s-stupid!" Azure declared.

Then why do ponies all over the place do it, hmm...Because it makes them feel better, you twit. It gives them hope for better days to come.

With it being put that way, it kinda made sense to the distressed filly.

You deserve to have your wish granted just as much as anypony else.

So, my cute, little friend; What is your wish?

Taking a few shaky breaths, Azure continued to stare down the first star she saw appear into the night sky. "M-My wish..." She didn't notice this at first, but one of the stars above her was glowing a few shades brighter than the rest. "I wish...I wish my daddy was here." Said star became bigger and brighter, almost as if-

Sweet Celestia!

Azure's eyes went wide as she watched the star fall, going right toward Princess Twilight's castle. It came down so fast she could barely keep up with it. Just as she thought it was going to tear down the crystal tower, the star disintegrated. The light that once followed bounced off of the reflective structure, illuminating both the castle itself and the massive star-shaped crystal at the top.


Rusty sat beside the train cart's open door, looking out at the tree-covered landscape as they zipped by. The sun would be setting soon and he would have to head to bed, but he was finding it hard to even think about sleep right now. That short run-in with Applejack in Appleoosa stirred up a lot of old feelings. His heart ached at the memories of all of the mistakes his former self made, all of the hearts he broke, all of the pain he caused.

More than anything else, he felt guilty for all of that and more. It must have been a nightmare for those he cared about to hear of his 'passing', then for the one that watched him 'die' to see him casually roaming the streets. Who knows what this is doing to her. Every little thing that has happened since his arrival in Equestria has been eating at him since he saw her again. He thought that he was finally free of all of this pain. But, as it turns out, he was just suppressing it under this new identity. He can see that now, moreover, he can feel it.

Steel and Rusty had a long talk over what happened earlier today before the stallion went to join his family in their makeshift bed off to the side. Once again, that old stallion threw down some heavy wisdom. It helped him come to terms with everything before, but this wasn't going to be so simple.

Rusty had a new name and a new life, Ryan was long gone. But, if that part of him is truly gone, then why is he still running from his past mistakes? When he really broke it down, that's all Ryan ever did was run away from things. Whether it be literally of figuratively depended on the situation, but regardless, he never faced his problems like he should have.

Ryan was a coward that hid behind closed doors and alcohol so that he wouldn't have to face things head on...but that is not who Rusty is.

All of the guilt from earlier practically vanished into thin air as a newfound sense of determination filled Rusty from head to toe. Climbing to his feet, he got to work on gathering supplies. There was an old bag in one of the crates they used to store everything they would acquire. He grabbed the bag and filled it with a few of the essentials; Which only consisted of a few bottles of water and some canned food. Taking less than his share, he zipped the bag and strapped it on.

"Rusty..." Rusty froze, his head slowly turning to see his new family looking at him from their bed. Out of all of them, Rod had the saddest look in his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I uh..." The words didn't want to come out. His confidence from earlier was slipping away as he looked into the melancholy eyes of the ones who had done so much for him. "I didn't mean to wake you. I was just..." He struggled to put together a full sentence, not wanting to hurt any of them. "I have to...I NEED to go and..." Steel rose up from the bed, walking over to Rusty and placing a hand on his shoulder. The sad look in his eyes shifted to something that Rusty couldn't quite identify as the stallion started to smile at him.

"It's okay, Rusty." Steel said with a nod. "Go...Go and make things right."

Tears started to form in Rusty's eyes as he threw his arms around Steel, who happily returned the embrace. "Thank you...Thank you for everything."

The embrace ended when Scarlet found her way to the two, offering Rusty a delighted smile. "You're doing the right thing, sweetie." Mimicking Rusty, she all but crushed him as she forced her own embrace upon the human with happy tears in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you..."

This hug lasted a little longer than the last, but when it finally broke, Rusty's attention went downward. He could see Rod standing a few feet away from the group, his features being genuinely sad.

Taking a knee, Rusty locked eyes with the colt and opened his arms. Though hesitant at first, Rod came running into his arms and cried softly into his brother's red coat.

"You're not leaving forever, are you?" Rod asked solemnly, his voice muffled from having his face buried in Rusty's shoulder.

Rusty nodded, stroking his little brother's mane to coax him out of hiding. "Of course not..." Rod pulled his face from his shoulder, looking up at him with red surrounding his eyes. "You're my family and I could never abandon any of you." Wiping the tears from the colt's eyes, he gave him a quick nuzzle. "We'll see each other again. I promise."

After releasing Rod from his hold, Rusty stood back to his full height and walked back to the open cart door. Having been on this train for as long as he has, he knew they'd be passing by Ponyville soon. It never stopped there persay, but followed a secondary track that would pass by the town.

Now that night had fallen, it was nearly impossible to see where the town was. It was small, so it wasn't like he was looking at Las Vegas from the mountains of Nevada again. This was more like searching for one lightning bug in a field. If it weren't for the stars- literally- he never would have found it.

A shooting star seemed to come down at the perfect time, somehow causing the crystal star at the top of Twilight's castle to glow bright enough for him to see. His destination now in sight, he walked away from the door and to the other side of the cart.

Rusty looked over at his family one last time. "You know...It's been a while since I've done this."

Steel and Scarlet seemed to get the joke, but Rod was lost on its meaning. "Done what?"

"Something really stupid." Rusty answered before charging straight for the exit and making a powerful leap right when he reached the edge. His body soared for what felt like minutes, but really only lasted for a few seconds.

At the end of that time, Rusty hit the ground and quickly came down to meet the dirt below with his face, the rest of his body following suit right after. He rolled to the side, soon reaching a steep edge and tumbling down the small hill until he finally came to a painful stop at the bottom.

You were right...That was really stupid....

Groaning, Rusty flipped himself over and got back to his feet, albeit with some difficulty. After a quick dusting to get some of the dirt off his everything, he looked toward where he saw the castle. Now that he was level with the town, he was able to spot a few dim lights in the distance from those few who stayed up this late.

Well, buddy...You better get to steppin' if you wanna make it there before morning. That's a long fuckin' walk.

That in mind, Rusty got moving. He walked at a decent pace, taking careful steps as to not trip over anything and hurt himself even more in the process. Last thing he needed was to show up broken. Wouldn't that be a hell of way to re-introduce yourself to the entire world.

Chapter 2

View Online

The best thing about small towns is their consistency. No matter how much time has passed, they never seem to change too dramatically. To some this may seem boring, but to others this is a godsend. It keeps things easy and simple, never having to adapt all the time just to keep up with everyone else. A few minor details may have been altered here and there. But, for the most part, it still remains nearly identical to a memory. This would be a lot more pleasant if there weren't so many bad memories to outweigh the good ones.

How does one simply simply overlook the past in hopes to create a better future? Is this weight destined to hang over that person forever, or will the pain pass? Would 'Sorry' be enough to make up for it all? These questions and many more were what was now rattling around in the wayward human's mind.

Rusty sat at the very edge of the Everfree Forest, his back resting comfortably on a tree as he looked out at the town he had abandoned just beyond the all-too-familiar cottage. Having only woken up a few minutes ago, his energy was low and the trip wasn't looking at all appealing. Not to mention that he hadn't really come up with a plan on how to reintroduce himself to everypony, having made quite the bold decision to do so in the heat of the moment. Still, he had good intentions and the reasoning behind it was admirable. At least, that's how he preferred to look at it.

There would be questions, disbelief, and probably a lot of resentment. Not that he didn't deserve it. 'The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons', as they say. This was little different from those biblical stories. But, for the most part, its meaning was not lost to this situation. At least, that's what he thought. Though he preferred not look to look back on his previous life with any sort of fondness, there were a few things he held onto; A certain phrase, for example. 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.'

And that's exactly what Rusty is doing as he looks out at the town, mentally preparing himself for the worst possible outcome as he scoops chunks of potato soup into his mouth from a crudely, cut-open can sitting in his lap. Finishing his meal with as much grace as a dirty, hobo can, he wipes the excess juices from his face and places the empty tin in his bag. It would make a decent mug in the future should things not go over so well.

Letting out a sigh, Rusty climbs to his feet and stretches his arms out. His limbs pop haphazardly, following no real pattern. This helps to wake him up a bit as he grabs the bag and throws it over his shoulder, fastening it to his torso before pulling his hood up. His sights move from Ponyville to the cottage not too far from his current spot. Figuring it was as good a place to start as any, he starts walking.

Better than waking up next to Dash's house...

Rusty couldn't entirely ignore that thought as he went over how he was going to execute this rather poorly produced plan of his. Out of all of the ponies he's wronged in the past, she was the one to fear. Though loyal to her friends, she wasn't the kindest to enemies; And at this point, he had no idea where he stood in her eyes. He hopes that she's calmed down over the years, hopefully met a nice stallion- or mare, she seems like the type- and started a decent life. He doesn't blame her for how things happened in the slightest. She didn't exactly contribute much positive reinforcement, but a lot of her anger came from the things he did even knowing her temper. That being said; He hopes nothing but the best for her.

I hope she chokes on a railroad spike!

"Really?" Rusty asked with a hint of disbelief. "That's the best you've got?" He was mostly just muttering to himself, preferring to ignore the voice rather than acknowledge it, but the little voice was all too observant.

Oh, so NOW you're talking to me again?

In all reality, Rusty did acknowledge what the voice would say, but would not give it the time of day. However, this one caught him a little off guard. "Just saying that you could have come up with something a bit craftier." He went on to say, seeing how he did technically make a response. "After all, she is a pegasus. You could have said something that pertains to flight or...something."

I've spent the last few years being ignored and taking in the complex layout of a fucking train! What the hell else am I supposed to jump to? This is almost all I know now!

"Maybe if you weren't so dense, you'd have learned more on our little journey." Rusty shot back, being genuinely annoyed with the level of ignorance that part of him still had. Had he really learned nothing throughout all of this? It almost made him feel less of himself. If just that part of him had made so little progress, then how much more of him remained blinded by it's own arrogance.

Just for that; I'm gonna keep making train jokes.

Narrowing his eyes, Rusty came to the conclusion that he had indeed learned next to nothing. "Seriously?"

Choo, Choo, motherfucker.

Rusty went back to ignoring the voice, wondering why he even bothered to try talking to it again in the first place. Over the years, he's learned how to cope with a lot. But, that one little thing lodged in his brain just had a way of crawling under his skin. If it were anypony else talking to him like that, he could overlook it and be fine. That voice though; Nerves were struck over the simplest of insults. But, he would just grit his teeth and go about his day.

There was probably a lot of psychology that went into how easily he was provoked by the voice, over everything else, but he wasn't willing to jump down that rabbit hole quite yet. Right now, he had a mission. It's not necessarily dangerous, but not a lot of good is being predicted at the moment either. Still, he stayed strong and powered through his doubts. He had already come this far, he wasn't going to back down now.

The more Rusty thought about his past, the more it tormented him. This was something he had to do. He had to make things right. Even if he couldn't, the least he could do was apologize before leaving again so they could get on with their lives without him there to screw things up.

With the cottage no more than a few yards away, anxiety started to rise, making the approach much more difficult than it should have been. More doubts began to surface; More thoughts that threatened to drive him away. He started to tremble just from seeing the familiar home of someone he used to know.

That poor mare will probably have a heart attack just looking at you.

This was something that Rusty had yet to consider. Of all of his old friends, Fluttershy was the kindest and the most understanding, but she was also the most fragile in most circumstances. Perhaps making her the first to see him again after all of this time wasn't such a good idea. Deep down he knew that this was just a pathetic excuse to buy himself more time, but he couldn't seem to work up the nerve to go any further.

Keeping his pace, he steered clear of the cottage and went straight for town after making sure his hood was pulled as far over his face as possible without rendering him completely blind.

Now the question arises...who's gonna be the lucky victim?

Rusty had no choice but to think this over as he began his detour to Ponyville, passing by very few ponies in the process. It goes without saying that they avoided him. Imagining himself in their eyes, seeing him with a large hood covering his face and his hands in his pockets- topped off with the old sack hanging off of his back-, he probably looked like he was about to rob a bank. Not exactly the best way to go about telling the world, 'Hey, I'm alive' but what other option did he have. The ponies he saw he instantly recognized. He lived in this town for nearly a year and although he didn't associate with many, he still knew their faces. And his face wasn't one you could miss, especially in this town.

Cycling through all of his potential candidates in his head, he started to mentally list the best possible outcomes and sort them out accordingly. This introduction would have to be slow. He didn't want to cause a scene and have ponies judging him immediately without getting to know him.

That being said, Pinkie Pie is being kicked right down to the bottom of the list. Fluttershy isn't an option; She's the kind of mare that needs time to prepare before doing something bold. Seeing him right off the bat might break her. He wasn't sure how Twilight or Applejack would react, especially Applejack...


Azure looked over the outfit Rarity had prepared for her in the privacy of a dressing room. It was small, not enough for her to feel cramped though, with one large mirror against the wall. The dress fit her perfectly, molding to her body like a second layer of fur, but it was a little too flashy for her tastes. Stripping down she got back into her signature clothing, a pair of jean shorts and a black tank top, before stepping out with the dress neatly folded in her arms.

As she exited the changing room, she spotted Rarity standing by the door, waving. Probably to one of her customers. She was wearing something rather casual, compared to the rest of her wardrobe, which consisted of a ruffle, white blouse and black leggings. "Thank you, sir! Come again!"

Closing the door, Rarity moved to a nearby table and took a seat while she finally had a moment to breathe. Today had started off fairly busy, but now the shop was empty and she has some time to relax. Azure joined her, taking a seat in the chair furthest from the door.

Noticing the filly as soon as she came over, Rarity straightened her posture and looked over to her. "So, what did you think?" She asked with a proud smile, clearly pleased with her own work.

Azure thought about how to answer without it sounding too rude. "It's...it's nice..." Was all she managed to say, a nervous smile adorning her muzzle.

Rarity let out a huff; This wasn't her first rodeo after all. "You hate it, don't you?"

"I never said that!" Azure all but yelled out defensively, doing her best not to hurt the unicorn's feelings. "I like it...I just think it might, maybe, possibly be...just the littlest bit too...sparkly." She could see the disappointment in the mare's eyes. "B-but, I'm sure that there's a filly out there who will love it!"

Rarity shot Azure a grin, holding back a small laugh. "Don't worry about it darling." She said, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm only giving you a hard time."

Azure's eyes narrowed before she threw the dress at her, earning a laugh from the older pony. Leaning back in her chair, she looked over the workshop she's become so familiar with. Having spent a lot of her free time here, she knew this place inside and out. From time to time she would even help out whenever she had nothing else to do.

Staying at Rarity's was a sweet little escape from her own home. She was like a second mother to the filly. It wasn't that she hated her actual mother or anything. In fact, she loved her with all she had. She just didn't like watching her spiral in and out of the same vicious cycle she seems to have accepted into her life.

A lot of the time she was at home, Azure found herself taking care of the hungover mare passed out on the couch. Her mother has been like this for as long as she can remember. Aside from that, nothing bad ever really happened. Dash never hit her, yelled at her, or even scolded her for anything. She would just come home from work, start drinking, then fall asleep. Sometimes in a few hilarious positions.

It wasn't hard for Azure to see that her mom was hurting on the inside. If she only knew how to help make that pain go away, she would. At the time though, her routine simply consisted of doing whatever she could to pass the time, then going home at night to help her mother to bed.

"Azure?" Azure was pulled from her thoughts as she looked over to Rarity, who was wearing a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah, everything's fine." Azure answered, shooting the mare a smile in hopes that it would help ease her nerves. "I guess I zoned out for a bit."

Rarity relaxed into her seat, using her magic to fold the dress the filly had thrown at her. "Sometimes, I swear I'm looking right at him..."

Azure blinked a few times at this. "You mean my dad, right?"

Rarity nodded, "Yes, darling..."

The room fell silent at the mention of Azure's late father. Awkwardness started to dominate the air between them. Normally Rarity would do her best to avoid conversations about her departed friend, but it was hard with Azure around. She saw so much of him in her. She had his eyes, his hair, and- from time to time- his attitude. It was like Ryan had been turned into a filly and finally settled down a bit.

Not knowing what else to do, or to bring up, Rarity held on to the topic. Azure was old enough, she had the right to know about him. "Did I ever tell you that your father and I used to be an item?"

Azure's eyes widened a bit at this, curiosity filling them. "You...You and my dad used to date?"

Rarity found her shocked expression all too amusing, but held back on showing it. "Well, we didn't technically date. But we were a couple...of sorts." Thinking back, she wasn't sure how to describe there relationship. And Ryan's explanation about them being 'Cuddle Buddies' didn't seem appropriate, or at all informing.

"We had a fairly intimate relationship with each other." Rarity went on to say, not going into too much detail on her 'intimate' past with the human. "He held a surprising amount of trust for me, though I cannot imagine why."

Azure let out an almost sad sigh, but smiled none-the-less. "Maybe you should have been my mother." Rarity was going to say something in regard to that, but hardly got the chance once she noticed a certain look on the filly. She almost looked disturbed as she stared past her. "There's somepony outside..."

Rarity turned her neck, looking back toward the door. She could see a hooded figure peering through the window, its hands buried deep into its pockets. It appeared to be looking for something. When it's head faced their direction, it went to the door and gave it three distinct knocks.

They waited to see what it would do. A few seconds passed and it turned and walked away rather abruptly. The two let out a breath neither realized they were holding, only to be startled when the figure returned rather abruptly and knocked again.

The situation was starting to take a turn for the creepy and Rarity instinctively took action. Facing the door, she rose from her seat. "Azure, I want you to go to the back door. If you hear anything strange, go for help."

"B-but Ra-"

"Azure, now!" Rarity whisper-yelled to the filly, provoking her to jump out of her chair and run to the back door. Taking a breath, she made her way to the front door and opened it just enough to see the figure on the other side. It was looking down, intentionally doing so to hide its face. "Can I help you?"

The figure was trembling at her doorstep, clearly unsure of itself for some reason. This didn't make her feel any better, in fact, it just made this situation much more disturbing.


Just. Walk. Away.

Rusty was on the verge of having a complete meltdown. Every conclusion he came to would damn-near scare him off. If he continued to think about what he wanted to do, he would eventually shy away. He had to stop thinking and take the plunge, otherwise he would cower and take off. He did this, but wished that he hadn't. Now all he could do was stare at his feet while the mare he trusted the most back then was probably getting ready to throw him off of her doorstep.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Rusty angled his head up just enough to see the bottom of her face. Just from that, he could tell that she was getting fed up with him. If he didn't act soon she would-

Rusty's arm shot up on its own, grabbing the door as she went to close it on him. "Wait!"

Rarity's head moved closer to the opening, her gaze threatening to tear him apart. However, something peculiar caught her attention from the corner of her vision. She took a chance and glanced at the bare-skin hand holding the door open. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked back at the figure, his head now up enough for her bright blue eyes to meet his. It was then when his face finally became clear to her. It was all too similar, but with a few key differences. Not enough to deter the unlikely conclusion her brain came to upon seeing it.

Releasing her grip on the door, her threatening gaze now one of disbelief, she took a few steps away from the door. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as the dead man, still very much alive, walked into her home and closed the door behind him. They stared at each other for what felt like hours, one not knowing what to do or say, the other on the verge of collapsing.

We should have just walked away!

In time, Rarity took on a new look; This one was of disgust and anger as she eyed this thing in her house. "If this is some kind of joke, I don't find it the slightest bit amusing." She spat, "What are you? A changeling? I'll have you know that I do have a means of contacting your leader and I will-"

"I'm sorry..." Rarity went quiet, it even sounded like him. "I don't know what I'm doing...If I didn't do this now I don't think I ever would have." He said, his voice nearly trembling as much as he was. "I...I had to-"

"Stop talking..." Holding her current expression, Rarity moved in on him. Each step was as cautious as the last as she made her approach, narrowing her eyes every so often, as if looking for some sort of flaw. When she was close enough, she began to slowly reach up, grabbing his hood and pulling it down.

Rarity's look of disgust shifted to one that was a little difficult to read; A combination of sadness, shock, and even a bit of joy. Tears were threatening to escape both of them. Her hands moved from his hood to his face, her fingers digging through the unshaven mess taking up his features. "Is it really you?"

Rusty's body continued to shake, this time from the sobs he was holding back as he lifted his arms, placing his hands on hers as he melted into her. It hurt so much to see her, but at the same time, it felt right. No longer able to hold back, he threw himself at the unicorn, picking her up off the ground as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

Now suspended in the air, Rarity returned the gesture, shedding happy tears into his shoulder. "I thought I lost you..." She cried into him, her grip only tightening as she remembered the news of his passing. "I missed you...I missed you so much..."

They remained this way for several minutes, just holding each other and enjoying the others-"RARITY!!!"

Both of their eyes snapped open at the sound of the angry mare approaching. In unison, they turned their attention to the front door right as a series of aggressive knocks sounded off throughout the boutique. "Rarity! What's going on!?"

"Dash..." Rusty said to himself as the knocks started to sound more like she was punching the obstacle between her and her friend.

Fuuuuuuuuuuu-!!!

Immediately, Rusty set Rarity down and practically dove behind the door as it was kicked open by the fuming pegasus. He huddled up behind the now wide-open door, making himself as small as possible so he could remain hidden from the rest of the world.

Rainbow Dash marched into the shop/home, her head turning in every direction until her eyes found the white unicorn, who was wiping her face with her arms. "Rarity!" She called out, running to her aid. "Rarity, are you okay? What happened? Azure told me someone was here? Where are they? I'll-"

"It's fine, Dash!" Rarity quickly said, hoping to calm her down. "It's fine, he's..." She glanced toward the door, barely able to see the human hiding behind it. "He's gone." She concluded, "He's gone and that's the end of it."

Rainbow's eyes softened at her, anger being replaced by concern. "Are you sure? Did you see where he went? Cause I can-"

"That won't be necessary." Rarity interrupted with an assuring smile. "He came over, did his thing and left. I'm pretty sure it was just somepony pulling a prank is all."

Something about that didn't feel right to the pegasus, but she accepted it and let the subject drop. "If you're sure, then I guess I'll just...head back home." Not wanting to just leave on that note, she made one last suggestion to be sure her friend was alright. "Are you positive you don't want me to go out and find him? Cause I will."

"Let's not go overboard now, Dashie." Rarity argued, not wanting her friend to go out and cause a scene. "Like I said, he's gone now and I doubt I'll be having any more problems." The rainbow haired pegasus didn't make any noticeable motions, but something told the small-town fashionista that she needed to get her out. "You know I hate to be rude, but I need to close the shop. I have a lot of orders to fill and I would like to refrain from having any more distractions."

Nodding, Dash made her way outside, grabbing the door just as she passed by it. "If anything else happens, just let me know, okay."

"Of course, darling." There was a slight pause between the two before Rainbow Dash finally closed the door and flew off, probably home.

Suddenly, it was as if a weight was lifted off of the unicorn's shoulders. Now free from the wrath of Dash, she could focus on the matter at hand; Said matter being a curled up into a ball in the corner, refusing to move from its spot.

Rarity slowly walked over to the human, lowering herself to her knees so she could be eye level with a man she thought she'd never see again. His eyes were glazed over and staring through her, as if he were staring into the very bowels of Tartarus and this corner was his only solace.

"I'm sorry....I'm sorry." He said in a voice no louder than a whisper. "I'm not ready to see her yet. I'm not ready."

Placing a hand to his face, she pulled his head up and forced him to look into her eyes. They were soft and comforting, but also very curious. "It's okay, darling. She's gone now." She assured him, he gaze becoming slightly stern and aggressive. "But, you have a lot of explaining to do."

There was some hesitation when Rarity assisted the human back onto his feet and led him to the nearby table. Once he was seated she generously offered to brew a pot of tea and serve him something to calm his nerves as well. In only a few short minutes she returned with a pot and two cups, one which appeared to already be filled.

Placing the empty cup beside her, Rarity levitated the remaining one to her guest. After filling her own she shot him another serious look, taking a quick sip of her steaming beverage. "You may begin..."

Rusty looked around uncomfortably, rubbing his right arm as he tried to think of a way to start. "Where do I even begin?"

Hours passed by in minutes as Rusty regaled the curious mare with the tale of his 'Passing' and his 'Rebirth'. He told her about the stallion that found him in the lake, the family he became a part of, and the many years he spent with them traveling all over Equestria and further in some cases. There were many good times, which he shared happily. Then there were hard times, that he powered through with a weak but determined smile. He spoke highly of the family, referring to them more than himself. From what she had gathered throughout this long story was that he held them in high regard. At one point, he even went as far as saying that he would 'not even hesitate to put my life on the line for them.'

Rarity was baffled by nearly everything she was hearing. When she had heard of his 'death', she assumed that was it. Never in a million years would she think that he would go out on such a grand and strenuous adventure. There were many reoccurring themes in his words; Learning through pain, always moving forward, and striving for what was worth while. These weren't the only things she picked up on.

It almost felt like this wasn't the same human that she had taken in so many years ago; The one that would dance on tables, constantly get into trouble, get into drunken fist-fights with strangers and friends. It was like he wasn't 'him' anymore, but rather somepony was wearing his skin and pretending to be him. This brought her back to her earlier suspicions of this thing being a changeling, but that didn't feel right either.

Rusty tried to go into as much detail as possible, but even now his memory wasn't as good as he would like. He ended the tale after explaining everything that had happened the day before; Seeing Applejack, being reminded of his past, the epiphany that made him realize that he was still running from his problems, seeing the star that fell onto Twilight's castle, then saying goodbye to his family and coming to the boutique after he failed to approach the cottage.

"I guess that about sums it up." Rusty finished, unable to recall much else to say. "There are a few things I left out, but not deliberately. It'll come back to me at some point, I'm sure."

Rarity sat with her elbows on the table, her eyes locked onto him as her hands held her cup just beneath her nostrils. She was silent for a few seconds, but finally spoke up after shrugging her shoulders and nodding. "I cannot think of a single thing to say..."

Rusty nodded in agreement. "It's a lot to take in all at once, I'm sure."

Rarity took another few seconds of silence to think. "So, Ryan. I-"

"Rusty." He corrected, earning an odd look from the unicorn.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I go by Rusty now; Rusty Nails." He explained, only causing her current expression to enhance.

Rusty figured that he might as well explain this, seeing how he forgot to mention it earlier. "The train we pretty much lived in was very old. Climbing around on it was dirty work and I always came back covered in rust, oil, dirt; You name it. I don't know about you, but it's hard to clean that stuff off without a washer." He added with a small laugh.

"After a while, I got fed up with my clothes getting dirty so easily. I eventually found this coat." Rusty grabbed the hood of the previously mentioned article for emphasis. "I bought it with what little I had, hoping that the stuff wouldn't show up so easily on it. Needless to say, I was right."

Rusty paused, doing his best to hold in a laugh. "I remember the first time my little brother saw me wearing it." Rarity recalled the pony he was referring to; A young colt named Rod Iron that he helped raise. "He was just learning how to form full sentences. He gave me this crooked stare and without even a stutter he said 'You look like a giant rusty nail'." He paused again, this time not even trying to hide his amusement. This was short lived, however, as his face fell to something a bit weaker, but still held its smile. "Hasn't even been a full day and I already miss him."

Rarity's heart ached for him. He had lived such a troubled life in the beginning and through, what was supposed to be, the end outcome had finally found peace. A peace that was being strained due to his past. There was a conflict within her at first as she struggled to determine whether to be happy he was alive, or mad that he let them think he had died. This all vanished through time as she listened to him talk about the life he had made for himself. It's not something she would personally do, but it was something that made him truly happy. And really, that's all she wanted for him in the beginning; To be happy.

Removing a hand from her cup, Rarity placed the now free appendage over one of his own. This caught his attention, pulling his eyes into hers as she offered him a warm smile. "Darling...I am so proud of you." Now it was his turn to give her a confused look. "Though your methods were less-than-pleasant, you went out into the world and found something that made you complete; You found adventure, friendship, and a family."

"You have come a long way from being the drunken alien that lived just outside of town." Rarity lightly jabbed, thankfully earning a short laugh from her friend. "You've changed a lot. I can see it in your eyes." She added, looking deeply into those small windows to his soul. They were the same as ever, but different; Less sad and angry at the world. "Ryan never would have done something like this."

Rusty flinched at her use of his old name, but was drawn back through her kind words. "What you are doing right now is very brave, Rusty. And I couldn't be more happy that you have finally come home." She finished sincerely as they both fell silent for several minutes, their gazes locked as they eyed the other with care.

Rarity took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "As lovely as this is...You stink." This got a rather contagious chuckle out of the human. "Like, really bad." She said between giggles.

Rusty nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that. It's been a while since I even glanced at a shower."

Rarity sipped her tea before waving a dismissive hand at him. "No worries, darling. We'll get you cleaned up." She began, looking over his features once more. "A hot shower, a haircut, some new clothes; All of that good stuff."

"Thanks, Rarity." Rusty said, grabbing his cup for the first time and bringing it to his lips. "I owe you one."

"Think nothing of it." Rarity replied, noticing an odd look on the human's face as he took a drink from his mug. "Is something the matter?"

