> An odd family: The foundations.
>  by EdBoii
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Feathery Curse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Insanity and beaks.


My screams filled the air as I fell through the thick foliage of several trees, hitting branches as I fell.

"Oh please, don't be such a cry baby... There will be enough for that later today!"

My eyes darted from side to side trying to spot the source of the mocking voice, however, it's hard trying to find something as you fall to your doom.

My stomach collided with a large branch producing a loud thud and a painful gasp from me, eventually my body slid off the branch and landed on the hard forest floor.

My head was in turmoil, my stomach felt as if it were on fire, and a terrible headache started to surface.

Eventually, I managed to compose myself and get on my knees, looking around confirmed my suspicion that I just wasn't in Kansas anymore, not that I had ever been to Kansas but the joke was too funny to ignore.

"Where... Where am I?" My voice was soft and confused, barely audible even though the forest was dark and quiet, few noises could be heard and most grew silent as I stood up.

"Why, you happen to be the luckiest whatever you are on the whole planet!" The same voice as before said in a mocking tone, he seemed happy that I was here, but I didn't see a reason why. "As to where you are, well, let's just say that it's the beginning of a new life for you! As well as several others..." The voice chuckled knowingly, he seemed rather amused by the whole situation.

"Who are you? Where am I? What the hell is going on?!" I shouted confused and angry at being played with, the headache was fully grown now and my stomach hurt like hell.

"Tsk tsk tsk, such language... You wouldn't like the little ones learning that would you?" The strange voice seemed more entertained by the minute, and something about the way he spoke made me certain that he had planned something for me.

"Dude, what the fuck! I don't have a goddamn clue as to what you're saying! Just fucking explain it already!" I was standing up now, the anger making me ignore the pain, my furious glare darting from side to side looking for whoever was responsible for this. "I don't have time for this shit! I have to write a stupid essay for Monday! If i don't get that shit done I-"

"Silence!" The voice grew louder, but it didn't sound angry, only mildly upset. At my words perhaps? "Now you are definitely a very rude individual... Excellent! You'll make for a perfect father! And if not, then you can at least be quality entertainment for me!" His cheerful tone back, he simply clapped his hands, or at least clapped, I wasn't sure whether the somewhat muffled sound could be made by hands.

Then it hit me, no, I mean literally hit me!

A loud screech resonated from somewhere above me, and an eagle of some sort landed on my head before I could dodge, scream, curse, or raise my hands.

"Son of a-!" Came my exasperated cry as the little creature on top of me pawed at my- PAWED!?

"What the fuck?!" I backed away quickly, eyes wide in amazement and fright at the sight before me.

The little creature, possibly a baby or small... Cub? What were baby eagles called? Whatever, not that it mattered, it wasn't an eagle.

It's head and wings were those of an eagle, but the body resembled a large feline, a lion perhaps.

"Hey! Language mister! What example are you giving the poor little gryphon?" That mocking voice was really getting on my nerves by now, but his revelation was too shocking for me to be angry.

"Gryphon? What in hell is going on here?!" Those things were not meant to exist! They were mythological beings from ancient tales, gryphons, minotaurs, centaurs, chimeras and hydras all belonged in Greek tales and stories, NOT IN FRONT OF MY GODDAMN FACE!

"Why isn't it obvious? The little baby has lost his father and needs to be cared for. Congratulations! I'ts a boy!" The voice laughed harder than i thought possible, frightening the little monster in front of me.

"What? I'm not taking care of it! I want to go home!" I turned around looking for the strange voice.

"Nope, not happening, sorry!" The voice seemed to be circling me, taunting me, mocking me.

"Dude, cut it out! This is not funny! Take me home now!" 

"Hmm, what is this 'dude' you keep referring to? Is it another term for draconequus?" The 'draconequus' stopped circling me and I sensed it looking at me.

"Draco-what? What are you?"

"Oh! Oh my! So sorry my good two legged ape! Why, my name is Discord! Lord of chaos! Pleased to meet you..." The voice acquired a dangerous tone, and the strangest sight in human history emerged from the shadows.

My eyes grew wide, my mouth hung open, and I almost pissed myself right there and then.

The most horrible mixture of animals appeared before me, it had the head of a horse, with a deer antler on the right, a goat horn on the left, one long fang, and a goat beard. He had the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat, and a dragon's tail, the shape of his body resembled that of a snake.

So many animal parts on a single body could not be healthy, but the simple truth of it all was that I was probably the one who wasn't healthy, I was possibly going insane.

Discord, as he called himself, extended his lion paw and awaited for me to shake it.

My reaction was as unexpected as it must have been hilarious.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He cringed a little at my shout, and then face... Facepawed? Who the hell knows in this freaky place!

"You really are a strange individual aren't you?" He said under his breath as I kept on staring slack-jawed. 

As our conversation carried on, the baby gryphon made his way towards me, clumsily trying to place a paw after the other.

He eventually reached me, and to my surprise, he nuzzled my leg with his beak.

I looked down and stared at it, bewildered, the thought of kicking it away crossed my mind.

What? You think I'm evil for the thought? Dude! It's a freaky monster thing out of mythology and it's cuddling against my leg!

Whatever, it's not like I kicked it, I just couldn't! It was probably as scared as I was, it would't be fair to deny it comfort when it needed it as much as I.

Besides, it was kind of adorable, its plumage was light brown, his beak was orange and two large eyes looked at me pleadingly, he had yellow irises and black pupils that seemed to pierce into your very soul... Long story short, I almost let out a DAAAWWWWWWW!

Discord noticed this and smiled gleefully, his plan was apparently working quite well.

"So, my dear friend... What would your name be?" He asked as i took the little gryphon into my arms.

I looked at the strange lord of chaos.

"Eduardo, If you can't pronounce that, then just call me Iron." My name was not especially hard to pronounce, even in English, but several friends of mine felt uncomfortable with the unusual arrangement of letters, so I just opted to be called by my preferred online gamer name. Iron Galley.

"Very well Iron, will you take care of the little youngster here?" Discord asked, smiling. "Time in your world has been paused, and as soon as the little one here is ready to leave the nest I will return you to your world."

I looked at him with distrust, I didn't like the idea of being his play thing, but I had little options.

"Very well, I will take care of him, but as soon as he is ready to 'leave the nest' you will send me back home!" I glared at him some more before the feeling of drool on my arm caught my attention. The baby was asleep.

"Fair enough, now tell me... Where would you like to live?" The draconequus smirked at my sudden confusion.

"Huh? What? Oh, um, I'm not sure... What can you tell me of this place?" I asked cautiously, If i was still on earth, which i doubted, then civilization was better avoided so i could raise this creature in peace, but if I was in a gryphon planet or something, then the best course of action would be to go to a small town where he could go to school.

"Why, you are currently in the magical land of Equestria! Home to talking ponies and other magical beings!" Discord then proceeded to narrate a brief historical, geographical, cultural and political explanation of the land around me.

This was bad... The gryphon kingdom was NOT a good idea, they would tear me to pieces if they were as brutal to outsiders as Discord claimed, the minotaur homeland was no better, I didn't like deserts so the zebras were out, and no other places seemed welcoming, so in the end, my dear reader, guess were I opted to raise a gryphon child by myself?

The buildings in the distance seemed rather similar to those back on earth, although they had a more medieval style to them than the houses back at home.

Discord had teleported us, the baby, himself and I, to a small pony village at my request, I figured that herbivorous creatures would be more welcoming than carnivorous ones, so there we where! On the outskirts of Ponytown? Ponyvillage? Ponyhouse?

"Welcome to Ponyville my dear Iron! I truly hope you lead a most wonderful life in companionship of your new sons!" Discord waved his paw at the town in general and smiled.

"Heh, thanks I gue- WAIT WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SONS?!" I hollered, waking up the babies... Yup, gods do NOT play fair...

Laughing his tail off, discord produced two more weeping infants, one was a small Minotaur, his black coat had spots of white and two tiny horns sprouted out of his little head, his two legs ended in small hooves while his arms held two tiny, little hands. The other was a bit more extravagant, a Centaur, the lower body resembled that of a small foal, his upper body was that of a human, it's coat was a shining white, while blonde hairs covered it's little human head, it was a she.

Discord handed them to me, and waved goodbye.

"I'll be watching you Iron! I hope you prove to be as entertaining as I expect you to be! Congratulations on your offspring! They truly resemble their father!" And with a small *puff* the lord of chaos was gone, leaving me with a gryphon, a minotaur, and a centaur.

Did I mention how horribly frustrated I felt? No? Allow me to explain...

"FUCKING DISCORD!"

MY shout of rage echoed throughout the morning mist, the babies doubled their efforts in their crying and wailing, but it mattered little, they had already been set off into their weeping mode by my earlier holler...

After calming myself down, I slowly accommodated the babies onto my arms and started the slow and exhausting walk towards Ponyville, the little ones crying the whole way.

The baby gryphon kept on biting at my left ear while the minotaur tugged at my hair with it's hands, it was surprising to see how much strength he had at such a young age, the little centaur was the best behaved of all three, she just lay there beneath her 'brothers' occasionally she would kick at my forearm with her little horse legs, or slap my chest with her little arms, but overall, she just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

I, on the other hand, was having the walk of a lifetime! Between the biting, tugging and the cold mist of the morning I just didn't think it could get worse!

"Oh, this is just dandy! So happy I ran into you Discord! So glad you gave me such cute little motherfuckers... NOT!" I kept on muttering to myself as I walked past a small bridge that led into town.

"You know what? I should just name you guys... I cant keep on referring to you as gryphon, minotaur and freaky mutant horse-girl..." I sighed and looked at the babies, the gryphon and minotaur were snuggling closer to each other and myself for warmth, but the baby centaur was shivering wildly, her lack of fur or feathers on her upper body exposed her to the worst of the cold, at least I had some clothes, but she didn't have anything...

"Oh boy, I better get you all inside a house or something... Damn it, damn it, damn it! How did I even end up like this?!" I stuttered as the cold began to get a hold of me as well.

Walking faster I suddenly noticed a small light inside a house, It was early so whoever was awake at such hour must have little to do.

"Thank you Spongebob! Thank you!" I laughed delightedly as I joked to myself, after a few shivers ran through my skin because of the cold, I immediately rushed over to the strange house, it was a really odd building, the design looked like a carousel on the second floor, while the overall pinkish painting gave it a strange look in my eyes.

"It looks like a four year old chose the design..." I muttered as I approached the door.

knocking a few times on it, I waited for a response. Several voices could be heard from inside before I knocked, they grew silent after I battered on the door.

The muffled voices returned, but slightly muffled and hurried.

After several seconds of torturing waiting, the door finally opened, revealing a purely white pony with a purple mane, it also had a horn, but i had seen so many goddamn weird things in a single day that it did little to astonish me, also, Discord had briefed me on the different races of ponies.

As the unicorn caught a glance of the mutant babies and of myself, she let out a surprised shriek and backed away. The exhaustion of the whole day was bearing down on me, and I was on the brink of fainting, but it did little to ruin my playful attitude.

"Whiteish fluffy unicorn creature! Do not despair! I come in pea-" I let out a shriek of pain as the baby gryphon bit down on my ear drawing a few drops of blood.

The unicorn looked at me in utter confusion, while I desperately tried to free my ear from the grasp of the baby gryphon, all the while without dropping any of the other two babies.

After a lengthy struggle I finally managed to free myself, but now i was too pissed for jokes.

"Just help me out will you?" I walked into the strange building and left the three little creatures on the floor.

The unicorn stared a bit more before asking in a shaky voice.

"Wh-what are you?" Her eyes were wide with surprise and a slight hint of fear.

"Me? Oh, I happen to be the idiot who ended up as a father to three completely unrelated creatures that shouldn't even exist! FUCKING DISCORD!" I shouted the last bit in frustration.

The unicorn suddenly looked more curious than afraid.

"Discord you say?" She arched her eyebrow, taking a step forward.

"Why yes! The freaky little dragon, goat, horse, lion thing! Real charmer that one! First he makes me crash into a tree and then he makes me a father..."

The unicorn looked at the three little infants.

"Do you have family around town I may contact to receive you?" Her voice seemed a little unsure and somewhat distrustful.

"No... I'm new to this whole country and I'm stuck with three kiddos... And I think that one has a cold!"

As if on cue with my words, the baby centaur sneezed and started to cry.

Sighing, I lifted her up in my arms and started to soothe her into sleep. The unicorn stared at us with surprise, before continuing the awkward conversation.

"My name is Rarity, may I ask for yours?" She walked over to another small unicorn that had been hiding behind a mannequin.

"Yeah, sure, name's Iron Galley, pleased to meet you." I extended a hand forward, she placed her hoof on top of it and I gave a little handshake before going back to calming down the baby centaur, the other two where done exploring the house and began to cuddle and fall asleep.

"So, what brings you to my boutique at this hour?"

"Huh? Boutique?" I asked a little surprised, sewing didn't seem possible with hooves and both unicorn ponies were naked, why have a boutique?

"Why yes! I make the most marvelous dresses in all of Ponyville! Sweetie Belle here helps me out whenever she comes around." Rarity seemed rather proud of her boutique while the filly known as Sweetie Belle huffed and rolled her eyes when Rarity aid she helped.

"Oh, well, that's um... Nice! I guess..." I was somewhat thrown off at the strangeness of the unicorn, making dresses? And being naked all the time? How does that work? "Could I um... Is there like a guest room where i can lay my head down? And somewhere the kids might be able to sleep?"

Rarity smiled kindly and said that we were welcome to sleep in a small guest room on the first floor, as long as we didn't disturb any of the dresses inside it.

After settling down the babies into the bed, I followed suit and soon enough fell into blissful sleep.


Tomorrow, or later today if you want to be pedantic, is going to be an interesting day...

> A Broken Man's Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dreaming of Home



"See ya later dude, I'll be going to the store for some milk." I said to an old friend of mine before heading out to the store.

It was a nice, warm, and sunny day, the heat of the midday sun reaching out to the world, wrapping it in it's comforting warmth. And I was off to do one of the things I enjoyed the most, walking! A large smile spread along my lips as I took my iPod out of my pocket and clicked on play. 

A rather old and cheesy love song started playing, my smile only widened, these old songs always brought out another side of myself, one that I rather kept for my own mind, but thoroughly enjoyed.

It just felt soothing, to be able to walk through the streets were I grew up, to forget my troubles and worries, and simply walk through the empty streets consumed in my own thoughts as I pondered upon the very sense of existence, the calm rhythm of the song and the soft melody only increased the peacefulness of it all.

Closing the door to my house, I started walking down the street.

The road was in ill repair, holes and bumps lay scattered throughout its surface, but I didn't care, these were my streets after all, I had grown up looking at them, playing in them, learning how to ride a bike and recently, walking through them.

The numerous palm trees along the sidewalks loomed over me in a comforting manner, I felt safe as I trudged along the path that had seen my childhood pass and my teen years begin.


These streets would always be here after all, they would never disappear.


The loud weeping of a baby gryphon and the oozing saliva of a small minotaur made them disappear though...

As well as a strong kick to my gut from a baby centaur.

Groaning in pain, I slowly managed to open my eyes and look around me.

The small gryphon was crying his eyes out on the floor beside the bed, he must have rolled off the edge, the minotaur had stealthily climbed up my pillow during the night and was now drooling on top of my head, his saliva slowly running down my hair and into the mattress.

And last but not least! The little lady of this strange, dysfunctional family! Well, she was happily running in her sleep beside me, she must have had one hell of a rock to jump for such a kick though, my stomach felt like it had been run over by a car...

"So that would explain the pain..." I slowly sat on the bed, making sure that the minotaur didn't wake up.

I took a hand to my hair and inspected the damage, half of it was wet with drool, but hey, look on the bright side, not gonna need any gel today!

I stood up and walked towards the little gryphon, lifting him up into my arms, I hushed him into sleep once again and placed him back on the bed, making sure he was far enough from the little runner who was still a few miles away from finishing her race.

Taking a few steps away from the bed my gaze went over the three little infants, I smiled at the sight before me, in spite of the whole weirdness and confusion of this situation I could feel a growing affection towards them. They were as lost as I was and they needed even more help than I.

The little minotaur quietly rolled around the bed and came to rest beside the centaur, he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her before going back to sleep.

My smile growing wider, I turned around and walked towards the door, making sure to do little to no noise as I carefully moved about the room, eventually, I reached the door and slowly pushed against it until a gap, large enough for me to fit through, formed and I exited the room.

Upon leaving the small guests room, I got a better look at the place thanks to the sunlight.

Rarity's boutique was, to say it politely, a total mess.

Pieces of fabric, silk, thread and other dressmaking materials lay scattered throughout the floor, several mannequins were lined against the walls, each one holding different designs of dresses and hats.

Arching my eyebrow, I continued walking in search of a bathroom or at least someplace I could wash my hair and face.

It must have been around midday, judging by the position of the sun, I'd say around two or three o'clock.

The light shone brightly through the windows of the boutique and illuminated the rooms, filling them with sunshine, excruciatingly painful sunshine...

"I'm starving..." I clutched my growling stomach while trying to find my way to a kitchen or something.

The place seemed rather empty though, no sign of Rarity or the little unicorn. What was she called again? Sweet Ball? Sitting Bell? 

"Sweetie Belle! Please go check on our guests while Twilight and the others get here."

"Okay Rarity. But can I please have another cookie after dinner?"

"Very well, but only if you don't interrupt my dressmaking, ok?"

"Yay!"

It took a little while for the voices to make a click in my brain but I eventually recognized them.