Rusty inspected his cup, giving the beverage one more sip to be sure he was tasting it right. "This isn't tea, is it?"

Rarity was confused by his reaction to the drink she prepared for him, but answered none-the-less. "N-no...I recalled you saying that you didn't like tea, aside from Long Islands, so I mixed one for you."

Rusty respectfully set the cup down and slid it toward her. "Sorry, but uh...I don't drink." The sound of something breaking nearby caught him off guard. He almost jumped out of his chair from the sudden sound. "What was that?" He asked, not noticing her blank stare, or that the mug she was previously holding was no longer in sight.

Chapter 3

View Online

Rusty's naked reflection stared back at him through the now steam-filled bathroom. Looking clean and refreshed, if only a touch malnourished as well, he ran a hand through recently cut hair. The texture was different from what he had grown used to over the years. The once greasy, disheveled mess had been trimmed down to a manageable, and somewhat stylish, length. It resembled how he used to look, but with a nice little Rarity twist. She always had to spice things up a little...

The small, colorful stone hanging around his neck caught his attention for a moment. He'd been wearing it for so long, he hardly ever noticed its presence unless he's bathing, which wasn't something that happened as often as he would like. Seeing it always made his stomach turn. Part of him wanted to take it off, but he didn't feel he was ready for that quite yet. He needed more time...

Glancing down, he spotted the small pair of scissors and a razor that Rarity had kindly set out for him upon his request. After wiping down the mirror to see himself more clearly, he took the scissors in his hand, opening them before pressing it against his cheek and closing the blades. They came together at a slow pace, slicing off an uncountable number of hairs that would fall into the sink bowl. He repeated this process several times in different spots, aiming in multiple directions, and changing the angle every so often to be sure he had shortened every last hair on his face. With the hairs shortened to a decent length, he set the scissors aside and grabbed the razor. The small blades glided gently through his features, cleaning up the edges and eventually making him into something that looked somewhat presentable. Setting the razor down, he slipped his fingers into short stubble that went down the side of his head from his hair to his chin and over his lip.

Rusty could remember a time that seemed almost forever ago, when Ryan would whine and complain about never being able to grow a beard. He could only imagine how upset his younger alternate would be if he saw him now. That thought brought an amused grin to his face. His thoughts went toward a more sensitive topic, leading him to begin wondering about his family. His smile fell as he made a silent prayer for their safety. He knew Steel Hoof would keep them going, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Oh, Rusty~" Rarity's voice sang from behind the door. "Could you come downstairs for a minute, darling? I have a surprise for you!"

Yanking his sights from his reflection, Rusty washed all of the hair down the drain and went to put on his clothes. He was confused to find that they weren't where he left them. Looking around, all he could find to cover himself was the towel he brought in before his shower. The decision was made for him as he grabbed the towel hanging on the wall and tied it around his waist to hide his lower region.

Rusty made his way downstairs, holding the towel so it wouldn’t come undone and fall off of him. It wasn't hard to find the unicorn that had called him down. She was standing in her workshop at the back of the boutique, his clothing held in the air by her magic as she gave them a once over with a disgusted look spread across her face.

"Rarity?" Rusty inquired, earning the fashionable unicorn's attention as he stood before her in nothing but a towel. "I kind of need those."

With the flick of her wrist, the clothes were tossed into a pile in the other direction. "You most certainly do not!" Rarity said, sounding like a parent telling their child that they didn't need a soda before bed. "No friend of mine is going to walk around dressed in rags! Especially ones that filthy."

"They're...kinda the only clothes I have..." Rusty confessed a little anxiously.

"Not anymore!" Rarity announced in a sing-song voice, her horn lighting up as a new set of clothes levitated in front of the human. "Seeing how your previous wardrobe is rather... Well, gross, to put it bluntly, I decided to throw together a little something for you."

Rusty really should have expected this, having known her for so long. Hanging from her magic, not even a foot from his face, was an entirely new outfit. It consisted of four pieces: A pair of faded black shoes, socks, a nice pair of dark jeans, and a faded, long sleeve, red shirt that doubled as a hoodie. It even had the large pocket on the front.

Reaching out a hand, Rusty grabbed the shirt out of the air to look over it. It had a large black design on the front of three nails standing beside each other with the pointed end of the middle aiming up, while the others went down. He ran his fingers over the soft material, not letting a single detail go unnoticed.

Rarity eyed the human with concern. She did not fail to make a nice outfit TWICE today! "Darling, is something wrong?" She asked a little self consciously. "If there's something you would like me to change, I could—"

"No... It's just..." Rusty almost didn't know how to react. It's been nearly a decade since anyone's given him something, just because. With his family, they had to focus only on the necessities. They couldn't risk spending money on frivolous gifts or tokens. "You really didn't have to do this," he continued, looking at her with glazed eyes. "Thank you..."

The sincerity in his voice caught Rarity off guard a little. It wasn't as shocking as the drinking thing he told her earlier, but it was still unexpected. "U-uh...Of course, darling!" She managed to say, feeling like she wasn't even in the presence of the human that used to live within spitting distance of Ponyville. "It was my pleasure. In the name of fashion, nothing is ever too generous."

Without another word, Rusty walked toward Rarity with purpose and wrapped her in a hug. The unicorn was taken back by this at first, but was quick to return the gesture. It goes without saying that she missed him. She and her friends were devastated when they heard about what happened to him. Having him back would have been nice, but something about how he is now made it so much more pleasant. In a way, she was alright with how things turned out. She couldn't exactly say it was preferred, or that she was happy about it, but she's happy that he's happy.

Rusty broke the hug, quickly reaching down as his towel nearly fell from his body. "Whoops! Sorry about that," he said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm gonna get dressed real quick."

"You do that." Rarity replied with a smirk, watching as he collected the new clothing and practically jogged into the dressing room.

With him taken care of, Rarity could now get back to-

"Rarity!" A deep sounding voice called out from her front door, followed by a few firm knocks. "You home?"

Rarity was sure she turned her sign to 'Closed' shortly after Rusty arrived. She looked over to the window beside the door, confirming that she had indeed done that. If that was the case, then who could possibly be at her door, and why? Taking a chance, she walked over and peeked through the peephole to see who was on the other side. Recognizing the pony in question, she backed up and opened the door for him.

"Good afternoon, Big Mac!" Rarity greeted with a smile, making sure not to open the door completely. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Howdy, Rares," Big Mac greeted in response, flashing his own smile in return. "Ah was just happenin' by and figured I'd stop to check up on things," he explained, glancing through the door suspiciously before leaning in close and whispering, "Azure told me 'bout that weirdo who stopped by. Is everythin' alright?"

Rarity had to force out a laugh, and a rather unconvincing one at that, waving off his concerns. "Oh, Mac, I assure you: Everything is fine. No pony here, but me, of course." Big Mac seemed unconvinced, making the unicorn suddenly feel very uncomfortable. "I uh...If you'll excuse me! I don't mean to be rude, but I have so many orders to fill and I simply cannot put them off any longer—"

There was a crash that came from within the boutique that caused Rarity's ears to fall flat against her head. Having assumed the worst, Big Mac shoved his way into the house. "Rarity, get out of here!" The stallion announced as he marched deeper into the boutique. "Ah'll take care of this..."

"Mac, wait!" Rarity yelled, closing the door and running after him. She came to a stop when she realized that it was too late. Rusty was on the floor no more than a few feet from the farm pony, lifting himself up slowly. "Oh dear..."

Rusty lifted himself from the floor, pulling up on his new pants and buttoning them. "Sorry about that, Rarity." He began, turning to face the unicorn. "I lost my footing and I sort of..." His words trailed off into nothing as he locked eyes with the large stallion in front of him, a panicked looking Rarity standing not too far behind this brick shit-house of a pony. "Mac?" The pony and the human remained locked in a gaze that never seemed to end, both feeling lost and not knowing what to say.

That's a big boy...You might wanna start running...

Though Rusty's fight or flight instincts screamed flight, he remained unmoved. His old friend was in no better a condition. There was nothing but pure, uninterrupted silence as the stallion and the human stood across from each other with Rarity standing anxiously behind Big Macintosh.


Do you think he's still there?

"I'm not sure..." Azure whispered a response to the voice as she stealthily made her way to the boutique. hiding behind bushes and houses in case she happened to come across the pony she saw earlier. "I sure hope not."

Even if he is, I'm pretty sure Big Mac will have him flattened into a pancake by the time we get there.

Azure knew for a fact that if that weirdo was still lurking around Rarity's, Big Mac would indeed pound him into next week with one hit. That was the whole reason she told him in the first place. After informing her mother about the creep, said mother taking off like a bullet to make sure her friend was okay, the young pegasus figured that a little backup couldn't hurt. Hence why she quickly made her way to Sweet Apple Acres to find somepony that could easily break another pony.

Applejack was nowhere to be found, but that hardly mattered once she found Big Mac coming out of the barn with a few empty baskets over his shoulder.

Though she was positive that the combined efforts of her hot-headed mother, and a bulky stallion like Mac, would be more than enough to settle this, she wanted to be sure that everything was alright. This led to her current mission: sneaking back to the boutique to be sure her plan was successful. With as much grace as a filly covered in leaves and twigs could have, she made her way to the home of Rarity undetected by the populace. In time, she caught sight of the Carousel Boutique and maneuvered her way around to the back.

Don't go inside. They might hear you come in.

Nodding, Azure got down and crawled over to a window in the back. Staying low, she was able to remain hidden beneath the glass. Her movements were slow and calculated as she positioned herself so that she would be able to peek over the edge. From here, she could see into the laundry room and a bit into the end of the main room. This rendered her mostly blind to what was happening inside. However, there was one thing she could see. It wasn't easy from this angle, but there was definitely somepony in there and it wasn't Rarity.

Azure had to lean in and squint her eyes a bit to make out the figure. For a moment she thought that she just wasn't seeing it clearly. That was until somepony else entered her vision. It was still difficult to make out, but she could easily tell that Big Mac was there and he was holding somepony up, his arms wrapped firmly around the other's form. What she couldn't figure out was who the pony was he was holding. If their feet hovering off of the ground was anything to go by, they were shorter than Mac. She also noted their yellow hair. Not much else could be seen until they were set down by the tall stallion.

Once down, Azure saw Rarity's head peek out from behind Big Mac. She couldn't hear what she was saying, but her lips were moving and they eventually turned to the side and walked away. Having spent more than her fair share of time in the boutique, the filly deduced that they were going into the kitchen and once again was on the move. Repeating her earlier tactics, she slid beneath another window and peeked over the edge to keep an eye on things.

From this particular spot, Azure could see things much easier, but was still deaf to their words. So many questions were going through her head as she watched the trio move into the kitchen and take a seat at the table. Like 'Who was this pony? Why were they hugging Big Mac? Was this the same pony that showed up earlier? Were they friends with Rarity? If so, then why did Rarity freak out like she did?'

What is going on with his face?

That little comment pulled Azure out of her thoughts, causing her to focus her sights on the mystery pony. Only, it wasn't a pony. It had no muzzle and, judging from its face, very little fur. Some facial hair, yes. But, virtually no fur. "What in the..."

Azure has learned a lot, both in school and through the occasional lectures she got from Twilight. She knew about the different races and species that lived in Equis, and some beyond, but couldn't recall anything that looked like this. On top of that, something about this thing looked off, like it didn't belong here. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of something else. She wasn't sure what it was, but it left a strange hole in her chest that was begging to be filled. It was like something inside of her wanted to go up to him and...

Lowering herself from the window, Azure turned around and pressed her back against the wall. Something felt off and she couldn't pinpoint what or why. Still though, she's more than a little curious about Rarity and Big Mac's strange looking friend. Whatever he is, he's not from around here. That much is obvious. Maybe there's a way to figure out what he is and where he came from?

There's probably an entire book on his species. And I think you know just the mare to go to when it comes to books.

Azure's ears perked up at that, immediately dropping stealth-mode as she got up and started flying toward the castle. As she got into the air she noticed that it was starting to get late. The sun would likely be setting by the time she got to the castle. Though pretty lenient on most things, her mother didn't like it when she stayed out too late. This left her conflicted on whether to go home and wait for tomorrow, or to make a beeline for the castle to sate her curiosity...

Ten to one, Mom's already passed out on the couch. I think we're good. Besides, it's Twilight! What's the worst that could happen?

"I really don't like it when you say that." Azure said with a hint of anxiety in her words. But, it was a fair point. Twilight was one of her mother's best friends, even if they are rather distant. If worse come to worst, she's sure that the princess of friendship would be more than willing to let her stay for the night and tell her mother that they were reading all night.

With that in mind, Azure adjusted her wings and went straight towards the castle.


"It was him!" Applejack snapped, slamming her fists into the large, crystal map. "He was there, standin' right in front of me with a crate on his shoulder!" She argued in an attempt to convince a skeptical Twilight, and Starlight, about their not-so-dead friend. "Ah saw his hand, his face, those eyes... He's still out there! He's gotta be!"

"Applejack, please calm down." Twilight pleaded, now worried for her friend's well-being and even her mental health. "I'm sure you thought you saw Ryan, but you—"

"Ah did see him!"

"—But you know, as well as I do, that it wasn't him!" Twilight shot back, hoping to break this illusion that Applejack created while in Appleloosa. "Are you sure you were drinking enough fluids while you were there? It wouldn't be hard to believe that you—"

"Ah ain't goin' delirious, Twilight!" Applejack said through gritted teeth, fed up with her friend being in denial about there being even the slightest possibility that Ryan survived. "Ah know what ah saw... he was there... he looked right at me..."

Starlight looked back and forth between the two awkwardly, unsure of how to go about handling the situation. She decided that it would be best for her to get the heck away from this mess for a few minutes so they could both calm down. "Maybe I should go make us some tea."

Applejack's eyes followed Starlight as she left the room, soon returning to meet the alicorn's stoic gaze. How come she doesn't believe her? Why won't she listen? She won't even consider her words. The farm pony knows for a fact that she saw Ryan out there. It couldn't have been the heat, or dehydration. She could recall the encounter so clearly. It couldn't have just been in her head...

Twilight eyed the farm pony, her expression becoming weak and solemn. "Applejack, I'm no happier about it than you are," she began, her tone matching her features. "But you were there. You saw what happened. He's gone..." Each word hurt her just as much as it did her friend. "Princess Celestia felt his energy vanish that night. There's no doubt about it."

There was a painful silence as Twilight's short, blunt explanation came to an end. Applejack's head fell into her own hands, propping it up just above the large table. They remained still and quiet for what felt like forever. Before long, Starlight returned to the forefront, holding a small tray with three tea cups resting atop of it. The unicorn placed the tray on the table before taking a seat, levitating a cup to both herself and the two other ponies.

Applejack didn't so much as glance at the steaming, hot beverage in front of her. Rather, she remained in her current position as her mind became a powerhouse of confusing thoughts and emotions. The silence continued on, even as the two remaining ponies sipped from their respective cups. For the alicorn and the earth pony, this was a heavy and toxic silence. For Starlight, it was just awkward.

Clearing her throat, Starlight managed to capture everypony's attention, if barely from AJ. "So... aside from that whole thing, how was your trip?"

Applejack let out a sigh. "Fine," she responded in a flat tone. "Just work, as usual."

Nodding, Starlight tried to hold the conversation while also keeping the topic away from the deceased human. "Did you visit any of your family while you were there? I heard they have quite the farm, despite the conditions."

"Ah don’t mean this in the way it's 'bout to come out." Applejack clarified, not wanting her friend to think she was legitimately mad at her. "I just don't feel like—"

"Hello~" A younger sounding voice called out near the entrance to the throne room. The mares all reacted the same, turning their heads to find the source of the voice. "Anypony home? I have filly scout cookies!" Again, the mares reacted similarly, their bodies becoming tense as they started to recognize the voice of Azure not too far from them.

Twilight quickly rose from her seat, giving Applejack a surprisingly stern glare. "Not another word about what you thought you saw until Azure is gone." She said in a rough tone, her voice not being above a whisper. "Understood?" Applejack, though upset, kept her emotions in check. She nodded, confirming that she wouldn't bring it up again, so long as the filly was near.

With that taken care of, Twilight started making her way to the doors leading out to the hallway. "We're in here, sweetie!"

Starlight's eyes followed Twilight to the doors. There she opened the large double doors to reveal the small, blue filly with her hand raised, looking ready to knock. The unicorn's gaze shifted to Applejack, whose head was now resting on the table, her arms crossed and entrapping her head, keeping her face hidden from the rest of the world. Letting out a sigh, the light purple mare was forced to endure more silence as she went about trying to enjoy her tea. The only thing she could really pick up on was bits and pieces of the conversation between the princess and the filly.

"It's awful late for you to be out, Azure." Twilight said, shooting the filly an inquisitive look. "Is there something you need, or your mother maybe?"

"There is actually!" Azure began, "I saw this creature earlier and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what it was."

Twilight's eyes lit up a touch at this. "Oh! Why didn't you just say so?" It was common sense at this point that the princess loved to share her knowledge on various topics. Especially to younger crowds that were willing to learn. "Come on! Let's take a seat and we can try to figure out what it was you saw."

Azure followed Twilight into the throne room. Her eyes soon found the earth pony she was looking for earlier today. At first, she was tempted to go up and ask her where she was. However, the farm pony didn't exactly look like she was in the talking mood.

Is she even awake?

A thought for later, Azure concluded. Right now, her goal was set and she had to focus on it if she was going to solve this little mystery. With her attention back on Twilight, she stayed on her tail until they reached the thrones, picking out a throne right beside her. Once they were seated, the alicorn's horn started to glow. Several books appeared on the table in front of them, each likely containing information on the multitude of species all over Equestria. Some even further out.

Twilight looked over the large assortment of books before turning her attention to Azure. "Okay, what exactly are we looking for here?"

Azure reached a hand up to scratch the back of her head. "I'm not really sure..." She began, trying to think of how to go about their search. "Could I just… describe it to you?"

"Of course you can!" Twilight responded with glee, eager to teach. "Let's start with something simple then: What body type did it have?"

Azure wasn't sure what she meant by body type. Her best guess on how to answer was simply, "Well, it was a lot like a pony."

At the young pegasus' words, Twilight worked her magic on the books, removing those that would not have creatures that fit the description. "Okay, so it resembles a pony. Let's try to expand on that."

"Expand?" Azure asked with a confused look.

Twilight corrected her mistake here by clarifying her meaning behind the word. "What similarities does it have to a pony?"

"Oh..." Azure said with a wide eyed look, feeling a little dumb for not catching on to the meaning. "Well, it's body was similar to a pony, but different too. It had a lot of the same things we do; Two eyes, one mouth, hair, arms, legs, hands, feet. No horn or wings though."

Twilight continued to listen while simultaneously removing a small number of books from the table with her magic again. "Alright, that helps a bit." She started, getting a little excited for the next part. "Now, what makes it different from ponies?"

"Okay, this is where it gets weird!" Azure added before going on with her description. "It had no fur! Like, at all!" The filly didn't notice this, but the number of books disappearing suddenly grew just from that. "Some facial hair, yes. But, no fur. And no muzzle either. Just this small thing that came out a little above its mouth."

"It's eyes were kinda small too." The two mares on the sidelines were suddenly paying very close attention to Azure now. "Not like teeny-tiny, but smaller than a pony's." Twilight's list of books was growing smaller and smaller by the millisecond. She was so focused on trying to figure out what Azure was describing that she didn't notice a very curious looking earth pony leaning toward the filly.

"Hey, sugarcube." Applejack greeted in an odd tone, "Where exactly did you see this thing?"

"Applejack..." Starlight cut in, venom clear in her voice. Applejack ignored this as she waited for an answer.

Azure didn't hesitate as she turned her attention to the farm pony. "It was at Rarity's house." She simply replied, though her natural inquisitiveness kept her from ending it there. "Where were you earlier?"

Applejack blinked a few times, confused by this. Was Azure looking for her? "Ah just got off the train from Appleoosa this mornin'. But, ah've been here all day." She answered, honestly. "Why do you ask?"

"I went out look for you when that weirdo came to Rarity's."

Twilight started to pull her focus from the now remarkably low number of books. There was a questioning look on her face as she looked over at the filly. "What weirdo?"

Azure looked back at Twilight and shrugged. "I don't know," she began, "I couldn't see his face. He had a really big coat on and his hood was covering it."

Applejack's eyes narrowed as this nagging voice in the back of her head continued to call out the obvious. However, she needed to be sure. "You wouldn't happen to 'member the color of that coat, would ya?"

"Applejack..." Twilight growled. Once again, the harsh muttering of her name was ignored.

Azure placed a hand to her chin and hummed as she tried to remember. "It was kind of a reddish color, but not?" She answered, not entirely sure how to explain it. "I'm not sure. It was really faded, so maybe it was just old, or dirty...or both."

The pieces of this puzzle were far past being connected as Applejack rose from her seat with determination and marched for the exit. "Ah told you..." She muttered, her voice becoming louder as she walked further away. "Ah told you! Ah know what ah saw! Ah knew it!"

Azure flinched at her reaction, watching with wide eyes as the farm pony left, only for Twilight to get up and start chasing her. "Applejack, stop!"


"Goodbye, darling!" Rarity called out with a wave, closing the door as Big Mac left. A deep sigh escaped her as she leaned against the wooden surface. "That went far better than expected."

"You're telling me." Rusty said from across the room, looking over his new outfit in a nearby mirror. "That was actually really nice." He added with a smile, said smile falling as he thought about the other ponies he's yet to confront. "I can only hope the others are as accepting..."

Rarity's relieved look became solemn at his words. It's hard for her to imagine what he's going through right now. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to come back after all this time to make things right. She can only hope her friends will be as forgiving as well. "I'm sure they'll be very happy to see you."

"I hope so..." Rusty continued to look over himself, using his reflection as a distraction from his paranoid thoughts and fantasies of what was to come. All of this fear, added with the extra confrontation earlier, has taken a lot out of him. "I think I'm gonna go ahead and call it a night." He said, submitting to his mental exhaustion. "I imagine the spare room is the same as always."

"Of course it is, darling." Rarity confirmed, putting on a brave smile for him. "You go on ahead and get some rest. I shall see you in the morning."

"Thanks, Rarity." Rusty ended it on that note, leaving the mirror and climbing up the stairs to get some shut eye. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't eager to sleep on a bed for the first time in the past decade.

Rarity watched in silence as her human friend ascended the staircase, soon turning her attention toward the kitchen. After all that's happened, she realized that she missed a meal. The sudden churning in her stomach was also a friendly reminder of that as well. Little more was needed to kick her into gear. Fixing herself something small to munch on, her hunger was mostly sated. As she went to dispose of the remains she noticed that the bin in her kitchen was nearly full.

With a bit of magic, Rarity tied off the bag and replaced it with a fresh one. Still holding the full one in her magical grasp, she walked outside to dispose of it. As soon as she had set it in her usual pick-up spot, she heard a voice call out to her. It didn't sound close, so she started scanning the area with her eyes. Eventually she found the source. The very angry, red flannel clad source.

"Applejack?" Rarity questioned, squinting her eyes to help make out the familiar earth pony with an equally familiar alicorn following close behind her. "Applejack, darling! Is something the matter?"

"Yer darn tootin' somethin's the matter!" Applejack shot at her, marching aggressively toward the boutique. "Y'all got five seconds to tell me where he is!" She all but yelled, now at a stop with her face nearly pressed into the unicorn's. "And why ya didn't tell any of us that he's still alive!"

Rarity's entire form seized up at this, her mind trying to decipher how she had figured it out already. No pony else knew he was here, aside from Big Mac, but he wouldn't say anything, so who could it have been?

"Start talkin'!" Applejack yelled, this time a little louder.

Rarity couldn't find the words in her to answer, only being able to let out a few squeaks and the occasional, 'Uh...' in response.

"Applejack!" Twilight yelled after her friend, breathlessly. Finally reaching the mare she was after, the alicorn was forced to stop and catch her breath. "You need... to calm down... I'm sure this is all... just a big misunderstanding..."

Turning her attention to literally anything else, Rarity went to aid her worn out friend. "Twilight, are you alright? I can get you—"

"Don't try ta change the subject!" Applejack snapped, pulling the fashionista's attention back onto her. "Yer gonna answer me right now, and yer gonna answer honestly! Is he here?"

Though everything inside of her was screaming for her to lie, Rarity couldn't bring herself to do it. The sigh she let out was as defeated as the expression on her face. "Yes... he's here..."

"Ah knew it!"

"That's impossible!" Twilight nearly yelled, taking a deep breath to recompose herself. "He can't be! Celestia couldn't find his energy anywhere! There's no way he survived that fall!"

"I'm goin' in."

Rarity felt her heart skip a beat as those last words left Applejack's mouth. If she went in there and snapped on Rusty, he might leave again and never come back. He took a huge risk coming here, putting his new life on the line just to make things right. Ryan could overlook this, but Rusty wasn't like that. It was all about to be ruined because one of her friends...

Anxiety and nervousness was kicked to the curb as Rarity took on a much more offensive approach, stepping in front of the cowpony to stop her from going into the boutique. "You most certainly are not!"

Applejack's hands tightened into fists, her teeth gritting response to being cut off. "Rarity, I ain't gonna say this twice. Get out of mah—" There was a loud smack as the unicorn's open palm struck the side of her face. Twilight remained in the background, watching in near horror at her friend's actions. The farm pony turned her head back, a look of shock etched across her features. "Y-you just..."

"Shush!" Rarity hissed, causing both of her friends to flinch. Raising a hand, the unicorn pressed her index finger into the mare's chest. "Now you listen here, missy! I was courteous enough to be honest with you when you asked if he was here. The least you can do is offer the same courtesy when I tell you that you are not to bother him!"

"But—"

"No buts!" Rarity snapped, removing her hand from the pony in front of her. Silence was all that followed after this, allowing her to calm her nerves some. "Look, I know how you are feeling right now. Believe me, I do. But charging at him like a yak isn't going to solve anything." She explained, silently praying that her words would get through to her. "Applejack, this isn't the same human we once knew. I know it sounds absurd, but he's someone completely different now; Someone who has finally found their place in the world. He's finally found a way to be happy!"

Applejack agreed with Rarity on one thing for sure; That does sound absurd. "But he's hurting inside, darling! He knows that what he did was wrong and he wants nothing more than to make up for it all." The earth pony's anger started to melt away as she watched her friend's eyes begin to water right in front of her. "And he's scared right now, of us! He doesn't know how we will react and it's terrifying to him."

"If you go in there like this, he will leave us. He will leave and, this time, he will not come back." Even through Rarity's melancholy, the anger she still felt started to show once again. "And I will be damned if I allow that to happen!"

There was another round of silence, Twilight being the one to break it this time. "Rarity, are you sure it's really him?"

Rarity visibly relaxed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I've spent the last several hours speaking with him. No pony knows us the way he does. There isn't a shred of doubt in my mind." Her gaze shifted back to Applejack, who was still trapped in a state of shock. "I'm so sorry, darling. I didn't mean to react the way I did. He's not the barbaric man he used to be. He's much more sensitive than that now. I don't want to scare him away... I don't want to lose him again."

Rubbing the sore spot on her cheeks, Applejack finally submitted. If Rarity was right, and Ryan had changed, then this probably wasn't the best way to approach him. Of course she was mad about the whole thing and it hurt her to know that his death was pretty much a big fat lie to her face, but another part of her felt happy to know that he was still alive and well. It was a very confusing set of emotions for her to face. She honestly didn't know whether to be upset or overjoyed.

Twilight appeared to be unconvinced. In her mind, it simply wasn't possible. There's no way a creature that can't use magic can stay hidden from the princesses, especially for that large amount of time. Still though, if Rarity truly believed it to be so, then maybe it was him. They never did find his body after all...

"I'll admit, I'm a little skeptical..." Twilight spoke calmly, once again killing off the silence. "It's not that I don't trust your judgement, I just find it hard to believe that he not only survived a fall like that, but managed to completely disappear without a trace. If you can find out how he managed to elude the princesses, then I might feel a little more comfortable accepting it."

Rarity nodded at this, now fairly curious about it as well. "I'll be sure to ask him in the morning, darling. Right now, he's exhausted and he needs his rest."

"When can we see him?" Applejack asked, sounding much more at ease, if also a touch guilty.

"I'm not sure yet." Rarity answered as if confessing to a crime. "He's in a fragile state right now. This was supposed to be a slow process. But from the looks of it, I may have to convince him to open up sooner."

Now came the part that Applejack found rather difficult to mention. "Does he know about Azure?"

Rarity cringed at this, knowing it would come up sooner or later, but unable to prepare herself for it. "I haven't told him about her yet." She painfully admitted, "As I said before: He's scared and very fragile right now. I don't know if he's ready to handle something of that caliber."

Applejack let out a sigh. It didn't seem right to keep that from him, but at the same time, something like that might destroy him if he truly is as sensitive as Rarity claims. "We're gonna have to tell him at some point." She said, "He has the right to know about his daughter."

"We will, I promise." Rarity's words did little to ease her friend, this much she could tell. "But right now, we have to focus on making him comfortable enough to come out of hiding completely."

"Do you know when that will be?" Twilight asked, mostly out of her desire to know if this was all true.

"I cannot say for sure." Rarity answered, "The most I could do is help ease him out a little faster. But I don’t want to force him."

This wasn't the answer Twilight was hoping for, but it made sense to her. "I understand..." Before they could move on, there was something else the alicorn was rather curious about. "What has Ryan been doing all this time?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself. It's quite the story, if I do say so myself." Rarity said with a small smile. "Also, He prefers to go by the name Rusty; Rusty Nails."


"Holy crap..." Azure whispered to herself, her eyes wide and mouth agape as she listened intently to the conversation from a nearby bush.

Did you hear what I just heard?

Tears were building up in the corner of the bright blue orbs in Azure's head. "He's alive... and he's here..."

Girl, if you do not wish for a million bits right now—

Chapter 4

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The cool water surrounded Ryan's furless form, nearly freezing his body as he was submerged and slowly sank into its depths. Not that he noticed. The impact stopped his heart almost instantly, leaving him a lifeless husk to be whisked away by the current that steadily pulled him downstream.

Much to the human's own surprise, his eyes opened. However, this appeared to be all he could do as his body remained still, only moving as a result of the motions of the lake. He could see the water in front of him, a dim light shining through it. The light was far off, but it's glimmer broke through and slowly enveloped his vision. With it came a sense of peace, a luxury he rarely experienced. As he stared into the light, flashes of his life began to play out in front of him. It was like he was watching a movie of himself as everything he had done rapidly played out in front of him.

It would have brought tears to his eyes as it drew closer to the end of his story, if not for the voice he heard speaking to him from within the piercing light that had come so close to him that he was nearly blinded by it. The voice was soft, calm, feminine. Not like the one he usually heard.

"It's not time yet..." The sweet voice all but whispered into his very being, his body beginning to convulse. He suddenly felt cold, pain following soon after in his chest as it was forced into him. It felt like someone was pushing down on him with great force. "There's still a chance for you." The light pulled way faster than it has approached, vanishing into the darkness of the lake, a darkness which began to close in on him. Just before his vision could go completely black, his eyes opened for a second time.

The dirty stallion removed his hands from the creature's chest as it sprang back to life, emptying the water from it's stomach and lungs the only way it could. He brushed his graying hair from his, eyes watching with a concerned look on his face as this strange looking being started to breathe once more. For a moment, he thought everything was going to be okay. That thought died quickly when he watched the creature turn back and start crawling for the lake.

"Nononono!" His reaction was swift as he dove forward, tackling the creature and holding down. It struggled beneath his grasp, thrashing wildly as it tried to claw its way back to its deathbed. "Please, it doesn't have to be this way!" He pleaded, a look of shock coming across his face when the creature responded.

"Yes-" Ryan rasped, still barely clinging to life and desperately trying to finish what he had started. "it does!" The human weakly fought on, wanting to get this miserable life over with before he could do anymore damage. "I can't keeping doing this, I can't."

The stallion looked down at the creature with pity as its eyes started to water, the hate showing on its face shaking him to his core. "They'll look for me....they'll find me" The human said in a defeated tone, unable to fight the force above him any longer. "I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I don't want to hurt them anymore."

It didn't take much more for the stallion to see that this creature was clearly distress and trying very hard to stay away from something. Or rather, somepony. Multiple ponies, even! It said it didn't want to hurt them anymore. What had this creature done to hurt them? And if it had done something bad, why would they go out to find it? These questions were troubling and confusing. All signs pointed to this thing being dangerous in a way, but at the same time, it was trying to fix the problem, albeit quite drastically.

The stallion couldn't help but feel sorry for this thing. It was hurting inside, hurting so much so that it thought death was only way out. Despite knowing the protests that would come from his wife later, he knew he had to help this thing. Something was telling him to, he could feel it. Whatever this thing was, it needed his help.

No longer did the creature fight him, it just laid on the ground weakly sobbing to itself. Getting up, he grabbed it's shoulders and pulled it onto its feet. Taking one of its arms, he threw it over his shoulder and began leading it away from the lake.

"They'll find me...They'll find me..." Ryan muttered over and over again. His words were not lost to his so-called savior.

Reaching into the pocket of his worn out suit, the stallion produced a small, colorful stone with a string through it. "Here, put this on." He said, maneuvering the string so that the stone hung around the creature's neck. "No pony is going to find you, I promise."

Their journey continued with the barely-alive human being led further from his demise by this total stranger. In the distance, they heard the blow of a train whistle. One that became all too familiar later on.

Rusty woke up with a bit of a start, sitting up and quickly taking in his surroundings. He let out a shaky breath, reaching a hand up to grab onto the small stone on his neck. A wave of relief washed over him at the realization. "It was just a dream." The human said to himself, playing it all back in his head. "Just...a dream..." It's been a while since he's so much as chanced to look back on that day. Years, actually. He preferred to forget that it ever happened. Lately though, it seems more an more of his past is coming to the forefront of his mind. Hence why he needed to make things right.

Rusty breathed again, this time more calmly as he pulled himself free from the comforter and peeked out of the nearby window. It was pretty early in the morning, from the looks of it. Celestia hadn't even raised the sun yet. His eyes looked over the small town, spotting a few of the early birds that came out to prepare for another work day.

If memory served, Rarity would be in bed for another hour or so. Not due to laziness, or anything like that. The lady just needed her beauty sleep, as she calls it. This gave him an idea...


The morning sun shined through the window, the rays warming the fashionista's white coat, slowly coaxing her to come out of her sleep. She did so, slowly lifting herself up with a yawn while stretching her arms out wide. Upon opening her eyes, she was met with an odd sight. Her room was the same as it's ever been, but off to her side, sitting on the small dresser beside her bed, was a plate. On this plate was a small array of food; A stack of pancakes, some hash browns and, to the side, scrambled eggs. Next to the plate was a glass of milk.

"Breakfast in bed?" Rarity wasn't sure what else to say, but she would have to thank her guest for being so kind to her. Never in her life would she ever think he would go as far as cooking for her. She grabbed the plate, levitating the utensils that were hidden behind it over to her as well, and took a bite of the lightly browned cakes.

Eyes wide, she glanced down at her plate with a look of shock. "If he makes this a regular thing, I may just have to ask him to live here permanently."

After finishing her breakfast, Rarity got to work on prettying herself up for the day, making several mental notes on what she would need to get done. First; There were orders that needed to be filled. None of them were too hefty for the hard working unicorn, but it would keep her busy for a while. After that; She would have to find a way to lure Rusty out of hiding without scaring him off. The second task was more mentally straining than the first by far. The art of the dress was a simple one, once you got it down. Trying to bring your estranged friend into the daylight, that's something she had very little experience with.

"There's a first time for everything, I guess." Rarity says aloud, adjusting her outfit so it it her form properly. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she collected the dishes from her meal and began her descent to see Rusty. "Now for the hard part."


Azure peeked around the corner, looking into her living room. Her mother could clearly be seen laying on the couch, passed out from the night before, a half empty bottle held in her closed fist, which hung over the edge of the cushions. The older mare snores softly as she rests, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

Tell her...

"No, you tell her..."

...Think about what you just said...And then tell me why that's stupid...

"Oh...right." Azure cringes at her mistake, her eyes still locked onto her mother's sleeping form. "Should we tell her? I mean, she won't be too happy when she wakes up. The hangover will be sure of that."

True, but she has a right to know...Doesn't she?

Azure falls silent as she battles herself on whether or not to tell her mother about her recent discovery. It doesn't take a therapist to see that the cyan pegasus was hurting inside, likely from the supposed death of her coltfriend so long ago. On hand, the news could pull the mare out of her funk. On the other though, this newfound information could result in disaster. The filly's mother was known to act out, especially when she became emotional. And hearing that her late lover was still alive, that would most definitely stir up some conflicting emotions.

If she were being honest, Azure was feeling rather conflicted herself. Part of her is excited beyond belief that her father is alive and well. This feeling is only enhanced knowing that he's in town! Her wish came true, though she never truly expected it to. However, this knowledge made her afraid.

Azure knew that her father was unaware of her existence. He 'died' before her mother could tell him that she was pregnant. This caused her young mind to wonder on how things could backfire. What if he doesn't believe that she's his own flesh and blood? Or, what if he didn't accept her? Would he even give her a chance to prove that she could be everything he could ever want? Does she have what it takes to be the daughter he wants?

These thoughts made Azure's heart ache. Reeling back, she slumps against the wall, her body slowly dragging down until her rear met the plush, cloud floor. "What if he doesn't want a daughter..."

Okay! We're just gonna push those thoughts aside for now!

At those words, Azure's mind was slowly cleansed of such depressing thoughts. However, the feeling of doubt remained. It weighed down heavily on her chest, making her feel as though she couldn't breathe.

Sweetie, you have to do something and soon. The longer you wait, the worse you'll feel. And, if you don't do anything, it'll just drive you mad.

Azure takes a deep breath in, waiting a few seconds before releasing it back into the world. "I don't even know where to begin. "What am I supposed to do?"

For as long as I can remember, all you've ever wanted was to have him; You want to see him, to have him hold you, talk to you, play with you. Now is your chance for all of that and more...

There were so many confusing emotions sweeping over the filly, leaving her lost on whether to laugh or cry.

Azure...For so long you've waiting for something to come to you. Now it finally has.

You have no more excuses.


I told you to turn around.

I told you to run.

But, did you listen?

Fuck no, you didn't! Now look what you've gotten us into!

Rusty stared stupidly at his reflection, eyeing the new 'outfit' Rarity had thrown together for him. It looks like something you'd see in Great Britain three hundred years ago. The human couldn't even grasp how to describe the outfit, minus a few simple words; Too blue, kinda poofy, itchy wig.

"Is this really necessary?" Rusty asked uncomfortably as his unicorn friend nitpicked with the 'poofs' going down the undershirt. "I look like the old English threw up on me."

"Oh, hush you!" Rarity remarked, stepping back to admire her work. "You look absolutely divine."

"Of course you would think that." Rusty deadpanned, starting to wiggle around in the clothing. "Can I take this off now?"

Rarity huffed at his request, secretly finding it rather refreshing. "Fine! If you want to hurt my feelings..." Rusty shot her a look that almost made her laugh. It was true that the human has changed immensely from when she first knew him, but at times she would see remnants of his former self. Though, they were heavily diluted in comparison. "Your clothes are in the dressing room, darling. Go ahead and change."

Rusty left his spot in front of the mirror in her workshop and walked into the dressing room to put on his only other set of clothes. As he entered, Rarity followed his steps and walked toward the dressing room, her heart pounding as she now stood mere inches from the door. "H-have you thought about what I said earlier?"

There was a pause before Rusty's spoke up, his voice slightly muffled from closed door between them. "I have..."

"And..." Rarity presses, her breathing becoming heavy.

Once again, there was a pause that lasted a few painful seconds. "It's not that I don't want to...I'm just...I'm utterly terrified by the idea." The door opens and Rusty steps out, now dressed in the clothes Rarity made for him yesterday, the outfit he changed out of folded in his arms and his face showing just how afraid he truly was. "Wouldn't you be?"

"I can't even imagine what you're going through, darling." Rarity answered genuinely; carefully extracting the clothing from his arms with her magic and levitating them out of sight. "But you've already gone this far. You can't just keep hiding from it."

"The longer you wait, the harder it will be to finally go through with it." Rusty knew that her words were true. He feels like a fool for having tried to delay what he knew needed to be done. For trying to put off the very reason he came back to Ponyville for. "And if you continue to do nothing, it will only drive you mad."

Rarity eyes his features, looking for some sign of submission, but the fear plastered across his face only made her feel bad about bringing it up. "I'm sorry, darling." She said, feeling responsible for his being uncomfortable. "I don't mean to rush you. Forget I said anyth-"

"No..." Rusty closed his eyes, swallowing hard as he considered her words. "You're right...I have to go through with this." Opening his eyes, he looks to his unicorn friend, offering a somewhat weak smile. "I made a promise to myself that I would come back and try make things right. It's about time I make good on that promise."

Or we could leave! That's also an option!

The human bit his lip, nodding at Rarity. "Let's go see Twilight."

"Wonderful!" Rarity beamed, jumping at the human and wrapping him in a tight hug, which he happily returned. "I'm so proud of you, Rusty." The mare broke the embrace, looking to her friend with a proud smile. "Just let me grab a few things and we can be off."

Rusty watched as the unicorn left the room, his smile falling as panic rose in his gut. He told the truth when he said that he was terrified, but Rarity was right. He needs to stop putting it off and face it head on. His reason for coming back was to right all of the wrongs he committed. There's no was he could forgive himself if he turned back now.

Again, you could leave! You could run out of that door right now and haul ass back to the train!

"Shut...up..." Rusty growled under his breath.

Not until you leave! We don't need this bullshit and we don't need them! Why can't you just-

"Shut the fuck up!" Rusty snapped, his fingers digging into his scalp as he grabbed the side of his head with both hands.

"Rusty...?" Rusty's head quickly turned to the mare standing on the other side of the room, a large purse hanging over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide, staring at him with a look of shock on her face. "is everything alright?"

Rusty lowers his arms to his sides, a look of shame taking over him. "I'm fine, Rarity." He answered weakly, a small smile forming on his face. "Let's get going. I don't wanna chicken out before I even get the chance to hear another of Twilight's famous lectures."

Rarity seemed unsure of his response, but didn't want to press the matter, assuming it would only make him even more stressed. "Very well then." Walking to the front door, she waited for the human to join her. "Shall we?"

Something doesn't feel right...

Rusty reach out and opened the door, an odd wave of discomfort passing over him. He kept his cool though, "Ladies first."

"Such a gentleman~" Rarity teased, going to take a step through the door, only to freeze in place at the sight in front of her.

Rusty threw up his hood to hide his face, about to join her until he witnessed her statuesque state. "Are you alright, Rarity?" Her lack of response only prompted him to look over her shoulder to see what had caused her to go still. From the looks of it, a small pony was standing in the doorway, blocking their path. Leaning back, the human grabbed his hood out of instinct, making sure that it hid his features from the filly.

Azure looked up nervously at Rarity, who was breathing pretty heavily. The unicorn she considered a second mother was locked in place, panic spread across her face. Seeing no reason to keep the silence, the young pegasus decided to break it. "H-hi..."

Don't chicken out now, baby girl! You got this!

Azure gulped, looking past Rarity to the hooded figure behind her. "H-hello....mister..." The filly had to force her attention back to the unicorn, lest she go as still as stone herself. "May I come in?"

Rarity shook her head as the world around her came back into focus. Her mind was all over the place, trying to think of a way to deter the child. "I'm sorry, darling. But we're in a bit of a rush. Maybe-"

"It's fine, Rarity." Rusty spoke up from behind her, much to the unicorn's dismay. "A few extra minutes won't hurt. Go ahead and see what she wants."

Rarity tried to speak, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Actually, I'd like to see you!" Azure blurted out, speaking much faster than she anticipated. All eyes were now on her small form, only making her that much more uncomfortable. "I...I wanted to see you, mister...if that's alright..."

Rusty was confused by this, having never seen this filly before. He looked to Rarity for some kind of answer, but the mare looked nothing short of horrified. "Sure..." He said, his eyes still on his friend, "come on in."

Grabbing the pale looking mare, Rusty stepped aside with Rarity in tow. Azure entered the boutique, closing the door behind her and keeping her gaze to the floor.

Rarity was paralyzed once more.

Rusty was beginning to worry for his friend, but was curious why a child he didn't know wanted to see him. "Rarity, go sit down for a bit. You look sick."

More like guilty...What's she hiding?

Cursing himself under his breath, Rusty turned his attention to Azure. Just as the voice stated earlier, something felt off. An odd feeling rose in his gut as he looked down at her. It wasn't a suspicion, or even worry. There was something strangely familiar about her. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Azure's mouth stayed shut as she nodded at him, her eyes staring intently into his. "My name is Azure Bees-"

Breeze

"Breeze!" She quickly corrected, "And I uh...I wanted to...I would like to..." Her legs started to shake, her knees starting to feel weak. "C-can you...please come down here?"

Rusty wasn't sure why the small pony seemed so nervous. Hoping to help ease her troubled mind, he lowered himself to a knee so he would be on her level. "Azure Breeze..." He said, grinning at a small blush that appeared on her cheeks. "That's a very pretty name."

"Th-thank you...My mom picked it." Azure responded.

"Well she picked a very pretty name for you." Rusty said, his grin turning to a pleasant smile as Azure returned the gesture. "I bet she's a lovely mare." The filly's smile dropped a bit at this, a motion that was not lost to the human. "Isn't she?"

Azure didn't want to wait any longer, but couldn't work up the nerve to outright say something so direct. "My mom has been struggling for a while. She's been that way since my dad died." Rusty's expression switched to panic. He was about to say something, but wasn't given the chance.

"Mister...Could you please take off your hood?" The human raised a brow at her. "I know you're not a pony. I just wanted to see what you looked like."

Crafty...Not very subtle, but it works.

Feeling bad about bringing up such a sensitive topic, and seeing no reason to hide his face from a child, Rusty reached up and slowly pulled his hood down. What's the worst that could happen, right? "Is that better?"

Azure's eyes became wide, water beginning to build up in her sockets as she all but stared into his soul. "It is you..." The tears in her eyes worked their way to freedom, rolling down her cheeks as her one wish finally came true. She has finally met her father. It was him, she could feel it in her heart. "Daddy..."

Excuse you, tiny horse?

Rusty's reaction was about the same as that. "I'm sorry, Azure. I think you might be confused." He paused after that, his brain starting to put a few pieces together; Rarity's weird behavior, this filly wanting to see him, saying that her dad was dead. As impossible as it seemed, there were a few unlikely signs pointing right at the answer that Rusty was rather skeptical to believe. At the same time though, he couldn't help but wonder, 'What are the odds that this is just a coincidence?'

No, it can't be true. He's a human and the filly in front of him is...well, a filly! Not to mention, he's a completely different species. It should be literally impossible for him to make a pony pregnant. And even if he did, it would likely fail because of the mixed genetics...Right?

Angling his neck, Rusty glanced behind him. Having not moved an inch, Rarity was still standing right behind him, looking in every direction but his. If that wasn't suspicious on its own, the look of guilt that had taken over her was a dead giveaway to something. These actions only seemed to enforce the filly's words.

"Rarity..." Rusty began, his voice riddled with disbelief as the unicorn struggled to look directly at him. "She couldn't be...I'm not..."

Rarity looked as though she had just been proven guilty for murder. She couldn't figure out what to do with her hands as they anxiously rubbed nearly every inch of her body. "I...I wasn't sure how to tell you..." There was a pang in her chest with each word that left her lips. "I wanted to wait until you were ready."

Rusty's head snapped back at the silently sobbing Azure, his eyes locking on to hers as his jaw dropped in a mix of shame and fear.

Azure quickly reached a hand up to wipe the tears from her face, lowering it just as fast to return the human's gaze. "Hi, daddy..."

Chapter 5

View Online

"Push, honey!" Steel Hoof said, hold Scarlet's hand in his own. "Push!"

Scarlet pushed with all her might as she laid on a small blanket that barely covered the shaking, metal floor beneath her, but to no avail. She stopped for a few seconds, taking quick, deep breaths before resuming. Her efforts brought tears to her eyes as pained grunts and groans filled the air around the salmon mare. She looked down to her bloated stomach, pushing harder than before.

An odd sound pulled Steel's attention from his wife. He heard footsteps moving rapidly from the top of the train cart. They moved to the side and dropped. Not even a second passed when the door was pulled open and a powerful wind rushed into their makeshift home. What came through the door was the near-hairless creature Steel had found in a lake over a year ago, his clothes covered in rust, with stack of blankets in one arm and a bucket in the other.

Ryan stepped into the cart, kicking the door closed before rushing over to Scarlet's side and setting the materials down beside him. "What's happening?" He asked in a worried tone, looking over the mare's sweaty, panting form. "Is she alright?"

"Scarlet's fine," Steel assured the human, but continued to wear a solemn look. "but the baby isn't coming..."

"What!?"

Thank...God...Now we don't have to deal with a crib midget stuck to our leg.

Ryan turned his attention back to Scarlet, just taking notice that it wasn't sweat covering her face, they were tears. She lay there before him, her legs up and her body trembling, silently sobbing to herself. A massive amount of dread started to fill his chest and he could see that the couple who took him in were reaching that point as well.

After everything these two have done for him, Ryan couldn't just sit there and watch this happen. A sudden surge of adrenaline rocketed through his body. "...Like hell it isn't!"

Ryan grabbed the bucket and poured some of the warm water within onto his arms, scrubbing all the rust on his body off as fast as he could. With his hands as clean as they could be, he crawled between Scarlet's exposed legs, pulling them apart so he could get a clear view.

"Ryan, what are you-"

"Not now, Steel!" Ryan snapped, causing the older stallion to flinch slightly. The human looks up at Scarlet, giving her an apologetic look. "...I uh...I know it's gonna be very hard to relax right now, but I'm gonna need you to for just a minute...Cause this is gonna hurt."

Without any further warning, Ryan slipped his whole hand into the mare, who immediately began screaming in response as her body started thrashing about. "Hold her, Steel!"

Not knowing what else to do, Steel grabbed onto Scarlet and held her in place while the human proceeded to reach deeper in her. "Almost there..." Ryan muttered to himself, his forearm now completely submerged. "Just a little bit-" His eyes went wide as his hand came into contact with something solid. "I got it!"

Scarlet continued to try and fight him against her will, managing to nearly shake free from her husband's grip. "Scar, look at me!" Her actions didn't cease. The mare still squirmed frantically. "Look at me!" By some miracle, the mare was able to calm down just enough to look down at the human who was literally elbow deep in her. Her tear-filled, green eyes stared into his determined blue eyes, not leaving each other for even a second. "I'm gonna help you, okay? I'm gonna help you get this baby out. But, I can't do it alone. I need you to start pushing. Okay?"

Through the pain and the sadness, she nodded and laid her head back down, resuming her previous actions. She pushed hard, wails of agony echoing throughout the cart as she did so. This time, something was actually happening. She could feel it coming out.

"That's it, honey!" Steel exclaimed, excitement taking over his features as he continued to hold her down, grabbing her hand in his own and giving it a supportive squeeze. "You're doing it! Keep pushing!"

Ryan's face tightened in concentration, carefully working his hand around the new life and pulling it toward him while Scarlet aided the way that only a mother-to-be could. "I can see the head!" He called out, watching the head turn into a full face, and soon enough, an entire foal. "I got it!"

Scarlet stopped pushing at his words, taking a deep breaths as the room suddenly became filled with a soft crying. Steel's grip on her hand loosened as he turned to face the furless being wrapping his newborn in a blanket, only to go completely still.

Concern rose in Scarlet's gut as the crying stopped. With what little energy she had, she lifted her head to see Ryan sitting at the end of her feet, staring intently into a bundle of blankets he was holding in his arms. At first, she wasn't sure what to think. Then, the creature spoke-

"Oh..." Ryan simply said, attempting to process what it was he was feeling. "This is what this is..." Holding the baby in one arm, he uses his free hand to rub the foal's soft cheek. His dead stare stayed locked onto its tiny form while he had this moment of realization of the most powerful emotion he has ever felt. "I love you...I love you unconditionally, and without prejudice. And you have done nothing to deserve this love...Nothing!" The foal hardly reacted to the human's words, it’s only response being to reach up and grab his thumb. "Steel..."

Steel Hoof released his wife's hand completely, shuffling over to the human's side. "Yes, Ryan?"

"He's too cute. Get him away from me."

Steel happily obeyed, reaching out to grab his baby and hold it for himself. "Him, huh?" He peeked under the blankets, confirming that their foal was indeed a colt. "Hey there, little guy." He said with a great big smile as he looked his son in the eye. "How are you doing? I'm your daddy." The stallion could barely contain his joy as he held his child for the first time. "Oh, honey! Look at him!"

Scarlet turned her head to look at her husband as he held their colt in his arms. A warm smile spread across her face as she reached out and grabbed her baby, pulling him into her chest and holding him lovingly while the two men looked at each other with smiles of their own.


Snap out of it!

Rusty blinked a few times, his head pounding as he looked around to find himself laying on the floor with both Rarity and that filly from earlier standing on either side of him. He lifts a hand and places it to his temple, trying to massage the headache away with his fingertips. "W-wha?"

"Thank goodness!" Rarity sighed in relief, grabbing one of his arms and pulling him back to his feet. She immediately began patting him down to remove anything that might have gotten stuck to his clothes before going to look him over. "Are you alright, darling?"

"I uh...I think so?" Rusty replied, his eyes wandering from Rarity to the small blue pegasus standing just a few feet away from him. His face was glowing with disbelief, not willing to accept that he had a daughter, or could even get a pony pregnant for that matter. It just seemed impossible to him.

He's looking at us! Act natural!

Azure squeaked, her entire body paralyzed with fear that something bad would happen. Her eyes were staring into his very soul, unable to close no matter how hard she tried. It was actually becoming quite uncomfortable for her. As she looked on at her not-so-late father, thoughts of all the good times they could have that previously warmed her heart were being flooded with daydreams of him rejecting her; Sending her away, or leaving on his own, never to be seen again.

Sweetie, you need to calm down. Nothing bad is gonna happen. I mean, look at him! He's not freaking out.

Azure focused on her father, trying to find any source of panic, resentment, anything. However, she found nothing. Just his eyes staring back at her, blankly.

See? Everything is fine!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

While it appeared true that the creature in front of her didn't appear to be at all phased, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The terror that now coursed through her veins brought tears to her eyes. For years, all she wanted was the chance to see him. Now that the opportunity was presented to her, her heart ached with dread and fear that he wouldn't want a daughter. Just hearing her call him 'daddy' was enough to make him collapse. Celestia forbid how he would react if she tried to stick around.

Unable to take these thoughts anymore, Azure was all too ready to run out of that store and go as far away as she needed to in order to clear her head. However, just as she went to turn for the door, a hand grabbed onto her arm. It's grip was gentle, yet firm enough to keep her in place. She looked back, her eyes wet with unshed tears that threatened to escape her.

Rarity, now holding Azure in place, offered her a reassuring smile. "It's alright, darling." She said in a calming tone, loosening her hold on the filly's arm. This didn't erase the fears the filly was feeling, but it helped to settle them down a touch. "Come on..." With no fight in her, the young pony followed Rarity's lead, walking toward the human, whose eyes proved to be just as stuck to her as hers were to him.

Rarity stopped when both she and Azure were within arms reach of Rusty. The unicorn faced the confused human, snapping her fingers to gain his attention. "Rusty, I am deeply sorry for not telling you about her." She began, her torn-up expression showing just how genuine her apology was. "I didn't think you were ready. And I don't want to see you leave us again..."

Taking a breath, Rarity stepped aside, letting the two resume their dumbstruck staring contest. "Rusty, this is your daughter, Azure Breeze. Azure, this is your father."

The two were locked in silence as they sized the other up, one scared of the possible outcomes, the other still trying to wrap their brain around how all of this was even possible. Both minds were at a complete loss. the ability to think properly being lost in the clouds.

I feel like I already know the answer to this and that's the scariest part of this whole ordeal.

Rusty was actually dreading asking this as he looked over at Rarity. "Who's the mother?"

Rarity was hesitant to respond, but something about the look he gave her said that she didn't have a choice. "Dash..."

Fuck!

Rusty paused for a few seconds, a small smile working it way across his face as he thought back on a time he had nearly forgotten. "Hearts and Hooves Day...What was that; ten...eleven years ago?" He asked no on in particular, turning his attention back to Azure. "I've had daughter...for over a decade...and I didn't even know." His smile would rise and fall rapidly at random, his eyes glistening in a mix of sadness and anger. "Christ, I'm turning into my father."

Is it too much to ask about grandpa?

Azure didn't have a chance to dwell on that thought. She flinched as her father suddenly dropped forward, landing on his knees. His next move came as quickly as the last, not giving her any time to register what he was doing until he already had his hands on her. In the blink of an eye, she found herself trapped in his arms, being held tightly against his chest. "I'm sorry, Azure...I'm so sorry..." The human whispered to her between his silent sobbing and heavy breathing. "I didn't know..."

All of the fear Azure felt moments ago vanished into thin air as her estranged father held her, whispering apologies into her ear. She could feel his pain in his words, his regret pouring into her shirt in the form of small, salty drops of water that fell from his eyes.

The human's crying became contagious as Azure wrapped her arms around him in return, her small arms desperately trying to pull him closer to her as she joined him in their tear-filled union. "It's okay, daddy!" She called out into his chest, both happy to see him and hurt to see him so torn apart by a mistake he didn't even know he made. "It's okay now...please, don't be sad!"

Hours flew by in minutes, the trio eventually moving into Rarity's bedroom so they could have some privacy. They all sat on the bed with Rarity at the head and Rusty on the edge with Azure in his lap. The father and his daughter were clinging to each other as if their very lives depended on it. There we no more tears to be shed. Now all that surrounded them was a blissful silence as the pair seemed to be trying to make up for all the lost time by refusing to let the other go.