The voices were coming from the entrance to the boutique, and since I had little else to do rather than roam around, I decided to meet my hostess and ask for directions towards the nearest bathroom.

Stifling a yawn, I walked towards the main room were I had entered earlier that day, I was still wearing my old clothes and they were stained badly with mud and sweat.

"Damn brotha... I could use a shower..." Scratching my head I slowly entered the room were Rarity and her... Daughter? Were unpacking some stuff.

"Morning ma'am, need any help?" I asked, reaching down to the bags on the floor as I entered the room.

"Why, thank you Iron, but please, call me Rarity." Rarity smiled and FUCKING LEVITATED A BUNCH OF APPLES FROM THE BAGS!

My jaw dropped again in utter amazement, I remembered Discord saying some stuff about magic, but I had been too tired to listen to the final bits of info about unicorns...

I stared at her horn with complete amazement for about a minute of uncomfortable silence... Until...

"Rarity, did he fall in love or something?" The rather squeaky voice of Sweetie Belle broke through the silence, but did little to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation.

Rarity went wide eyed and immediately snapped at her, all the while a little embarrassed blush lit up her face.

I ,on the other hand, had barely come to terms with what I had seen, and slowly broke through the daze.

"What was that?" I asked no one in particular as the impression slowly faded away.

"What was what dear?" Rarity returned her eyes to me and resumed levitating more apples from the bags.

"That!" I quickly pointed at the floating apples with a trembling finger.

"Huh? Dear, these are apples." Rarity smiled awkwardly while placing the apples on a table.

I shook my head to clear out any left over amazement and opened my mouth to explain myself, too late though, more interruptions were to arise, not too pleasant either.

"Rarity! We came as soon as we-" A purple unicorn opened the door to the boutique and entered the room, her words interrupted by my presence, possibly my smell too.

Her eyes grew wide and her little pony jaw dropped, in all honesty, she must have looked as I did when first spotting the flying apples.

"Uhm, Twilight? Can ya move a bit? Ah' can't see very well with you in front o' me." Another pony, this one was partially blocked by 'Twilight', but I still got a good glimpse of her, she had an orange coat, blonde mane and a large cowboy hat, her southern accent brought to mind a lot of western films.

"Whoa! What the hay is that thing?!" A third one, this time a pegasus, blue coat and a rainbow colored mane, she flew above the other two ponies and stared at me while pointing a hoof.

"Girls, girls, please! It's not ladylike to make a guest uncomfortable." Rarity walked towards the other ponies and tried to calm them down. "Now please, if you could all be so kind as to enter."

Rarity motioned the others to come inside and smiled pleasantly, as if to reassure them that I wouldn't bite.

As for myself, well, I just stood there, smiling awkwardly while staring at them, unsure of what to say.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Twilight stepped inside, followed by the orange and blue ponies, the latter one getting scolded by Rarity for flying inside her home.

Rarity, the ponies and I then sat down on a few, rather large, chairs she produced from a nearby closet.

I had no idea of what was going on, but so far, nothing had made any sense, so the best course of action was to follow the flow and hope for the best.

The ponies then sat down on the oversized furniture and I got a good look at why they were so large.

Instead of sitting down, they simply lay down on the chairs, which made sense since they were ponies and their anatomy wouldn't allow for an upright sitting position.

They were all looking at me now, a hint of distrust and curiosity in their eyes, all except Rarity of course.

I smiled awkwardly again and proceeded to sit down in my regular, standard human way, which was rather uncomfortable for my back because of the overly large chair.

As I sat down, several glances were exchanged by the ponies, odd looks were shot at me as well, and I swear the blue pegasus was holding back laughter.

Feeling annoyed at being mocked at, I snapped my question with a little more strength than intended.

"So, what's the meeting for?" I asked everyone, but looked directly at the amused pegasus, my eyes giving out a dead, cold stare that made me quite proud.

It's effect was instant, he/she/it? stopped smirking immediately and tensed up defensively, her eyes locking with mine.

The other three ponies sensed the growing unease, and after several seconds, Twilight interceded.

"Uhm... ah, excuse me mister?" She stumbled with her words, but managed to continue. "We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"An we'd be mighty thankful if ya'll could keep from fightin' while we ask em." The orange pony was looking at the pegasus with a hint of disapproval as well as concern. "Right Rainbow?"

Rainbow, as she seemed to be called, held the unbroken stare for a bit longer before rolling her eyes and letting out an annoyed huff.

"Yeah whatever..." She turned her head to the side and looked at a wall before asking a question of her own. "Applejack, why didn't Flutters and Pinks come with us anyway?"

The orange pony, Applejack I guess, smiled at her and replied.

"Dontcha remember? Angel got sick and Pinkie wanted to throw him a get well party, Fluttershy stayed with him."

"Oh yeah." Rainbow scratched her mane with a hoof, and I made a mental note that she didn't seem to be quite the Einstein.

Looking back at Twilight I decided to find out what the hell they wanted with me.

"Ask away." I smiled at her pleasantly and made a gesture with my hand to emphasize.

That seemed to relax the heavy atmosphere a little, but not completely, Rainbow kept stealing glances at me, and Applejack was constantly whispering things at her, as if trying to keep her calm.

The interrogation continued without problems though, I was asked several things, among them there were some that were important and others that only confused me.

"What are your intentions in Ponyville?" Twilight looked up from a list of questions she had brought with her.

"Raising three kids, then getting the hell out I guess..." I replied, no longer concerned about being polite, I was too hungry, upset and unwashed for manners at the moment.

"Huh? Kids? Ya wouldn't mean foals would ya?" Applejack raised her head and looked at me oddly.

"Nope, they aren't ponies... Well, one of them could be half-horse..." I replied, scratching my head.

"We'll get to that eventually, now please Applejack, let me continue with the list." Twilight smiled at Applejack who simply nodded and carried on doing what they all had been doing up till then, staring at me...

"How did you arrive to Equestria?" Twilight asked once again.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I repeated what had come to become somewhat of a catchphrase.

"Fucking Discord!" I tried to hold back the worst of the laughter but couldn't help a smile from forming.

The ponies didn't seem too amused by my reply however, Twilight snapped at attention at Discords name, Applejack cringed a little at my language choice, and Rainbow, well, she kind of tackled me...

"Why are you working for Discord?! What did he promise?! What are his plans?!" The rainbow maned pegasus swiftly took into the air and crashed into me, pushing me from the chair and into the floor with a surprised gasp and a loud thud.

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted as my head hit the corner of a table, Rainbow saw this and a look of worry replaced her former angry expression, she then flew towards me.

Whether she was going to help or not I would never know, she didn't get far before I was on my feet, fury in my eyes and completely blinded by both pain and rage.

She stopped flying for a split second and smiled, later that day I found out that it was an apologetic smile and not a mocking one but sadly, I wasn't aware of it at that moment.

Without so much as a warning, I lunged forward and took a hold of her shoulders.

With a loud yelp of surprise she was sent flying backwards by the sheer force of my push, she collided with the wall and let out a cry of pain.

Immediately regretting my reaction, I started muttering my apologies under my breath as I tried to make my way over to her.

The other ponies had been staring wide eyed and frightened at my sudden display of rage, but sprang into action as soon as I started walking towards the fallen pegasus.

I didn't get far before a horrible pain on the my left ribs made me cry out in pain.

"Don't touch her!" Applejack suddenly appeared by my side, readying another kick, Twilight's horn was glowing purple and before I had time to explain myself, a large beam of purple light surrounded my head.

"What the fuck?!" I tried to shout, but my voice was muffled by the strange magic, and after a couple of seconds, exhaustion that hadn't been there before, settled in.

I stumbled a little before completely collapsing on the floor, asleep.

Before passing out I heard a loud screech coming from the hallway that led to the babies's room, and a little gryphon rushed towards me, letting out the occasional whimper or screech, he leapt onto my back and extended his tiny wings protectively.

Then darkness took over my thoughts and I fell unconscious.

These streets had always calmed me down, even after the years when they became dangerous and I was forced to leave them, I always carried a little of them with me, deep down in my heart, I had always belonged in the home that lay surrounded by those tattered old roads, broken and worn out by countless people walking through them, countless stories had crossed them, countless souls had shed their tears and worries on the same old streets were I walked.

And my own thoughts and beliefs were now on the same old concrete that had guarded my childhood for so many years, I could do little to go back to them, but did it matter? Had I truly departed them?

No, I was still there, every time I looked upon my thoughts and remembered them, and the many people that crossed those roads with me.

But now was no longer the time to remember, or to dwell on the past, I had a future road to build.


Three paths to shape and care for, at least until they were old enough to build for themselves

> Starting From Scratch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Road To Redemption, The Beginning



The first thing that I noticed was the pain.

Excruciating, dreadful, horrible pain. Thousands of bells resounding throughout my brain sent wave after wave of torture coursing through my body.

The headache that had been tormenting me since earlier today had grown into a migraine, and it showed no sign of slowing or stopping.

Groaning in pain I tried to raise my hand to my head.

It was very unfortunate that lifting my arm only triggered more agony.

A cry left my lips as my arm brushed against my side, where Applejack had kicked me, a horrible throbbing pain emanated from the entire rib cage area, worsening the headache.

A few tears trickled down my cheeks as the pain slowly subsided back into a bearable sting. It still hurt, but at least I could move.

After recovering I slowly looked around me, trying to get a sense of my whereabouts.

I was lying down on a bed, rather uncomfortable and humid, the mattress was badly stained with who knows what, and the walls were made of brick, grey and old.

There was a small window on the wall with no glass, only three vertical, metal bars that blocked any attempt to exit through there, the bars cast a powerful shadow inside the small room, making me feel exposed and in danger.

"Where the fuck am I?" I tried to sit down, but my injured ribs made it impossible. As soon as I got out of there I'd have to go to a hospital for treatment. "God, I hope that bitch didn't break anything." I winced in pain as the throbbing resumed.

Lying back on the bed after my unsuccessful attempt at standing, I pondered on what to do next, but with the pain in my head and ribs still ravaging my tired body, and the hunger and uncomfortable feeling of dirt and sweat on my clothes doing little to help, it would be hard to do so.

"Shit! Those bastards probably broke my fucking ribs now! Shit, shit, shit!" I groaned at the ceiling and yelled in frustration. "What the fuck happened?! What did that crazy asshole even tackle me for?!" I paused my rant as a new voice suddenly interrupted me.

"Ah' don't appreciate the way ya speak about me or mah friends, especially after ya hurt Rainbow even though she tried to say sorry... But Ah'm here to hear ya out and Ah' expect nothin but the honest truth ya hear?" The thick southern accent gave away the identity of the intruder.

"And why the fuck should I do that? You fucking broke my ribs! You can shove your honest truth up your own ass for all I care!" I glared at Applejack, she was standing behind a wall of iron bars that separated my cell from the rest of, what I supposed was, a police station.

She seemed taken back at my harsh words, her mouth twisted in anger and then she frowned.

"Shut yer mouth! Why, if granny Smith was here she'd have washed that tongue with more soap than a-"

She didn't get far though, just as the word granny pierced through my ears the word grandfather made an appearance, and then another, more closely related thought crossed my mind...

"Where are the kids?" It was soft, almost a whisper, but it came out filled with fear and rage.

"Wha-? Oh, ya mean that little gryphon? Well, darn little baby almost bit Twilight when we tried to lift you up! Ah' swear, if them little claws of his had gotten a hold of-"

That was it, I couldn't stand it any longer. I'm not sure what made the instincts rise, but once they did, I no longer had control over myself. She wouldn't tell me where they were, they could be lost, in danger, crying or going hungry...

I wouldn't let those babies suffer because of anyone, not even myself.

"Shut the fuck up! Shut up! Fucking tell me where they all are right now or I'll fucking make you!" With strength I didn't know I possessed, I crawled out of the bed and rushed towards the iron bars, meaning to strangle the mare that refused to give me a solid answer.

The pain was horrible, my ribs stung and ached terribly as I ran, the throbbing on my veins only made the migraine worse, my eyes were bloodshot from tears of frustration and a horrible ringing in my ears threatened to make me collapse that very instant.

But I couldn't stop, it no longer was I who told my legs to move, nor my arms to reach out of the bars, it was something else, something more primeval. As if driven by pure fatherly instinct, I crashed against the metal bars and held my arms out from the gaps, trying to grab Applejack and find out where the kids were.

Applejack was stunned by my reaction, she backed away as fast as her pony legs could allow, only stopping when the wall behind her prevented her from moving any more.

I stopped trying to reach her and instead glowered at her, my murderous gaze locking with her eyes, slowly and menacingly, driven by the pain and hunger, the humiliation and confusion, but mostly by the worry and fear of what had happened to my three adopted children, I whispered my threat at her.

"Get me out of here, and give me my children back, or all hell is going to break loose..."

Then she left, standing up and quickly rushing out of the place, she made a dash out of the front door.

I stood there for a while, staring at the cold, hard floor in front of me. 

My grip on the bars loosened, with the adrenaline rush leaving my bloodstream, I finally collapsed on the floor.

The fatigue and hunger finally defeating me.

Nightmares plagued my dreams, thoughts of losing the kids in a world filled with bloodthirsty zombie ponies filled my mind, my brain went as far as to picture myself being dragged out of this cell by a mob of carnivorous equines and being dismembered publicly like the mongols used to do with prisoners of war.

Hours dragged by, painfully slow and nerve wrecking.

A few police officers, walked by my cell to leave food plates, drinks and magazines, but never stopping for conversation.

I tried shouting at them, asking them the same question over and over until my voice was hoarse.

"Where are they?! Where are you holding my kids?! Answer me you fucking horse!"

Hours stacked away in piles as the sun hid away and the moon took over. I looked outside my barred window and stared at it, solemnly praying that whatever was going to happen, whatever destiny had planned, no matter how horrible it was or painful, that at least it let me leave this place with the three kids, so they could grow and I could return home.

I spent the night shouting curses away into the sky.

Few were spared of my grief and rage, Discord, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow... All of them were mentioned in my incessant hollering and blasphemies.

After my voice ran it's course, I used my fists to batter at the iron bars until they ached horribly, then I kicked the walls like a madman.

How could this happen to me? Locked inside a goddamn cell? I hadn't done anything worth imprisonment! What the fuck! I wasn't even the one who started the fucking fight! Where the fuck was Rainbow's cell? Why was I the only fucking one imprisoned? Even Applejack broke my ribs! Where was her cell?!

Numerous thoughts and conspiracy theories crossed my mind, until an obvious one decided to make itself correct in my thoughts.

It was because I was a human...

Of course! How didn't I notice it before?! Rarity had been so goddamn surprised to not only see me, but the babies as well! These goddamn ponies were a bunch of racist motherfuckers!

I was in a prison cell, not for committing a crime, but for being me! And if that was the case, then the kids were in no better condition.

For all I knew, those bastards who imprisoned me could enslave them, force them to build structures until their deaths or make them servants to a snobbish pony slaver...

All of this and more crossed my mind as I leaned against the iron bars, my previous outburst had drained me out of energy completely and the slightest move caused great pain and required a lot of effort.

Drifting off to sleep or falling asleep are not what happened that night, I simply was unable to remain awake, I collapsed.


The next morning came far too soon for my liking.

And it did little to turn my situation into a favorable one.

I woke up tied down to a hospital bed, multiple straps secured tightly over my chest and legs, two steel cuffs kept me from moving my arms.

"Guys? Guys, what the hell is going on now?" I groaned and slowly tried to raise my head to get a clear view of the place.

It was a hospital, I was in a large room by myself, two windows were on the right side wall of the place, these ones weren't barred but it mattered little since I was strapped down.

"Please remain still, if you move too much you might reopen your stitches." A white mare with a pink mane, and what seemed to be a red cross tattooed to her flank, said in a kind voice.

I relaxed a bit until the worry crept back in.

"What do you mean by stitches?!" My throat hurt too much to be able to shout, but I was still loud enough to be heard.

"You had a few broken ribs and we had to operate to keep them from piercing your lungs. Poor Applejack was worried sick about you when I gave her the diagnose." She smiled kindly. "You must feel so lucky to have such good friends to care for you."

I almost rolled my eyes at the comment, but this was possibly one of the few ponies that hadn't shown terror at the sight of a human, so the least I could do was act politely.

"Excuse me miss, but do you know anything about three babies coming to see me? Or did Applejack mention anything about a baby gryphon?" I asked in my now dry and painful voice, a slight glimmer of hope crossing my eyes.

"Why yes, in fact she did mention something about some infants." She smiled again before frowning in confusion. "Nothing about a gryphon though..."

Smiling at the prospect of finding out where they were, I immediately asked as best as I could what she knew about them.

"She didn't say much, but she did tell me to inform you that she was going to come visit soon with a few foals." She replied and then left the room after saying goodbye.

The nurse, I guess she was a nurse, seemed to know little about the matter, I didn't think she even knew that the kids coming to visit weren't even ponies! But whatever, I was simply happy that they were alright.

Applejack on the other hand, well, that would be an awkward encounter, but the nurse said she was worried? Well, that was odd, she didn't seem too worried when she administrated four hundred milligrams of pure ass kicking to my ribs the other day...

Shrugging I simply lay my head back on the bed, whatever was going to happen would happen eventually, and there was little I could do to change it.

The day went by slowly, nothing of interest happened, a fly or two flew by but not much else.

Also my hands were cuffed to the bed, and my nose was itchy...

It was around one or two o'clock when a few voices could be heard outside my room, one of them having a thick southern accent.

The nurse and Applejack talked for a few minutes, deciding whether it was safe for me to be untied when she and the 'foals' walked inside.