Even as Azure fell asleep in his arms, her grip didn't slacken in the slightest. Even if it had, Rusty's arms refused to let her go. He continued to hold her as close as possible, his head resting atop of hers while his eyes stared off into nothingness.

The silence was starting to get to Rarity and her mind was going haywire wondering what would happen next. She slid down the bed, finding a spot and adjusting herself to she was sitting beside Rusty. "How are you feeling?"

Like I need about thirty drinks. Just enough to forget everything that happened today.

Rusty let out a deep breath, shakily nodding his head. "Not too good." He replied, still shaken from everything that had happened earlier. "Ten years...For over ten years I left a daughter I didn't even know I had fatherless."

Why do you even care!?

Seeing just how fragile he was right now, Rarity wrapped an arm around him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Darling, you can't blame yourself for that." She argued softly, wanting to remind him that this wasn't entirely his doing. "Dash didn't tell any of us until after the incident."

"You didn't know, you couldn't have. None of us did!" She continued, hoping to ease his heavy conscience. "It really isn't all your fault that things played out the way they did."

Rusty sniffed hard, taking a few breaths to keep himself together. "I know...But, it still hurts..." He said, squeezing his daughter's sleeping form in his arms. "I left everything behind...I just wanted to die...And I missed out on so much..." He looks down at Azure, barely able to keep himself from falling apart. "I have this beautiful filly in my arms...I didn't get to see her grow up, take her first steps, say her first word...I wasn't there..."

Rarity gently shushed her alien friend, rubbing his back in an effort to help him relax. "I know it hurts, but you have to stay strong for her sake." She added that last part due to knowing just how fragile Azure could be when she gets emotional. She really is too much like her father. "You may not have been there at first, but you're here now. All she has ever wanted was to have you in her life. She is going to look up to you from now on and you must show her that, despite all that's happened in the past, you can still strive to be better."

I've heard that before...

Rusty slowly cocked his head, looking at unicorn with his brow raised. "You stole that from a book, didn't you?" Rarity went wide eyed for a second, mentally panicking at the fact he was able to point that out. The human couldn't help but to smile a little at her reaction. "Don't worry about it. I used to do that all the time back home. Hell, I've made a bunch of references here, from things in my world, that none of you will ever understand."

There's a difference between making a BUNCH of references and making them RELIGIOUSLY. Not that I'm complaining. They seemed funny at the time.

Rarity returned the smile, happy he was showing a hint of some other emotion aside from self-loathing. "I guess that makes us even then."

"Not even...I've got you all beat by the hundreds, if not thousands."

Rarity giggled at this, not even doubting it in her head. He always was a creative type. But, it's no surprise that some of his creativity wasn't entirely his own. "That's fair." Her smile fell a bit as she pondered where the events of today would take him. "Are we still planning to see Twilight?"

Do that now and you might actually lose your fucking mind.

Rusty nodded, "Not today...I'm a little messed up right now." He confessed, feeling a little ashamed of himself for being so weak mentally. He was determined to start straightening things out with his old friends, but after everything that's happened, some peace and quiet was all he wanted. "We'll go tomorrow. Right now, I'm content where I am."

"Very well..."

Rusty gently set his head back down atop of Azure's, being careful not to wake her. He resumed his earlier act of staring into a nonexistent void that would open in his vision and allow him a brief escape from where he was now. His eyes drooped slightly as his mind began to wander, letting it take him to a more relaxing time where could unwind and relax if only for a few minutes.

He thought back on his new life a lot, which proved useful in relieving some of the tension in his mind. The family he had, the friends he made, the adventures he went on, all the traveling. It was nice, peaceful even. Occasionally his thoughts would pull him to a time before that. Times where he would wake up on a floor in a dirty bar, or in the dirt outside. The constant hangovers, the arguments, all the unnecessary conflicts that could have been avoided.

Rusty's thought went a little deeper, kicking him pretty hard when he looked back on his love life. The sleeping around he could ignore, for the most part, but the actual relationship he had, the one he screwed up beyond belief; That was the one that bothered him. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Dash has gone through having to raise his child without him. If that wasn't bad enough, it wasn't like he just walked out. As far as anyone else knew, he was dead. So she had to go through life for the last decade, raising Azure, with the belief that her coltfriend killed himself before she could even tell him about it.

The guilt of all of this was overwhelming and only proved to worsen by the endless stream of questions that surfaced; How did she take the news? Did she move on? Did her pregnancy interfere with her Wonderbolt training? Does his memory haunt her? Is it constantly chewing away at her sanity? How messed up could she still be from all of that? Has she gotten better? Worse? What's she doing right now?


Dash tossed and turned on the couch resting in the center of her cloud home, knocking a small number of bottles onto the floor as a result. Her face was tightened into a scowl, her legs kicking slightly while she slept. There was a pillow held against her chest, being practically strangled in her tightening grip. Her rough expression would soon fall to a frown as tears began to bleed through her clenched eyelids, each rolling off of her cheeks and sinking into the cushioned surface that supported her trembling body.

Chapter 6

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Rusty groaned as he was stirred from his sleep by something shaking him, which he found mildly annoying. It was hard enough to fall asleep in a moving vehicle, let alone one that was long enough to rival a building and had an obnoxious horn that would go off every time they entered a town. With a loud yawn, he was content to ignore whatever was shoving him and fall back asleep. However, whatever was trying to wake him up appeared to be rather persistent, shoving him harder and faster.

Another groan escaped the dirty, unshaven human as he lifted his head and looked back to find the source of his disturbance. Kneeling down beside him was Rod, a young colt he's grown to see as a younger brother but with more hair. The colt stared down at him with a sad look in the his eyes. This raised a couple of red flags for the human. This was a child for Celestia's sake! What could possibly be troubling him?

Fuck you, kid!

Rusty pulled himself up, his annoyed expression changing to worry. "You alright, Rod?" He asked with a concerned tone. He hated to see his brother looking so downtrodden. He couldn't explain it, but it made him feel like there was a hole in chest.

Rod looked down, his eyes becoming oddly focused on the floor. "C-can I sleep with you tonight?" He asked in a hushed tone, nearly a whisper. "I-I...I had a bad dream..."

Rusty breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand to the colt's shoulder and rubbing it comfortingly. "Is that all, bud?" He asked with a light chuckle. "Holy crap, Rod; You had me scared there for a second."

Sniffling, Rod wiped his nose with an arm, looking at his brother weakly. "'I'm sorry, Rusty..."

Seriously, fuck off!

Unable to say 'no' to his illegitimate sibling, Rusty unzipped his coat and held it open, motioning for the colt to come closer. Rod eagerly climbed into the clothing, pressing his small body into the human's torso, wrapping his arm tightly around the much larger form beside him.

Rusty was taken back by Rod's vice-like hold on him, but didn't protest. He laid back on the hard metal floor, closing his coat and wrapping his arms around his brother to keep him warm. The colt's grip only tightened, causing him to worry for him once more. "Is everything alright, little man?"

Rod was slow to respond, but the words that left his mouth sent a chill down the human's spine. "Please don't leave..." Rusty was frozen for a few seconds, unsure of how to respond. Why did Rod think he was leaving?

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." Rusty began, placing hand on Rod's head and petting him. "You hear me, runt? You're stuck with me forever and ever-" His fingers found their way to the colt's sides, wiggling mercilessly against the sensitive area, earning an enjoyable wave of laughter from the small pony. "and ever and ever!" He hoped this would work, and he was relieved that it did. He didn't know what gave Rod the impression that he was leaving, but his tired mind tossed those thoughts aside for later. Right now, all that mattered was cheering up his little brother.

Rod tried to squirm out of the human's grasp, but to no avail. Luckily for him, Rusty stopped shortly after and held him tightly. The colt smiled at the gesture, feeling much better as he started nuzzling his big brother's chest. "...promise?"

Rusty smiled to himself, giving the colt a comically loud kiss on his forehead. "I promise! As long as I live and breathe, you will never be rid of me."

There was a small wave of dread that built up in Rusty's chest as these words left his mouth. His smile turned to a frown as he looked down at Rod, noticing something odd. His vision was spliced in the center, as if his eyes were opening for a second time. The split in his vision only grew and when it finally consumed his eyesight he found himself lying in a bed, the brown colt that was previously in his arms now a blue filly that was resting peacefully in his hold.

Rusty let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The dread in his chest only grew as he looked back on his promise, his old life, his new life and the life he unknowingly abandoned as a result. Even while trying to do right by everypony, he couldn't help but feel that he was only complicating things by being here. He knew in his heart that this was the right thing to do, but part of him felt like this was a bad idea, that he never should have come back. And it wasn't exactly being subtle.

Fuckin'...called it...


"Spike!" Twilight called out from her seat in the throne room, looking over several books on magical theory and energies of the world that lay haphazardly over the map/table surface. Her horn sparked to life as she levitated several books that proved useless at the moment into a neat stack on the edge.

The young drake waddled as fast as he could to Twilight's side. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Can you please return this stack to its respective shelves?" Twilight requested, not taking her eyes off of the books in front of her as she scanned them with enough intensity to make a rock shiver from her gaze.

Spike sighed and grabbed the stack, standing nearly twice his size, carrying them out of the room and making his way to the castle library to put them back where they belong. On his journey, he passed by Starlight, offering her a light 'Good Morning'.

Starlight returned the greeting, but eyed him awkwardly. This was probably the twentieth time she seen him do this in the last two days and it was starting to make her worry. Twilight doesn't usually go this crazy with her books unless something earth shattering has happened, or is about to happen. With this thought in her head, she made it a point to pick up her pace and go to see Twilight. She made it to the throne room with no issues, but the princess was so consumed with her research that she didn't even notice when the unicorn walked up behind her, glancing over her shoulder to get a look at her reading material.

It took everything in Starlight's power not to roll her eyes once she realized what the Princess was doing. "Are you seriously still stuck on that?" Twilight looked up from her book, looking shocked when she spotted Starlight standing behind her. "I get that you want to respect your friend's judgement and all, but aren't you taking this a bit far?"

Twilight let out a defeated sigh. Even if she didn't believe a word of it, she couldn't help but wonder if what Rarity had said was true, and if it was, how he managed to stay hidden for so long. "I know, Starlight; It's outlandish and simply impossible. But, what if he's actually here? What if he somehow survived and is back in Ponyville."

As frustrating as this all was, she could understand Twilight's reservations...not really, but she didn't like arguing about sensitive topics like this with her. However, she couldn't let her friend start building up false hope. It would only hurt her more down the road. "Twilight, I know it's hard. Really, I do! But Ryan is gone." Starlight stated in the softest tone she could manage. "It's been ten years. You and your friends are just gonna have to accept that."

The unicorns words cut Twilight deeper than she would have expected. "But, what Rarity said...and Azure-"

"Azure is a child!" Starlight interrupted a little more coldly. "She still thinks cooties is an actual, lethal disease. And Rarity; Do you know for a fact that she's not just saying this? I mean, has she even show any proof?"

"No, but-"

"Twilight, please!" Starlight begged, her tone softening once she had a second to collect herself. "Just drop this, alright. He's gone and nothing will ever change that. And sitting here, awaiting some sort of miraculous return that will never come, is only going to drive you and your friends crazy."

She was right...Twilight knew that their alien friend was gone, but for some reason, her heart begged to differ. Despite all this knowledge she's accumulated over the years, she couldn't help but lose herself to the possibilities when it came to her friends' well-being. And Ryan, he was a special case all around. A total anomaly!

Twilight and her friends have done a lot of dangerous things, pulling through the hardest tasks imaginable and coming out stronger than ever. Most ponies would break under that kind of pressure. Ryan though, there was something so unique about him in that stance. No matter what he did, whether it be plain stupid or grossly asinine, he always pulled through, just like them. Everything that should have brought his life to an end hardly left a mark on him. If she were being honest, she wouldn't be all too surprised if he had survived that fall and walked home with nothing more than a limp. But, she knew that wasn't the case. It's been ten long years since he passed and her and her friends were still hurting.

It took forever to get Pinkie out of her room when she heard what happened. And when she finally did, the pink spaz was hell-bent on searching the fall he jumped into in order to find him. Rarity stopped talking for three months straight, Fluttershy cried for nearly as long, Applejack fared about the same as Fluttershy, Dash spiraled into an alcoholic cycle after Azure was born and has been that way ever since, hardly leaving home to this day, and all Twilight did was try to pretend like it never happened in hopes that she could bring her friends back together again.

They were all still friends, of course, and would take the time to see each other, but it became much less frequent after Ryan died. All the hilarious- and sometimes hurtful- memories of his torment would wash over them every time they met and before any of them could stop it, the whole room would fall into an emotional roller-coaster. He may not have been the best friend they ever had, but he was still there friend. And when he died, part of them died with him.

Twilight's melancholic thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the front door. She was about to get up and answer the door, but was stopped as Starlight pressed a hand to her shoulder gently pushed her back into her seat. "I'll get it." Starlight said with a sigh, "Just...Please put all these books back. Once I'm done we can go out and get something to eat; My treat."

Twilight nodded, putting on a weak smile. "I think that's a good idea...Thank you, Starlight." Starlight offered a warm smile in return, leaving Twilight to her own devices as she left to answer the door.

With her gone, Twilight got to work on gathering up all the books, closing them individually and organizing them into neat stacks to be returned to the library. She stood up from her seat, looking over her work with a sad sigh, knowing that everything Starlight said was all too-

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Starlight's shrieking pierced Twilight's ear like pins, her instincts kicking into full gear as she raced to the front door. She came to a grinding halt, her feet only sliding a few inches across the floor as she saw the purple mare on the floor with a hooded pony standing in the doorway. It was holding out a hand, only for the unicorn to swat it away and crawl back. "No! No! No! NO!!! You're not real! You can't be!"

The ONE time we try to be nice and we STILL get hit!?

Rarity barged in, shoving past Rusty as she glared daggers at the collapsed mare. "For Celestia's sake, Starlight! He was just trying to help you! There's no need to resort to hitting!"

"She hit him!?" Another voice called out. Azure running in and grabbing the hooded man by his side. "Are you okay, daddy? She's usually so much nicer than this! She didn't hurt you did she?"

You outta slap the taste out of her mouth! Mares should not hit stallions, period! Especially when that stallion just so happens to be OUR DAD!!!

Get this fuckin' kid off of us, you bitch lord!

"I mean, really, Starlight!?" Rarity continued to snap at the frightened unicorn still crawling away on her hands and feet. "Have some manners! Is this how you would treat-!"

"ENOUGH!!!" Twilight's voice echoed through the air, shaking the very walls around them as she marched to the group. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on here?"

All eyes were now on Twilight, minus Starlight's, whose were staring at the hooded figure with a horrified expression on her face. All she could manage was slowly dragging herself away and pointing at him while muttering. "You're not real." over and over again.

Twilight quickly took notice of her friend's dismay, turning her attention to the hooded 'pony' at the door to examine it. The first thing she noticed was a strange lack of muzzle, but she couldn't see his face too well under that large hood. The next thing she noticed made her stomach twist up in a knot. It's hands were more than a little exposed, lacking any fur on their surface, minus a few thick, dark hairs that wrapped around its wrists. Her eyes shot back up to its face and, without warning, her horn lit up as she pulled down its hood with her magic. A loud gasp was all that could escape the alicorn as her heart skipped a beat in her chest.

"SPIKE!!!"


The room was silent as death, unwanted stares boring into him at every turn; Some were out of anger, but most were in disbelief. The magic barrier made it impossible for him to hear anything happening outside of his small prison atop of the friendship map. He could clearly see the mares talking back and forth, most of them appearing to be arguing. He could only assume Rarity and Azure were pleading on his behalf, trying to convince everypony else that he was indeed who he claimed to be.

Rusty wasn't even remotely surprised that they reacted this way. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst; As they say. He didn't foresee this particular event, all of them thinking he was a different human, or some kind of rouge changeling. However, he was more than expecting the shock and possible containment. Twilight had a habit of doing stuff like this to him back in the day, when he first came to Ponyville. Not that he blamed her, of course. The good lord knows he deserved much worse than what he got back then. Especially when he found out how easily he could escape given the extreme lack of magic in his system.

Not wanting to cause a further rift, or scare the literal crap out of any of them, he decided against breaking out of the barrier and instead chose to remain silently seated until approached. During this time, he looked around the room that held the mares that used to call him 'friend'. Out of all of them, minus Dash, who he was thankful for not being present here, there were only two ponies that looked back at him. This was primarily due to the fact that they were the only ones not fighting with the others.

His eyes first rested on Fluttershy, who looked back at him as if he were a ghost. Her large, sad eyes practically stared into his soul, desperately trying to read him as he looked back at her. Then there was Pinkie Pie, who surprised him the most when she saw him. He could honestly say that this was the one and only time he ever saw her stop moving completely! He was actually concerned, given that he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

Aside from that, he only felt the hole in his chest grow upon seeing them all. He didn't want for all of this to happen so fast, but it didn't look like he was being given a choice anymore. Again, he was relieved to see that Dash wasn't here, but curiosity begged him to ask why. This question was left to fester within him for now though.

Not that they would hear him through this bubble...

It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually the other ponies settled down just enough to stop fighting and turn their attention back to him. This didn't make him feel any more comfortable, but at least there was a chance of him getting out of the magic dome without causing a fuss. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Starlight and Azure all gathered back around the table, their focus now entirely on him.

Rusty stayed in his place, reaching a hand up to scratch at his patchy beard in an attempt to calm his nerves. He kept his cool on the outside, but inside he was losing his mind.

And he needs to quiet down! This was your idea, not mine! I'm going into my hidey-hole until this is all over. Fuck! You!

"Thanks for the help..." Rusty muttered to himself, waiting for something to happen while trying not to have a stress induced panic attack.

Twilight opened a small hole in the barrier, about the size of a baseball, which was just enough for him to hear her as she glared into his very being. "So...Ryan-" She began, not believing for a second that it was really him.

"Rusty..."

Twilight raised a brow at his interruption, "Excuse me?"

"I go by Rusty Nails these days." Rusty simply replied, seeing no point in trying to drag this out.

Twilight's glare became a confused stare as she tried to formulate a response. She quickly shrugged it off though and went on with what she was saying earlier. "As I was saying; I want to know who you are, where you came from and why you are here?"

Rusty saw no other option, he'd have to sit back and answer her questions if he wanted to get out of this peacefully, and with any chance of redeeming himself. He took a breath, feeling more than a little disgusted introducing himself this way. "There was a point in time where I was known Ryan Doyle Curtis the third...I came here from earth as a result of a mistake made by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I've lived here for years now, made one screw up after another, then got so fed up with everything I was doing that I threw myself off of a cliff...Hoping that it would be the end of me..."

His words got everypony to blink in surprise, with the exception of Rarity and Azure, who seemed more sad than anything else. Rusty continued to speak out of guilt, his conscience begging to finally be free of some of this pent up self-loathing. "I uh...I hurt...all of you. In some way, shape or form, I managed to hurt the very few in this world that actually cared about me. And for the longest time, I didn't care." He wanted to keep looking at them, but the hurt in his chest forced his gaze downward. "I don't know how it happened. I don't why it happened...But, I started to care. Every little thing I did started to haunt me. Cut me deeper than any knife ever had."

A select few of the glares in the room started to soften at his words. They didn't seem pleased by any sense of the word, but less hostile. "It only got worse as time went on. I would think back to everything I had done prior and-" He paused, sniffing hard and wiping his eyes with a sleeve. "it just...became so overwhelming...I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that the more I was around, the more I hurt all of you and that hurt me..."

Rusty looked up, his eyes wet as he stared out at the mares before him. At the very least, he could say he wasn't the only one that looked like a sniveling child...Not including the sniveling child. "I just wanted the pain to stop...I wanted to stop hurting you all..."

Starlight was the first to break the silence that occurred as a result of the human's words. "No...I refuse to believe this." The unicorn walked closer to the opening, peering in at him with a glare that could melt steel. "If you really are Ryan, then how were you able to hide from the princesses?" This question got Twilight's ears to perk up, being curious about that very thing as well.

Rusty licked his lips, his gaze moving down to his torso. He reached into his shirt, pulling out the stone that had played a major role in all of this. "Shadow Stone..." Both the unicorn's and the alicorn's eyes went wide once they saw this. Even Pinkie Pie, on the other end of the table, seemed to recognize this particular stone. "Completely blocks off any traceable energy at-"

"At the price of blocking off all magical potential." Twilight finished, having read up on some enchanted stones like this back in Celestia's School for gifted unicorns. "But, for a creature wielding no magic..."

Rusty nodded, confirming the alicorn's explanation. "It completely negates the negative side-effects."

Starlight took a step back, much unlike Twilight, who leaned in to question him further. "How in Equestria did you find one of those?"

"I didn't." Rusty replied, "It was given to me by the stallion who pulled me out of the lake. He thought I was in some kind of trouble and slipped it on me. When I explained everything to him, he agreed to let me hold on to it as long as I would help him and his family get by."

The evidence was becoming clear, missing pieces of the puzzle coming together. Twilight could actually believe that this was Ryan. Even when she was so sure that he was gone. It felt weird to see him as he was now, so calm and gentle...and vulnerable. But, it could very well be him! The alicorn was all too ready to lower the barrier, but the southern bell stomping her way over threw off her concentration.

"Ah knew it!" Applejack announced, stopping just inches short of the barrier as she leveled an angry finger toward the trapped human. "Ah knew it was you I saw that day!" Still very much fuming, she couldn't find it in her to hold any sympathy for the friend that had abandoned them for a whole decade. "Why now...Why wait so long? What's even the point of you coming back after puttin' us through all this heartache!?"

Of all of the ponies here, Applejack was probably the one that could hurt him the most. Even in his borderline sociopathic state, he still considered her family his own. This made her words more harsh than any of the others to him and it showed. "You...You made me come back..."

Again, he didn't feel like dragging this out. It was already heart-wrenching enough for him without being cryptic or vague. "After all these years of traveling and creating a new life and a new identity for myself, you managed to shatter this thinly painted illusion I had myself under." He explained, doing his best to continue before she could have the chance to interrupt him. "I spent years going all over the world, carefully constructing a whole new person out of myself. And after a while I thought 'This is is it! I did it! I'm free, I'm happy and I'm finally a good person'."

During his brief continuation, Rusty smiled and smiled bright. At the end though, his smile fell. "Then I saw you..." He placed a hand to the barrier, doing his best not to push too hard on it. "And I realized that none of that was true. I was doing the same thing then that I've been doing for years." Applejack's expression softened as she listed to his words, feeling how genuine and how hurt he was. Out of some weird instinct, she raised her hand to the barrier, pressing it against the spot where his rested on the other side. "I was running away from my problems instead of facing them...And I'm tired of running..." His fingers curled, pushing through the barrier with only minor struggle and interlocking the appendage with her own. "I want to make thing rights." Applejack pulled her hand back in shock, rubbing it with her unoccupied one.

Rusty pulled his hand back into the barrier, his insides churning uncomfortably as he truly faced this information himself for the first time since his failed suicide. He began to look around the room, addressing everypony as he spoke. "I'm not here asking for forgiveness. That would be selfish... But, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn it...If you're willing to give me the chance."

I can't take it anymore!

Rusty heard a faint knocking on the barrier. He had to turn around to find the source, which turned out to be a sobbing Azure desperately trying to break the spell with her fists, grunting with every swing.

She really is our child, isn't she?

"I think that comes from both sides." Rusty muttered with a small laugh. Much to his surprise, the barrier dispersed, which was all the filly needed to charge into the human and nearly tackle him into a hug.

"It's okay, daddy!" Azure called out, holding onto her father as if her life depended on it. "I forgive you. J-just...Please don't leave again!"

Rusty had to fight back a lot, never being one to get too emotional. But, for some reason, this was really tugging on his heartstrings. He gladly wrapped his arms around Azure, having to breathe deeply in order to keep himself composed. "I won't leave you...I left you alone long enough...I won't leave you again..."

In this moment, the rest of the room didn't matter. His full attention was on the sweet, adorable filly in his hold and he never wanted to let her go. The hearts of everypony witnessing this became warmed by the sight. It was unlike the Ryan they used to know, but perhaps he has changed over the years.

Twilight took a step forward, "Rya-" She stopped, feeling somepony holding her arm.

Looking back, Twilight spotted Rarity. The unicorn's hand held her firmly in place, but there was a warm smile that made itself known to the princess. "Rusty, darling..." She corrected, "His name is Rusty now."

Twilight smiled back, nodding as her friend released her. Continuing her previous actions, the alicorn got as close to the table as she could. "Rusty..." The human, still holding his filly, looked over at her. "I think I speak for everypony in this room-" She paused, looking around to make sure everypony was in agreement. Their warm smiles and happy tears were all she needed for confirmation. "when I say that I'm willing to give this 'new you' a chance to start over...Welcome to Ponyville Rusty!"

Judging from the room, Rusty could see that something oddly jubilant was gonna happen, if the trembling Pinkie Pie was anything to go by. However, there was something he needed to ask before it got out of hand. "Before anything else!" He all but shouted, pulling his head back to look at Twilight properly. "Can I ask you for one favor?"

Twilight blinked in confusion, unsure of where he was going with this. "I...I guess?"


Steel Hoof wiped the sweat from his head as he set the case of water down next to the closed train cart. It was unusually hot this time of day, but that could have been from all of the walking around he did just to buy the essentials his family would need. The water left him short on bits though, so he was hoping his lovely wife and adorable son managed to pull in enough to get them a decent supply of food on their next stop.

Speaking of, Steel was able to spot the two as soon as he turned around to look for them. They were only a short distance away, with Rod held up in his mother's arms, but even from here he could see the look of shame on Scarlet's face. A pit formed in his stomach as soon as he saw this, knowing all too well what it meant. It was going to be a rough couple of days for all of them.

Scarlet started in as soon as she reached him, setting Rod down as she went in to hug embrace her husband, which he happily accepted. "I'm so sorry dear! We made practically nothing..."

Steel held her close, quietly shushing his mare as he rubbed her back. "It's okay, love. We'll make it through this." He said comfortingly, "We always do." his words always did help Scarlet to relax, but she knew that this would eventually catch up with all of them and they would start to go hungry until their next stop, to which she could only hope ponies would be generous enough to help them out. "Come on, let's go inside."

The couple separated from their embrace and Steel grabbed the cart door, pulling it open with ease. Once opened, his eyes went wide, as did his wife and son's. "What in the name of-?" Their eyes scanned their normally bare cart, looking over the wooden crates that now took up nearly a third of their home.

Steel grabbed their water and set it on the edge of the cart, wasting no time climbing in to investigate. Scarlet and Rod followed behind, but stayed a fair distance back as the stallion looked over everything, unable to make heads or tails of the purpose of these wooden boxes.

Scarlet Pulled Rod into her side, concern taking over her features. "What do you think is in them?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Only one way to find out, I guess." Steel answered, walking over to the nearest crate and pulling on the lid until it snapped off. He looked into the crate, dropping the top of the box and placing a hand over his mouth. "Oh my word..."

"Stay here, Rod." Scarlet commanded, walking over to the crate to get a look at it contents for herself. What she saw baffled and confused her. Several nonperishable and canned foods laid within, filling it nearly to the top. This caused her mind to spasm just a bit. "M-maybe...Maybe they ran out of space in the other carts...And this is for a...a smaller town?"

Steel nodded his head, "Impossible, this is a steel driving train. They only transport metal."

"Look what I found!" The couple turned back to see Rod pulling an scroll off of one of the crates. The curious colt unrolled the scroll and tried to sound out the words he saw. "Ffff...Ffffrrr...Fffrraaahhhmm...Frahm...Roo...Rah? Russt...Rusty?" Rod suddenly started beaming with delight as he saw his brother's name on the scroll. "It's from Rusty!"

Steel approached Rod slowly, holding out his hand. "May I?"

Rod eagerly shoved the scroll into his father's hand. "Read it! Read it!"

"What does it say?" Scarlet asked from behind him.

Steel cleared his throat as he look over the letter and began reading aloud. "From Rusty: I can never truly repay you for all that you've done for me. But, please accept this gift from both me and Princess Twilight as a start!?"

Scarlet nearly fell over in shock, managing to catch herself on one of the crates. "H-he...He had the princess...send this to us???"

"I knew that he had magically inclined friends, but...a princess!?" Steel shook his head before continuing to read on. "So much has happened in the few days that I have been gone. My old friends are willing to give me a chance to make things right, but I felt I had to do right by all of you first. Please come to visit when the train stops in Ponyville, I have someone I would like you to meet. I am staying in the Carousel Boutique with my friend, Rarity. Yours truly; Rusty Nails."

Scarlet could only blink in response, her eyes going back to their widened state as soon as they would open again. Rod, on the other hand, was squinting as he looked at the back of the scroll. "T-T...Thaaa...Thhhhannn...k...Thank..."

Steel turned his attention to Rod, following his son's gaze back to the scroll. Flipping it over, he realized that there was more written here. It was short, but he thought it best to read it to everypony anyway. "Thank you for keeping my daddy...safe...Azure Breeze..."