Applejack told her not to worry, that she was sure that I had just been in a bad mood when we last met, and that the whole Rainbow being attacked had been a misunderstanding.

I was feeling more embarrassed by the second, she was practically forgiving me for all the shit I said to her and her friends, and, as far as she knew, was risking her life by coming to see me.

Also, thinking back at the previous night, I had acted like a total asshole... The fact that I had been wrongly imprisoned kind of justified my reaction, but still, I threatened Applejack and several other pony officers, as well as raging so hard it would have probably been a viral video on youtube or something...

You know the feeling you get when you think back to an embarrassing moment in your life and you suddenly want to smack yourself so hard that you forget it? Yeah, well, that's pretty much how I felt at that moment...

After a few moments of silent brooding, the door to my room swung open, and the nurse walked in with a key on her mouth, carefully and with a barely noticeable glint of fear she unlocked the cuffs on my hands and allowed me to free myself from the rest of the straps.

Stretching my arms, back and legs, I smiled contently and looked towards the door, the pain in my ribs was pretty much gone, there was still some occasional sting or throb but overall, it was gone! Must have had something to do with the strange magic unicorns were able to do, the nurse wasn't one of those, but since this place didn't make any sense anyway I was ready to attribute anything I didn't understand to magic.

Applejack was standing there, looking at the floor while kicking at the ground with a hoof, seeming embarrassed.

"So, this is awkward..." I smiled awkwardly as I tried to stand up, only to find that my legs still didn't have enough strength to hold me up.

"Sure is." Applejack chuckled. "Ah' just wanted to say that we're all mighty sorry Iron..."

Now THAT was a shocker... How could it be they that were sorry? I was being the asshole!

"Come again? I didn't quite catch that." I stared wide eyed.

"Well, me an the girls talked over what happened, an we kind of decided that locking you up in the Ponyville jail was wrong on our part... But we were scared, an we acted before thinking about how you would feel... The others went around tryin ta fix up the whole mess with the police and they couldn't come along, so they sent me to apologize."

"So, me shouting like a madman and threatening you doesn't count or something? What about Rainbow? Didn't I hurt her?" Well now I was probably switching to her side against myself, but it was all too confusing!

"Well, we did lock ya up away from yer kids an you were really angry when you said those things, also Rainbow wasn't seriously hurt, so putting you in jail was a bit too much..." She was looking more embarrassed by the second, it was really confusing for me, but she did make a point, if Rainbow hadn't been seriously injured then they had no reason to lock me up.

"So, you guys forgive me then?" I scratched my head while looking at her.

"Well, Iron... The real question is whether you forgive us..." Applejack smiled pleadingly and looked up at me.

I simply smiled, my headache had left my body because of the magic the nurse or whomever had used and I had eaten a hearty breakfast and meal provided by the hospital kitchen, so my hunger was gone, my overall happy mood was back, no longer angry at the world or frustrated by every little thing.

I relished in my own smile for what seemed like forever before handing Applejack my answer.

"No..." I serioused and looked at her without emotion.

Her little pony ears dropped, her gaze went to the floor and she almost turned to leave, but stopped as soon as my laughter reached her.

Turning around in confusion she looked at me.

I was laughing my ass off right there and then, eventually I managed to contain the laughter long enough to speak.

"I'm... Joking! Applejack, there is nothing to forgive! As long as you guys please stop tying me down to stuff, it'll be fine!"

I laughed a bit more before flashing her my best smile, creepy as hell but well-intentioned.

She smiled back and nodded happily, then grew serious and looked at me.

"Ah'm gonna get back at you, ya know?" She smiled.

"Huh?" I stared in confusion.

Applejack simply smirked and opened the door completely. "Let em in Pinkie!"

As soon as the words left her mouth a loud "Okie-dokie-loki!" was heard from outside and a few moments later.

"Oh god..." My eyes grew wide as three familiar creatures entered the room, happily smiling and laughing as they rushed towards me.

In a blur of motion, my three adoptive sons jumped onto the bed and started to lick my face, jump up and down on my stomach and pull my hair out of happiness.

I laughed happily as the reunion carried on, lifting each on of them up in a hug, I made all sort of ridiculous things a father does with a baby, funny faces, tickling, weird noises and more funny faces.

I was certain Applejack and the pink pony beside her would never let me forget about this, but I didn't care! I was overjoyed to be with my children again... Whoa! Did I just? By calling them 'my children' I was fully accepting them as my family, not only that, but also as my responsibility.

Was I ready for such a task? Did I want that kind of responsibility?

The baby minotaur giggled as I lifted him up into my arms, his large eyes looking at me lovingly, he snuggled against my arm and started to drift into sleep.

There was no doubt left in my mind, these kids needed a father, and I would be more than happy to take that honor into my own hands.

"Ectorius." I smiled, names did not come naturally for me, but it seemed appropriate, I decided to mix up words, although I wasn't very good at it. It was meant to derive from; Protector, Victorious, and Torus. Yeah, sue me for not using common names...

Looking at the small gryphon, I remembered how he defended me when Twilight knocked me unconscious.

"Aquilder." Aquila, meaning eagle, and defender.

And finally, the centaur, she was happily jumping up and down on the bed, enjoying herself greatly, when she noticed me looking at her she stopped and rushed over to hug me.

Chuckling, I decided to name her something special, she was by far the one who resembled me the most. I concentrated and thought carefully, wanting to name her something meaningful, I had always believed that names determined much of a persons personality, so I wanted her name to give her the best I could offer, while still making it sound pretty cool.

In the end, I decided that since I could do little more than give her name the meaning I wanted it to have, I could give it a more meaningful purpose, after all, it had been she who brought me to meet the ponies that had so willingly forgiven me after all we did to each other.

"Applejack, could you please gather your friends here? I want to make a peace offering." I looked at Applejack with a smile.

"Huh? Why, thank you kindly Iron, but gifts ain't necessary, we've all forgiven and forgotten right?" Applejack smiled warmly and the pink pony beside her nodded enthusiastically.

I smiled once more. "Please, It would mean a lot to me if you could accept this small token of friendship."

"Well... Alright, Iron, Ah'll gather the girls here in an hour, need anything else?" She scratched her mane with a hoof.

"Nah, it's cool, thanks a lot for everything, it really means a bunch for me." 

"Not a problem! That's what friends are for, right?" She smiled warmly and turned to leave, the pink pony following her.

The door closed and I sat there, thinking about what had come to happen so far.

Ectorius and Aquilder settled down beside me, the little minotaur on my right side and the small gryphon on my left.

The baby centaur then crawled on top of me and made herself comfortable on my stomach, getting ready for a nap.

I smiled at them, and muttered the centaur's name under my breath, it was going to mean peace, friendship, and a new beginning.

"For what else is worth fighting for, if not innocence and love, if we are to spill our blood on the ground, then let it have a purpose, let it be in wait for something better, let us raise our voices in search of purity, tolerance, and most of all, let us see the future with..."

I closed my eyes, and listened to my daughters heart beat and peaceful breathing, the feeling she gave me was that of hope. Opening my eyes again, I found myself looking straight into her own, she looked at me and smiled, that pure and innocent smile.

"... let us see the future with hope... With you, Esperanza."

She giggled softly and went back to sleep, I followed suit, Applejack would take at least an hour or two to bring everyone here, I had time for a nap.
> Warm Welcome
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Road To Redemption, The Dirt Path



"Surprise!"

I woke up to the sounds of a party, confetti, streamers, music and balloons littered the hospital room in it's entirety. And in the middle of it all were five ponies.

I recognized them as Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and the pink pony that accompanied her before, there also was another one, a pegasus with a pink mane and yellow coat, Rainbow wasn't among them.

The pink pony hopped towards the bed, I noticed the lack of kids around me and took a look around, they were on the floor playing with a balloon while giggling happily.

"Good morning sleepy head! Were you surprised? Were you? Because I was! I didn't know that there were ponies like you! I mean, I know there are some ponies that don't look like ponies, but you don't look like a not-looking-like-a-pony type of pony either!" The overly enthusiastic pony spoke so swiftly that by the time her sentence was over, I was still catching up to the meaning of the first words.

"Wait, what?" My head was spinning, no living being should be able to speak so rapidly.

As the pink pony drew breath to repeat herself, Twilight quickly pressed a hoof against her mouth.

"Heh, well that's Pinkie Pie!" She smiled and chuckled slightly, and then asked me in a more worried tone. "How are you feeling Iron? Does it hurt?"

Sitting up, I looked at myself.

My clothes had been removed for the operation, I was now wearing a hospital robe, although small and uncomfortable since it was designed for ponies, they must have used the largest size they had and still had to attach a couple more pieces of fabric to it! 

The robes weren't very long, barely reaching my knees while laying down, and they were really tight on the shoulder area, the sleeves were positioned on the front instead of the sides, so they had to cut holes through it so my arms could fit.

Looking under the robe, I noticed that I had a bandage across my waist, covering the section were my ribs were,I also sported  a few bruises and cuts from my first encounter with discord, and the skin under the bandage was red and slightly swollen, it didn't hurt though.

Taking a peek under the bandages, however, revealed several stitches and a long cut that ran down my side, from where the doctors had to operate, I was probably missing a few ribs as well. The thought made me wince and shudder slightly, some of the anger from last night being reignited at the sight of my mauled body.

This wouldn't have happened if a certain someone hadn't been a bitch...

"Where's Rainbow?" I asked solemnly, eyes staring off into space, thoughts welling up in my head. Where was the cause of my misfortune? She was to blame for what had happened, she started the fight, so why wasn't she here?.

Sure, Applejack was the one who broke my ribs, and it was probably Twilight who had me imprisoned, but they were here, they were saying sorry for what they had done, and they meant it.

If I was going to forgive them for what they did, I had to know they were sorry.

Silence met my question, just as I thought it would. Twilight and the others lowered their heads, trying to avoid my gaze.

Eventually, Applejack broke the silence.

"She, um... Well, she ah..." The orange mare struggled with her words, she knew why Rainbow wasn't here, she just didn't know how to say it.

I wasn't one to hold a grudge, and I had done my share of evil, but still, my ribs were broken, they almost pierced my lungs, and now I had a permanent record as a convicted criminal. That kind of stuff is not easily forgiven, not even for me.

The silence dragged on for a little while longer until I decided it wasn't worth it. I needed these ponies and their friendship, especially now that the town had their first impression of me, and I didn't think it was a good one.

So, smiling as convincingly as I could, hiding the anger once again, I decided to put on a mask and make myself a puppet, for as long as I needed, until I could snatch the strings from my puppeteers and switch the roles.

"Meh, whatever. I guess she must have been busy with something, right?" Shrugging and keeping my smile, I looked at the ponies, they took their chance and nodded rapidly, desperately wanting to move on to a less delicate subject.

"Yeah! No point in getting all moody because Dashie couldn't make it! Come on everypony! Let's party!" Pinkie jumped up in the air and frantically waved her hooves in the air.

The other ponies cheered and laughed as Pinkie produced an old record player out of nowhere and placed it on the ground.

"Is that a record player?" I chuckled at the sight, my grandma used to use those, and even then they were getting old fashioned!

"Indeed, one of the most recent models too! Just received it from Canterlot." Rarity beamed proudly, she was either the owner of that antique, or was rather fond of record players. I chuckled slightly and then watched as Pinkie placed a large black disk on the machine and a tune started playing.

"Come on everypony! Let's get tha party started!" Applejack then started to dance, swaying from side to side with the occasional hoof stomp or tail movement.

Rarity joined in with her own style, a more elegant and reserved dance, similar in certain ways, like the swaying or hoof stomping, but with less force and more graceful, Applejack rolled her eyes and danced faster.

The yellow pegasus imitated Rarity's dance moves, although in a rather modest and shy way, Twilight and Pinkie joined in and I was left to stare and wonder at the utter strangeness of it all.

I, a human, was sitting in a pony hospital with a broken rib cage, while watching five colorful, speaking, and dancing ponies shake it to the beat of a record player... I felt like I had skipped the first steps of losing it and went straight to the weird part...

"Hey Iron! Aren'tcha coming?" Applejack waved a hoof at me to join.

"Yeah! Come on Iron!" Twilight walked over to the side of the bed and extended a hoof to me.

"Huh? Wha?" I look perplexed at the ponies, dancing was not my forte, nor was it something I enjoyed, but dancing with ponies? That was taking it to a whole different level of weird!

But then again, it was a party, and no one likes a party pooper. Besides, I had already made myself look like an asshole, I didn't want that impression of myself to remain, and dancing was a sort of good way of making up and forgiving right?

Shocked with myself for what I was about to do, I slowly lifted my legs from their resting places, and slid them off the edge of the bed, being careful not to brush anything against my injured side, I slowly slid myself off the bed, feeling the floor with my feet, trying to assert just how much strength I had in my legs.

Carefully tensing and stretching the muscles on my legs, I started to apply pressure, trying to support more of my weight on my limbs every passing second.

"Come on Iron! Ya can do it!" Applejack started to cheer, and was quickly followed by the others.

"Way to go Iron!" Pinkie Pie happily clapped her hooves and smiled as I managed to stand, while leaning on the bed.

Smiling, I slowly attempted to let go of the bed, only to find my legs quivering under the effort.

"Be careful now, dear." Rarity moved forward and helped me recover my balance.

"Heh, sorry, wasn't expecting that, they don't usually fail me." I simply tried to regain my footing, and finally managed to stand, although slightly leaning against Rarity.

"It's all right, just be careful Iron." Twilight's horn started to glow, and a purple aura enveloped my legs, I suddenly felt strength rushing through them, reinforcing the tired muscles, strengthening and fortifying.

"Whoa! I don't think I'll ever get used to that magic stuff you guys use..." With my newly recovered mobility, I decided to test out just how much I could do. "Well, here it goes!"

No longer needing to hold on to anything, I started to bend my knees, trying to see just how low I could go.

Smiling to myself, I decided to walk around a bit.

"Whoa Nelly! Ah' sure hope that fancy-schmancy spell o' yours holds Twi, wouldn't like to have him stumbling around after a surgery!" Applejack looked worriedly at me as I moved about the room.

"Don't worry Applejack, I designed this particular spell specially for Iron's physical and anatomical particularities, It should hold for about two to three hours as long as he doesn't strain himself too much." Twilight beamed proudly, she clearly had a thing for studying and...

Did she say anatomical? As in anatomy? You know, the kind of study that involves being physically examined? 

FUCKING THOROUGHLY?!

I stopped dead in my tracks, eyes growing wide with realization.

"Um... Twilight?" I asked, looking straight at the wall, a slight blush on my face.

"Yes Iron?" She smiled and looked at me.

"When and how exactly did you get the knowledge of my 'anatomical particularities'?" I slowly turned to face her, eyes still wide and face still red.

Twilight simply smiled wider, and started to answer. "Well, of course it was after the nurse removed your..." She then realized what was bothering me, she stopped talking, her eyes grew even wider than mine, and somehow, her face blushed fiercely through her coat.

I decided to end it right there and then.

"Never speak of this again?" I asked quickly before the other ponies caught up to what was going on.

"Never." She simply replied.

The party continued afterwards, Pinkie had a punch bowl on a table, a large cake of as many flavors as there could possibly be as well as some others, and the record player kept on rocking, granny style, some sick pony tunes, like the pony pokey, the good o'l The wheels on the apple cart go round and round as well as a personal favorite of mine... 

THE PONY BACK BUCKER! HOW HARDCORE IS THAT?!?!?

The whole party dragged on for about two hours, most of it was dancing, these ponies have a hell lot of stamina though, I'll give them that. They didn't seem to get tired! Not even after Pinkie made a triple jump with barrel roll in mid air and still managed to catch a cupcake in her mouth! How in the fuck am I supposed to compete with that?

Eventually, I was forced off the dance floor, beaten by Pinkie's dancing skills. I decided to get to meet these ponies.

I already knew some stuff about Rarity and the names of the others, except for the timid yellow pegasus, so I decided to introduce myself.

Walking out of the dance floor, I slowly made my way to the pink maned pony, she was standing by the punch bowl serving herself a drink.

"Hey, how's it going?" I waved at her, while grabbing a glass for myself.

The reaction I got was... Strange... She hid behind her mane and whispered something I couldn't hear.

"What was that?" I smiled while pouring some punch into my glass.

"Hi..."

"Um... Come again?" This was awkward... If she didn't speak up I guess I could always pull off the classical 'laugh and hope it wasn't a question'

But nope, instead she simply remained quiet, the music playing in the background and the laughter of the other ponies the only sounds in the entire room.

Scratching my head, I tried to exit the conversation while keeping it cool.

"Yeah... Well, nice talking to ya, guess I'm gonna check on the kids!" I smiled and started to walk away.

Damn ponies just kept on getting stranger...

Just as I was a few steps away from the punch table, a gentle tap on my shoulder made me turn around.

"Huh?" To my surprise, the yellow pegasus was standing behind me, and Applejack was pushing her forward.

"Come on now Shy, Ya can't stay inside yer shell forever..." Applejack grunted as she pushed the pegasus in front of me. "Iron, meet Fluttershy, Fluttershy this is Iron."

Applejack stopped pushing and walked off to the punch table, Fluttershy stared at me with a mixture of nervousness and fear.

"Hi..." She said in almost a whisper, barely audible above the party music and Pinkie's laughter.

"Hello... So, um, your name is Fluttershy?" It was too awkward by now, no way of resurrecting this chat on a normal level.

"Yes..."

"Do names have such a large impact on ponies around here?" I chuckled slightly, trying to improve the mood.

She didn't answer, instead she kicked at the ground with her hoof and looked at, what must have been, one hell of an interesting stain on the wall.

"Well, what do you do around here?" Awkward...

"I... um... Take care of animals..." She switched from the stain to a broken tile on the floor.

"Like a veterinarian? That's cool, I guess... I have a dog at home, he used to get pretty sick sometimes." I was about to buy a tombstone and a coffin for this conversation by now.

But...

"Oh my, poor thing, what happened to him?" Fluttershy seemed to gain interest as soon as my dog came into play, animal lover perhaps? Anyway, for the first time she actually looked up from the floor and at me.

"Well, I'm not sure... Doctors said that he had some sort of eating disorder or something... They gave him a shot and he eventually got better though." I smiled, proud of my social skills... Don't laugh...

"Shot?" Fluttershy blinked, confused.

"Yeah, it's like an injection or something, he got one and he suddenly started to feel better."

Fluttershy was intrigued by my dog's multiple adventurous trips to the vet, so much in fact, that I was simply unable to switch the topic! She rambled on and on about the multiple herbs and plants she used to heal her animals, or as she put it, 'woodland friends' it seemed like taken out of a children's story, snow white perhaps?

Anyway, the chatter continued for what seemed like forever, after I ran out of medical knowledge, Fluttershy made sure to fill me in on the latest medicinal advances for squirrel neuromusculoskeletal disorders, as well as a fully detailed and rather graphic explanation about the proper way of cleaning a rabbit's... You don't wanna know...

Long story short, I lost my appetite!

"Um... Fluttershy?" I asked, wide eyed and completely traumatized.

"Yes Iron?" She stopped her rambling and looked at me with a smile.

"I think the kids are kind of in need of me... Or something... You wouldn't mind if I..."

"Oh, no, of course not Iron, please go ahead." Fluttershy smiled and turned towards the punch table.

Feeling sorry for cutting the talk in half, I did something I might have come to regret in the future.

"Hey Fluttershy?" I asked before she left.

"Yes Iron?" She turned around again, the same smile on her face.

"We'll continue this conversation later ok?" I smiled and made a thumbs up, because why not?

"Sure thing!" Fluttershy smiled wider and left.

I turned towards the kids, sighing.

The next time we meet I better be able to bring out a topic that wont give me nightmares...

As the party progressed into the evening I started to feel Twilight's spell fading from my legs, exhaustion settling in and the weight on my eyelids suddenly became a heavy burden, the Ectorius, Aquilder and Esperanza were fast asleep by now, all cuddled on top of the bed.

The music had stopped playing, the punch bowl was dry and the cake rested inside our stomachs, all in all, it had been one hell of a party.

Story time!

"Wait, so a giant bear from outer space simply walked into town, started destroying everything, and Twilight just sent it to sleep?." I said from the floor, when the spell started to wear off, I sat on the floor and soon, five tired ponies followed suit. We were all sitting on a circle, sharing stories, jokes and funny anecdotes.

Well, they were. 

After a few attempts at trying my jokes on them, I found out that they were too innocent for the crude ones, didn't know much about people for the racist ones, they had never heard of human religions so religious jokes were out as well, and politicians were actually honest in this place?!? What?! That was like half of my comedic material!

So I just settled down and listened to their stories, apparently, Applejack was an apple farmer, no shit! Fluttershy cared for animals but was unemployed otherwise, Twilight ran a library, no surprises there, Pinkie Pie worked at a bakery and Rarity had her boutique.

"Yup, she sure did! An we sure are happy that his mother never did come looking for him either!" Applejack gave Twilight a playful nudge on the shoulder, to which Twilight modestly answered.

"Oh, it wasn't that much of a big deal... I'm sure anypony would have done the same..."

"Oh dear, please! You saw us running away, utterly terrified of that dreadful Ursa minor!" Rarity dramatically moved her hooves and pretended to faint.

"Yes Twilight, If it hadn't been for you, Ponyville wouldn't be here anymore..." Fluttershy added in her quiet tone.

"Hey Iron! Why don't you tell us one of your mighty-super-duper-extra-adventurous adventures!" Pinkie exclaimed happily as she, somehow, bounced up and down without moving her legs or body in the slightest.

"Yeah, you've been awful quiet Iron! Tell us a story!" Applejack looked at me and adjusted her hat.

All other ponies moved their eyes to me, expecting a super tale of awesomeness.

Too bad, my life was boring as hell...

"Um... Well, there was that one time when... No that isn't funny... Oh! I know how about when I... No, that wasn't legal..." I scratched my head, looking for something to share.

In the end, I decided to go with the one thing that changed my life entirely.

The reason I had to abandon my city.

"Well, Ok, I've got one..." I leaned forward and signaled for them to get closer.

All five ponies moved in, closing the circle, ten pairs of ears perked up to listen better.

"Well, as you all know, I'm not from Equestria..." I started, but...

"Are you from Candyland?" Pinkie Pie smiled widely.

"Yes-wait what? No, I'm not from Candyland Pinkie." I looked at the pink pony with a smile and an arched eyebrow.

"Okie-dokie-loki!" She never lost her cheerful mood, I'll give her that much.

"Well, as I was saying..." I cleared my throat and continued. "I come from another world, universe thingy. Where there is a city in the middle of the desert."

Twilight pulled out a notebook and started to take notes, Rarity straightened her mane without looking away from me, and Applejack was munching on an apple as if it were popcorn.

Pinkie was standing upside down, munching on bite size cupcakes.

"In this city there was a president, he was a very powerful man, didn't take orders from anyone, but he also never took advice from anyone, he had gone as far as to ignore his advisers and his own people..."

"What's a pressdent?" Applejack raised her hoof into the air like a little schoolgirl, the sight of it almost made me smile.

"A president is an elected leader, chosen by the people of a country for a period of time, after which he steps down from office and a new president is chosen." I explained, but Applejack only seemed confused, before she could ask anything though, Twilight interrupted.

"You choose your leaders?" She scribbled something down on her notebook, and looked up at me.

"Yes, I lived in a republic, back at home, the citizens of our country would choose one candidate that was running for president and vote for him, then the votes would be counted and the winner became president."

"So, it was like a contest?" Now it was Rarity who asked.

"Sort of, more like a popularity thing, they promised things and whoever promised the best things and made the other candidates look bad was usually the winner." I was getting off topic, but they seemed so ignorant of the elements of a democracy that it was intriguing to see how they would react.

Twilight picked up her notebook again and continued to write, Rarity and Applejack settled down and listened, Pinkie Pie was laying flat on her belly, looking intently at the wall.

"Anyway, so the president of the city started to ignore his people, they started to grow hungry and the public services were scarcely reaching the poorest among the populace, corruption among the leaders was also very common and the people were angry at the government.

So a man from one of the most affected slums in the..." Interruption time is fun time! Presented by Rarity!

"Whatever is a slum dear?" She arched an eyebrow curiously.

"It's like a part of a city that is in very bad condition, and it's usually inhabited by poor people, there's diseases, crime, and the whole place is dirty and most buildings are in very bad shape." Once again I explained, and once again I was getting off topic.

"Why, that sounds dreadful!" Rarity seemed shocked at the prospect, which in turn shocked me.

"Don't you ponies have this kind of problems here in Equestria?" Now it was my turn to ask the questions, and Twilight's turn to answer them.

"Not since the Windigos were defeated by the fire of friendship." Twilight looked up from her notebook. "Is your city not aware of the power of friendship?"

"I, uhm... I don't think I've ever heard of a windigo... Anyway, back to the story. So this guy rises from the lowest of the lowest, and he makes several friends among the people, after a few years, he gathers a small army and attacks a military outpost outside the city, takes hundreds of weapons and vehicles and runs off into the desert."

"Why'd he do that for?" Applejack tilted her head to the side. "Couldn't he just send a letter to his Prince-err, pressdent?"

"Yes, why do something like that when he could just ask politely to be taken into consideration?" Twilight stopped writing once again and looked at me.

"Well, he wanted to overthrow the president and rule the country himself, so he took his army and started to attack military places outside the city. The people inside the slums saw him as a hero, so his army kept on getting bigger and bigger until he finally attacked a heavily fortified prison inside the city, he freed the captives and gave them weapons, and that's when my dad decided to leave the country, it had become to dangerous for us, so we moved to a neighboring nation until the rebels were defeated." 

I finished my tale, slightly out of breath, I said the last part of it as fast as I could to avoid interruptions.

The ponies let out a collective 'wow' before finally standing up.

"Well, it has been a marvelous party, you've certainly outdone yourself Pinkie Pie! But I'm afraid I must say good bye, I left Sweetie Belle alone and I'm afraid she might burn down the house!" Rarity placed her hoof to her heart, feigning a heart attack.

"Yeah, well Ah've sure enjoyed mahself today, but Big Mac's got a couple carts o' apples he'll want inside the barn before morning so Ah better get going. It's been mighty fun hanging out with you Iron, hope we can do it again!" Applejack said before turning around, but before she could leave I stopped her.

"Wait, Applejack, remember that I told you that I wanted to make a peace offering? For the whole yesterday thing?" I said quickly, the ponies seemed to get slightly uncomfortable at my words, I think I saw a hint of... was it guilt? In Twilight's eyes?

"Uhm... What kind of peace offering?" Fluttershy asked from behind her mane.

"Well," I stroked my chin in a thoughtful manner, although I already knew what I was going to say. "You see, I named my daughter Esperanza, which,, in my native tongue, means hope."

"That's beautiful Iron." Twilight said smiling.

"Yuppity! Its pretty pretty!" Pinkie Pie kept on hopping.

"Yeah, well, you see, the thing is, since it kind of symbolizes my hope for a new beginning in this town, and you guys are the one's who have welcomed me into it, I guess it's kind of appropriate that you gave her a first name." I smiled, this was probably one of the greatest honors a father could offer a friend of his, to let them name his daughter.

"Wait, but wasn't Spranza her first name?" Applejack asked confused.

"I'm going to give it to her as her second, and since you guys are my first friends in this place, despite our little incident, I think it's kind of a necessary thing that you name her. That is, if you want to..."

"It's... Wow... Iron I... I don't know what to say, I mean, I'm honored but, are you sure? After all we did to you?" Twilight seemed rather shocked, I mean it was a pretty big deal, but not that big! She seemed to be on the verge of tears, as if there was something she did that truly injured me. Aside from the whole ribs and imprisonment thing of course...

This was getting weird, they were hiding something, this whole theatrics they were doing over a gesture such as a name was getting ridiculously sentimental, Fluttershy was wiping away tears by now... There was something they weren't saying, had they done more injury to me than I was aware? Or was it just their innocence that amplified the previous incident to a whole new level?

Shaking the thoughts off my head I decided to trust them, after all, I still needed their help to accommodate myself into pony society, if I wanted my kids to have a future, then I needed to be, at least, accepted into town without sounding the alarm, and the five ponies before me where my best shot at that.

"Well, I..." Twilight smiled and wiped away a few tears from her eyes. "How about Lightshine?"

I grinned and the other ponies nodded their approval. "Lightshine Esperanza, sounds perfect! Thanks Twilight."

"Heh, what are friends for?" She smiled and then they said their goodbyes and left, leaving me alone in the room with three snoring babies.

Laying down on my bed beside the children, I pondered about the past events.

They were hiding something, no one breaks into weeping just because they get to pick a name... Or do they? Are ponies that susceptible to emotions? Meh, who knows... It didn't matter anyway, my problems were almost solved! 

All I needed now was a good paying job, and a place to live and voila! Life secured!

Grinning widely, I settled down to sleep, the warmth of the kids beside me  gave me a sense of peace, and calm that I had not felt for a long time, not since the times when, as a kid, I would jump into my parents bed after having a nightmare and they'd let me sleep with them.

It was comforting to be able to lay down and sleep like this, I almost wished daylight wouldn't come.


> A Stranger In Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Stones On The Trail




A week passed by in a flash, the days coming in and out, like shooting stars in the midnight sky.

My body had recovered well enough, I was no longer sore nor had any pain along my injured side, my legs recovered their strength the day after the party, so I was back on my feet and roaming the hospital halls.

Nurse Redheart, all ponies seemed to have their names related to the strange tattoos on their butts, had insisted that I take it slow and not to push myself, blah blah blah... I wanted to move! It can get incredibly boring, not being able to stand up, luckily for me, my stitches hadn't opened and I had been allowed to walk out of my room.

Hospital food didn't really appeal to me, but this was the worst. Daisy sandwiches... No, it wasn't the name for an odd salad or some weird European brand of ham... It was bread, with motherfucking daisies inside it! How the fuck was I supposed to eat that shit? Might as well hop out of the hospital and eat the grass that grew outside it!

God, that stuff tasted horrible! It made me sick for a whole day, puking motherfucking daisies and grass... The doctors had to find something else to give me, didn't take long though, lucky me! They have fruits and vegetables here, so at least I wouldn't starve, but the lord is my witness, I would have killed for a steak...

Not a good idea to say that out loud though... These ponies were herbivores, the sole mention of feeding of the flesh of their four legged brethren would mark me as a complete monster! So I was stuck with a fucking apple a day, some salad and a baked potato with sour cream and cheese... At least the potato was good...

Sadly for me, the washing machine destroyed my old clothes in some sort of weird bleaching accident, and the short ass robes I had been wearing didn't last. Turns out that trying to pull it down so it fits better only causes it to rip. 

One of the nurses had the misfortune of walking in on me with the robes completely destroyed, she fainted and they had to reanimate her.

After that small accident, the doctors tried to come up with another mutant-ass robe for me to wear, but it kind of ended up the same way, only this time it wasn't my fault, some cross eyed pegasus barged in through a window and tore it to pieces, claiming it was a ghost...

So, I had to cover myself with the remnants of my old pants, now colored pink and really fragile, until Rarity came over to take some measurements for new clothing.

She had spent hours speaking of how fabulous it was going to look.

"Why darling, you'll look simply astonishing in your new outfit!" She had exclaimed as a measuring tape circled my arm.

"Um, yeah, just don't make it too sparkly or anything, ok? As long as it looks cool I'm ok with it." I replied, slightly unsure of what to expect from Rarity, she seemed overly obsessed with gems and shiny things.

"Why, Rainbow Dash said the exact same thing before the gala!" She giggled, unaware that she had hit a delicate subject.

"She did huh? Has she said anything else lately?" I grew somber, the rainbow colored pony hadn't visited or anything, not that I expected her to, but I could feel a growing resentment towards her.

Rarity noticed and hurriedly tried to switch the topic.

"Oh, well dear, I really have not seen Rainbow in a while, but do tell me, what type of color would you prefer for the shirt?" She smiled at me, hoping that I didn't press with the topic.

I simply shrugged and smiled back, now was not the time for answers, although it would be soon.

"Black, or red. Either one is fine, a combination would be nice though..." I stroked my chin, thinking about the multiple patterns that could be made out of both colors.

"Mhm, any particular symbols or marks you'd like for me to add?" Rarity had pulled out a small notebook and was writing down my specifications.

"Well, there is one thing..." I scratched my head, unsure whether it would be appropriate to add such a thing.

"What is it dear?" Rarity looked up from her notes and waited for me to answer.

Taking the notebook from her, as well as the quill she was writing with, I proceeded to sketch out a rough drawing of a large Gothic cross surrounded by flames, I also wanted a few skulls but I didn't think the ponies would appreciate it...

My sketch finished, I handed the notebook back to Rarity, she looked at it, and then back at me.

"Um... It's a, well, interesting symbol... May I ask what it means?" She arched an eyebrow and stared at me curiously.

"Nothing in particular, the cross does symbolize something but the overall sketch is just meant to look cool." I shrugged and smiled.

"Very well Iron, I'll have it ready as soon as possible! In the mean time, I made you these." She pulled out of a saddlebag what looked like a roman toga, only difference being that this one was dyed in a green, emerald tone, the borders were encrusted in sapphires, it looked so awesome though! "I am terribly sorry about the simplistic design, but I was so busy trying to fill an order for Canterlot! I hope you'll at least find it comfortable."

Smiling widely, I took the toga and pulled it over my head, and on top of my current clothing, it fit quite nicely and was really comfortable.

And so the days had gone by, Rarity had been stopping by when she wasn't sure about a certain measure or when she simply wanted to share some tea, our conversations were not very lively, since I knew little of fashion, but she enjoyed listening about the different styles of clothing from my world, and when I wasn't certain of something, I simply enhanced the truth a bit.

Twilight also stopped by from time to time, mostly to ask some questions, other times to take notes on what my world was like, and a few other occasions, to simply chat.

After the third visit I had already filled her in on what I remembered about getting here, oddly enough, I couldn't remember how I got here, only the day before getting here, and the events after I fell on the forest.

"So you can't recall anything?" Twilight looked up from her little notebook.

"Nope, not a thing." I replied, munching on a cupcake Pinkie had brought me earlier that day.

"Well that's odd, you seem to remember every event of your life previous to the accident perfectly!"

"I know, it's like the memory just isn't there!" I finished the cupcake and licked my fingers. "Hey, wanna hear some ancient history?"

Twilight immediately perked up at that, she seemed to enjoy universal history almost as much as I enjoyed narrating it. 

"Sure thing! Tell me more about the Egyptians!"

And so the days had gone, Applejack also visited, although rarely due to her having to run a farm 24/7. Pinkie Pie's visits had been rather frequent, if completely random, there were times when she simply popped up out of nowhere in the middle of the night! At least she was careful not to wake up the kids when they slept over.