Chapter 7

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Going home was always a bit of struggle for Azure. Her mother wasn't mean to her, but she wasn't very attentive either. Everything she had to do for her, she did. The filly wasn't neglected by any means. She just didn't get the affection she really wanted. Maybe even needed. There were times where Azure felt like her mother didn't love her. But, she couldn't say that for sure. Dash had to love her at least a little in order to continue providing for her; Getting her through school, giving her a home to come back to.

After everything that's happened though, she could truly understand why the mare was the way she was. For years Azure knew that her mother was hurting, she was hurting too, but never grasped the extent of Dash's pain. But now, with her father's hushed return, she felt she had finally scratched the surface. Like she was starting to really learn just how much damage was done. Maybe the lack of affection she received from her mother was simply due to a fear. A fear that, one day, she would vanish too. And then the mare would be truly alone. That would never happen. It couldn't.

Azure could never bring herself to leave for good. She was all that Dash really had and without her there would be nothing left. Despite her feelings, she had to return home, for Dash's sake. For without her, what would the mare do with herself? She already never leaves the house, aside to go to work. But she's so fast that the job is done in an hour. And that's when she's slacking! If she didn't come home anymore, then her mother would spend the remainder of her days isolated from the world and she couldn't allow that.

Azure would dwell on these thoughts as she entered her cloud home, looking around for any sign of her mother. "Hello?" She called out, strolling through the living room to find the mare plaguing her thoughts. "Is anypony home?" It's obvious that Dash was here, she mostly just asked this so she could find her sooner.

"Kitchen!" Dash called out in a near lifeless tone. Such is the tone Azure has grown accustomed to. The filly kept a decent pace as she joined her mother in the kitchen. The mare looked at her daughter from her chair beside the table, an empty plate sitting in front of her as she poked at her teeth with a toothpick. "What's up, kid?"

"Not much, really." Azure said as she forced a small smile, another one of her many skills. "I've just been hanging out with Rarity." Walking over to the table she picked up the plate in front of her mother and took it to the sink.

"Thanks, hun." Dash said as she continued picking away at her teeth with the small sliver of wood. "What's her deal? She still trying to get you into that flashy dress?"

Azure giggled at her mother's comment. "No, thank Celestia." She turned on the tap, letting water run over the plate's surface before grabbing a rag and wiping down the dish. "I think she got the hint when I told her it was too sparkly for me."

Dash nodded, pulling the pick from her mouth. "When will that mare learn?" She flicked the toothpick from her hand on to the table as she rose from her seat and walked over to the fridge. "I picked up some stuff for sandwiches on my way home." She pulled the door open, grabbing a small brown bottle in each hand before kicking the door shut as she left the kitchen. "Go nuts."

"Thanks mom!" Azure called out, letting her forced smile fall as she turned off the sink and set the plate aside to dry. This part of the day was routine for the filly. After fixing herself a snack she would usually leave so she wouldn't have to sit around the house with nothing to do. That wouldn't be an option today. The only ponies she really talks to are busy with her dad and if she didn't come home Dash might have gotten suspicious.

Dash can't know that he's back. Not yet.

Azure promised she wouldn't say anything...

Azure let out a sigh and followed through with the first part of the routine. She threw together a simple veggie sandwich, finished it with a glass of water, then broke the cycle by going toward her room. On the way there she stopped, looking intently at the door to her mother's room.

What do you think she does in there?

Azure shrugged, "I don't know." Although she was well-known for snooping, she never dared to cross this threshold. "I know she's drinking, but that can't be all she's doing..."

Only one way to find out!

This was one of the few- very few- things Azure left alone, feeling as though she would be crossing a line by digging into her mother's personal life like that. She was always curious about it though. What could her mother possibly be doing that would keep her in that room for hours at a time? It couldn't just be drinking alone. Not unless she was planning on passing out right after. Which did kind of make sense when she thought about it...

Just look already!

It was clear in Azure's head what she wanted to do, no matter how wrong it felt to do it. Even so, she carefully inched her way to the door and gingerly grabbed the handle, twisting it as carefully as she could to make as little noise as possible. The faint click that followed told her she could open the door. Keeping her pace, the filly opened the door very slightly and peeked into the room. From her spot behind the door, she could see a dresser to the far left. The large bed rested on the far end of the room against the wall, and beside that was a nightstand with one drawer and one bottle resting on its top.

Azure spotted her mother on the bed, beer in one hand, and some sort of book in the other. She could see her mom's eyes were puffy with a red tint to them. There was a wetness down her cheeks that told the filly that she had been crying very recently. She watched in silence for about a minute, the only change being the occasional flip of a page as her mother continued to look through the book, stopping between gazes to sip from her bottle.

Although every fiber in her body was telling her that enough was enough, Azure found leaning into the door more. Her head slowly found its way through the opening completely, sticking out completely on the other side. The side she dared not to cross into for so long.

It didn't take long for Dash to take notice that something seemed out of place. She pulled her gaze from the book, spotting Azure looking through the doorway. Her heart felt heavy as she looked over at her daughter, who was watching her with curious and fearful eyes once she had been spotted.

We've got eyes on us! Evacuate immediately!

Ignoring her flight instincts, Azure tried to play it cool as she unintentionally stared down her mother. "H-hey, mom..." She began, giving herself a few seconds to think up any reason she could for being in this position. "S-sorry to b-bother you! I just w-wanted to make sure y-you were...doing alright..."

Rainbow's ears fell flat against her head, her eyes dropping back to her book. "I'm fine..."

Azure could tell she was lying, but knew better than to press her any more. She had the opportunity to walk away from this unscathed and figured that it would be best to do just that. Turning around, her hand still on the doors knob, she started to leave, pulling the door with her.

Rainbow's eyes closed, clenching tightly as she closed her book and let it rest on her lap. "Wait!"

Azure paused, her body going stiff from her mother's sudden raise in volume. She cautiously turned around to face the mare, noticing her distressed look, but not daring to say anything about it.

Dash's face would twist and contort, clearly struggling with something. She pushed hard against her own feelings. Desperate to get the words out, she opened her mouth, letting herself relax some before speaking. "I...W-would you like to...I don't know..." Once again, she found herself unable to follow through. Second verse same as the first, as they say. Only this one was stuck on loop, caging her up within her own mind. It was with a heavy sigh that she was able to put an end to this torment. "Never mind...Everything's fine so...Go out and play, I guess." She turned her attention back to her book, waiting for the filly to leave her

...I'm not buying it

Azure managed to brave the storm so far. Leaving now would feel plain wrong. She took a brave step forward, once again crossing the forbidden threshold and standing proudly in place. "Mom, I know that you're going through a hard time." She began, keeping her tone as calm as she could manage. "And I understand that this all happened because of what happened to dad..." Dash felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of her late coltfriend. A hurricane of mixed emotion quickly began to stir up as her daughter continued to speak. "But, I'll be here to support you if you need me to. I can try to help you get better!"

"I love you, I really do. That's why I need you to work with me here." Rainbow's entire body became tense, her grip on the book and her bottle tightening until her knuckles cracked. It wasn't her daughters fault. All she wanted to do was help her. "There's so much more to do than sit around like this all day, mom. We can sort this out if you just let me-" But this...raw, powerful mix of emotions was driving her up the wall. She didn't know what to feel; sadness, anger, rage, helpless. These were only made worse by the fact that her own filly was talking to her as if she were the mother, and herself the weeping child. "-in and stop being so secluded. You're killing yourself by staying this way!"

"Azure!" Dash called out, her tone sounding more hurt than authoritative or demanding. She blinked back her tears as best as she could, sniffing hard. "Just...please...leave me alone..."

Azure wanted to fight back, to finally drag her mother out of this funk she had locked herself in for so long. However, she was all too aware of the mare's stubbornness. She was sure her own hard-headed nature came from her mother. With that in mind, the only thing she could do to avoid having this blow up in her face was to simply submit. It tore the filly's heart to pieces watching this for so many long years with nothing to combat it. So long had the mare who raised her been locked away, keeping everypony she knew at bay. And for what? What could she possibly gain from being alone?

These silent questions would fall into the void with so many others that have yet to be answered as she obeyed her mother and left, closing the door behind her. No matter how much it hurt, Azure couldn't say anything. There was only one thing that might have a chance at saving her mother’s life and that was her father. If she hadn't promised to not to say anything, she would have told Rainbow about him the seconds she saw her.

It was all too confusing to figure out. Azure knew that in order for her mother to get some form of closure, and maybe even stop being such a recluse, was to see her father. But her father, despite wanting to amend his so called 'past sins', was more than a little hesitant on meeting Dash so soon. He said he would make his way to her, but he needed time. Time for what though? Her mother was suffering right in front of her and there's nothing she can do to stop it and the only one that can help is keeping his distance. Why?

Why? Why!? WHY!?!?

Something had to be done about this, Azure thought. It's clear that her father is very sensitive, and Celestia herself knows that her mother isn't, so he wants to take things slow. But maybe, just maybe, she could give him a little push? A friendly shove in the right direction! Yes!

The dread that had filled Azure just moments ago was quickly replaced with determination and it showed through the grin on her face. She would do whatever it takes to bring those two back together. She has to. Who knows what will happen if they stay apart any longer. Maybe it'll be like love at first sight for them. They'll see each other and become overwhelmed with emotion! They'll rush into each others arms and it'll be great! A happy reunion that would end in a fractured family becoming whole once more...

Well! What are you waiting for; a written invitation? Let's fix our family!

Azure took off with a pep in her step, while Dash remained seated in her room.

Rainbow sat in place with an arm over her eyes, fruitlessly wiping away the tears that simply refused to stop flowing. She kept her emotions quiet, which she could take some pride in. They were becoming so overwhelming though. In the recent days something has felt more off than usual to the mare. Something was wrong, so wrong...

Pulling her arm from her face, Dash looked back down at the book. Her eyes scanned the photos that lay within, bringing back so many memories of a time she took for granted. She found herself staring at one photo in particular. It was taken in a little bar in Ponyville and all of her friends were there; Applejack could be seen in the background, sitting at the counter and yelling at the mare running the bar. Fluttershy was even further in the back, hiding out in a booth with Rarity, who had chosen to keep the poor mare company so she wouldn't have to be scared and alone. Of course, Pinkie being Pinkie and all, the bubbly pink mare was throwing confetti onto an annoyed looking Twilight, who had a protective hand over her small glass.

Then there was him...

Ryan sat, not at the bar, but on the bar. There was a great big, drunken smile on his face, which could be seen through the lime in his mouth. His shirt was ripped down the middle, exposing his stomach and chest. Then there she was, right in front of it all. She was holding the camera after all. The moment was too great not to capture. There was an empty shot glass in her free hand and she had her face against human's bare chest, her tongue out to lick the thin trail of salt from between his 'man tiddies'- as he called them.

Rainbow couldn't help but to a laugh a little at this memory, as she had so many times before. She could remember it clear as day, she would dream about it when she slept. It felt so good to be back there, to pretend that he was still around and that nothing had changed. It hurt too. It always would when she woke up to see that none of it had been real. Just her mind and her heart lying to her as she silently called out for his return. It happened even to this day.

Just over a year after Ryan died she would often visit that very bar, sitting at the counter and ready to drink the night away. Almost every time she would lose herself in her thoughts. She would fantasize about the human walking in. They were usually the same; he would come in, sit next to her and they would just talk and laugh. It would change sometimes. One she could remember very well was when he came in dumped a pitcher of beer over her head. Normally, something like that would set her off. But seeing his smiling face, those glowing blue eyes staring into hers, she couldn't care less what he did. She would just be happy that he was there. The fantasy would always come to an end though and she would find herself sitting at the counter alone, with an empty glass held tightly in her hand.

Of course, Rainbow knew this was wrong. She was aware of her problem of not being able to truly accept that he was gone. Her mind was stuck in the past and it was the only thing that made her happy anymore. The memory is of him being there. She couldn't help herself. She knew he was gone, but something deep down just refused to let go of him. It didn't feel like he was gone. It felt like that time they had gotten into a huge fight and he had done everything he could to avoid her. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that she still felt him. Like he was out there somewhere; hiding from the rest of the world. And in these recent days, this thought only grew more powerful...

It was probably just in her head. And that was the part that hurt most of all. She traced her fingers over the photo from the bar, her body beginning to quake as her eyes watered once more. Stray tears fell from her muzzle, landing in the photo album. They rolled down the pages as if to torment her further, being a reminder of the stream that claimed her coltfriend so many years ago.

Rainbow closed the album, setting it to the side of the bed. She went to take another drink from the bottle in her hand, but stopped before it could meet her lips. A look a disgust and anger took over her features as she tossed the half empty bottle against the wall. The clouds absorbed the impact and it landed on the ground with hardly a thud. Curling into herself, she let her body fall to the side, nuzzling the bed when her face met the comforter. The tears that rolled down her face soaked into the blankets beneath her as she closed her eyes, praying that sleep would take her away from this world of hurt; take her somewhere peaceful where she didn't have to feel this way. A place where she could be happy again.

Maybe she would dream about him again, she thought. At least then she could enjoy the comforting illusion of his embrace surrounding her, giving her temporary relief from all of this weight that felt as though it were slowly crushing her heart.

Chapter 8

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It's not time yet...

Not time yet...

There's still a chance for you.

Still a chance...

Still a ch-Snap out of it!

Rusty blinks a few times, shaking his head lightly to pull himself from his thoughts. He looks around the room he's been living in these last few days, trying to make sense of it all. These thoughts keep coming out of nowhere. He swears he up and down that he can remember these words, this voice, coming from somewhere. He just can't remember where, or who, he heard them from. It seems so distant, but it feels like it's important. Like it-

I'm gonna go ahead and stop you now, cause staring at the wall got boring after the first hour.

A sigh escapes Rusty as he stands up from his borrowed bed, making his way out of the room and down the stairs leading into the boutique. He can hear two voices from below as he descends and enters into the shop, soon spotting Rarity and Starlight sitting at a table. He stops just as he's about to round the corner; their voices were hushed, but he could easily pick up on the hostility in them.

"I am not throwing him out!" Rarity hissed in a voice just above a whisper, nearly slamming her hands against the table as she glares daggers at the unicorn sitting across from her.

"You don't even know who that is!" Starlight countered, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. "It could be a rogue changeling! Or even Chrysalis in disguise! You can't trust him!"

Why am I not surprised that it's her who is suspicious of us?

"If it really is Ryan, then how come the princesses haven't found him, huh?" Starlight continued to argue, clearly stuck on the idea that the human was dead and that Rusty was some sort of copycat.

"That stone! Around his neck! Did you forget about about that?" Rarity defended, refusing to believe a word that came out of the purple mare's mouth.

"Do you really expect me to believe that Ryan-"

"Rusty!" Rarity corrected, leaning over the table a bit.

"RYAN!" Starlight announced in spite, following the other mare's example. "Got a shadow stone, one of the rarest stones in Equestria, the exact moment he died!?"

That's a damn good argument...We sure we aren't dead? Cause this could be Hell.

Rusty nodded and looked toward the front door, thinking it best to leave now and let them hash this out on their own. He took a slow step forward, trying to keep as quiet as possible. As fate would have it, he wasn't careful enough because that first step came during a period of silence and the floor was happy to announce it's new visitor. He came to a stop at the creaking of the floor, already able to feel the eyes on him.

"Rusty!" Rarity said in an almost panicked tone, standing from her seat and turning her back to Starlight. "Terribly sorry, darling. I hope we didn't disturb you."

Rusty bit his lip before turning to face his friend, putting on the most neutral expression he could muster. "No, not at all. I was just about to head out for a bit."

"Oh, where are you heading?" Rarity asked as a look of concern crossed her features.

Rusty shrugged at the question, not having a particular destination in mind. He just wanted to get out of there before an actual fight broke out. "Just felt like going for a walk. You know, stretch my legs a bit."

Rarity nodded, content to believe his words. "That's fine, I suppose. I don't want you to feel trapped here or anything." She giggled a bit, but mostly to hide the dread that was starting to build up in her chest. "Before you leave though, I have something for you. Wait here." The unicorn walked off, but continued to speak in the distance.

"I took the liberty of making you another set so you won't have to walk around in the same dirty clothes every day." Rarity called out from the other room, returning shortly with a clean shirt in her hands. "Don't worry, I didn't change the look or the design, I just want to be sure you're not out and about in your own filth." She held out the new shirt, which was identical to the one he was wearing. "I'll need some time to finish the pants, but you should have five sets of the same thing now."

She knows you too well. Don't need anything flashy, just looking to grab the next set on the rack. Should have had a kid with her.

Rusty ignored the voice and took the new shirt, offering a smile in return. "Thanks, Rarity. You really didn't have to."

"I beg to differ." Rarity responded as she crossed her arms and scrunched her nose. "You've been wearing that one for so long it's starting to smell."

"Sorry..." Rusty's smile was a bit forced, feeling a little self conscious now. He turned around and pulled off the shirt he was wearing, keeping it locked in one hand as he went to slip on the other.

"Goodness..." Rarity placed a hand to her mouth as she muttered this, looking over the human's back.

Rusty's body tensed as he felt something touch his back. The world around started to blur, making it hard pinpoint where he was. Out of nowhere he is filled with something he hadn't experienced in a long time. A certain kind of hatred started to fill him. He felt hot as his mind and soul become overwhelmed by a burning, seething rage. The world slowly became clear again and everything around him was different, but disgustingly familiar.

Flames, a burning home. A burning in general. He looked down and saw that his shirt was on fire. He quickly grabbed the offending material and ripped it in half, tossing aside. At any other point in time, he would have been scared. Not now though. All he feels right now is the same burning fury, hotter than the flames surrounding him. "Come on! Burn motherfucker! Burn!"

Rusty's words were not his own. They left his mouth on their own accord. It felt so right, despite how much it killed him inside. He looked around, trying to find something, anything to make this feeling go away. He spotted an old couch, burning in the center of the home he once called his own. In a fit of rage he marched over to the piece of furniture, grabbing onto it. Summoning a strength he didn't know he had, he lifted the object and charged it into one of the burning walls. The weakened structure crumbled and gave away from the force of the impact, causing several bits of drywall and wood to fall down on top of it.

The man stumbled back to avoid the debris, tripping over his own feet and falling onto his back. A growl escapes his throat, the sound of sizzling piercing his ears as his bare skin meets the heated wood, feeling the burning of his own flesh. The pain was surreal. It was there, but not as intense as it should have been. Not like how he-

"Rusty!"

Rusty took in a sharp breath of air, feeling as though he'd been underwater for too long. He felt wet and breathless. His body was covered in sweat, the glazed over look in his eyes fading slowly as he came back to reality. Looking around, he saw that he was still in the boutique, safe and sound. His body relaxed and his breathing slowed. He turned and his eyes soon met with unicorn still standing behind him, who was staring at him with worry.

"Are you alright, darling?" Rarity asked, placing her hands on his face. "You're burning up! We need to get you to bed!"

Before she could start to drag him off, Rusty grabbed her hands gave her a reassuring gaze. "No, it's fine. I'm alright. I just need to go out and get some air." He quickly slipped on his new shirt, dropping the other one to the floor and throwing up his hood as he left the boutique.

Rarity watched him leave, unable to say anything. If Starlight had managed to put even a shred of doubt in her mind about Rusty, which she hadn't, it would have been null and void now. That massive scar said it all. It came as a bit of a shock, having not seen the damage inflicted on him from behind. All she saw were the burns on his arms after he came out of the hospital, but those had been mended and mostly healed with magic. She could only assume that on his back one was far too severe to simply vanish. It was discolored and rippled oddly, giving it an almost mutated appearance. It makes her heart ache to think back on that day. In her eyes, that was the day where everything seemed to go downhill.


Remember that song? That one called 'Losing our mind'?

"Shut up..." Rusty growled to himself, walking down the street at a brisk pace as he tried to control his breathing and relax his mind. These flashbacks, if that's even what they were, were starting to become troublesome. He's had them in the past, but never have they been so consistent. It's like everyday now his mind would drift off to another time. Some of them were pleasant enough. Others, however, he'd rather forget.

The mid-morning air helped to ease some of his tension away, the warmth of the sun bringing him some level of comfort as well. It was enough to keep him from noticing the awkward looks being shot in his direction. It's not like any of the ponies would be able to make out his features beneath his hood anyway. If not for his human appearance, he would make the perfect gray man.

Lost in his thoughts, his body moved on autopilot. While his mind idled his legs carried him to a rather familiar place. The unmistakable scent of fresh baked goods and coffee beans hit him seemingly out of nowhere. Without even thinking, he turned on his heels and walked up to the small shop, stopping just shy of the door.

Well, if it isn't Doughnut Joe the coffee hoe...

Rusty's mind came back to him as he peered through the glass. The establishment wasn't busy per se, but there was enough in there to keep the stallion behind the counter occupied. The counter was empty, which was normal from what he could remember. Most ponies avoided it after a few threats were thrown their way. It made him a bit uncomfortable to see first hand how well that stuck.

A sense of nostalgia washed over him as he recalled how often he would visit this place. It felt like only yesterday he-


Ryan held his hands over his face as he dragged his feet behind the purple mare leading him through town. The man groaned to himself as his head pounded, sending wave after wave of agonizing throbs straight to his brain. No words left his mouth as he blindly followed Twilight to wherever it was she was taking him. His head hurt too much to care at this point.

Twilight glanced back at the human rolling her eyes at his struggle. "You know, this wouldn't have happened if you would have stopped when I told you to."

"Stop...Talking...Horse woman..." Ryan grumbled as he trudged along behind her, noting that this was the first time he's done this without staring at her rear.

Oh my god, you're so annoying!

"My talking would have spared you the hangover and the waking up on somepony's roof if you'd just listened." Twilight countered, finding the human's antics less than amusing.

"Why is she still jabbering?"

Shut your fuckin' cocksucker, nerd!

Ryan dragged his hands down his face, wincing at the rays of sunlight that immediately assaulted his eyes as a result. "Fuck you, sun! You plasmatic asshole!" This earned him a few looks from the surrounding ponies, who quickly looked away as he turned to meet each individual gaze with a vengeful glare. "That's right! Eyes to your fuckin' selves."

The populace was still unfamiliar with the human man and thus didn't look to start conflict with him. The rumor that he ate ponies only seemed to drive it home. It started a result of Rarity's sister hearing him talk about how he was an omnivore and then followed that up with a rant on how he saw no problem with killing animals that weren't sentient, although he would have liked to try dragon at some point.

I imagine it would be like eating lizard, but tougher.

Ryan froze in place as an alluring scent greeted his nostrils. He sniffed a few times, trying to pinpoint the source. Twilight somehow noticed the lack of foot steps behind her and looked back to find the human standing in place, sniffing the air like a dog.

Twilight shot him a curious look before turning around to walk back to him. His behavior was nothing short of strange at any given moment, but she found this to be much more peculiar. "Is something wrong?"

"Shush!" Ryan said, holding up a hand as he looked around. "Your mouth is fucking up my chi."

"Y-your what???"

Ryan's hand moved on its own, pointing to the side, away from where they were originally walking. "This way..." His legs moved much more smoothly, guiding him toward the smell at a rushed pace. "Almost there..."

Marching down the road with Twilight in tow, his feet refusing to stop until he found what he was looking for, Ryan spotted a number of ponies leaving a small shop. The steaming cups in their hands were all it took to make him start moving at a light jog, nearly kicking down the front door as he charged in and shoved a pony off of the stool by the counter.

Ryan didn't even wait for someone to say something, "Next one to stand in my way is getting eaten!"


I'm still amazed he didn't just throw us out.

Rusty let out a defeated sigh, feeling a certain amount of resentment for himself. Part of him just wanted to turn around right now and walk away, but Joe was his friend despite his many faults. He deserved to know. The man weakly pushed the door open and walked in, slipping his hands into his shirt pocket as he found a seat in his old spot and settled in.

Joe noticed the newcomer right as he sat down, finishing cleaning a coffee mug before approaching him. "Welcome to Doughnut Joe's!" The stallion greeted him with a smile, apparently not bothered by his appearance. He really is too good for this world. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

Rusty kept his head down for the most part, not wanting to startle him right off of the bat. "Coffee, please. French vanilla creamers."

"Coming right up!" Joe turned away for a moment and grabbed a clean mug, filling it with with the dark, steaming liquid before grabbing a small bowl with the requested creamer packets. He set the bowl and the mug in front of the man, leaning against the counter as he did so, regarding the customer with curious eyes. "You new around here?"

Rusty pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed a handful of the creamers, setting them down beside the mug. "Technically no, but also yes."

Joe wanted to say something, but spotted the furless hands reaching out. A knot formed in his throat as he watched the appendages move, routinely opening the packets and pouring them into the coffee. "So...You're uh..." The stallion pressed on, trying to keep the conversation going despite the hallucination he was clearly having. "You're from here then, right? You left then..." His eyes locked onto the hooded figure's face as it looked up just enough for him to see beneath the fabric. "you...came back...Oh, sweet Celestia..."

After a brief adjustment period, consisting of mostly silence aside from the occasional sipping from Rusty slowly working on his beverage, the human assured Joe that he was very much real and still alive. Hours passed them by in minutes as man explained himself, stopping every so often so Joe could cater to other customers, which he did hurriedly so he could continue to listen to the story.

Rusty told him everything from the moment he jumped off of that cliff to the time he jumped off of a moving train, after his little revelation, to get back to Ponyville not too long ago. Joe listened intently, silent as the grave as the human spoke. There was some tension on the stallion's end when he realized that the human might not know about his offspring. Rusty cleared that up for him, taking the stress off of his shoulders.

With most everything being covered about his journey, how he'd remained hidden and how he got back, there was only one thing left on Joe's mind. "What's your plan then?" This earned him a curious look from the hooded man sitting front of him with a now empty mug. "What are you gonna do now that you're back?"

Rusty caught his lip in his teeth as he thought it over. "My original plan was to make amends. Try to right some of the wrongs I did then maybe hit road again and keep doing what I've been doing." He leaned back in his stool as he thought about how there was now so much more that needed to be done. "I don't think I can do that now though...No, now I need to make a new plan. I figure I settle myself in, do what I came here to do, then try to restart my life and do right by my daughter."

Hearing this warmed Joe's heart. He never thought Ryan was capable of feeling complex emotions, but this showed the stallion that he cared. Ryan- no, Rusty- wants to do things right and he would be damned if he didn't give him his good graces. "If that's the case, then I'm right behind you. If you need anything at all, just ask."

Rusty smiled as he gave Joe a genuine look. "You really are too good to me. I never did anything to deserve you."

Joe just shrugged, "What are friends for?"

Rusty nodded, "What are friends for..." Something in him sparked at that moment. A sort of fire, but much less vengeful. In a way, he felt empowered. Determined, if you will. "I hope you don't mind..." The human rose from his seat and stepped out from in front of the stool to move behind it. "I've been homeless for a little over a decade now and I can't offer anything for the drink."

Joe rolled his eyes and picked up the empty mug with a laugh. "Congratulations! You've robbed me of one cup of free coffee. Whatever will I do?"

Rusty laughed a bit in return, backing away from the stallion he could happily call his friend. "You'll never catch me alive!"

Joe watched his friend turn around to leave, but stopped him as he opened the door. "One more thing..." The human stopped at the door, looking back at him curiously. "Good luck, Rusty."

The fire in him grew stronger at those words and that only pushed him harder to do what needed to be done. "Thanks, Joe." Rusty exited the shop and marched back to the boutique, more determined than ever. He knew in his heart what needed to be done and he was damn-well gonna do it. Tonight, if possible. "I have to do it. And I have to do it now."

You don't mean-

"Oh, but I do!" Rusty announced aloud, not caring who heard him. "This whole time I wanted to do things right so that I could feel better. So that I could sleep soundly at night." Whatever resentment toward himself that he felt started to fade away. As the self-hatred left his body, something new took its place. "This isn't about me anymore. I'm not gonna go around trying to do things right for myself when there are more important things I need to look out for."

I'm sorry, but are you fucking mental?

"I might just be." Rusty's mind did little to deter him. It's words were nothing at this point. All he could see were flashes of the life he missed. So many moments he'd never get to experience with the one who needed him. He wanted to do this more than anything. He NEEDED to this!

For his friends...

For Azure...

We are going to die!

Rusty shrugged at this, seeming not to care. "Then so be it."

The boutique was in view now and the fire didn't get any weaker as he all but kicked the door open and looked around for his friend. "Rarity! Where are you?"

It didn't take long for him to hear the unicorn running through the store. Rarity rounded the corner and entered his view, a look of panic clear on her face. "I'm here!" She yelled, coming to a stop just inches from him. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"

"Where is she?" Rusty asked, not wanting to waste another second.

Rarity's panicked expression melted away as confusion took hold of her. "Where is who, darling?"

"You know who..."

This is all it took for the message to sink in and her panic was quick to return. "Oh. Oh, no, no, no. It's way too soon."