Fluttershy had volunteered to take care of the three babies while I was hospitalized, I missed them, but it was better than exposing them to the diseases of a hospital after all...

All of that, and the fact that the hospital walls had become quite dull and boring, made the day I was finally able to leave all the better!

Wearing the shirt and pants that Rarity had made for me, and guided by Twilight and Applejack out of the hospital, I finally gazed upon the sights of Ponyville! Fluttershy was waiting for us outside with Pinkie, all three kids waiting impatiently to see me again.

They rushed towards me as soon as they saw me, jumping and laughing, they made me lose my balance and I fell on my back, while the three of them jumped up and down all around me.

Laughing happily, I sat up and embraced them in a mighty bear hug, damn it felt good to be back!

Standing up, I looked at the kids a little closer, all three of them were walking perfectly now, and they displayed emotion and affection quite well.

They were growing up really fast, I remembered the first time I saw Aquilder, he had trouble walking, and stumbled when moving around, the other two had been no different, but after just a few minutes of roaming around in Rarity's boutique the first night, they mastered it!

Their mind was also developing swiftly, they showed actual emotion in just a matter of days, I'm not sure how old they were when Discord gave them to me, but they hadn't seem overly smart.

Maybe it had to do with their animal half, since they were still related to an animal they probably grew in the same manner.

Horses learned to walk as soon as they were born, bulls too, eagles didn't but Aquilder was half lion, soooo, unicorn magic? Who knows...

A thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I facepalmed so hard I could have broken my nose.

"Shit! Fluttershy? What have you been feeding them so far?" I asked, worried. If they were growing as fast as I thought they were, then it wouldn't be long until...

"I-I, s-some baby formula and small amounts of grass for Lightshine..." She mumbled, slightly scared of my outburst. "Is... Is there a problem with that?"

Sighing, I massaged my closed eyes, I found it helped calm me down whenever I was overly stressed. Something about slowing down the heartbeat and whatnot.

"It's their growth rate, they're going to start eating solids soon..." I said after a while.

"So, what's the problem sugarcube?" Applejack asked, slightly confused.

I opened my eyes and looked at the five ponies around me, Twilight seemed to be catching on to what I meant, but the others were blank.

Reaching down and picking up Aquilder into my arms, I held him up so the ponies could see. He giggled and opened his beak.

"This is the problem, Aquilder is not an omnivore, he's a full fledged carnivore... And I doubt any of you know a good butcher around here..." I looked from pony to pony, hoping against hope that they knew about someone who could provide. Sadly, their expressions showed exactly what I had thought, nothing...

"Oh my..." Was all Rarity could say.

"Dagnabbit!" Applejack stomped the ground with her hoof.

"Well this is a problem..." Twilight looked down at the floor and kicked a rock with her hoof.

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof on her chin and pondered at the situation for a while.

"Oooh! I know! We can give him cat food!" Pinkie smiled happily and bounced up and down.

The other ponies looked at her, confused and grossed out for a while, before Twilight surprisingly agreed.

"It's... It's not a bad idea, cat food has the same nutrients and proteins a carnivore requires from a meat based diet, he could definitely eat it." Twilight shrugged and perked up slightly.

"Well, now that you mention it, Opal is actually quite pleased with the brand I give her, perhaps I could arrange for a few more cans of it to be delivered to you Iron?" Rarity smiled kindly and walked towards me, she was obviously happy to have come to such an easy outcome for what could have been a major problem.

I, on the other hand, begged to differ.

Looking at them as if they had just slapped my mother with a tuna, I immediately began to protest.

"Guys, what the fuck? Are you all seriously suggesting that I feed cat food to my son? Can't you all just see a small hint of how fucked up it sounds?!" Bewildered at their suggestion I placed Aquilder back on the floor, where he resumed playing with his siblings.

"Iron please calm down, it's only temporary until we can find the correct spell to change his eating habits." Twilight placed a hoof on my arm, and smiled reassuringly.

Oh, you have no idea of how pissed off I was actually getting at that moment.

"Change his what? Why would we need to change what he is? It's not his fault! And I'm not letting you use magic on him, sorry but that stuff is just plain freaky." I looked at Twilight with a small hint of annoyance.

They wanted to change him for what he ate? What the fuck?! Why not just order for some meat from a large city or something? Surely there were bound to be other gryphons around here that ate meat, why not buy some from them?

"Well Iron, Ah'm sorry but it's the only way, Ah mean, he can't eat our food can he?" Applejack moved closer to me. 

Looking into her eyes made me shiver slightly, what they were suggesting was completely wrong. In some ways it resembled what the Nazis had done to those they considered 'inferior', a few cuts here and there, and boom! They can't reproduce! Changed for the greater good of the supreme Aryan race!

Bullshit!

"No fucking way! Sorry but no! I am not having my kid mutilated just because your society doesn't like what he eats."

"Iron please, you have to understand, this isn't something we do just because, if we were to feed Aquilder actual meat, then where do you think that meat would come from?" Twilight looked into my eyes, trying to instill her herbivore logic into me.

Well, sorry to disappoint Twilight, but I've gone fishing before and I ate those delicious motherfuckers, fucking yum!

So, staring back into her eyes with a determined gaze, I said in the most badass voice I could muster.

"The meat would come from wherever it needs to come from, I don't care, if the kid's hungry then I feed him, no questions asked."

She stared at me in shock, completely amazed, all the ponies were completely astonished by my answer, they were obviously expecting me to hang my head in guilt for even suggesting that we kill animals for food, what they got was definitely more than what they bargained for.

They tried to convince me for about half an hour, but stopped after they realized that I simply wasn't going to change my mind.

So we simply agreed to disagree, they promised that they were not going to mess with my kids and I swore to find some way to feed them without causing harm to any of the local wildlife, it helped a lot that they didn't specify what they meant by local.

After the argument had passed, we moved on to the next thing on the list.

The buildings of Ponyville were colorful to say the least, extremely bright would barely come to describe them.

As I walked towards them I began to notice just how strangely designed they were, Rarity's boutique was modeled after a carousel, which made sense since it was called Carousel Boutique.

But so many other designs were scattered throughout the small town, my eyes darted from house to house, admiring the strange architecture and intricate colors.

"You guys sure love coloring don't you?" I asked no one in particular as the six of us moved through the street and away from the hospital.

"Who doesn't! Colors are so happy and fun! I don't think Ponyville would be the same without them!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, joyful as always.

"This must be quite the change for you Iron, I mean, from what you have told me about your world it sounded sort of... Dull!" Twilight smiled to show that she meant no offense.

"And those dreadful slums you mentioned! Why, I can almost smell the scent of garbage just from thinking about them!" Rarity gasped and cringed slightly at the thought.

I smiled, these ponies were too innocent, and I wasn't offended in the slightest, in all truth? Yeah, my world was dull, and yup, many streets smelled of garbage, urine and other wastes.

"Heh, yeah, this place is so clean as well, it's as if people actually listened to green peace around here..." I was actually starting to enjoy the place, the three kids were tagging along quietly behind Fluttershy.

This town would make a nice home for them.

Not all was fun and hope though, as I continued to look around me I began to notice that many ponies were staring, slack jawed at me. Fear in their little pony eyes.

Instinctively tensing up, I clenched my fists and looked around me.

The stallions were placing themselves in front of the mares in a defensive manner, distrust in their eyes.

"Don't worry sugarcube, they're just nervous round strangers is all." Applejack smiled before turning around to look at the crowd, I have no idea what her eyes showed, but it must have been hella scary for the ponies to lower their heads like that, acting like scowled children.

"Sure , nervous..." It was getting really, really, REALLY uncomfortable. It was bad enough when they were just staring, but now the whispering started and it was driving me crazy.

You know, that sense of annoyance when you do something stupid and hear someone snickering behind you, you can't do shit but you're almost certain he is laughing at you...

"So, how do you like the shirt dear?" Rarity asked, trying to alleviate the heavy mood.

"Yeah, it's a mighty strange symbol you got there! What's it mean?" Applejack played along with Rarity, and I, of course, complied.

"The cross symbolizes a human religion, I'm not a follower, but half the world has faith in it, I just wear it because it was the symbol the Knight Templars and Hospitallers used during the crusades." I explained enthusiastically, I personally loved history, especially the whole crusading period of it.

To think so many men would march towards their deaths for faith and faith alone, an idea they had no proof about, it was... Inspiring.

"Crusades? Ya mean the sort o' stuff mah sister does? Looking for their cutie marks?" Applejack seemed kind of... Wait cutie what? Sounded like a strippers name...

"Yeah, do humans have cutie marks Iron?" Pinkie asked as she continued to hop around.

Twilight and Rarity looked at me curiously, I simply stared back at them, confused, what the hell is a cutie mark?

"Cutie what?" I smiled slightly confused.

Twilight then went on an explaining rampage, citing quotes from scientific ponies and what not... I kind of zoned out after a while, but still managed to grasp the basic concept.

Damn fascist ponies... Controlling their children's futures like that...

Too bad for me, they seemed to love the idea of a cutie mark, and I gotta hand it to them, it'd be soooo helpful to just know that I'm meant to work at a McDonalds till I die and skip all the school crap.

Could have improved on my people skills so I could make it to manager or something...

"Well, nope, we don't have marks like that, although social classes pretty much determine what we do anyways..." I shrugged and kept on walking, the awkward onlookers had begun to disperse, but several still looked at me curiously, if not slightly frightened.

I did my best to break the ice, saying good morning to as many ponies as I could, smiling at them and ignoring the awkwardness of the situation.

But still... It hurt man... To be the weird one, the one that doesn't belong... It hurt, even if just a little, it was like that awkward first day of high school, not knowing anyone and being by myself.

Whatever, I just kept on walking, as calmly as possible.

I'm trying to be friendly, fuck me right?

Pinkie Pie said goodbye as we neared a strange building in the middle of a street, it looked like a big ass gingerbread house with ice cream, sprinkles and cupcakes on top of it, I'm pretty sure I got some sort of diabetes just by looking at it...

I said goodbye and Pinkie gave me a quick hug before stuffing my mouth with a chocolate cupcake and heading inside her house, the question still bothered me though... Where did she get the cupcake from? All ponies were naked and they didn't have any sort of bag or anything! Unicorn magic I guess...

Rarity was the next one to leave, she had some dresses or something to finish, like Pinkie, she gave me a quick hug before entering her own home, no freaky cupcake though.

The remaining ponies led me through the streets of Ponyville and into what seemed to be a wealthy neighborhood.

"Well, what have we got here? I thought you ponies lived in some sort of socialist utopia where social elites no longer existed... I guess the rich and powerful always have their way in the end..." I glanced around the luxurious buildings, some were somewhat modest in their design, but there were a large majority that weren't.

Hell! One of the buildings even looked like a gold coin! That's taking the whole bragging thing to a new level!

As I eyed the house oddly, my luck got even worse. From behind me, a loud voice shouted in one of the most frenzied tones I have ever heard.

"HEY YOU! I DON'T LIKE NEWCOMERS HANGING OUT WITH MY MARES!"

Applejack and Twilight gave sighs of exasperation, Fluttershy simply blushed and hid behind her mane.

Quickly turning around revealed the strangest sight so far in this world of strangeness and weirdness mixed with oddity and a four hundred milligram doze of fucked-up-ness.

"What the fuck is Arnold Schwarzenegger doing here?" I blinked stupidly at the sight before me. The weird stallion in front of me looked even more full of steroids than goddamn Arnold, Stallone and a fucking football player all combined!

He had red eyes, military styled yellowish hair and every single muscle in his body looked like it was on the brink of exploding and splattering the ground in blood and illegal medication...

"YEEAAAAAH!!!!" He shouted and got in position to charge me.

Twilight and Applejack tried to stop him with reasoning and words, but it fell on my shoulders to restore order... Macho-style!

"ENTRALE HIJO DE TU MUY PUTA MADRE!" I hollered at him, smiling widely, no way he could understand me but still, the look of confusion on his face was priceless! But I paid for that really bad...

He recovered from my shout and ran straight at me, I had no time to dodge, laughter wouldn't let me!

On his back were the tiniest motherfucking wings I had ever seen! Comparing them to the bulky mass of muscle his body was, the fucking things looked nonexistent! Too bad though, my laughter was short lived.

The behemoth hit me headfirst on the stomach.

"Ah shit!" I gasped as I hit the floor, nothing broke at least, so that was something.

"YEEEAAAAAH!! YOU IMPRESSED YET APPLETART?" The monster could have shattered walls with the sheer force of his screams.

"HER NAME. IS. APPLEJACK!" I shouted back, more for saying something than anything else, but I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of a smiling orange pony.

With all the strength I could summon, and that is no small quantity mind you, I was well toned on my arms, I grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed.

He seemed shocked, obviously not used to having someone match him in strength, I doubt anyfucking pony could ever hope to win a fight against that bastard.

However, he was still heavy as fuck, so I couldn't push him off, instead though, I managed to bend my knee and hit him on the stomach. He winced in pain and slightly lost his grip on me.

Smiling with glee, I immediately rolled to the side on the floor, he fell on his back and I stood up quickly, and before he could regain his fighting stance, I landed on top of him, pinning his hooves to the ground and pressing my knee against his stomach.

"YEEEEAAAAH!" He hollered right in front of my fucking face, shit that hurt!

"The fuck is wrong with you dude?!" I asked after he quieted down.

"YOU TRIED TO SEDUCE MY MARES! THERE'S NO ROOM IN TOWN FOR TWO STALLIONS!" HE LOO- sorry, He looked me in the eye and tried to break free of my hold.

Too bad for him, having hands gave me quite a good grip on his hooves, and I wasn't gonna let go.

"The fuck you talking about?! There's a shitload of other guys around town!" I asked in complete confusion, how the fuck could this guy consider me the only other male in town?

"THE OTHER PONIES KNOW WHO IS THE ALPHA MALE! THEY ARE NO THREAT TO MY HAREM! BUT YOU ARE STRONG AND TALL, IT IS MY DUTY TO DEFEND THE BEAUTIFUL MARES IN TOWN FROM ANOTHER ALPHA!"

"Um... I'm flattered?" Unicorn magic, unicorn magic, unicorn magic... This was making less sense every fucking second...

"NOT A PROBLEM! NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO THE ONE WHO BESTED ME!"

Letting go of his hooves, I slowly stood up and glanced around.

Ponies, ponies everywhere!

We were once again circled by curious onlookers, a couple hundred I guess, they all stared in disbelief at us, a couple mares had fainted, and one or two stallions were looking with envy at me.

Oh shit... What the fuck had I gotten myself into now...

"I AM SNOWFLAKE! PLEASED TO MEET YOU!" The steroid pony, clever nickname I know, extended his hoof at me.

"Iron Galley." I shook his hoof and glanced around again. "What are they looking at?" I nodded at the ponies around us.

Snowflake smiled a really freaky smile.

"THEY ARE LOOKING AT THE NEWEST CASANOVA IN TOWN! TAG ALONG NEWBIE! I'LL SHOW YOU AROUND!" Snowflake placed a hoof on my shoulder and dragged me towards what looked like a bar of some sort.

"Um... Actually, I was kind of in the middle of a tour with..."

"Don'tcha worry Iron! We'll keep this here kiddos safe till ya come back!" Applejack smiled and waved a hoof at me.

"Yeah, it will do you good to socialize a bit with the townsponies and make a few friends!" Twilight beamed and waved a hoof as well.

"Just mind yer cider and don't get a bone broken!" Applejack joked, and then smiled. "Or get someone's bone broken!"

"Haha, good one Applejack..." I tried my best to laugh sincerely but this whole thing was getting so weird I just didn't think I could handle it.

"YEEEAAAAH! TONIGHT! WE DINE IN TARTARUS!" Snowflake laughed as he led me towards the bar named Tartarus.

Ah shit! What the fuck am I gonna do now?
> Ladies Guard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Night To Remember!


The bar was crowded, full of noise and chatter, the dimly lit room where a dozen ponies danced to the beat of the music reeked of sweat, nothing compared to human stench though.

These ponies seemed to be the embodiment of all things fair, their sweat could be easily compared to the scent of sea water, although it didn't smell the same, it was noticeable but not disgusting or upsetting.

Snowflake smiled widely as he entered, waving at a few other ponies that were sitting on a table beside the barkeeper.

I was glancing around nervously, the scent of pony sweat thick in my nostrils.

It was dark and really crowded inside the small building, my head was a mere ten inches from the roof, since I was twice the height of any of the ponies, I stood out among the crowd like a sore thumb.

Good thing Rarity had attached a hood to the shirt I was wearing, and although it did little to keep me out of sight, at least it gave me a little comfort to keep my face hidden.

We sat down at a table near the entrance, the abnormally large chairs still proved uncomfortable for me, but I managed.

"HEY TINY! GET SOME CIDER OVER HERE!" Snowflake waved a hoof at a small pony, he nodded and rushed towards the bartender to pick up the drinks.

I was looking around the place, trying to see anything of interest, some pony with goggles and blue mane was running the techno music, and several couples of mares were dancing to the beat, there was an odd lack of stallions though, just around ten among the couple dozens of mares.

Snowflake nudged me in the ribs and asked as loudly as he could.

"ANY MARE YOU LIKE?" He smiled and waved his hoof in the general direction of the dancing mares.

I smiled, recalling the olden times, a couple of friends and I would sit on a bench and argue for hours about which girl was the best, I never thought that kind of conversation would ever happen again in this strange place.

"It looks like you brought me to a lesbian bar!"

Snowflake looked slightly shocked at the way I answered, but after a little he simply smiled and nodded.

"YES, SAD IF YOU ASK ME. EVER SINCE THE FIGHTS FOR MATING TERRITORY STARTED, MOST MARES PREFERRED TO COUPLE WITH THE SAME GENDER TO AVOID THE FIGHTING," Snowflake sighed before continuing.

"THAT'S WHY THERE AREN'T AS MANY STALLIONS ANYMORE, GIRLS PREFER TO USE THE PREGNANCY SPELL TO HAVE FILLIES INSTEAD OF COLTS SO THAT THEIR SONS DON'T JOIN IN THE FIGHT"

I simply nodded, understanding slowly flowing into my brain.

The whole alpha male shit wasn't just some weird stuff Snowflake made up, it was an actual territorial competition for the females of certain areas.

Which made sense since horses have that type of hierarchy when it comes to mares. I didn't understand it fully though, these ponies seemed civilized, so why keep such a trivial way of mating? I'd have to ask Twilight about it later.

The pony came back with the drinks and placed them in front of us, he stole a quick glance at me and hurriedly left.

Snowflake gave a short laugh.

"YOU ALWAYS HAVE THAT IMPACT ON PONIES?" He smiled, obviously wishing ponies would react similarly to him.

"You could say that," I picked up my mug of cider and took a sip. I wasn't too keen on alcohol but Snowflake seemed to respect me for being a badass and I didn't want to break the image he had of me. "tell me Snowflake, where do you stand in this territorial war?"

The cider wasn't too strong, it was obviously alcoholic but not by much, it had a nice flavor to it.

Snowflake smiled again and took a large swig of cider.

"I STAND ON THE SIDE OF PONYVILLE OF COURSE! THIS IS ONE OF THE LAST PIECES OF TERRITORY WHERE NO STALLION HAS ELECTED HIMSELF AS MAIN ALPHA!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

He then took another large swig of his drink and explained to me how it worked.

"WELL IRON, IN LARGE CITIES A STALLION WILL NAME HIMSELF AS THE MAIN ALPHA OF A CERTAIN SECTION OR AREA OF THE CITY AND HIS FOLLOWERS THEN HELP HIM KEEP OTHER GANGS OUT OF HIS TERRITORY, AND AS A REWARD THEY GET TO CHOOSE WHICH MARES THEY WANT FOR THEMSELVES!"

He spent the next ten to fifteen minutes explaining how it worked, the system was as old as ponykind, but it had evolved and largely decreased as mares stopped being treated like property, so it was more of a bro code by the time I got here, the main alpha got to choose which mares he liked so no one in his gang or the rest of the stallions made a move on them, as a reward to the gang members they got to choose after the leader.

Snowflake however, was against the system, and he had formed a gang of his own in Ponyville quite a few years ago to keep other gangs from taking over.

Snowflake didn't place restrictions on the stallions in town, so they were free to make a move on any mare they wanted at anytime without fear of getting in trouble with a mafia boss.

And then he cracked the question at me.

"SO WHAT DO YOU SAY IRON? WANNA HELP KEEP THIS TOWN FREE?" His smile was friendly but also determined, by the way he sounded it looked like he needed help with the town, according to him more and more gangs were badly trying to get a hold of Ponyville and all that stood between them and the town was Snowflake and a couple more volunteers from around the village.

I sighed, it sounded so awesome and exciting to defend a town full of ladies from abusive assholes, it was the job of a lifetime! But I had three kids to take care of, and I didn't think fighting jerks was very well paid... or maybe...

"Is there a paycheck at the end or something?" I arched an eyebrow, this could determine my answer completely.

Snowflake scratched his head and thought about it for a little.

"WELL SOME OF THE PONIES WE CAPTURE HAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS, AND THE LOCAL POLICE PAYS SOME BOUNTY FOR ANY CAPTURED CRIMINALS." Snowflake looked at me with hope in his eyes.

I sighed again and smiled, if I could capture a few wrong doers every once in a while I could make some extra coin apart from whatever job I did, and the extra reputation as a hero around town would certainly help out with the odd looks I got from the locals.

So I eagerly smiled and agreed to help him, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like vigilante stuff was overly motherfucking dangerous or something...

"Very well my friend, I'll help out with any local brawls you get into, as long as I get a share of the coin, also I would appreciate it if you could put a good word about me around town, and suggest any full time jobs?" I extended my hand at the bulky pegasus and he shook it happily.

"YEEEEAAAAAH! YOU WON'T REGRET IT IRON! JUST WAIT AND SEE! MARES WILL BE ALL OVER YOU FOR HELPING OUT! AND DON'T WORRY, I KNOW A FEW PONIES AROUND TOWN THAT ALWAYS HAVE BITS TO PAY AND JOBS TO OFFER!" Snowflake smiled widely and took another very large swig from his cider.

"Hehe, thanks! Can't wait to get started." I joked, but grew serious as I saw Snowflake's smile.

"WELL THEN... LET'S NOT WASTE ANY TIME!" He nodded at a table not too far away from ours, there were five stallions sitting around it, sharing laughs and cider. "SEE THOSE STALLIONS? THEY'RE IN WITH A GANG, LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT PONYVILLE GUYS ARE MADE OFF!"

A small smile spread through my face, it had been a long time since my last fight, ignoring the whole mess from a week ago, that didn't count...

Snowflake stood up and walked slowly through the crowd, making sure not to be seen before getting close to the table were the stallions were seated, all of them were pegasus.

I tried my best to be stealthy as I followed but my height and appearance gave me away almost immediately, to my surprise though, Snowflake had no problems with stealth! Despite his overly massive build, he could be sneaky as a mouse.

Half the bar was staring at me, and the other half was either too busy dancing their asses off or were too drunk to notice.

Snowflake didn't get halfway close to the stallions, because the barkeeper decided to mess with the wrong bastard at that exact moment.

"Hey Snowflake! No pets allowed! Take your monkey outside!"

I froze in place, face glowing red from anger.

"The fuck did you just call me?"  I didn't move or turn around, I simply whispered, he couldn't hear me of course.

"Snowflake! Come on, I'm not cleaning if it has an accident!" The chubby, brown unicorn bastard kept shouting, much to the amusement of the ponies around him.

Well most ponies around him.

Many of them had seen me pin Snowflake to the ground just a few minutes ago, and they were starting to back away from the bartender, afraid of what was about to happen.

I turned around slowly, eyes wide and face red, jaw clenched in anger.

Moving towards the bartender I slowly removed my hood, revealing my rage in its full glory.

The pony immediately swallowed his words as understanding hit him, he was in for a world of hurt unless he went down on his knees and started licking some serious boot.

Too bad for him, my boots were shiny enough.

"What was that you said asshole?" I smiled, fists trembling with anticipation.

Looking back on what happened that night, I guess I kind of feel bad for the pony... The poor bastard started shaking and looking from side to side in search of anything to save himself.

"I... I..." His eyes showed pure, raw terror.

I was right in front of him, hands placed on the wooden counter he stood behind, still smiling coldly and terrifyingly.

"Hey pal, I think it's best if you leave."

Someone placed a hoof on my arm, his words were heavy with determination but also with fear.

Quickly turning around revealed one of the pegasi Snowflake had planned on beating up. A quick scan of the room revealed Snowflake smiling as he got closer to the stallion in front of me, we exchanged a quick glance and he nodded.

So damn it all to hell, I was angry and we were going to get in a fight anyways.

"Yeah? Well, I think it's best if you shut the fuck up!" I smiled genuinely now, the thrill of a fight flooding me with adrenaline, I quickly slapped his hoof away and landed a firm punch in between his eyes.

Several gasps filled the room, followed by screams as the stallion crashed on top of a table after I pushed him.

"YEEEEAAAAAH!" Snowflake shouted before launching himself on top of another pegasus, landing wild hits and kicks at him.

The music stopped playing and was replaced by the hysteria of dozens of ponies rushing to escape. Too exaggerated if you ask me, there once was a shooting outside my house, all I did was close the window and turn the volume of the tv louder.

Snowflake was shouting madly as he sent another pegasus flying backwards, I was wrestling with another one of the bastards, there were at least five.

The one I had pushed was laying unconscious beside a broken table, his friend was trying hard to land a blow but I was taller and he couldn't fly because of the low ceiling.

Dodging a hit to my face, I quickly moved to the side and wrapped my arm around his neck, I applied a little pressure and after a little while he fell unconscious.

You do learn a few valuable things in school I guess...

Snowflake had beaten a third one, but was having trouble with the remaining two.

"Hey Snowflake! Watch out!"

He jumped out of the way and I sent a chair flying towards the nearest pegasus.

He dodged it but it didn't matter, I took my chance and ran at him, tackled him and punched him repeatedly before using the same maneuver that I used on the last one.

I looked up and saw Snowflake being thrown to the side by the remaining pony, a pegasus like the rest, but this one stood out because of his coat, dark grey like smoke, dotted with spark-like patches of white, the tattoo on his ass looked like a storm cloud with a lightning coming from it.

Standing up, I blocked his way out of the bar by positioning myself in front of the door.

The pegasus looked at me with fear and desperation, I simply smiled and beckoned for him to get closer.

Snowflake had regained his footing and was standing beside me now.

"NOWHERE TO FLY NOW, RIGHT SPARKS?" My bulky friend smiled as he addressed the stallion.

The pegasus looked from side to side, glancing at his fallen friends and back at the sweaty two legged monster that I probably looked like. After he realized he didn't stand a chance he sighed and glared at us before yelling in the coolest Russian accent I had ever heard.

"Viz izn't over Snovflake! I'll be vack!" Sparks I guess, looked terrified but managed to sound threatening before he darted off through the back door, breaking several plates and glasses as he escaped.

"DARN I FORGOT ABOUT THAT DOOR!" Snowflake kicked at the ground but didn't give chase, the pegasus would be too far away by the time we followed.

I was panting by now, sweat covering my new shirt and blood running down my nose from a lucky hit by one of the bastards.

Looking around me revealed that the entire place was a mess, broken chairs and tables lay scattered everywhere, cider was spilled on the majority of the floor and the unconscious stallions were not going to be easy to explain to the...

AH SHIT!! THE COPS!!

My eyes widened and I pulled my hair in frustration, how the hell did I forget about the goddamn cops? I had just gotten out of jail a week ago and here I go! Knocking ponies unconscious in a brawl! The fuck brain? What was I thinking!?

"Aw shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Snowflake! How the fuck are we gonna explain this shit to the fucking cops?!" I looked at him expectantly, hoping that the bulky bastard knew the chief or some shit like that.

He simply stared back, the confused look on his face filled me with dread.

And then he simply started laughing.

I stared in disbelief as the goddamn asshole laughed for several seconds, every single one of them making me angrier at the bastard.

"Dude! What the fuck? This shit ain't funny man! I barely got out of jail and I'm getting thrown back in?!"

His laughter subsided into nothing, and he smiled at me.

"IRON, YOU WORRY TOO MUCH! CHIEF GOLDEN STAR WON'T MIND US BEATING A FEW WINGSTERS! TARTARUS, IT'S ALMOST A SPORT FOR THE MILITIA!"

I gawked at him, fucking ponies weren't as peaceful as I thought if they considered brawls a sport.

"The fuck do you mean? The police is ok with this shit?" I pulled a chair towards me and tried to sit down, but the piece of shit broke under my weight, apparently it was the same chair I had thrown a while ago, so I had to remain standing. "And what do you mean by 'Militia'?"

Snowflake sat on floor and explained to me a couple more fucked up things about the whole shit they had going on around here.

Apparently, the ruler of this place, some princess Lestia or something like that, had long abolished the traditional way of mating among her subjects, Snowflake said it happened about six hundred years ago but he was probably exaggerating, ponies don't live very long after all.

Anyways, the abolition was faced with severe discontent, and many of the main alpha males around the country refused to disband their gangs or relinquish their multiple wives, so the princess was forced to eliminate the system gradually, or face rebellion, although I doubt these ponies would go as far as to do something extremely violent.

She allowed the stallions to keep their wives and the gangs simply changed their official status to 'social groups', but she also made it illegal to force a mare into a relationship, which weakened the strength of the alphas greatly since they couldn't hoard all the females any longer, they did find a way around it though, by threatening stallions into not approaching mares and whatnot.

Anyways, since there was never any proof of the threats actually happening the princess couldn't do shit, so the gangs kept partial control over the mares in certain areas of the country, and here's where Snowflake comes in.

He didn't like the way it worked, there was a long and sad story about his childhood and how he wasn't able to ask the mare of his dreams to a dance because of a gang or something.

But long story short, he moved to Ponyville since there wasn't an alpha stationed here and made his own group after a gang named Wingsters from a city named Cloudsdale or some shit like that decided to take over the place, he named his gang Ponyville Militia and has kept the Wingsters at bay for about five years.

Sneaky bastard also has a deal with the local police to ignore most of the shit he does, since the chief's son is part of the Militia and whatnot, there's also the fact that the princess actually supports the few resistance groups around the country since they do the dirty job she can't do by herself, add all that shit up and you get one hell of a weird underworld story thing that I had suddenly gotten myself into...

"So, do we just, like, leave? What about all the ponies that just saw us beat the shit out of these guys?" Too good to be true...

"I DON'T THINK THEY'LL CARE MUCH AFTER WE TELL THEM WHO THEY WERE WORKING FOR." Snowflake nodded towards the pegasi on the ground.

"And they're working for?" I arched an eyebrow, curious to know who could be so evil that the whole town would just forget about me tearing this place to pieces.

Snowflake lost his smile and leaned closer towards me.

I was very shocked to hear him speak normally for the first time, the guy we were talking about must have been quite the badass.

"Sparks Cloud, the pegasus that flew off just now, he works for somepony, a very dangerous pony at that, it's rumored that he or she runs the entire Stalliongrad mating territories," 

Snowflake looked at the ground briefly before continuing.

"that pony managed to unite all the separate alpha males into one gang! And now they're trying to expand, Sparks Cloud's Wingsters gang is their most recent addition, he also became some sort of lieutenant or something for the alphas in Stalliongrad."

I nodded slowly, this shit seemed bad, if I had known this stuff before helping Snowflake beat up these bastards then I wouldn't have done it, this was a fucking mafia boss we were talking about, not some hotheaded asshole that wanted to play Romeo, and I had three kids that depended on me for sustenance, I couldn't take on a fucking criminal organization!

But shit, the Sparks guy had seen me, and no doubt he would remember me, I had just gotten on the bad side of these assholes. It sort of reminded me of Fallout New Vegas, I helped the town thingy at the beginning and then the powder gangers hated me forever...

I sighed and started to massage my eyelids to let out some stress, my breathing slowed down and my heart seemed to calm its racing pace.

"So, we're fucked aye?" I asked after calming down.

"No, not unless we go our separate ways, if we stick together then they don't stand a chance!" Snowflake kept the low tone in his voice, seemingly discouraged by his own explanation.

I sighed again and went over to the counter, there was a full mug of cider just standing there, so I drank it.

The cool drink calmed my nerves with its alcoholic powers and eased itself down my dry throat, washing my worries away.

"Well, we can't do shit about what's happened right? Let's worry about that later!" I smiled at him, the alcohol was slightly affecting my mood, in any other situation I would have been pissed worried about getting in trouble with organized criminals.

I had seen firsthand what those bastards were capable of.

Snowflake laughed and his voice returned to normal.

"YEEEEAAAAH! HEY! LETS GO MEET THE REST OF THE GANG!" He punched my shoulder lightly and hurried out of the building.

"Fuck yeah! Might as well make some friends, that's what Twilight said!" I smiled, my mood was greatly improved by now, but whether that was my own doing or the cider's I had no idea.

So we left the bar, it was night by now, the moon shining brightly over us as we walked through the streets of Ponyville, telling jokes and stories.

"And... And then the priest said! It's not my mother! It's a duck!" Snowflake and I burst into laughter, that was possibly the stupidest joke I knew, but it was also a favorite of mine. 

Snowflake was much better company than any of the six mares I first met, he actually understood a few of the jokes I said! And he didn't consider my funny life stories as 'gross' 'dishonest' 'inadequate for a gentlecot, cold, tolt, or something like that...' or 'irresponsible' as Applejack and company had said. This guy was a bro, plain and simple.

And he had plenty of stories to tell as well.

"Yeah, do you have any kids man?" We had begun to wander into the more rural area of town, I mean the whole place was rural, but this particular side of town took the prize! It was complete farmland as far as the eye could see, two structures distinguished themselves from the fields.

A large red barn in between several apple orchards, which I guessed belonged to Applejack's family... No shit Sherlock... And another house about a mile away, It looked strange though...

It was a tall slim building with a large carrot on top of it, beside it lay hundreds of carrots in a large vegetable garden.

"One," Snowflake had once again lowered his voice, this time for the sake of the sleeping ponies. "Featherweight, really good kid too, strong flier."

I saw the smile on Snowflake's face and thought about my own relationship with the kids. A father. Wow, it still had some trouble sinking into my brain, I was a dad...

To take on such a heavy responsibility was... Like... a lot! I mean, this wasn't a dog or something like that! These were three thinking and feeling kids! I had to feed them and buy them shit and take them to school, but the one thing that worried me sick was whether I was actually worth anything as a father...

I mean, I was the laziest motherfucker around school back at home, smart yeah, but lazy as fuck, I never did much to help others either, there was the occasional spare change for a homeless guy but everyone did that...

What if these kids ended up all fucked up because of me? I don't think I could have lived with the pain of ruining someones life so deeply...

The night dragged by and so did the chatter, in a matter of minutes we found ourselves at the door of the strange carrot themed house.