"Daddy!" Azure bounded around the corner and ran up to the human, quick to grab onto his waist and pull herself into his side, staring up at him with pleading eyes. "Daddy, I need to talk to you."

"Azure, please!" Rarity interjected, trying to keep her focus on the issue at hand. "Rusty, I don't think you're ready yet. It's far too early to see her."

Rusty wasn't backing down, this was going to happen whether his friend wanted it to or not. "I need to see her now."

"Daddy!" Azure chimed in once more, "I need to-"

"Azure, stop!" Rarity snapped, earning a glare from the filly, which she ignored. "You said that you wanted to take this slow, didn't you? I don't know what you did while you were out, but you're not thinking clearly right now. I believe it would be best if-"

Rusty clapped his hands together hard, the smack of his palms meeting being loud enough to make both ponies flinch. "Where. Is. Dash."

He's looking for her? He's looking for her! This is our chance!

Azure broke her hold on her father's side and eagerly raised her hand up high in excitement. "I can take you to her!"

Silence ensued as Rusty looked down at Azure, regarding her curiously. He looked back at Rarity, her eyes were begging him not to do this. Not yet. He sighed, keeping his gaze locked on the mare in front of him. "If I don't do it now, I might never do it."

Those words echoed in the unicorns head, sounding all too familiar. He said something similar the day she finally got him back. 'If I didn't do this now I don't think I ever would have.' It still felt wrong for this to happen now. He'd been so adamant about wanting to take this slow and she had already eased him into speeding things up as is. But this was different. This is Dash.

Rusty looked back to his daughter. He reached out and grabbed her raised arm, lowering it as he wrapped his fingers around her small hand. The filly felt her heart skip a beat as her father held her hand for the first time, bringing a new level of joy and happiness to her heart that she never thought possible.

Uh...Uhhh!

Rusty looked down at Azure and smiled a smile that made her heart ache. She looked up at him, mouth slightly agape as her fingers tightened around his hand in return. "Lead the way, baby girl."

I think I'm gonna be sick...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Azure's breathing picked up immensely as happy tears formed in her eyes. Before anyone could so much as blink, she charged for the door, dragging her father along with her as she led him out of the boutique and into the streets. The size difference made it a little awkward for both of them, but that didn't matter. Not to either of them.

Rarity ran toward them, stopping at the door. "Rusty! Please, wait!"

By the time she had yelled this, they were too far to hear her. Rarity could only watch in horror as the pair ran down the road. Fear and panic met in the middle and formed a pit unlike any other in her gut as they fled. With no other plan and no way to catch up, she did the next best thing.

Rarity slammed the door behind her and took off running down a different road, having forgotten that rapid movement might make her sweat. "Twilight!!!"

Chapter 9

View Online

It's now or never, Rusty thought to himself as his hooded form stood outside of the old bar with Azure by his side. He looked over the old structure, still hidden away from the public eye, yet known by enough to stay in business. So many memories here, most of them blurry and filled with all sorts of shenanigans. He pushed those memories to the side for now and took a deep breath before turning to face his daughter. It was hard enough even thinking of a way to tell her that she couldn't come with.

Azure's hand was still glued to his own, her small fingers locking him in her surprisingly strong grip. She looked back up at him, knowing that she couldn't go on with him, despite her wanting to be present for the reunion. Knowing this, she released her father's hand and let her arm fall back to her side. Even though she was upset that she wouldn't be able to witness their meeting, she was more eager to get it over with so she could have the family she always dreamed of. With that in mind, the filly smiled up at her long lost dad, angling her head to the door as if to tell him to hurry up.

Rusty smiled back at her, moving his hand to her shoulder and giving her a quick side-hug. "I'll be back soon. Hold down the fort while I'm gone, alright?"

Azure responded with more force, wrapping both of her arms around his waist. "I won't let you down, dad."

The filly's words sent a pang through his chest, and a rather uncomfortable one at that. He was reminded briefly of his own father and the resentment he held for that worthless excuse of a human being. He wouldn't make the same mistakes his dad did. Rusty took a silent oath to be better than that of Ryan Jr years ago and ended up going down the same path anyway, up until Steel came into his life.

"I know you won't." Rusty released his daughter and she did the same in kind, giving the human all he needed to walk through the front door.

This outta be interesting

Rusty closed the door behind him and scanned the area from under his hood, taking in the familiar scene. Nothing had really changed in the time he had been gone. The counter top looked new, there were a few ponies off to the side playing on a dart board he didn't remember being there. Other than that, this place was exactly how he remembered it. Very few of the ponies within paid him any mind, which made him feel a lot more at ease as he looked around. It didn't take long to spot the rainbow colored locks of the mare he was so hell-bent on finding.

There, at the very end of the counter, sat the cyan mare who had mothered the filly Rusty didn't even know he had. Rainbow sat atop of a black leather bar stool, both arms on the counter with one hand holding a bottle of hard cider while the other was being used to hold her head up. Her eyes were lidded with bags along the underside, giving him the impression that she hasn't exactly been sleeping well. This only served to hurt him more, yet make him that much more determined to put an end to all of this.


Rarity's feet moved faster than she could even bother to take note of, her legs carrying her to the large castle standing just a few dozen feet out of her reach. She breathed heavily as she sprinted for the entrance, beads of sweat beginning to form on her head and lightly trickling down the side of her face. Without breaking her pace for even a second, the mare sailed up the stairs, skipping several steps as she finally reached the entrance and all but crashed into the castle. The doors swung open hard, meeting their respective walls with a loud smack from the impact as the unicorn finally came to a stop.

Stopping just a few feet in front of the entrance, Rarity dropped her her knees and lurched forward, her hand meeting to floor to keep her from falling any further. Her breaths were deep and rapid, her body desperately trying to get its wind back. "Tw....Twi-!" She began, unable to finish her call as she struggled to take in enough air to form the word. "T-Twili-!"

I'm getting too old for this...


Rusty's feet tapped lightly against the wood floor as he closed the distance between himself and Rainbow, taking slow, cautious steps as to not draw too much attention to himself. As luck would have it, there was a seat open beside the mare who seemed oblivious to the rest of the world. He carefully made his way to the open bar stool and claimed the seat, turning on it until his body was facing the counter. Before he could so much as think of his next move, the bartender entered his vision.

The familiar looking stallion regarded Rusty with curious eyes, but didn't seem to keen on prying. "Can I get you something to drink."

Rusty looked at the bartender, his face still hidden from view by his hood. "I don't-"

Shush! Now, I'm sure you know that I don't want anything to do with this, but there is no virtually no right way to go about it. At the very least, just follow my lead and maybe we can walk out of here without a broken jaw.

As much as he would like to ignore the voice, Rusty had no idea what he should do. Every scenario he played out in his head ended horribly. If it thinks that it knows a way to avoid all of these potentially disastrous outcomes, then who was he to argue. His arm seemed to move on its own as he raised it up and pointed a thumb in Rainbow's direction. "I'll have what she's having."

The bartender nodded and keeled down, opening something under the counter. When he stood back up to his full height, he was holding a bottle of hard cider. With a flick from his finger, the cap popped off and landed on the counter. The bartender then set the now open bottle down in from of Rusty before walking to the other end to tend to the other patrons, leaving the man and the mare in peace. Then again, the mare looked like she half asleep as is. Rusty eyed the open bottle for a second before reaching out and grabbing it by the neck.

It's your rodeo from here asshole. Don't fuck it up.

Figuring he might as well go all in, Rusty reached up with his free hand and pulled down his hood before turning his attention to Rainbow, who was staring blankly at the wall on the other side of the counter. Taking a breath, he lifted the bottle up and stretched his arm out toward the mare, setting the beverage down in front of her. "Here." He said as he released the bottle and pulled his arm back. "You look like you need this."

To his relief, and slight horror, this gesture pulled Dash out of her daze. She glanced down at the drink before look over at Rusty. Her eyes rested on his furless face and she smiled. "There you are...I was wondering when you were gonna show up."


The bang that echoed through the castle could have woken an ursa major. Luckily, the only ones it seemed to disturb were a princess and a small dragon, both of which were running down the hall to investigate the noise. Before long, Twilight and Spike were on the scene, quickly spotting the collapsed unicorn barely holding herself off of the floor. There was a pause on the princess' part, but the small dragon was quick to get to her aid.

"Rarity!" Spike called out as he waddled to her side, grabbing onto her arm in an attempt to help her back up. His short stature however only allowed him to help her sit up straight, still on her knees as she rested in place, still panting. "Are you okay?"

Twilight snapped out of her moment of shock and joined Spike by her friend's side. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on?" She asked with some concern in her tone, wondering why Rarity of all ponies would just come slamming through her front door. On one hand, this could be an emergency, on the other, she could just be being dramatic again so the alicorn was unsure on where to stand on this.

Rarity looked up at Twilight, her eyes widening as she reached out and grabbed onto the mare's shoulders and pulled her close. "Twilight!" She called out breathlessly, taking a deep breath to help her speak properly. "Rusty! Dash! Help!"

Twilight stared at her friend with wide eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. "Calm down, Rarity!" She yelled out, pulling out of the unicorn's grasp. "What's going on? What happened to Rusty and Da-" She paused as the realization dawned on her. There were an uncountable amount of scenarios, but it all boiled down to one thing. Somehow, someway, Rusty and Rainbow Dash are now together. Panic quickly started to fill the mare as she focused back on Rarity. "Where are they?"

"I don't...I don't know!" Rarity managed to get out between breaths. "Azure...she's taking him...Need to-!"

That was all Twilight needed to hear to form a plan. Her horn lit up as she grabbed onto Rarity with her magic and pulled the unicorn back to her feet. "Spike, go out and assemble the girls. Rarity and I will start looking for Azure."

"I'm on it!" Spike said as raised a claw to salute Twilight before he ran out of the door to get all of Twilight's friends together for the search party.

Twilight nodded as she look on at Rarity, "I'm going to get Starlight. Wait here, I'll be right back."


Rusty raised a brow at Dash, begin genuinely confused by her reaction. "You were expecting me?'

Rainbow simply nodded, her drunken smile never wavering for even a second. "Of course I was." She said, leaning forward and pulling the human into a gentle hug. Rusty slowly returned the gesture, still perplexed by the mare's reaction, which was only made worse as she began to nuzzle his neck. "I've had this dream before. It took you a little longer than usual, but I knew you'd come wandering in sooner or later."

Releasing her grip on the human she once called her coltfriend, Rainbow leaned back in her seat to get a good look at him. "You look a little different than usual too; Older...and a bit hairier."

...She is FUCKED in the head...

As disturbing as this was, it was probably the best way for him to convey things. At least with her thinking it's a dream, for now, he would be able to say his piece without too many issues. Still, he didn't want her thinking this was all in her head either. That just felt wrong. Unsure of how to approach this issue in a delicate manner, he simply responded as he felt was the most natural way. "Well...It's been a little over ten years. Ponies age."

Dash giggled a bit at that, leaning toward him slightly and poking his nose. "But, you're not a pony." She said, still laughing quietly to herself. Her eyes locked onto his, staring at him with calm intensity. "You're still very handsome though...you're eyes are really pretty too. They almost look real." She blinked a few times, keeping her gaze on him. "I don't think it's ever been this vivid before. I feel like I'm actually in control here..."

Rusty was frozen in place as her hand slid from her nose to his face. Her fingers glided across his skin, her palm coming to a stop once it was placed to his cheek. He could see how hurt she was, despite her smile. It showed in her watery eyes. "I think about you all the time, you know. Every minute of every day." The water in her eyes began to build up until tears started running down her cheeks, her smile now starting to fail. "I never got to tell you in the other ones...I want to say it now."

"Say what?" Rusty asked, reaching up to hold her hand in his own, trying to be as comforting as possible.

Rainbow Dash paused, struggling to hold her composure. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Unable to hold herself up any longer, she collapsed into Rusty, her face pressing into his chest and her wrapping her arms around him as if she were scared he would simply fade away. "I'm so sorry!" Her sudden raise in tone drew in the attention of several patrons, many of which went wide eyed as they witnessed, not just the scene unfolding in front of them, but also as they spotted the human. A small number were confused as to who or what he was, others recognized him and they were shocked; Stunned silent and motionless.

Rusty put his arms around Dash in return, glancing around at the many eyes now watching them. He felt so out of place, so alien. That hardly mattered at the moment though as he looked back at them, silently pleading for peace while he tried to salvage what was left of the mare clinging to him. He turned his attention back to Rainbow Dash, "Why are you sorry?"

"I killed you..." Rainbow 'confessed' sniffling as she finally spoke out about something that had been bothering her for so long. "If I wasn't such a bitch...If I didn't make you feel so trapped and afraid, you never would have jumped. We would still be together. You'd still be at home with me." For a brief moment, Dash looked up at Rusty, her eyes bloodshot and soaked. "You would have seen Azure..."

Rusty wrapped an arm around her head as she returned to his chest, holding her in place as she quietly cried into him. What he felt right there was unlike anything else he had felt, even upon returning, seeing his old friends, finding Azure. All of it was a blur compared to this. As if it wasn't bad enough he left his friends thinking he was dead and his child fatherless, but this whole time Dash had been blaming herself for his suicide. This realization created a gaping hole in his stomach, his heart, his head. He couldn't even bring himself to cry about it. Everything just felt so wrong.

Jesus fucking Christ, dude...

This has to end.

"Look at me." Pulling up on her, Rusty yanked Rainbow out of his sternum and forced her to face him. Rainbow, look at me!" He stared into her eyes, witnessing the agony behind them first-hand and only hating himself more for being the cause of such pain. "What I did was not your fault."

Sure as shit didn't help though.

SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKER!!!

...

Rusty's expression was determined as he stared down the anguished pegasus. "I did it to myself. What happened was my choice and mine alone." He continued, keeping her head locked in place with both hands so she couldn't turn away or hide from his gaze. "I did it...I was so fucking stupid. I got caught up in feelings that I didn't understand. And like a fucking idiot I panicked and I did something even more stupid thinking that it would solve all my issues. I was weak, Rainbow. I did it because I was too much of a bitch to face my problems head on, and instead of solving them, I chose to run to an early grave just to avoid dealing with them how I should have."

His words pierced Rainbow's heart like a spear, it was all made worse by just how real this all felt. For the last ten years, her mind had been her worst enemy. It held onto Ryan's death like a snake coiled around a mouse, strangling her with guilt. She started to wonder; Why now is she hearing this? After all this time, why is this all coming to her now? Why is this dream so real?

Her glazed over eyes and soft expression told Rusty that she was deep in thought. He softened his hold on her face, rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs as his gaze softened. "Dash...This isn't a dream. I'm real...I'm alive and I'm right here in front of you."

Do you hear that?

Rainbow Dash slowly pulled herself out of Rusty's hold, sitting back in her chair as she tried to process all of this. It seemed real, but it couldn't be. Her mind was just tricking her again. It had to be. "I'm sorry, Ryan. But, I can't believe that." She said in a pained tone. "You've told me this before and I believed it for years. It only hurts to think that-"

"Hear me out for a second." Rusty interrupted, "I want you to look around this room. Look at all the ponies in here and tell me what they're doing."

Rainbow was reluctant to comply with his request, but did so. She noticed that all eyes were on them. Everypony in the room was dead quiet and, minus a strange commotion coming from outside, virtually nothing could be heard as they simply watched them. "They're staring at me..."

"No," Rusty began, reaching out and grabbing her hand firmly. He squeezed the appendage hard, enough for it to actually hurt. "they're staring at us."

Rainbow looked down at her hand, feeling the jolt of pain that shot through it as his grip tightened. She yanked her hand out of his, holding it to her chest as she suddenly got out of her seat and stood up. Her eyes danced between her hand and Rusty's face, occasionally wandering to the surrounding ponies that were watching in silent curiosity. The pegasus started to breathe heavily and began backing away from the crowd, feeling strangely cramped in the rather spacious room.

Rusty rose from his seat and followed Rainbow, keeping his movements slow and predictable as to not startle the poor mare. Her sights soon rested on him as she continued to back away until she hit the wall, causing her to come to a stop. Not wanting to make this any more stressful on her, the human came to a stop as well, allowing her to have her space.

"I know this is a lot to take in, Rainbow." Rusty began, keeping his voice low and his tone as delicate as possible. "I promise you, I'm real. A lot has happened and I-"

Incoming!

Rusty fell silent as he heard something akin to a crash behind him. All eyes went to the front door, or at least where it used to be, and spotted a group of colorful mares, along with a filly being suspended in the air. The mares all had a look of panic while the hovering child look defeated and disappointed.

Azure looked over at Rusty while she dangled in the air against her will. "I'm so sorry, daddy!" She called out, feeling as though she had failed him. "I tried to stop them, I swear!"

Starlight is O.P!

Rarity charged out of the group, stopping just a few feet shy of the human as she noticed the pegasus standing on the other side of him. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest as Rainbow looked back at her. Much to the unicorns surprise, Dash didn't look like she was ready to rip the world in half. In fact she look like she was about to- "Rainbow!"

Azure's eyes went wide as she stared past her father and started reaching out in a desperate attempt to grab the mare. "Mom!"

Rusty's head snapped back to the pegasus just in time to see her eyes roll into the back of her head and he knees buckle. He quickly shot forward and grabbed onto the cyan mare, stopping her before she could fall to the floor. "I've got you!" He said, mostly to assure himself that she was safe as he lifted her up in his arms. "I've got you, Rainbow. You're alright."

Chapter 10

View Online

Twilight and her friends covered the windows with thick, dark sheets, blocking the view and the several flashing lights from piercing through the thick panes of glass. Rusty's little stunt stunt at the bar had caused quite a commotion, if the crowd of photographers outside was anything to go by. Most of the ponies seemed to have been shocked at first, but it didn't take long for one of them to break out a camera and, somehow, the number of camera ponies seemed to double every few seconds. It was nothing short of a miracle that Pinkie had managed to pull the human's hood over his head before a single one could capture an image of his face. A teleportation spell got the nine of them out of there right quick, but it did little to deter the ponies and the questions they had for the human. Now, here they are, hunkered down in the castle and hiding from the paparazzi like star-sick celebrities.

Paparazzi scumbags...

Rusty stared down at Rainbow as she lay unconscious on the bed in one of the many spare rooms within the castle. Azure stood by his side, looking both concerned and scared. The human knew things weren't going to play out well, but never expected a fainting episode from Dash of all ponies. The filly by his side was simply at a loss. She had hoped that her mother would be overcome with joy. Instead, the mare collapsed like a rock.

Neither of them could think of a logical response as they eyed the sleeping pegasus on the bed in front of them. They let out a sigh, Rusty pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger while Azure covered her eyes with both hands. The two remained silent for a moment before daring to glance at each other. Azure peeked up at her father from between her fingers with Rusty looking back, still holding his nose in his fingertips.

There was a strange feeling in the pit of their chests, as if their stresses had reached out and met for just a moment. For reasons neither of them could really explain, nor understand, they started to laugh. First soft, then a bit louder. Rusty's fingers slipped and he held his head up with a palm. Azure all but collapsed, her face colliding with the bed as she giggled like the filly she was. The man was the first to calm himself. He ran his fingers through his hair, a smile still plastered across his face as he let himself fall backward. He landed hard on the floor beneath him, laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling as he contemplated his existence.

Azure soon followed his example, but landed on her rear rather than her back. Spinning herself on her bum, she looked over at her downed father, who was looking at the ceiling and grinning like a loon. Her smile didn't falter for even a second as she watched him. "Hey, dad?"

Rusty didn't move an inch, choosing to remain in place out of fear that he may be losing his mind. "Yes, baby girl?"

Azure leaned forward and let herself fall onto her father's chest. He, in turn, set and arm down on her back. She hummed with delight, nuzzling his sternum as he rubbed her from her neck to the middle of her back. "What is life?"

I like to think of it as a dream of sorts. One where we're just floating through all walks of life. Drifting through endless possibilities and infinite choices

Bullshit is what it is.

Azure's question got another short laugh out of Rusty. Aside from that, he didn't do much as he answered the best way he knew how. "You know, I've been asking myself that very same question for the better part of twenty years now and I still don't have a clue what the answer is."

With the two of them being practically alone, Azure saw this as the perfect opportunity to ask her father a question; one that had been on her mind for a very long time. She craned her neck as she continued to lay down on his chest, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. "D-dad," She began, hoping she wouldn't say anything to upset him. "if you don't mind, could you tell me how you and mom met?"

Rusty looked down at Azure, thinking back to the day Rainbow had literally charged into his life. He glanced back at the bed, spotting the, still unconscious, pegasus sleeping peacefully. He turned his attention back to his daughter, smiling at her before resting his head on the floor once again. "I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm actually not from here."

Silent as the grave, Azure's eyes grew wide as her father began his story. She listened with everything in her, making sure she would take in every little detail. "I came from another world entirely. I had a pretty rough start, but things started to pick up after I swallowed my pride and let the ponies here help me. I'd been here for just over a month-"


"Every night we throw this little soiree
Gonna turn her head until she's mine, all mine!
Every night I breed a new disast-"

The alarm was silenced as a bare hand reached out, practically smacking the small, black device. A finger swipes itself across the screen multiple times in an attempt to bring the room back to its natural, quiet state. After a brief struggle to swipe it in the correct spot, the music stopped and the body attached to the hand let out a groan.

Ryan pulled himself up from the mattress on his bedroom floor and looked over the room. It would still be a few days until the shipment of furniture that had been ordered would make it to his home, considering that the house was practically brand new now and had virtually nothing in it minus the walls. Part of him was still in shock from the events that had taken place and brought him to this point. It had been nearly a week since he moved out of Rarity's boutique and started living on his own, in a house provided to him by the princesses. The fact that they were the ones to provide him with it was what he found shocking, considering how he left the castle. He and Celestia weren't exactly on the best of terms, more so with Princess Luna.

That chick can pack a hell of a punch.

"No shit..." Ryan responded to himself, rubbing one particular spot on his jaw. He was just happy the swelling went down before he arrived at Rarity's house...in a cardboard box. He let out a sigh before getting up on his feet and wobbling out into the empty living space. He could see the layout now; a pool table in the center, a dartboard against the wall over there, a bar over there. It would to be beautiful.

The man-cave we've always dreamed of is finally within reach!

"As long as purple didn't fuck me out of the material I need." Ryan commented.

I'm inclined to believe you, but I'm being hopeful. Don't ruin this for us.

"Hope for the best..."

...prepare for the worst...

Ryan made his way across the empty space, going over to the kitchen. Luckily, it was pretty much finished minus a fridge. He walked over to the cooler and kicked the lid open. There were a few essential food items residing within the cooler, but he was focused on something much more important. The man reached into the cooler and pulled out a brown bottle. He kicked the lid shut and walked back out into the living room. Twisting the cap off of the bottle, he tossed it back and took a drink, still looking over the room as he tried to determine what else he could throw in to make this place more homey.

You know what we could add? We could put a chain w-

That thought is interrupted by a sudden crash. And a rather loud one at that. His body jolted from the sound, causing him to almost drop the bottle he was holding as he jerked to the side to avoid the falling debris. He put an arm over his head, managing to keep a few bits of drywall and part of a shattered two by four from bouncing off of his skull. The man looked over at the wreckage as the dust began to settle, his mind plagued with thoughts and questions.

WHAT-!?

"THE FUCK!?" Ryan shouted, confused and more than a little pissed that his recently rehabilitated house had nearly crushed him.

This was their plan! They put a roof over our head to gain our trust and we fell for it! We let our guard down! This was Luna's idea wasn't it!? WASN'T IT!?

Ryan let out a low growl as he looked over the carnage, wondering both how this could happen and what kind of hell he was going to go through just to get it fixed. His inspection was short-lived though as someone rose up from the debris. The cloud of dust made it impossible to make out who it was, but that didn't stop the human from vengefully whipping his beer bottle at the top of the culprit's skull.

The glass bottle bounced off of their forehead, earning a yelp and a very audible 'ow' as the bottle then fell to the floor and shattered against the wood. The figure, still mostly hidden by the cloud of crap floating around in the air, focused in on their assailant and made an offensive step forward. "You son of a-"

Ryan took exception to that, charging into the cloud with his teeth bared and his shoulders squared. He got down low enough to slam his shoulder into the intruders sternum, forcing them out of the pile of garbage on the floor and into a wall just opposite of the kitchen. Their body slammed into the structure, adding yet another hole into the house where their back met the drywall. Before he could continue his attack, the man caught sight of a toned, cyan blue leg that launched itself up into his sternum.

The hit landed, effectively knocking the air clean out of his lungs. Ryan withdrew from whoever had hit him, giving them ample time to remove their self from the wall. He got a glimpse of large blue wings flaring in front of him before being knocked back and pinned down beneath, what he could now see as, a light blue mare with a hair that just screamed gay pride. He struggled to lift his arms and swing at the pony who had taken out part of his ceiling, but found his arms being held down by the mare, locking them next to his head.

"What is your problem!?" The mare asked in a rough tone, whether it was caused from inhaling drywall particles or having a man's shoulder slammed into her gut, was unknown to him. Either way, it hardly mattered. What did matter was that he was being pinned by some pony that had literally broken their way into his house and now he was the one being questioned. "It was just a trick! Calm down!"

Skull Breaker Attack!

Ryan extended his arms to the side, causing the rainbow haired pegasus' face to drop down just low enough for him to slam the front of his head against hers. The mare became dazed, losing her grip on his arms as a result. The human wasted no time escaping, reaching up to grab the mare by the neck and shoved her to the ground. She landed hard on her side, giving the homeowner yet another opportunity.

With the pony now on the ground, Ryan quickly turned her over so she was face down and got on top of her. He snaked one of his arms around her neck and pulled up so his fist was next to his face. With his free hand, grabbed onto his wrist, ensuring that the mare wouldn't be getting away from him without a fight.

And fight she did.

The pegasus struggled against his hold, kicking and thrashing all about. Her arms would come up to grab at him, but this was a motion that stopped almost as soon as it had started when she learned the hard way that the man holding her down was a biter and had a few sharp teeth in there.

"Give up yet?" Ryan asked with a victorious grin plastered across his face, his right arm still curled around the grounded blue Pegasus' neck.

"Never..." Rainbow managed to choke out, struggling against him as best as she could in this position.

Ryan squeezed tighter, pulling on her just enough to make her back arch uncomfortably. "Maybe now you'll stop and think about doing your tricks somewhere that won't have you crashing through someone's roof!"

Using a bit more effort than she would like to admit, Rainbow managed to buck Ryan off of her and into a wall just below the hole she created in his ceiling. The cyan mare climbed back to her feet, ready to continue the assault if necessary.

Ryan took a second to recuperate.

Girl's got one hell of a kick.

"No shit..." Ryan looked back over at the now fuming mare, standing up straight as he brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, you naughty little shit. Daddy's gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

Twist his dick!

Ryan rolled his eyes and took a step forward before charging for the mare, who responded in kind, both with their fists balled and ready to knock the other out if possible.


Rusty's story was interrupted as the door opened, revealing the first actual pony friend he ever made. Rarity stood by the entrance to the bedroom with a look of worry spread across her face. "How is she doing?"

"Still asleep." Rusty replied, slowly sitting himself up so he wouldn't hurt Azure, who followed his lead and sat up as well. "Nothing else really to report."

Rarity let out a distressed sigh, entering the room to join them. The unicorn made her way over to the bed, taking a seat at the edge as she looked over her friend, who was still lying unconscious within it's comforter. She eyed the blue mare for a few seconds, feeling somewhat guilty about how everything had played out. She wished she would have tried harder to keep this from happening. To have found a way to go about everything a bit more slowly to help ease everyone into all of this.

There's nothing she could do about it now though. What's done is done.

Turning her attention to Rusty and Azure, Rarity tried to shoot them a genuinely curious look. "So what have the two of you been up to?"

Rusty could see that she was hurting and clearly trying to distract herself from the situation at hand. He figured it would be best to not call her out on this and instead play along to help ease her mind of whatever stress she was putting herself under. Knowing the current situation, the stress is more than likely his fault. "I was just telling Azure here how Rainbow and I met."

Rarity rolls her eyes as she thinks back to that day. All of that shouting and fighting; not to mention the damages that she helped to repair. "I remember that day." She says with a look of disgust, "Simply dreadful." Her eyes find their way to Azure and the unicorn can't help but smile at the filly. "Have I ever told you how your father and I met?"

"Oh god! No!" Rusty exclaims, placing his hands to his face.

So many packing peanuts...

Azure's gaze shifts back and forth between Rarity and Rusty, her eyes bulging out of her head as curiosity began to overwhelm her. "What? What happened? Tell me!" The filly is so eager she starts bouncing up and down, unable to control herself. "I wanna know!"

I'm a little lady and I need my stories!

"Relax, darling. It's nowhere near as...exciting as his meeting with your mother." Rarity explains, hoping to calm down the bouncy adolescent. It didn't work, so she got comfortable and started talking. "I got a letter from the princesses only a short time before he was scheduled to arrive in Ponyville. They asked me if I would be willing to accommodate your father until renovations were done on a house just outside of town."