"WELL IRON, IT WAS GREAT HANGING OUT WITH YOU, GLAD YOU JOINED THE MILITIA AND ALL, I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW, RIGHT NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE A CHAT WITH CHIEF GOLDEN STAR." Snowflake resumed with his usual way of speaking since there weren't many houses anymore, and the door swung open, no need for him to knock after shouting like that.

"Snowflake? What in Celestia's name are you doing here this late?" A mare with an orange mane and three carrots as a tattoo looked at us sleepily from inside her house.

"HEY THERE MISS GOLDEN HARVEST! I'M HERE TO TALK WITH YOUR HUSBAND!" Snowflake's voice seemed to make the floor beneath the poor mare tremble.

Good thing she didn't see me though, she would have fainted. Thank god for the darkness of the night.

A few seconds of silence surrounded us as the mare recovered after being shaken to the bone by Snowflake's shout. And then another pony spoke from amid the darkness.

"Snowflake? What in Equestria has happened? I just received a letter from the townhall telling me a monster attacked someponies in bar Tartarus! Good thing they were wanted criminals with large enough bounties on their manes to pay for the damage, otherwise your friend here could be back in jail in no time."

I went pale with surprise as I noticed who this pony was.

"Ah shit... not the bastard that I punched when I was in jail..." Indeed it was, and apparently, he was chief of police! Chief Golden Star eyed me suspiciously and then faced Snowflake.

"A friend of yours?" The grey stallion with a sheriff star tattooed on his ass asked Snowflake.

"AND NEW MEMBER OF THE MILITIA! YOU'VE MET BEFORE?" Snowflake asked curiously, he wasn't expecting us to know each other.

"We have had a turbulent past, but anyway what has brought you here?" The chief motioned for Snowflake to continue.

"I THINK IT'S BEST IF WE CONTINUE THIS IN PRIVATE CHIEF, IRON AND MISS HARVEST DON'T NEED TO ENDANGER THEMSELVES WITH THE NEWS I HAVE."

"Agreed, honey could you please go check on Derpy? I'm afraid she might burn down the house... again..." The chief asked his wife, who simply nodded and trotted off into the house.

Snowflake turned to face me and smiled.

"WELL IRON, IT'S BEEN AWESOME TO KICK SOME FLANK WITH YOU TONIGHT, BUT IT'S BEST IF YOU LEAVE, I'VE GOT SOME BUSINESS TO TAKE CARE OF HERE."

I nodded and said my goodbyes, then walked back towards the town, feeling worried about what could happen the following day as the effect of the cider started to leave my mind.

"Fuck, I just hope there isn't a mob... I hate mobs..." I kicked a rock and sent it flying into a bush.

As I walked along the dirt path that led towards Twilight's tree house, I started to notice the sound of hooves behind me. This was the shit I was afraid of, fucking mafia abducting me in the middle of the night, torturing me, then killing me and throwing me into a river!

I quickly turned around, fists raised and ready for some pony ass kicking. What I saw was, unexpected...

"Vell, if it isn't the monster vat has veen terrorizing Ponyville for the past veek..."

A mare, pegasus with light green coat and a yellow mane, carefully styled and adorned with a golden comb walked out of the shadows. She spoke with the same Russian accent that the Sparks guy had back at the bar. But her voice seemed, dangerous...

"Vut then avain, vhat can you expect from somepony as brutish as a male?" She scoffed at me, raising her head high, like fucking royalty.

"Sorry ma'am, but I don't think I know you..." I tried to keep my cool, not wanting more enemies than what I already had, but her uptight fucking attitude was getting on my nerves.

"Obviously you don't, vat means I have done my job vell." She spat, full of scorn. Getting on my nerves...

"Ok... You know what? I'm just gonna leave now, yeah? This is getting us nowhere and I don't want anymore trouble." I resumed walking towards the tree house, but her words struck me death cold on my steps.

"And vhat of your children? Vill the little ones meet trouble as vell? If you mess vith the vrong ponies they might..."

"What the fuck did you just say you bitch?!" I spun around and tried to find the fucking whore so I could land a couple of my opinions into her face, but she was gone.

Shaking wildly, tears in my eyes and frustration making me its bitch, I quickly rushed inside the library, almost kicking the door open, and made a race for the kid's room, I wasn't sure where it was but it didn't matter, I had to see they were ok.

"Kids! Kids!" I shouted as loud as I could, waking up Twilight and a big ass lizard thing I didn't know she had.

Kicking a door open, I found them, wide awake from my shouting, I rushed towards them and hugged them as tight as I could, afraid that if I let go they might disappear.

Tears were flowing freely now, they were either too sleepy or confused to cry themselves, but my frustration was getting to them, one by one they began to hug me back.

"Iron? Iron what happened?" Twilight barged into the room, trying to see anything in the darkness, I didn't reply, I was lost in fear of what could have happened, what may yet happen, and what didn't happen.

Twilight's voice seemed to disappear and grow muffled as the world around me began to disperse, slowly at first but in a swift motion it was gone, I fell into a nightmare plagued rest, but at least they were all right, it was all that mattered.

At least they hadn't killed my kids.





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Congratz to Elemist for winning first prize for the antagonist role! Madame Schürze (the mare that threatens Iron at the end).

Also thanks to kiddi for his Sparks Cloud submission!

Both characters will appear in later chapters as well, thank's all for submitting your OCs and enjoy the reads!
> Rise Of A Hero
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Death Of A Monster


I was running away from the shadow, running towards the tower,

It was ever so fast, ever so frightening,

Relentless in the way it hunted me, and I was afraid of its power,

In my arms I carried my family, all I had in this world, 

Where the sun did not shine and all light came from fiery gold,

The streets of my home were broken and dirty, just as I recalled,

Cars were lined up around the road, no people were around,

The shadow followed and caught up to me, in a dark street where to all the gods I prayed,

The beast smiled and hollered, and I did nothing but laugh in its face,

For before me was not a demon or monster in all its glory,

In front of a man it was prey, poor creature I say, it was but a pony.

The sun entered the room in a flood of morning glory, illuminating the entire expanse of the children's temporary room.

Consciousness slowly returned to my brain, I opened my eyes with a newly found determination that I had never felt in my life.

Those bastards thought they could threaten my family? They think they can simply move into my town and risk my children's happiness? Well, I beg to differ...

Why do I call it my town you ask? Well, you see dear reader...

Ponyville was my town now! Why you wonder? Simple.

It was my town because it was now my children's home, and I was not going to let vermin walk in and take that away from them, last night I was full of dread for what could happen to my kids, but I let the past experiences of my world flood through my mind and settle themselves as the reality of this world.

Stupid me, nopony was as evil as a man.

The bastards that were threatening me had no idea who they were messing with.

I was a man, not a colorful fucking pony that eats rainbows and shits happiness.

I smiled as the thought crossed my mind, why had I been so afraid? Did I really worry about the threats a pony could make? No! I had grown in a filthy city full of murder and robbery, armed assault and death were daily occurrences in my day to day life.

The worst these ponies could do to me was stain my clothes with their blood after I beat them to a pulp.

Smiling grandly at how stupid I had been I stood up and looked down at my children, Aquilder was sound asleep beside his sister and Ectorius was happily snuggling closer to a pillow.

No bastard was going to take away the innocence from them, I was not going to let them.

My human pride and ego fully restored, I slowly walked towards a mirror by the wall.

My expression no longer showed a worried man, or a hurt one.

"And all it took for me to get my shit together was for those bastards to underestimate me? Bah! I'm ashamed of you son!" I pointed a finger at my reflection and laughed. "Oh, they have no idea what a world of pain I can rain down on their pitiful asses!"

You wonder about the sudden change my good reader? Do you ask yourself how can a man go so swiftly from weeping and shame of his own acts to a full fledged warrior ready to take on the world? Well, to comprehend my actions and transformation you must first position yourself in my shoes!

You, a strong human, fully understanding about the numerous ways of the world to inflict pain into the body and mind, you who has, oh so horribly, lived your life in a city were men tore each other to pieces in a daily basis, where morals and ethics were violated with such violence it was a marvel that mothers still tried to teach it to their children.

You, who despite living in luxury, has seen your share of pain and caused a modest part of it, how would you react if some colorful fucking talking mini horse came up to you, and in its complete innocence and ignorance of how to even mutter an insult, threatened you?

See? I had simply thought about what a man could do to a man when I worried about the pony's threat, it had never crossed my mind that the ones who opposed me and my family were ponies, but now, free of the mental restrictions of alcohol and lack of sleep, I could fully comprehend the absurdity of it all!

"Those fuckers have it all wrong if they think I'll let them go without a few broken bones..." I smiled with glee at my reflection in the mirror, joy fully returning as a side of me I hadn't felt in a long while occupied my mind.

I was actually looking forward to meeting the bastards, to fighting them, and when I won, to making them pay.

I ran a hand through my hair, it was dirty and in disarray, my eyes were different too, they shone with something I hadn't seen before, but it felt good.

"Can't kill fuckers without a shower though." I raised my arm and sniffed. "Shit!" I coughed and grimaced as the stench of sweat filled my nostrils, I needed a shower ASAP!

I walked towards the door, confident of myself for once, not worried in the slightest.

My hand pressed against the wooden door and I pushed it open, Twilight's library was small, but large enough to accommodate an incredible amount of books. The shelves and counter were full of them.

I looked around the building, big smile on my face, completely glad that I had seen the light of my own strength.

I was incredibly hungry though! Last night's brawl had prevented me from eating anything, and it was taking its toll.

I moved towards what I thought was a kitchen only to be stopped by a very irritated sounding pony clearing her throat.

"Ahem... Iron, ya have some splaining ta do."

I was slightly stunned by the sudden appearance of the voice, slowly turning around revealed a very upset Applejack and other five ponies, one of which I was rather surprised to see.

Smiling, I looked at Applejack and the other mares, they weren't as happy as I was, except for Pinkie, but then again she's always happy.

"Good morning Applejack," I nodded at her and to every single mare as I said their names. "Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie," Instead of nodding at Pinkie, I simply waved my hand happily at her, she complied with equal enthusiasm. "and Rainbow."

My gaze fell on the last mare of the group, Rainbow was looking away from me even as I called her name, she obviously wasn't comfortable being around me.

"What brings you all here today?" I asked, fully knowing why they were there.

"Well, this is my house," Twilight moved a bit closer, she was obviously mad at me for what happened last night. "and we wanted to give you a chance to explain what happened yesterday."

"Yeah! Everypony says you were a real big meany pants!" Pinkie Pie hopped closer to me and poked me were my ribs had been before Applejack sent them to bone heaven. "Don'tcha remember what happened last time you were a big meany pants Iron?"

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity snapped at her, thinking she had touched a delicate subject.

I stared at Pinkie, watching her ears lower as she started to apologize, but before the words could even leave her mouth I felt my own facial features contorting into a smile, which was immediately followed by a short laugh.

Crude humor was as difficult to come by in this place as fucking gold! It would be a sin not to enjoy it when it came!

Pinkie Pie immediately perked up, she smiled happily and smugly looked at Rarity, giving her a 'You were saying?' glance.

Rarity rolled her eyes and regained her unamused look.

"Anyway, Iron, what happened last night?" Twilight continued.

I smiled again and turned towards the kitchen.

"Well, I will gladly explain over a warm breakfast!" I motioned towards the kitchen with my hand and nodded for them to follow.

But unamused Applejack was unamused.

"Darn it Iron! Ya can't go round town wrecking shops and knocking ponies down and then just ask fer breakfast like it ain't nothin!"

I looked at Applejack, she was clearly the most upset pony from the group, I didn't know why though.

Raising my hands in an apologetic manner, I simply smiled at her, trying to calm her down.

"Hey come on, they were bad guys right? What's the big deal?" My smile wavered at their reactions, even Fluttershy looked at me disapprovingly. You know you have fucked up big time when Fluttershy says it to your face!

"That is not the point Iron! They are ponies! You can't go around hitting them! It isn't nice!" Twilight raised her voice if only slightly.

My good mood was being threatened by now, these ponies wanted me to admit that what I had done was wrong, and they thought it was, so I decided to simply call it quits and leave.

I had no money but if I met up with Snowflake maybe he would lend a few bits to a starving soul.

So I shrugged and made my way to the front door, trying to avoid a confrontation.

"I'll just come back when you guys chill out ok?" I was halfway out when Twilight surrounded the wooden door and locked it magically.

"We need to talk Iron."

I sighed, no getting out of this mess for me...

"Now, why did ya think it was a good idea ta go picking fights right after getting out of tha hospital? Ya could have hurt yerself!" Applejack was the next to speak, and I just couldn't resist the temptation of teasing.

"Why, that's so sweet of you Applejack! I didn't know you cared for me in that way!" I pretended to swoon and leaned against the wall.

Poor Applejack's eyes widened.

"What in tarnation?! No, Ah didn't mean it like that!" Applejack blushed and quickly denied my accusations.

Pinkie Pie giggled and wrapped her foreleg around her.

"Silly Applejack! You can't like Iron, he's not a pony!" The pink pony winked at me and played along, I immediately pictured her with a trollface.

"Darn it Pinkie! Ya know Ah didn't mean it like that!" Applejack kept on blushing and I kept on holding back laughter.

"Girls please! How unladylike of you Pinkie! You can't just tease Applejack for her taste in stallions... Or men!" The fashionista covered her giggles with a hoof and did her best to contain them. Oh god more trolls! Rarity was one too!

"Dagnabbit Rarity!  Ya too?!" Applejack glared at both ponies and then at me. "See what ya did Iron? They'll never let it die!"

I was almost bursting from laughter by now, few things could have stopped me from an epic ROFL at that moment, weird how the one thing I expected the least to happen actually happened.

A third voice joined in the chorus of laughter, I looked up, wondering whether Twilight had loosened up to the joke.

She was facepalming... Facehooving? Whatever... The point is she wasn't the one laughing.

Fluttershy was smiling slightly and hiding it behind her mane, no laughter there.

That left only one pony.

My smile froze in place and so did my laughter, I was too surprised to see who it was that had actually managed to laugh along with me.

Rainbow was pretty much rolling on the floor laughing her ass off, her smile shining on the morning sun.

I was staring, slightly shocked by her reaction, I never expected her to join in on any activity I was a part of!

She eventually noticed me staring and gave me an odd look, asking me with her eyes what was I looking at.

I regained my train of thought and gave a small chuckle, smiled at her and hoped that I didn't come out as weird...

"Heh, well Twilight what's next on the agenda?" I looked over to the purple pony, she was looking at me with a face, a certain face that reminded me of a certain internet meme, and it spoke to me man, it truly did, and it said...

Are you fucking kidding me...

I smiled again, these ponies were a laugh! Applejack was still trying to get Pinkie Pie and Rarity to stop with the jokes, and Twilight was completely losing her patience, not that I cared much though, nothing she could do if I decided to break the door in half and let myself out.

But I was in a good mood today, finally realizing that I had nothing to fear from a bunch of adorable walking stuffed animals, I was practically a god among mortals!

"Iron please, stop fooling around! You are in serious trouble! Not only did you wreck an entire bar, but you also made enemies with the most powerful gang of ponies in all of Equestria!" Twilight seemed terrified at the idea. 

I on the other hand, as a young and eager human male that had seen all the Rambo movies as well as Terminator and Resident Evil, was rather eager to get into some ass kicking action now that my previous worries were disproved by some logical thinking!

Badass mode activated, I looked Twilight in the eyes.

"Are you afraid little pony?" I asked.

She seemed taken back at the question.

"Iron, I'm worried for your kids and yourself, those ponies can do bad things to you and make life difficult for them."

I smiled genuinely, she was too innocent, they all were.

"Twilight, you have no idea of what 'bad' really is!" 

"What will you do if they come for you then, huh? Are you just going to ask them to leave and hope for the best?" She asked me, slightly irritated.

I couldn't get mad at her, she had her reasons to believe that I was in trouble.

"Twilight, you think those ponies are bad right? But they are only pony-bad," I grinned wolfishly. "I can be human-bad, and trust me, as soon as those ponies place a hoof in this town they will regret it."

Twilight seemed frustrated at my poor planning, but decided to let it slide this time.

She obviously didn't believe me when I said I could be worse than the pony mafia.

"Fine, but if you're going out please don't make another mess like yesterday! And try to be polite and friendly to everypony, we had some serious explaining to do to the mayor earlier today because of what happened."

I nodded and smiled, then I turned around and walked towards the door, Twilight had stopped the magic flow that locked it a few seconds ago, so I was able to open it and walk out.

"I'm going for a walk, see you gals later!" I closed the door before any objections to my plan could be made and left.

Feeling the fresh breeze of the morning air was refreshing, shower and breakfast completely forgotten as a new idea flowed into my brain.

I was going to visit Snowflake and get to defending my home!

Walking through Ponyville in the early morning ensured that few ponies saw me, but it also meant that there were fewer ponies to ask about Snowflake's whereabouts.

I had no clue where he lived!

So I just wandered around the town, seeing the different sights and buildings, the ponies that walked past me slowly but surely took a different direction that led them as far away from me as possible.

I didn't mind, it only made me feel better about my current situation, if I was feared, then I was strong, if I was strong then I could not be stopped.

After a while though, I decided to approach one the locals for directions, a small pony was sitting by the road, her dirty coat making it obvious she wasn't the wealthiest pony in town.

I walked closer to her, making sure to make as little noise as possible so I didn't scare her if she saw me, the plan was asking, getting an answer and then leaving.

Simple.

As I got closer though, I became aware of two facts.

One, she had a traveling bag beside her which meant she wasn't from around here.