Azure's bouncing stops as Rarity begins her tale, the filly leaning forward as she listens intently to Rarity's words. "I had almost everything ready on the day of his arrival. I got a knock on my door and when I opened it, I found a tall box standing in front of my doorway." The unicorn notices a look of confusion crossing Azure's face and giggles. "My reaction was fairly similar."

"I don't get it..." Azure says as she slowly processes the information given to her. "Why was there a...Wait-" The filly looks over at her father, who still has his face buried in his hands. "were you inside of the box?"

"They wanted to get me settled in without making a scene..." Rusty says in a defeated tone as he drags his hands down his face before resting them at his sides. "I was told that I needed to get to Ponyville without being seen so I wouldn't cause a panic. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a box on the back of a wagon."

I still have my chips on Luna being responsible for most, if not all, of that.

Rusty was about to air some of his 'concerns' with the ride, but stops as he notices something moving around on the bed, right behind Rarity. His eyes go wide and he stands up, being careful to not bump into Azure who was mimicking his movements. Rarity sees this display, her senses on high alert. She feels motion behind her and quickly swivels her head to look down at her friend on the bed.

The trio holds their breath as Rainbow Dash starts to stir, her eyes slowly fluttering as they open up with a bit of strain. She looks around, her tired mind barely able to register her surroundings. "What's going on?" She asks no one in particular, slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position as she tries to piece together all that she can remember. "What happened?"

Rarity is quick on the draw, turning her body to face the pegasus and reaching out to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Easy now, darling. You fainted back at the bar."

Rainbow places a hand to her head, rubbing out of habit. Normally she has a headache waking up after drinking the day away, but she feels a surprisingly non-existent amount of pain. "Fainted? Isn't that supposed to be your thing?" At that, Rarity's look of concern immediately goes deadpan and she removes her hand from the pegasus' shoulder. "Where am I?"

Azure hops up onto the bed and crawls across the surface before finding a resting spot on top of her mother's blanket covered shins. "We're at Twilight's." The filly says as she wiggles around in her spot, feeling an immense amount of excitement at the prospect of her parents seeing each other once again. She can picture it now; they will lock eyes, little hearts will appear around them before they reach out to each other and join hands, declaring their love for each other. It'll be perfect! "Daddy carried you all the way here by himself."

It doesn't take long for Rainbow to recognize the small voice coming from in front of her. She lifts her head, her vision beginning to clear as she locks eyes with her daughter. "Azure? What are you doing-" She stops, her child's words echoing in her head for a moment as a pit begins to form in her chest. Her eyes narrow at the filly as the mare lowers her hand from her head. "What do you mean 'Daddy' brought me here?"

The tension in the room is thick enough that not even a hammer could crack its stone-like surface. No one dares to say a word as Rainbow's eyes seem to move on their own, aiming their sights right at the furless biped standing not even spitting distance from the bed Rainbow was laying on.

Time seems to stop as Rusty locks eyes with Rainbow, his muscles feeling tight as he freezes in place. He can feel his heart beating through his chest as a wave of anxiety starts to wash over him as he stares at a now sober Rainbow Dash. Feeling like he should do something, he forces himself to offer her a small wave before uncomfortably slipping his hands into his pockets. "H-hey, Dash...Been a hot minute, huh?"

You're trying to get us killed, aren't you?

Rainbow's eyes go dead as she slips her legs out from under Azure and hops out of the bed, taking a few cautious steps back as she tries to figure out her feelings. More-so, trying to understand what is happening. "This...this isn't real." She concludes, this being the only logical deduction she can make. "This is a dream. It has to be."

Didn't she say that last time?

Rusty sighs as he takes his hands out of his pockets and goes to move toward her. "Dash, this isn't a-"

"No!" Rainbow Dash shouts, anger clear in her voice. "You don't talk to me!" Her mind is a whirlwind of mixed emotions and the last thing she wants to do is stand here and listen to him. "This isn't real! You're not real!"

"I heard about what happened..." Rainbow mutters almost venomously, her now being the one to close the distance between herself and Rusty. "Every day for six years I went out to there. I paid to have a fucking tombstone put in at that cliff! I went there every day! I mourned you! I'm still mourning you!" Not a single soul in this room dared to move so much as an inch. Rainbow has the floor and there's not one living creature out there that would chance stepping on the mare's toes as she takes an aggressive stance just inches away from the human, jamming her index finger hard into his chest. "You don't get to just show up and tell me that you're still alive! I refuse to believe you're real..." Whether or not she's trying to be logical or is simply lying to herself is unknown to the mare. In all honesty, she doesn't know what to think. All she knows for sure is that this entire scenario is making her furious.

Panting, Rainbow lowers her hand and steps back from Rusty. "Azure, we're going home." She says, her eyes never leaving the human's startled form. Azure went to say something in protest, but she wasn't having it. "Now, Azure!"

Rarity sees this as a time to intervene, rising from her seat. "Dash, darling; if you would just-"

"Plant it, sister!" Rainbow snaps in response, seeing her friend now as part of the issue for trying to defend this thing claiming to be Ryan. She quickly turns her attention to her daughter, "Azure, get over here now!"

Stricken with fear by the pegasus' raised tone and that 'I'll break you' look in her eye, Rarity could think of nothing but to comply with her friend's demand. "Yes, ma'am!"

Azure glances over at her father, who can only nod in response. Swallowing a lump in her throat, the filly climbs down from the bed and makes her way over to who mother, who responds by grabbing the smaller pony's arm and marching to the door. Seeing this breaks the human's heart for some reason. It almost reminds him of what happened between his own parents. He has to do something, he doesn't want his daughter's life to be as dysfunctional as his was.

Finally finding the strength to do something, Rusty quickly goes after the two and manages to get up right beside his old marefriend. "I know you're upset, but can we please find the time to talk about-" The human's vision suddenly blurs and the world spins, a certain momentum throwing his head to the side and causing him to hit the floor. There's a distinct pain in his jaw as he rolls onto his side. "Ow..."

What the crap just happened!?

"Daddy!" Azure calls out, gaining the attention of several surrounding ponies who were once occupied trying to lock down the castle. The filly tried to run to her father's aid, but the grip on her arm is too strong to break. All she can do is wave her free arm toward him as she grunts from the struggle.

Rainbow gives pause, shaking one of her hands as the knuckles now appear to have a red tinge to them. She gives the man one last death-glare as she speaks. "Don't. Ever. Come near me or my daughter."

All eyes lock onto Rainbow as she marches for the front door, all but dragging Azure behind her. She opens the door and is immediately met with a parade of ponies standing outside. Flashes of lights from cameras hit her from every direction and a barrage of questions are quick to follow. The mare can only growl in response as she pulls her daughter into her chest, wrapping her arms around the filly and making a powerful leap into the air. Her wings flare as she reaches her peak jumping height before flapping hard and flying off into the distance. The ponies in the crowd turn their attention to the now open door and is about to charge into the castle. Luckily, a purple aura wraps around the door and slams it shut, locking out the nosy ponies on the other side.

Rusty slowly reacquaints himself with the world around him, moving a hand up to rub the sore spot near his mouth. There's a wetness on his chin that he can't help but notice. Pulling hand back, he can see a trail of blood cascading down his fingers. He blinks a few times, silently staring at the small trail of red moving down his digits before feeling several pairs of hands on his arms pulling him up. The man manages to get a feel for his legs once he's upright and stand up on his own. He can hear several muffled voices, but can't make out what they are saying as his mind starts to wander.

Of all the voices reaching out for his ear, only one of them is coming through clearly. He can hear Rainbow Dash. Even knowing she is gone, it's as if she is standing on both sides of his person and speaking into his ears with nothing but venom behind every syllable. "Don't. Ever. Come near me or my daughter." These words repeat in his head like a broken record, looping in his mind over and over again. "Don't. Ever. Come near me or my daughter."

For the first time in over a decade, Rusty felt something he hoped never to feel again. It was something that terrified him more than anything. He knows this feeling too well and it’s unpredictable nature is what makes it so horrifying to him. He was furious, pissed off like never before. The last time he felt a hatred this strong, it was directed at himself and he was willing to burn to death out of spite alone because of it.

Chapter 11

View Online

"This is not rage;
this is my sadness on fire."

~FK Brown


Although the sun is beginning to sink over the horizon, there's a crowd outside that is still holding strong. They demand answers as to the alien, that once was dead, suddenly returning from the grave. Theories and rumors are already running rampant in Ponyville, painfully shattering Rusty's initial plan of slowly reintroducing himself into society. That, however, is the very last thing on his mind. As the man sits back on the very bed Rainbow had been resting in only a few hours ago, the crowd outside continues to call out for him by the forsaken name of a man he thought he had killed. Meanwhile, he himself is lost in thought; his mind trapping him in an almost hypnotic state as he struggles to keep himself in line, to not resurrect the monster he spent so long burying deep within.

What are you waiting for!? Find that cyan bitch and teach her a fucking lesson, you pussy!

This has been going on since Dash's outburst. Normally he would take the time to think it over. He would understand her skepticism and possibly even why she had struck him. If he were thinking clearly that is. Even now, he struggles to form coherent thoughts, trying to rationalize his next course of action and find a civil approach to this situation. Alas, it's not so simple. At the very least, he can find some comfort in the fact that his 'inner' self was at least hoping to defend his actions in an attempt to make things right for his daughter.

I don't give two fucks about the kid! We have our pride god dammit! Find that overgrown horsefly and rip her fucking wings off!

Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking...

Rusty sits in silence, alone and trembling. All that pent up anger, that seething rage he has kept buried was resurfacing at break-neck speeds. Part of him wanted to listen, to seek out Rainbow Dash and tear her apart, and that's what scares him the most. So long has he gone without feeling this way that he doesn't even know how to counteract it anymore. He feels so sick for being angry, yet so determined and even a bit powerful. In a way, it's like a drug. He can feel how it fuels him and even though he just wants it to end, he can barely fight off the desire to feed it, if only to quell the beast. The weight of his anger seems alien, yet so familiar. He breathes slowly, his breaths as unsteady as his trembling form. "I won't..I can't..."

The human remains here for several minutes before change finally breaks this hellish cycle he's found himself stuck in. Three familiar ponies enter the room Rusty has kept himself in; The mare he once called family, the one he entrusted his livelihood to and then the poor pegasus he once lusted after for so many years. It doesn't take long for the mares to notice his distress. If the shaking wasn't enough, the dead-eye stare he is giving to the floor would have sufficed. Both Applejack and Fluttershy are at a loss, having not gotten to know this 'new' Ryan, or Rusty as he calls himself, enough to understand his plight or how he is handling it. Rarity, on the other hand, is seeing so many red flags that she almost wants to turn around and lock the door behind her.

The bright, white unicorn steps forward while the other two stand in place beside the entrance. Her movement is slow, each step as cautious as the last, as even she doesn't know how he will react in this moment. While she is concerned for his well-being, this is the first time she's seen him in this sort of state. Even before his personal transformation, this is something she has never witnessed from him. As much as she would like to charge in and comfort him, as any mare would for a stallion they care about, she does not dare to close the distance more than a few feet.

"Rusty, darling..." Rarity begins, keeping her voice low in hopes to avoid agitating or startling him. "I uh...I know better than to ask if you're alright in times like this, but I do truly wish to know what you're feeling." If there's one difference between the human's former self, and the new, it's the communication. Rusty has proven himself more open to sharing things about his personal being. There are still things left unsaid, but it's been a major improvement since before the incident. However, this is something new and almost scary. "Please..."

There's a few seconds pause before Rusty cranes his neck, looking up at the mare in front of him. His thousand-mile stare seems to go right through her, but his attention is entirely on the unicorn. "I'm scared..." The human all but whispers in her direction. His words carry more merit than his tone would suggest. Staring back into the man's eyes, Rarity can see an immense amount of fear in them, but not far behind is something else that makes her skin crawl with fear. "I don't...I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted to try...I wanted to right my wrongs, but I..."

Rusty's eyes water, but not from sadness. The stress from his internal battle is getting to him, the fear that he will do something bad is overwhelming and he is afraid of what will happen should he lose himself to his anger. "I don't want to do anything bad. I don't want to hurt her, but..." His eyes quickly begin to leak, a few stray tears falling down as his hands tighten into fists, his knuckles cracking under the pressure. The human lowers his head to his fists, locking it between them as his rage slowly comes to a boil. The sensation of his heart beating rapidly in his chest is almost nostalgic, in a twisted kind of way. "I don't...I'm gon- I...I WANNA RIP HER FUCKING WINGS OFF!!!"

All three mares take a few steps back at his outburst, a small squeak coming from Fluttershy as she attempts to hide herself behind her hair and hugs her own form with her wings. Meanwhile, Applejack takes a defensive stance in front of the more passive member of the group, ready to hold off Rusty with everything she has, should he start to rampage. Rarity though, steadies herself. Despite her fear, she moves to the bed until she is practically standing over him. Her resolve isn't the strongest at the moment, but at the very least she hopes to brave the storm until only the rain clouds remain.

"I don't want to go back." Rusty sobs angrily, "I don't want to be that person anymore, but it's so hard..."

In this moment of weakness as Rusty forces himself to look up at Rarity, unintentionally disregarding the unicorn's clear discomfort, he reaches out and grabs onto her arm. His grip is tight, but not demanding. His demeanor, though clearly filled with anger, is one that's pleading. "Don't let me hurt her." The human chokes out, quite literally begging the mare in front of him to keep him in check. "Please, for the love of god; Help me."

Those last two words catch the attention of the entire room. Everypony's tense postures suddenly fall slack from shock alone. Rarity, being the closest, is the first to show her reaction first-hand. With her eyes wide she lowers herself to his level, placing a hand on the trembling man's bruised jaw as she looks him in the eye. "You have no idea...how long I have waited to hear those words come from your mouth." Without further exchange, the mare all but pounces on him, wrapping her arms around Rusty, who quickly returns the gesture, albeit with a much stronger grip. She ignores the almost crushing pressure from his embrace and the painful digging of his fingertips into her back as they hold each other, willing to accept it as the price to pay for hearing the once stubborn man finally confess to needing the help of another. "Whatever you need, darling; I am here for you. I will always be here for you."

The two hold each other in relative silence, the only audible sound being Rusty's unsteady breathing and sharp inhales. Fluttershy is the next to step up and offer her aid, moving toward the bed to share in this not-quite-tender moment. Having had little interaction with him overall, the moment is not quite as personal with her, but her kind nature pushes her forward. "I-I know I'm not as strong as everypony else, but I would be glad to help you in any way I can." She says in her trademark hushed tone. "I can tell that you're trying so hard to be better and it only feels right to help you through this."

Applejack is in a fairly similar state to Rarity, having only heard those words uttered by him during moments of stupid shenanigans where he ended up getting stuck somewhere and screaming 'halp' over and over again until he either clawed his way out or someone resolved it for him. Hearing him say the words 'help me' though, so genuinely, and from a place of true dread was unheard of. She doesn't dare to utter a word, lest this lesson goes unlearned. Rather, she closes the door to the room they are in and locks it, this being her own little way of showing that she would be there to assist him as well; To help him as any family would.


The once quiet cloud home booms to life as the front door is, quite literally, kicked open. The sheer force makes the sound on par with the crack of thunder in the distance, warning of an oncoming storm. Cyan hooves march into the home, each step filled with fury and purpose. Locked under an arm of the irate mare, jammed in her pit like a football, Azure struggles to break free of her mother's powerful hold. Kicking and flailing about, the filly struggles for everything she's worth. The events preceding their return stunned the young pegasus, but did not keep her still.

Panic, anger, worry; Azure feels all of this and more as she is carried into the cloud home before being tossed unceremoniously onto the couch her mother would frequently claim as a resting place. The stench of Rainbow's sweat, tears and even a bit of vomit is what marks it as hers. That alone has kept the filly at bay from this particular piece of furniture for as long as she can remember. After regaining herself and sitting upright, she focuses her attention on Rainbow, who seems at a loss. The grown mare is pacing back and forth, her hands gripping her skull. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that her emotions are currently as unstable as they can be. As much as she wants to speak out against her mother's actions, the words don't seem to come out.

Shush! Hush! Hush your pretty little face, before she rips it off of you.

Rainbow feels trapped, in a sense. Nothing seems right anymore, not that it ever did to begin with. Her heart is pounding, each breath she takes feels shallow and every exhale is like the air is being forced out of her lungs. The pegasus continues to pace, unable to keep still; As if once she stops moving the time itself will cease to be. A spike hits, her body feels hot. Her fingers release their death-grip on her head and reach out for the nearest thing. She finds her hands on the dining room table and, in a swift fit of rage, overturns it with a single push. She curses aloud as she does this, causing Azure to pull into herself. Once the explosive episode subsides, Rainbow finally slows and comes to an overdue stop. Leaning, her back meets the fridge. Her legs lose their strength, causing the pony's form to slide down until her flank meets the floor. Time almost does seem to slow from her perspective. As the pegasus stares straight forward, the only thing in her line of sight being the toppled table, her breathing steadies. Despite this, the cyan mare still can't seem to make sense of the world anymore.

Lost in thought, Dash's mind wanders back to the time that has been haunting her for so many years. She could picture Applejack's face clear as day, almost as if it had happened just yesterday. The rough and tough farm pony looked so wrong. Her eyes were dead, the area around them matted and wet. Her posture was nothing like it should have been, all hunched over and disgusting. The way she spoke was even more out of character, the clear sadness and pain her voice was almost disturbing. Then the words that came out; It suddenly made sense. The pegasus blinks herself back to reality, feeling a wetness on her face as she familiarizes herself with her surroundings. Glancing every which way, her gaze soon rests on her daughter, who is now standing less than a foot away from her.

"Mom," Azure says quietly, still trying to figure things out on her own end. "are you alright?"

Rainbow's head falls back, meeting the large appliance behind her with a soft thud. She thinks hard on how to answer this as she stares up at the ceiling, but nothing she can come up with feels right. Nothing in general feels right. It's almost as if the universe itself has turned inside out and spat in her face. "I don't know, kiddo." She replies in an equally hushed tone. For once, it's not that she doesn't want to tell Azure, she honestly just can't seem to find the words. "This...all of this; It doesn't even seem real anymore. I can't make heads or tails of it." Taking in a breath, the mare lets out a drawn out sigh before continuing. "I don't know whether to be angry, or sad, or what. It...I just don't know."

No...Noooo....No!

Azure finds herself conflicted as well. She's upset at her mom and for more than just her outburst back at the castle. All of this isolation and self-pity has done nothing but tear her apart. Furthermore, the filly can hardly even recognize the mare in front of her as her own mother. Rainbow's friends were the ones that practically raised her. As much as she wants to unload all of this, pour everything out on the table in hopes that maybe her mother will finally see the damage she has been causing-Not just to herself, but to everypony- she can't. She's feeling so much right now and fear seems to be the most prominent. The filly does not fear her mother, but rather what will happen next.

How did things spiral so far out of control? This isn't how it was supposed to happen. They were supposed to see each other and everything would be better. Azure had played it out in her head so many times. Her long, lost father would walk up to her broken mother and make it all right again. They were supposed to be happy, happy to see each other, to be together again. They were supposed to be a family. That daydream seems so far out of reach now, when just moments ago it was so close to being a reality. The weight of her sadness is only rivaled by the anger she feels for herself for having failed to fix her family. Maybe this is how things were meant to be, maybe she just wasn't meant to be happy.

Honey, please don't think like that. I know everything seems really screwed up right now, but there's still a chance. I'm sure of it!

Azure let's out a melancholic breath as her ears fall flat against her head. She can't even bring herself to cry about this. She almost feels indifferent to the pain; as if all of the hurt in her life is nothing more than some faceless pony she passed on the street. Everything just feels cold and empty. Her head begins to move on its own, swiveling on her neck before resting in the direction of her bedroom. She knows what this means, it's not the first time her mind has tried to direct her. "I think I need to be alone for a bit." The filly says in a flat tone, feeling her legs carry her to her destination. "I-I'll be in my room."

"That's probably for the best..." Dash replies, feeling as though the words were marching out of her mouth rather than her consciously speaking them. The mare remains in her spot on the floor in silence, hearing only her daughter's hoofsteps across the cloud floor before the sound of her door opening and closing allows her to be in complete noiselessness. Her own breathing is even deafened to her. "How?" She whispers to herself, "How is this...Why? How!?"

Rainbow Dash repeats these incomprehensible questions over and over to herself until they've lost their meaning. While she almost feels content to just sit there and stew in her confusion, the pegasus finds the strength to get back on her hooves and even idly drag herself to her own room. Once inside, she closes the door behind her. Out of habit, the mare makes a B-line toward her dresser and opens the top drawer. Inside is the very same, small book that she often finds herself holding at night. After everything that's happened today, it almost feels strange to look down at it with feelings of regret and grief. Keeping true to her routine, she picks up the book and closes the drawer before walking over to her bed.

Sitting down on the edge, Rainbow scans the blank cover and runs her fingers over the smooth surface. For a long time, this book brought her a sliver of comfort, regaling her with fond memories of a time long since past. In a way, it became her best friend. Now though, it just looks like a hunk of plastic with pages. Her fingers soon find their way to the edge of the album and open it. She's greeted with a small number of photos upon opening it, her eyes instinctively going to the first of the batch in the upper left corner. She sees herself, one arm out to hold the camera, the other next to her face. She has two fingers raised in the photo and her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Next to her is Ryan, who is only holding up one finger and is aiming it at her, not the camera. Despite having seen this photo- as well as the others- more times than she could even try to count, it still brings a smile to her face. That smile quickly fades as her brain flashes, replaying bits and pieces of what happened today right in front of her face.

There she was, alone at the bar. The next thing she knew, Ryan was there and he was sitting next to her. Then he told her that he was real, as he had done many times in the past. The flashes stop for a moment, then pick back up to shortly after she had awoken in the castle. She remembered seeing him again. Ryan was here, along with Rarity and Azure. She briefly wonders how long this has been going on. How has he been here? How long has Azure known about him? How did she even meet him? So many questions and so little answers. Her mind flashes again; She saw Ryan coming toward her, trying to talk to her. Then she saw herself hit him before yelling and storming out of the door. The flashes stop and she feels nothing but contempt and rage.

Rainbows eyes clench shut, her body moving on its own as she throws the book from her hand. She screams as loud as she can, the book hitting her dresser with a loud bang and a wallop as the pages collide against themselves. The pegasus soon finds her body curling against itself, her arms reaching out to wrap against her legs, pulling them into her chest. Angry tears stream down the side of her face as the memories continue to replay over and over. It doesn't seem right to her. Nothing about it does. The fact that he is here, that he's alive and his friends all knew about it. Him seeking her out and her lashing out in response hardly seems real. And yet, for some reason, she is ashamed of herself. Despite everything, from him being a complete ass to everyone his whole life all the way to faking his own death, she still feels guilty.

"Why?" Rainbow chokes out, holding herself close as her body trembles from the mass confusion of mixed emotions tormenting her already frail mind. "Why can't I hate you?"

Chapter 12 (Daddy's Home)

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Who the fuck even are you anymore!? What excuse is there for any of that shit!? Are you that soft now, or are you just that fucking stupid!? How are you just going to put up with that!? You- who has lied, cheated, stolen- and even come back from the fucking dead twice! You can do all of that, but you can't be a fucking man for one minute and fight back against that fucking horsefly!? You're that fucking scared of her. When did you turn into such a pansy ass? Why are you putting up with all of this bullshit!?

Nothing feels right anymore. Nearly two hours of comforting and reassurance did nothing to calm the wayward human even a little. In fact, it almost seemed to make him worse. At some point the girls thought it would be best to give him some space in hopes that it might give him time to process it all. However, their departure was only as helpful as their presence. Locked away in the room, literally, he sits as everything plays out over and over in his head. Rusty's mind has always been his worst enemy, but this is so much worse than just the screaming. His body is shaking, his eyes filled with tears and his teeth clenched as his heart pounds in his chest. He feels wrong, as if there is a toxic venom surging through his veins. It's leaving him breathless, he cannot help but to pant for air. Each intake feels as though he's sucking in smoke, burning his insides and slowly choking him out while sweat beads out from his skin. The room feels hot, like everything around him is burning.

I get it, you don't want to be an asshole anymore, but even you have to admit it! There is a fine line between being a complete prick and standing up for yourself! In our world, we didn't take shit from anyone! Ever since we got sucked here you've let these fucking women break you down, hit you and now you're letting that flaming, faggot-haired cunt just walk away like that!? After all the bullshit she has put us through!? And with the daughter you were so fucking ready to let in and baby like some fucking helicopter mom, no less!

Rusty's hands jump to his head, gripping his skull like a vice. He bites his lip as he silently sobs to himself, blood pouring from the open wound that's forming in his face from his teeth slowly digging into his own flesh. The internal conflict is pushing him to his very limit. He knows better than to let himself be claimed by this emotion, but the strength of it right now is nearly unbearable, almost more than he can handle. Many years of bottling and learning to bury this hatred seems to be working against him as he feels as though all he's repressed is going batshit crazy; Pounding on old drywall, easily punching holes into the structure that makes up this shell that's served as a solid container over his years of traveling. The more he thinks about it, the worse it gets. Something about all of this is undoing years and years of conditioning and change he's brought upon himself with the help of his new family. Even thinking of them makes him feel pathetic, like he should be doing more. He wants to break free from this, to stand up and see Dash, to try and talk things out properly. However, he doesn't dare move a muscle out of fear it may just open up the door to something horrible.

You've turned into a pathetic, fucking pussy that can't even stand his own ground! Look at you; Sitting on your ass like some kind of cripple with no fucking mobility in his legs! You didn't do anything! You just laid there when she hit you and let her leave! Then what? You locked yourself in this room and started crying like a bitch! Even our own father would have at least thrown a fucking table! You're no better than him, you useless sack of shit!

"Shut up!"

And thus, the final line has been crossed. At the mention of being like his father, worse in fact, Rusty finally snaps. Launching to his feet, the man throws himself into the wall, his fists meeting with the crystal over and over again. If not for his blind rage, he would be impressed at the fact that he was actually chipping away at the solid structure as he swings at it with no signs of stopping. He would also take notice of the sound of bones cracking, the feeling of sharp pain shooting through his knuckles and rocketing into his forearms, the blood splatters on the wall as the sharp structure tears into his skin each time his balled up fists connect. This continues for a short time before he finally pulls himself back, panting from the exertion. However, the rage has still yet to subside and his energy is still dangerously high. He finds himself searching the room for something, anything to take it out on.

Rusty's eyes settle on a hanging mirror and that anger is born anew as he gawks at a man who is broken, a man who did nothing as his daughter was taken from him, a man who looks all too similar to the very one that abandoned him so long ago. For just the briefest moment, his reflection shifts. He can see that man now staring back at him; Not much older than himself, wearing his clothes and just silently staring back with a mirrored look of hatred and disgust. The human's breathing quickens and he charges the mirror, wasting no time putting his already wounded fist through the glass. It shatters on impact, the pieces scattering and falling onto the floor. Dropping to his knees, his assault continues on the shards beneath him.

"Where were you, huh!? Where the fuck were you!?" Rusty screams at the tiny reflections staring back at him, his anger forcing him to beat his fists against the broken bits laid out haphazardly in front of him. "I needed you and you weren't there! Why!? You let her walk away with me and just fucking left! You didn't even try!" Years of repressed feelings and hatred toward a figure that was never there began to surface like dead bodies in a lake. A hurricane of emotions that were once sucked down to the depths of his mind being spat back out into his face as he pounds his fists into the floor. "Fuck you! Fuck you! You fucking coward! Coward! COWARD!!!"

Rusty comes to a dead stop, his heart thumping loudly in his chest as his fist hovers beside his own head. Unlike the mirror, with its shards all broken and scattered about, the pieces were beginning to fall into place and suddenly the world made sense again. It hurts to think about, but now he could understand; The anger at what happened, the reason he couldn't let it go or move past it. History was repeating itself in its own fucked up way. His hands lose the will to stay balled and his arms drop, his head tilting back as he looks up at the ceiling as if staring up at a God who was clearly mocking him.

"No more..."

I beg your pardon?

"I said; no more, god dammit!" Rusty, filled with newfound determination, pushes himself back onto his feet. The adrenaline is still pumping, but fury is the very last thing he is feeling. He is angry, but this is different; This isn't violent, this isn't unbridled rage seeking a target to dominate. This is a special kind of anger; one that he finds hard to describe. "I'm not as bad as I once was, that much I'm proud of. But, I'm no fucking coward. I came here to right the wrongs I made and I'll be damned if I don't do exactly that."

His vision lowers as his sights focus back onto the carnage on the floor. Still, in those reflective shards, he can see that face. It's a face he saw very few times in his life and it's one he's grown to despise. "I'm better than you ever were. I know that for a fact and I'm gonna prove it." Rusty turns his attention to a nearby window. He's been around this town more times than he can bother to count and he memorized an escape route for every building he ever entered, as some of his previous escapades can speak toward. If only Twilight knew just how familiar he was with the castle's exterior. Casually, his feet begin to move toward the window, carrying him with pride. "I refuse to make the same mistakes you did, you son of a bitch."

It's about time you grew a pair. You ready to raise a little hell, huh? Maybe burn down half the town while we're at it? These fucks have it coming.

"Not gonna happen." Rusty says with a nod as his blood-coated hands find their way to the very edges of the window.

The fuck do you mean by that?

There's an audible click as he finds the latch and gives it a tug. The window slowly swings outward as he gives it a push, opening the room up a bit to the world outside of the castle. He takes a breath as a gust of wind blows in, feeling his nerves finally beginning to settle. "Ryan senior; Alcoholic who walked out on his own son. Ryan junior; Alcoholic that got told to fuck off by a psycho bitch and did so without even blinking. Ryan the third; Alcoholic womanizer that abandoned his friends and loved ones because he was a selfish asshole."

Stop fucking monologuing and get to the point!

"I was a lot of things! A lot of bad things, but I'm not like that anymore! I am not going to be that person ever again!" Reaching out, Rusty grips the now open window pane. His knuckles crack slightly, causing him to wince as the adrenaline masking his pain seems to be wearing off. Still refusing to back down, he tightens his grip and pulls himself onto the ledge, looking down at the bizarre, tall structure beneath him that led to the earth below. "I'm not a monster; Not anymore. I'm Rusty...and I'm gonna do this my way."

On that note, Rusty grabs his hood and throws it up over his head before beginning his descent.

Meanwhile, a very uncomfortable looking Fluttershy is holding her position on the other side of the locked door. Having been instructed to simply stay there and make sure Rusty does not leave until he has calmed down, there she stands. With all of the commotion and screaming, she was starting to get worried. That worry was amplified when she heard, what sounded like, glass breaking. While her kind nature dictates that she go in there and make sure he is okay, her natural timid state keeps her from doing so. She has since rationalized her fears by reminding herself that she was supposed to make sure he does not leave the room and opening the door would likely compromise that mission and upset her friends as a result.

That thought does help to ease her nerves. Not by much, but it's better than nothing. The yellow pegasus is still shaking ever so slightly from the noises she heard just moments ago. Rusty hasn't been back long and she hadn't really gotten the chance to get to know this new version of him, but she could feel how genuine he was back in their meeting room when they had him encased in that magical barrier. This outburst seems so much like the old Ryan, not the Rusty they were speaking to earlier. On one hand, she is worried that he could be regressing rapidly for some reason. On the other, it does help reaffirm that this creature is indeed the same human they once called Ryan and not some kind of imposter.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Fluttershy notices how quiet it's suddenly gotten. Even after they left and he was just on the bed trembling, she could hear his heavy breathing throughout her time keeping watch. Cautiously, she moves in and presses an ear to the door. She can hear something, but it doesn't sound like him. It sounds like wind; a soft and gentle breeze coming through from somewhere, causing only a minor disturbance to the objects within the room. She pulls back and debates opening the door to see if he is alright, but fear still grips her heart and she cannot find the strength to go through with it.

Fluttershy faces the door and closes her eyes, clenching them shut as if trying to keep something from escaping from them. "Come on, Fluttershy!" She says in a voice just above a whisper, hoping to give herself the motivation she needs to move forward. "You've got this! You're a big pony, you're strong and you're brave!"

Opening her eyes, the mare takes a step forward and reaches out for the door handle. "Ryan never did anything to hurt you. He is a good...man. He's a good man and he would never hurt you." She says to no one in particular, trying to convince herself that doing this would be fine. That no bad would come from it. "Especially now. He's changed! He said so himself. So...just do it!" Gripping the handle, the pegasus steels her resolve and twists before pushing the door open. A sharp intake of air, the gentle wind hitting her face, the door swinging open to reveal a room lacking any life.

Fluttershy's eyes go dead as she stares at the room, noticing a disturbing lack of human. Her heart sinks to the bottom of her stomach as she becomes reacquainted with failure. She had one job; make sure Rusty does not leave the room. That's all she had to do! And yet, here she stands, staring into the vacant bedroom and not a single hair of him to be found. Her panic is only fueled as her eyes settle on the open window, her instincts driving her to flare her wings and fly over to it as fast as she can. Reaching the impromptu exit, the mare looks down at the ground from the open window, spotting a number of ponies going about their daily commute below. And still, no Rusty to be seen.

With her heart weighing heavy and tears threatening to escape from her eyes, Fluttershy quickly turns tail and flies out of the room. She zips unnaturally quick through the halls as she calls out for aid, for her friends. She had failed once already and she would not allow that failure to multiply by delaying. With nothing but dread filling her chest, she finally finds the ponies she was looking for and breaks down.


How the hell do you steer this thing!?

"Shit!"

Rusty falls to his side, crashing into the edge of the basket- which he can only assume is wicker. His body curls over the ledge, leaving him face to face with a very long fall back to the earth. His insides tighten as he forces himself back up, grabbing onto a rope that hangs down into the center of his chariot from hell. Having forgotten what that particular rope was attached to, the force of his pull ignites a flame above him and his ride suddenly starts going up even further into the sky. He glances up, then down at his hand. His eyes widen as he releases the rope. This being his first ever time being in a hot air balloon, he's at a complete loss and is completely out of control as the wind carries him every which way. And, from the looks of it, there's no way of actually being able to manually control the thing.

What kind of fucking psycho designed this thing!?

"I don't know!" Rusty replies in a panic as the oddly conflicting winds send the balloon one way and the basket another. This is something that he does take note of whilst falling and doing a half somersault into the one of the wicker walls. Letting out a groan, he reaches for the edge and grabs hold, pulling himself back to his feet. "Why is the wind going different directions at the time!?"

How the hell should I-

...I have an idea! Cooperate and you MIGHT just survive!

Against his better judgement, Rusty submits and grabs onto the rope that had nearly given him a panic attack not even two minutes ago. With a tug, the flame above him ignites and he is going up once more. The crazy winds seem to be a lot more stable as he goes up a few more feet, only pushing him in one direction. His hand releases the rope and he takes this moment to actually observe and take in his surroundings. Judging from the position of Ponyville, he was blown around in circles for a bit, but he wasn't too far off course, that much he can tell when his sights finally lock onto the floating cloud-house about a mile from his current position.

Bitch-Face McFuckstick is due one mile South of us. Unfortunately for you, we're being blown to the East. Hope you got Mother Nature on speed dial, cause I sure shit-...Well fuck me running.

Somehow, someway, something miraculous happened. A power gust of wind suddenly swoops by, pushing the balloon toward the cloud house. Rusty, who was previously kicking himself for not having a way to get to his destination, is now in shock at the event. This was on a level beyond strange and it is far too convenient to simply be a coincidence. Even so, he's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. As the balloon hovers toward the humble homestead of his former lover, he notices...that they're going down.

Oh shit! Oh fuck! MAYDAY!!!

Panicking once again, Rusty stretches his arms out and holds on tight to the basket, bracing for impact as his ride is about to fall right...or land right on top of the cloud with no issues what-so-ever. The sudden impact is enough to make him drop to his knees, but not much more. He takes a few seconds to get his bearings back and attempts to process what is going on. Cautiously, he gets back onto his own two feet and peeks over the edge of the basket. Sure as the sun sets in the west, Rainbow Dash's house is right there and the basket he is currently two steps from cowering in is sitting on the edge of the cloud that very house is built on.

I don't understand...the logic...I just...I hate place so much...

With a deep breath, Rusty forces his nerves to settle as he stands up straight and looks over at the house. His initial plan was to try and hover nearby while trying to convince Dash to hear him out. Obviously, that didn't work out. Rather, fate seemed intent on getting him killed, but his luck begged to differ. Looking over the edge, he sees that the basket is indeed just resting on the very edge of the cloud, aligned so that the door was straight ahead. The walk wouldn't be more than ten or fifteen steps and he, who knows better than to walk out onto clouds, would be close enough to knock.

That honestly couldn't have been more perfect even if you actually knew what you were doing.

That particular thought is overshadowed as Rusty comes to a rather unpleasant realization. He is a good ten to fifteen steps away from the door to Rainbow's house. Rainbow's cloud house. A house that is made out of clouds. Clouds that he is incapable of walking across. He blinks as he stands there in silence, fresh out of ideas. Part of him is starting to feel really stupid for not thinking ahead on this little adventure of his, especially since he overlooked this very crucial detail even knowing that he couldn't walk on clouds the way a pegasus could.

You know, thinking back, maybe we should have just gone to Twilight. Not only could she have just zapped us here, but I think I remember her saying something a while back about having a spell for this exact situation...Actually, she gave us that potion one time when we went to visit Rainbow's parents! Remember that? Next time, we should just ask her to enchant our shoes or some shit.

While Rusty was mostly annoyed by the inner monologue and the reminiscing on things that he, once again, overlooked, it did give him an idea. It's not really a good one, but it's better than standing here with his thumb up his ass. Turning his attention downward. the human lifts a leg and grabs onto his foot. Using his free hand, he pulls his shoe off before placing his leg back down and turning his attention back to the house. Going off of what he knows about larger houses, the adults usually claim the upstairs as long as it's not an attic. He can see a window- god only knows how that works- that he is going to assume leads to Dash's room.

"Nothing ventured..." Winding his arm back, Rusty takes aim and launches the shoe at the window. At least, that was his plan. The attire, recently turned projectile, instead collides with the wall that the window is connected to. Or, more accurately, it phases through the wall. On the plus side, it did sound like it hit something solid on the other side. In just under a minute he sees a figure appear at the window. "Well I'll be damned."

The window slides open and the mare of the hour appears, her front half leaning out of the opening while her arms keep her propped up against the frame. It's clear to him that's in a fragile and emotional state, if the matted fur around her eyes is anything to go off of. For once in his life, seeing her like this is actually painful. He can feel his heart beating painfully in his chest as he feels something akin to a crater form in his sternum. It goes without saying that she is hurting and it's all because of him. Each tear that falls from her face is a choir of pain that he is orchestrating just by being here.

After a moment of silence passes, Rainbow finally speaks up. Unlike what Rusty was expecting, her words don't come from a place of anger or spite. Rather, her tone is defeated and weak; it's something that he is all too familiar with these days. "What are you doing here?" She asks aloud, each syllable cutting him like a knife simply by how hollow her words are. "I told you to never come around us."

There's a small part of Rusty that almost wants to listen to her, to just leave and let the mare get on with her life. Surely things would look up once she finally forgot about him and his existence is nothing but a distant memory. As nice as it would be for that to be true, it's far too late. The damage is done. All he can do now is try his best to mend it. "I came here to say something. Just let me say it and then if you still want me to leave, I'll go and you'll never see me again."

Liar.

Dash seems conflicted, the region between her mind and her heart becoming a blood soaked battlefield while the two vie for dominance over the other. She figures that, at the very least, what he has to say will help her decide which one will be victorious. "W-well spit it out!"

"Nothing gained..." Rusty mutters to himself, finishing the quote from earlier before taking a breath and bracing himself for a very different kind of impact. "I'm sorry;" He says, truly and genuinely hating himself for all that his influence has forced her to endure. "For everything! I...You didn't deserve me."

An apology is the last thing Rainbow was expecting to ever hear from him. Hearing those words come from his mouth was like finding a leprechaun and actually getting its gold. What's more, it didn't stop there. "I was never good to you; or anypony else for that matter. I was a shitty person as a whole; A bad person, a bad friend and an even worse boyfriend."

Dude...

"I'm not going to stand here and bullshit you into anything. I know who I was and what I was about. And I could give you a list of excuses, but that wouldn't make a difference." Still in shell shock, Rainbow remains silent while Rusty continues spilling his own guts to her, putting his full person on display without even batting an eye. "I'm a selfish asshole and I always have been. And I was just too fucking stupid to see it, to actually sit down and work through it. For over ten years I thought I was better, that I was different now. But, in the end, nothing had actually changed. I was still running from my problems instead of facing them. I was still me, just with a different name."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me. I don't even want you to forgive me! I don't deserve it!" Rusty's voice all but tears into the sky, the self-loathing he had kept buried for so long and ignored rather than dealing with finally pushing its way back to the surface. "But I am begging you; Please, please, just give me one chance to prove that I can be better. I want to make things right, to stop running from everything and finally get everything back to the way it was, but better than it ever was! I just-" He pauses, unsure of how to describe this feeling. In a way, he feels like a kid again, upset and scared of the world while wanting nothing more than to- "I want to come home."

Feeling weak and powerless, Rusty leans forward, resting his hands on the edge of the basket as his head drops. Unpacking his feelings has been a trial during his short time being back in Ponyville. Before then, it was virtually impossible. The more he goes into his head, the more he finds himself deconstructing his alter-ego. Rusty Nails; a good person, an honest man and a huge fucking sham. A few things have changed, that much can't be denied. But, in the end, he was still the same person playing pretend. When you really boiled it down, Rusty Nails was just a pretty mask covering an ugly face. Even the name itself is a reference to a horror film, though unintentional at first. Maybe that's why he liked the name so much in the first place. Deep down, he's still Ryan.

It was a good movie though. Still kinda pissed that we never got around to watching the sequels. They were probably trash, but still.

Coming to terms with this is probably considered endearing to outsiders, but to him it just speaks for how little he's actually done to help himself. When one can lie so convincingly that they even deceive themselves, then how can anyone possibly know what is fictional and what is reality? The sound of beating wings pulls Rusty out of his own mind and draws his attention back toward the house. He can see dash slowly descending to the cloud floor, her wings spread out as she carefully flaps them to keep a steady pace before reaching the end. Once back on a not-so-solid surface, her wings fold to her sides as she begins her approach.

Rusty doesn't dare move a muscle, lest he fall from his own body and plummet to the earth as a ghost of a man. He simply watches her approach in silence, reading her features as best he can. Her eyes are still holding an unfathomable amount of sadness. But, he could also see hope on her face. Whatever it is she is hoping for, he can only pray that he has what it takes to bring that hope to life.

As she closes the distance between them, Rainbow finds herself rubbing one of her arms, mostly due to not knowing what to do with her hands. Her eyes lock onto Rusty's, scanning them for any sign of deceit or fallaciousness. "D-do you really mean that?"

"I do...and to prove it-" Rusty begins, releasing the basket from his grip. The man reaches into the neck of his shirt and pulls out a colorful stone on a string. This stone has been like his best friend, in a way, feeding into the lie he's been telling himself for over a decade. As subtle as it was, a toxin is still a toxin and now seems like the perfect opportunity to put an end to their disgusting relationship. "I want you to take this from me."

"Magic and I have a very unique relationship and Celestia has had her eye on me for a long time. Since the fire at my house though, she made it a point to track me. Even found a spell to do it with- don't ask me how I know." Before Rainbow Dash can respond, Rusty's free hand jumps out of the basket and grabs onto her hand, pulling it from her arm and moving it to his neck. With the appendage now in range, he forces her to close her hand around the stone and holds her hand in place. "And this stupid thing is the only reason that she, or anypony else for that matter, has never been able to find me." Despite the fear gripping at his heart at the prospect of facing Celestia again, Rusty lets go of her hand. "And now it's in your hands..."

Rainbow takes a few seconds to register exactly what it is that he is telling her to do and how much of an impact this will actually have on him. She blinks a few times as she stares at her closed hand; The very hand holding this one little stone that has kept him off of the radar and all but dead to the rest of the world for almost twelve years. If what he is saying is true, then doing this would allow anypony to find him. He would be vulnerable to anypony with a horn and knowledge of who he is. Glancing up at the human, she sees that his eyes are clenched shut, his chest expanded, but not rising or falling.

"Are you...are alright?" It almost feels weird for her to be asking him this, considering the circumstances.

Rusty lets out the breath he has been holding, but his eyes remain sealed. Nodding, he answers. "No...I'm terrified...But this is all I have. So...just do it."

Rainbow can feel her arm pulling at the stone, the string wrapped around his neck lightly sinking into his skin at the pressure. She glances down at her hand once more, taking it all in. Once this stone comes off, it's all over. No more running, no more hiding. He'll be back in the limelight once again and this time no one will let him out of their sight as his one trump card, this stone, will be long out of his reach.

Rusty waits in fear, feeling the tugging at his neck. There's a sudden release of pressure from his neck and, soon after, a pressure around his torso and a warmth overtaking his front. Opening his eyes, his breathing slows as he looks down to see Rainbow Dash leaning over the basket, her arms firmly wrapped around his body while she buries her face into his neck. It's not what he was expecting, that's for sure, but it is nice. He can't find it in himself to leave her actions unreciprocated, and returns the gesture with a small smile forming on his face.

Nuzzling the side of his head for a second, Rainbow lifts her head to where her lips are next to his ear. "I don't know when, or if, I will ever forgive you." That alone is enough to do some damage, causing Rusty's smile to fall. "But...I do trust you. And I believe...I want to believe that you will do better." Even as she speaks out of hope, he still feels guilty for having made her lose it in the first place. Her face returns to rubbing his neck as she bathes in his presence for the first time in far too long. "Please...Please don't make me regret this."

Rusty's body reacts on instinct, his grip tightening around her as if he's afraid that she'll vanish into thin air. "I will never allow that to happen. Never."

The two remained this way for what felt like an eternity, basking in the feeling of the other. It's a feeling neither of them can find the words to describe as it doesn't quite make sense to them yet. Regardless, they are content to stay this way for now. However, all good things must come to an end. As the two finally break apart, with Rusty standing upright in his basket and Rainbow Dash firmly planted on the cloud, they smile at each other; hoping that this can be the start of something new. Something better than before.

It takes them both nearly a minute to realize that they've been holding the others’ hands throughout this short stare down, with Rainbow being the first to break the silence upon looking down before Rusty could. "What the hell happened to your hands?"

Rusty gives a questioning hum as he follows her gaze, seeing the thin layer of dried blood and purple splotches where bruises had formed decorating his knuckles. He slowly pulls his hand free from Rainbow's hold, lifting them up near his face so he can inspect them. "I uh...had a bit of a tantrum when you left with Azure." He lowers his hands slightly, just enough for Rainbow to be the sole focus of his vision. "To be honest, I kinda surprised myself with how bad it got."

Rainbow rolls her eyes as she reaches out and forcefully grabs his hands, pulling them to her face so she can get a look at just how much damage he had done to himself. She nods her head disapprovingly, muttering just loud enough for him to hear, "Dammit, Ryan..."

"Actually, it's-" Rusty pauses before he can correct her, his thoughts from earlier coming back to haunt him. Maybe haunt isn't the right word. Maybe they're here to remind him of his previous, intern quarrel. Rainbow glances at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish his thought. After spending some time thinking about it, he lets out a breath and let's her continue. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

Rainbow gives him an odd look, but eventually goes back to looking over his hands. After getting her fill, she let out a sigh and releases her grip on him, allowing his appendages to return to their rightful places by his sides. For a moment she doesn't know what to say or how to continue this horrible mess. She wastes no time vocalizing this inquiry. "So...what do we do now?"

Rusty

Ryan thinks to himself for a second, before turning his attention back to his hands. "First, I think I should get these cleaned and patched up." He says casually, feeling surprisingly good; like today was just another day. "After that, I think..." He pauses, looking down once more, this time at the stone still hanging around his neck. Nodding to himself, he looks back up at Rainbow Dash. "I think you, Azure and I should go back to the castle. We both did kind of take off in a...less-than-ideal manner."

Nodding, Rainbow seems to agree with him. "Alright then. I'll grab some stuff from the house, we'll get you fixed up, then Azure and I can meet you there."

Red flag!

"About that, uh..." Ryan's eyes widen and he bites his lip as he looks for a way to explain this that doesn't make him sound like an idiot. "I...have no idea how to fly this thing."

Rainbow raises a brow at him questioningly, glancing back and forth between Ryan and the balloon. "Then how did you-"

"I shit you not; one hundred million percent of pure luck."


10 Minutes Later


The balloon lands just a few feet shy of the staircase leading to the castle. Its three passengers look on at the large, crystalline structure as a cyan arm removes itself from the ignition rope. The two pegasi flap their wings and lift themselves from the basket while the resident human manually steps out, being careful not to put too much pressure on his now bandaged hands. Once they're all out, they stand side by side, still observing the castle.

Azure is the first to break the silence as she looks up at Ryan, her eyes filled with curiosity. "What are we going to do here, daddy?"

"You'll see, hon." Ryan responds, his eyes still locked onto the castle as he speaks. "We've got something important to discuss with the girls."

That being all he is willing to share, Ryan is the first to start walking up the stairs with Rainbow and Azure both following after him. As they reach the top of the steps, the human raises his fist- only to stop as he sees the white wrapping covering it. He huffs a bit before lowering his hand and lifting his foot. He then proceeds to kick the door three times before lowering his leg and waiting patiently for somepony to answer. It doesn't take long before a rather familiar purple dragon opens the door. Spike's eyes rocket open as he sees the three standing on the other side of the door, his sights mostly being focused on the human though. Turning his head, he calls out into the castle, which has sounded like a roller derby since the door opened.

"I found him!" Spike calls out into the castle. The chaos that was going on within only gets louder as it seems to be getting closer. The dragon tenses as he sees the approaching horde and takes off with a yelp to avoid the carnage.

Both doors suddenly swing wide open, revealing the six disheveled mares that were clearly doing something crazy for one reason or another. There is a look of panic on all of them, which gives away to a random combination of relief and dread upon seeing Ryan and Rainbow Dash standing next to each other. The bandages on the humans hands do not go unnoticed either and assumptions are quickly made, several glares quickly being directed at the taller, cyan pegasus. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that all hell is about to break loose. However, that would impede Ryan's progress and that simply couldn't be allowed.

"Nopony move! Nopony talk!" Ryan announces in a tone that shakes most of the mares to their core, knowing that he is serious from past experiences when his voice reaches that particular level. "Inside! Form a circle!" While confused, the mares obeyed, slowly marching into the castle entryway and standing so that they were rounded and left a fairly sized gap in the center. Azure went to join them, but was stopped as one of her father's bandaged hands grabbed onto her shoulder. "Not you, sweetie. You stay by me."

Azure looks up at him curiously. She can see the stern look on his face and it almost scares her how serious he looks. This must be important if he is being so commanding. "Yes, daddy."

With the circle in place, Ryan closes the castle doors and moves to stand in the center with Azure by his side. The anticipation is killing the company, that much he can see. Although it's hard to tell if that's the case with Pinkie, since she usually looks like she's about two seconds from leaping out of her own skin. Looking around, everyone is accounted for, including Starlight. She looks the least anxious of all of them, seeming rather to be shooting him a look of suspicion. He ignores this, understanding where she is coming from given how things have played out so far. He can even see Spike peeking out from around the corner.

Confidence or stupidity, he really can't decide which one drove him to speak. Regardless, Ryan opens his mouth and begins. "First off; I would appreciate total silence for just a few minutes while I explain everything. And by that, I mean everything! I'm laying it all out on the table. This is very important to me, so can we all please just keep calm and save out questions until the end?"

The circle of pony's all glance back and forth among themselves, questioning looks adorning all features within the room. After a few seconds of this, they turn back to Ryan and nod in agreement. He repeats this gesture in kind. "Thank you."

"As I've told everyone here; I came back to Ponyville to right the wrongs I've made." Ryan begins, pacing around the circle to help his mind stay occupied while he goes through the mental list of things he wants to get out into the open. "Mend the shattered relationships, fix the broken bridges and wipe away all of the bad blood...That's changed a bit since I got here, having made several pretty big fuckin’ revelations over the course of my return. Not so much by the nature of choice, but rather by the die roll that led this cascade of fuckery to where it is." A few of the mares blink at his word choice, Rarity visibly flinching. Hearing him speak so crudely was strange after having rarely heard such things come from his mouth, let alone so casually.

"I still intend to follow through with my initial plan to do just that. But, it's gonna have to take a backseat." Suddenly the mares all start speaking at once, asking him the same question, but in different ways. He lets out a heavy breath in response before shushing them very loudly until all is quiet once more. "As I was saying; It will be taking a backseat, because I have something very, very important that I have to do."

Breaking his stride, Ryan turns his attention to Azure. The filly had remained in place at the center of the circle, simply watching and listening to her father. He makes a B-line toward the small pony, coming to a stop once he's standing right in front of her and slowly lowers himself onto his knees so that they are eye level with one another. "Azure, I'm deeply sorry that I wasn't a part of your life for so long."

Oh no! Oh crap! Don't let him get sad!

"No, no, no!" Azure says rapidly, being quick to defend her fathers actions. "You don't need to be sad, daddy! It's no-"

Ryan shushes the filly, covering her mouth with hand until she too joins in the silence. "Just let me finish, hon." He waits for a response, which comes in the form of a nod. He lowers his hand and picks up where he left off. "If I could turn back time and change the way things had gone, I would. If I knew then what I know now things would have been very different. But, we are not so lucky." He takes a second to gather his thoughts, not wanting to trip over his words or be misunderstood. "Azure, you deserve much more than I can give. But, I'm going to do everything I can to be the father that I should have been a long time ago."

Reaching out, Ryan grabs onto Azure's hands and pulls them to his chest. "Please understand, I care very deeply for all my friends and I have every intention of making things better between myself and them. But, right now, you are the most important thing in the world to me and I am not going to let you go another day without me by your side." A single 'awww' can be heard from his left. Judging from the voice he can assume it's Pinkie, but he lets it slide. Daring to glance around a bit, he's surprised that more of them didn’t do it. His attention moves back to his daughter, his grip tightening on her hands despite how much it hurts to do it. "Before I can do right by them, I'm going to do right by you."

Pulling Azure's arms up, Ryan leads her to the stone hanging around his neck, easing her hands around it. "For you, I'm going to stop hiding and face the world head on."

Gasps are heard all around them as Azure's eyes widen in terror at the implication. Her reaction is practically mirrored all around the room. Rarity finally breaks the vow of silence, stepping forward to say her piece. "Darling, you don't have to do this! It's still so soon! We can take our time and-"

"I had eleven years, Rarity!" Ryan cuts in, his voice loud enough to be heard by all, but not spoken out of anger. Instead, his voice was hinting at pain, the sorrow he felt for having started any of this to begin with. "For eleven years I locked myself away from my family and my loved ones. I hid from the world for eleven years...I've waited long enough."

"Azure,-" Ryan says in a softer tone, earning his daughter's attention. The fear is still plastered across her face, but she is paying attention. "I want you to do this for me, okay?"

Still locked in place, unable to move her hands out of shock alone, Azure can only think of how this can go badly. "B-but...Celestia! If she finds out, won't she be mad?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be furious." Ryan says playfully, giggling a bit to himself despite just how scared he was as well. Taking a breath to calm himself, he focuses back on the task at hand. "But, It'll all be worth it in the end. And you have to be the one to do it."

"But...why me?" Azure asks, still dreading the thought of it all.

"I already told you; You're the most important thing right now. And if you can't do it, then I can't ever truly come out of hiding." Ryan's reasoning was sound, to him at least. No one else would probably be able to understand, but this is what he has to do. What she has to do. Over a decade of life and not once had he seen her until recently. He wasn't there for her birth, her first steps, her first words. He wasn't there. And, as a result, those moments are simply gone forever with him never being able to experience them with her. There aren't many big moments in life, but this one seems big enough to warrant that same togetherness he missed out on. "I'm trapped in this cycle of being nothing but a shadow, Azure. And I need you to set me free."

This will be a big moment in all of their lives and he wants her to be the center of it, to know that she played a major role in his life. A life that, god willing, will only get better. That way, this day, this memory, will forever be with her. And she will have the cause of it all. She could finally have a long lasting, good memory of the father she never had. That's all he wants right now; He wants her to know that she is important to him and that she is special.

"What do you say, baby girl?" Ryan asks her softly as he releases his grip on her hands, lowering one arm while he lifts the other and places his hand on her head, sliding up down her long, yellow hair. "Will you set me free?"

All eyes are on Azure right now, but the filly doesn't even notice as she stares into ones right in front of her. Her father is asking her to do something very important. This could very well change their entire lives. It's a huge responsibility and she doesn't know if she can handle it. But, if it mean-

"If I do this-" Azure begins, looking into her fathers eyes with a mix of hope and desperation. "can we be a family?"

Though it does bring him a bit of pain to hear, Ryan smiles and lowers his hand to her shoulder, holding on tight. "We always were a family." He says reassuringly, "It just took me a while to find you." Several soft whines shatter the silence this time, but they choose to ignore it. This moment is between them, father and daughter. "Once you do this though, we can start over. And this time we'll do it the right way."

With steady, even breaths, Azure nods and tightens her grip on the stone. "Okay. I'll do it."

"That's my good girl."

"I love you, daddy." Azure begins to tug on the stone, the string holding it to his neck straining as she slowly works up the courage to finish the job.

"I love you too, Azure."

With one hard tug, the moment finally came. The strain was too much on the material and the stone necklace breaks free as the string breaks apart with an audible snap.

Sequel

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As promised, this chapter is being added to inform everyone that the sequel to this story is now available. I think I've said everything that really needs to be said in previous, author's notes, during the story. I think I can actually shut my fuck-hole for once and just give you guys the link... So without further ado, I would like to invite you all to continue this journey with me in-

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