And two, the mark all the ponies seemed to have on their asses.

Her mark were two muskets crossed in the form of an X.

I stared dumbfounded at the mark, most ponies seemed to have their talent related to it, Applejack had apples on her ass so she worked an apple farm, Pinkie was a party addict so her mark were three balloons, Rarity was greedy as fuck so no wonder she had diamonds, and so on and so forth...

So what could this mark mean? This mare was some sort of soldier? A master swordsman? A gunsmith?

Whatever it meant, it might be useful. I could certainly use a gun if I was going to fight off the fucking mafia!

So I decided to make a friend.

I cautiously moved towards her, walking through the cobblestone road, I pulled off the friendliest smile I could and hoped it didn't scare her shitless.

"Err, hey there!" I called out to the mare as I got closer.

She stood up in an instant, startled at my sudden appearance, and looked up at me.

Her jaw hung open, her eyes grew wide and a faint gasp was heard. She stared at me in complete shock for a good two minutes, lost in thought.

I kept up the smile for the most part of the awkward silence, well awkward for me, frightening for her, but the whole business was going as poorly as possible.

I waved a hand in front of her face but I couldn't do anything to break her off the daze she was in, so I took the chance to get a better look at her.

The strange mare had a golden yellow coat, it shone brightly despite the dirt that stained it. Her mane, a mixture of greenish yellow and white, flowed freely, nothing kept it from flying with the wind as the soft morning breeze caressed it gently.

Her eyes were blue, not too dark but not light in the slightest, she seemed to be lost in deep thinking though, as she kept on staring.

Eventually I decided that this was getting too weird, I snapped my fingers in front of her eyes, immediately shattering her thoughts.

"I... Ah..." She stammered and blinked rapidly, trying to recover from the shock of seeing a human.

"No worries." I smiled and raised my hands reassuringly, she glanced at my fingers and her surprised expression returned, although not as strongly now.

"W-what are th-those?" She was shaking slightly, I wasn't sure whether meeting this pony was a good idea anymore, she seemed too fragile to be any use in a fight.

But I had already started a conversation so I couldn't just leave.

"These? They're called fingers, I use them to grab things and stuff, I guess."I shrugged but kept the smile, she seemed to relax a bit and smiled back, if only briefly.

"Are you the human?" No shit! What gave it away?

"Nah, I'm just a weird pony." I chuckled and sat down next to her, if I was going to live in this town I needed the ponies to know I wasn't a monster, besides, her mark was interesting.

She blushed, from embarrassment I think, and looked at me again, the curious look in her eyes was strange, interesting and intriguing, oddly so.

"My name's Flintlock Dust, may I ask yours?" She smiled faintly once again and kicked at the ground with a hoof.

My smile wavered a bit, there was something about this pony, something odd.

Her mark was something that shouldn't exist in a world of harmony, her name was a synonym for gunpowder, an invention of war and pain, yet she seemed so innocent and pure, so beautiful and fragile.

And her eyes, mesmerizing and deep, as if the world itself could sink into them and disappear, I had to get to know her better, she could be of use and seemed lost.

"Name's Iron, Iron Galley, pleased to meet you." I extended a hand to her, my smile slowly returning.

She accepted the gesture and we shook hands/hooves whatever...

"Are you a sailor?" She asked, she had a rather soft voice, not one to rival Fluttershy's though, but still soft enough that I had to pay close attention to hear her.

I smiled and shook my head.

"No, but you could say that I have gone farther away from my home than any other living being..." I chuckled and stood up, she did the same and secured her traveling bag on her back.

"How far?" She asked after making sure her belongings were safely attached to her.

"Really far, this isn't even my universe anymore." I smiled, this mare was curious, but my questions could wait, I was enjoying messing around with her mind.

"Oh." Was her only reply, she lowered her eyes to the floor and silence fell upon us for a couple of seconds.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you..." I scratched the back of my head and wondered how to approach the subject with the minimum levels of weirdness.

"Yes?" She asked, looking at me with her blue eyes.

"What does the mark on-" I was interrupted by the sound of our growling stomachs, I had skipped breakfast and she obviously hadn't eaten in awhile, it was quite obvious that she was lacking in money.

She giggled softly and pointed a hoof to a nearby building.

"Skipped breakfast too?" She smiled.

"I know that feel bro." I accepted her offer and walked towards the restaurant.

The place was empty this early in the morning, but several ponies were starting to line up for it.

It was some sort of cafe or something, nothing too expensive but good enough for a pair of penniless souls.

We entered and the shopkeeper greeted us, after being reassured over and over again that I wasn't going to eat him or destroy his shop.

And still, we had to pick a table outside of the restaurant and sign a written document where we swore that no harm would befall the owner or his shop.

After finally getting through with all the formalities I was sure no pony had to go through, we finally sat down and ordered.

Flintlock Dust ordered a dandelion sandwich, nothing fancy but good enough I guess, I couldn't know, I didn't eat pony food.

"I'll take the daisy salad without the daisies and without the grass and no rose petals either, and..." I frowned and closed the menu. "Just bring me a bunch of lettuce covered in dressing please."

The waiter arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything, he just nodded and trotted off to the kitchen.

"Lettuce?" Flintlock asked, amused.

"Heh, not used to pony food." I smiled and shrugged.

"So, what did you want to ask earlier today?" Flintlock looked up from her glass of apple juice, I had ordered some cider.

"Ah yeah," I took a quick sip from my drink and looked at her, trying to phrase my question as delicately as possible. "The mark on your flank, what does it mean?"

She blushed and looked at the table, why did they get embarrassed if I mentioned their flanks? They walked naked the entire day goddamnit! What did they care?

She seemed to think over how to reply to my question, the answer she gave me was completely unexpected.

"I don't know."

Didn't ponies discover their marks when they found out whatever the hell they were intended to do for life? How could she not know?

"I was hoping you would know, I travelled so far from Fillydelphia because I heard a rumor about a mons-err, stranger in Ponyville, and I thought that it might have something to do with my cutie mark." Flintlock looked at me hopefully, she was really expecting me to know what her mark meant.

I knew what it was but I didn't know if she would like its meaning.

I leaned in closer and looked at her, her mark was something completely human, an invention of mankind that had no place in this world, yet there she was, a pony with a human talent.

"How did you earn it?" Applejack had mentioned something about earning the mark when you discovered your talent, if she remembered how she got it I might have been able to tell her what she was good at.

She fidgeted uncomfortably and reached into her bag, she searched it for a couple of minutes before pulling out a wooden case.

She looked at it as if it were a religious object, and placed it on the table, she gave me a look that screamed for me to be careful, that the object in that box was precious to her.

I nodded and reached for the box, it was small, about the size of a Kleenex box.

But it was heavy.

There was something unique inside it too, it was obvious by the growing tension between us, whatever this box held could change the world.

The air around me grew dense, breathing became an effort, sweat began to run down my forehead as I my hand got closer to opening the lid.

A final glance at Flintlock revealed that she was feeling equally nervous, this was the most important moment in her life, when she finally got to discover what her talent, no, what her purpose in life was.

This was a time for revelations to be made, for the world to tremble and for change to occur.

My finger opened the lid.

The box opened.

Its contents were revealed, and I knew at that moment that the world's future was in our hands.

Or hooves and hands if you want to be pedantic...
> Weapon Of The Militia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Laws Are Overrated 



I stared at the strangely familiar mechanism inside the box.

It was exactly what I had feared when Flintlock had given the box to me, even if it wasn't complete.

Inside the box that Flintlock had carried for what could have been years, lay a small pistol, or its parts anyway. The barrel wasn't attached to the rest of the pistol, and the flint and piece of steel needed to cause a spark weren't there.

I slowly picked it up, as careful as possible, trying not to worry Flintlock as she stared at me, fearful that I might break it.

The craftsmanship was beautiful, the barrel was evenly cut so that it fit perfectly into the rest of the weapon, no bumps or dents could be seen on its surface and the hollow interior was smooth and spacious enough to hold a bullet without letting it slide out once inside.

The hammer was shaped in the form of a pony's head, the surface where it hit the piece of steel to ignite the gunpowder looked like a cereal bowl, its appearance gave the deadly device a humorous aspect despite its dark purpose.

The trigger resembled a pony's tail, curved and small but detailed nonetheless, its simplicity gave the overall design a completely mesmerizing appeal.

I stole a quick look at Flintlock, she was looking at the hammer like it was a puzzle, even if she had created the weapon, she had no idea what it was for or how the pieces were meant to work with each other.

"Have you ever assembled the pieces together?" I asked as I picked up the barrel and the handle.

Flintlock looked confused at my suggestion for some reason.

"They can be joined?" She leaned in closer and stared as I manipulated both pieces expertly, my grandfather had once gifted me and old 1786 french pistol, so I kind of knew how it went.

"Yes." I said as the barrel made a click sound after I pushed it into position with the other piece.

Flintlock almost squealed like a little girl, a gigantic smile spreading across her face as I showed her the pistol.

I wasn't so sure if she would like what they did together though.

"Thank you so much Iron! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Flintlock was happily clapping her hooves and smiling excitedly, then she frowned and looked at me questioningly. "But what does it do?"

This was it, the part where she learned the truth.

I sighed and looked at her, her smile was still there, that innocent smile was almost enough to shatter my heart as the reality of her talent became obvious.

I looked from the gun to her and back, the cold metal of the weapon brought back memories of my world.

The first time I fired a rifle, the hole it made on the tree I had aimed for, and the thought of what it could have done to a man.

She seemed to grow impatient and cleared her throat softly to grab my attention. I once again looked at her, and organized my thoughts.

Clearing my own throat, I swallowed a large swig of cider and spoke.

"Its a pistol, a really old model but a working one," I reached across the table, and locked the hammer into a loaded position in front of her, it made a small click. "here, let me show you." I pressed the trigger.

She was startled by the noise the hammer made when it came down on the metal, but since it didn't have any gunpowder nothing else happened.

"That's all it does?" She seemed slightly disappointed, obviously expecting something amazing to happen.

I chuckled and drank some more cider.

"Well, it can't do anything else until it's completed." I smiled and leaned back on the chair, which was uncomfortable since the thing was too large.

At the time I had no idea of how much could have been avoided if I hadn't said that, if I had just said I was sorry and let her leave, but still, that small comment of mine opened up the pathway to so many things that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Flintlock perked up at that, her eyes shone slightly and her ears rose to attention, a curious look on her face.

"Completed? I thought I had all the pieces." She leaned in closer and placed both hooves on the table, eyeing me curiously.

I lost my smile immediately, ah shit what had I done?

"Heh, well, you see, the pistol isn't doing what it's supposed to do just yet, it still needs a few things to work." I looked at her and saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes, she smiled again.

"What are we waiting for! What are we missing?" She eagerly asked, almost pushing her drink off the table.

No time for me to explain though! The waiter appeared from the kitchen with a tray full of food to save the day! He trotted over to us and placed Flintlock's dandelion sandwich in front of her, and a plateful of lettuce covered in dressing for me.

Yum?

He smiled awkwardly and left as fast as he could to someplace safe from the human.

I rolled my eyes and lifted some food into my mouth, Flintlock took a small bite out of her sandwich but kept on stealing glances at me every so often.

We ate in relative silence, Flintlock eager to finish so she could get some answers, while I enjoyed my food as best as I could, lettuce wasn't my favorite and it definitely didn't satisfy me, but I couldn't afford anything better.

As a matter of fact, I couldn't afford shit! How were going to pay?!

I choked a little on the lettuce as realization hit me. We couldn't pay the fucking bill!

"Err, Flintlock?" I smiled awkwardly as I looked at the mare.

"Yes?" She replied through a mouthful of sandwich.

I shifted uncomfortably for a little and then decided to ask.

"Do you have any money?"

"Nah-uh, good thing you're paying otherwise we would be..." She smiled a little before suddenly stopping. "You are paying, right?"

I smiled meekly and shook my head.

"No moneys here!"

Her jaw dropped and she stared at me for a couple of moments, then she panicked.

"What?! How are we going to pay?!"

I shrugged, nothing we could do by now, only hope for the best.

"I guess we politely explain our situation to the owner and hope for the best." I munched on another lettuce.

"Don't eat that! It's stealing!" Flintlock slapped it out of my mouth and looked from side to side in a terrified manner.

"Hey! I was eating that!" I sighed, she was obviously your average pony with an unbreakable sense of righteousness. 

Time to fix that.

I stood up and walked around the table so that I was standing behind her.

"Come on, we're leaving." I whispered before silently making my way to a bush, good thing we were seated outside the building, otherwise things would have been more complicated.

"What?! We can't leave! We haven't paid!" She turned around and looked at me like I was a madman.

I smiled at her.

"Well, we can't pay right? So why stay?"

"Bu-but... We just can't!" 

"Why not?" I arched an eyebrow, she had to see the liberating light of sending the rules to hell from time to time.

"Because, well, I... Um, because it isn't right!" She slid down the chair and hid behind the table, almost whispering her protests at me.

I grinned and grabbed her hoof.

"Do you trust me?" I looked her in the eyes, no way she could say...

"Not really..."

I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"Too bad!" I smiled and dragged her by the hoof through the bush and towards the street, she tried to resist but I was either too strong, or she really didn't put too much effort in it.

Eventually I released her hoof and ran as fast as I could, the shouts of an angry shopkeeper propelling me onward.

"Catch up if you can Flint!" I laughed and dashed past her, smiling grandly, hadn't had so much fun in a while!

I heard annoyed grumbling behind me and immediately noticed the rising noise of approaching hooves.

I turned around and saw Flintlock picking up speed, easily surpassing my own.

"What the-?" I could only stare as the golden mare dashed past me and raced towards the open fields outside of town.

"Catch up if you can Iron!" She giggled her taunt and allowed her trail of dust to engulf me, I was dumbfounded and in complete shock.

But then again, having four legs gave her an obvious advantage over my own two legs...

That and the fact that I was carrying both her box with the gun in one of my arms, and a bunch of uneaten lettuce in one of my pockets made it impossible for me to catch up. I was reduced to tracking her trail of hoofprints until I reached the Apple family's orchards.

By the time I got there I was panting heavily, sweat covering my face entirely and staining my already dirty shirt.

And sitting under the refreshing shadow of a tree, with the largest smirk I had ever seen, was Flintlock. The yellow mare was absentmindedly picking flowers off of the ground and placing them in her bag, to eat maybe? I couldn't have cared less, even for a pony I had to recognize, the mare knew how to brag!

She was breathing slightly faster than normal, and her mane was humid with sweat, nothing compared to my own hair though, I was a drenched mess...

As I got closer, she decided to finally acknowledge my presence.

"Oh, Iron, whatever took you so long?" Her smirk was augmented by the amused look in her eyes.

"Ha! Ha! Bloody ha!" I rolled my eyes but smiled, she beat me fair and square, I couldn't be mad at her.

Flintlock plucked an apple from the tree and tossed it over to me, I grabbed it with one hand and winked at her, daring the pony to surpass my awesomeness.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes at me.

She stood up and with a single hoof, kicked the tree and a dozen apples fell to the ground at once.

I gawked at her, but she wasn't done!

In a fluid motion she half turned and started kicking the apples towards me!

"Ah shit!" I ducked and dodged the first ones, but she increased the rate of fire and soon enough I was being struck by apple after apple until I was on my knees begging her to stop.

Damned pony shot them like a fucking Gatling gun!

Flintlock sat down again and arched an eyebrow at me, challenging me to try anything else.

I simply raised my hands in defeat and smiled, it was just like my father used to say to me...

Never give up!

Unless a fucking pony starts a barrage of apples!

Still smiling I walked over to her and sat down, leaning against the bark of the tree the world seemed brighter, peaceful and calm.

She kicked a mashed pulp that used to be an apple and smiled.

"That was fun." She looked at me and nudged me in the ribs, well, you know the story about my ribs and can probably guess her reaction when she felt the soft flesh where there were supposed to be bones.

"Old war wound." I chuckled and lifted my shirt up so she could get a better view.

"Sweet Celestia..." She gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof as the view of several stitches and a long scar came into view, the flesh beneath the scar was soft and tender since there was nothing beneath it.

"Yeah, pretty gross huh?" I tried to put some humor into the whole thing but I was still kind of upset about losing my ribs. 

They were mine! I liked them!

Flintlock ran a hoof along the scar, the soft fur felt nice to the touch and I enjoyed the feeling until she removed her hoof and looked me in the eyes.

Her deep blue eyes were full of concern and sadness, she was obviously not used to seeing injuries of this type.

Still looking at me with the same concern she asked softly, almost impossible to hear.

"What happened?"

I smiled slightly and narrated the strange events of my life, starting since I fell into a strange forest, to getting my ribs destroyed and up to meeting her.

In the end she nodded and looked at the ground, her eyes watered a bit and she leaned on my shoulder, trying to assimilate everything she had just heard.

"It must have been horrible..." Flintlock whispered, and the soft morning wind carried her voice through the grassy fields covered in moist dew, the sun shone down on her mane and coat just to be reflected with more intensity and heat.

"It was..." I replied, my voice heavy with knowledge of what I had lost, but full of the promise of what I had gained. "... but it was worth it, if I hadn't suffered like I did I wouldn't have met my children, or my friends..." 

She smiled and I smiled back, the warmth of the sun and the cool morning air surrounding us, nothing happened for a couple of seconds before I yawned and stretched my arms.

"Its getting late, the kids are probably going to wake up soon." I slowly stood up, Flintlock did the same and in complete silence we walked back to town.

We still had some unfinished business to attend to, Snowflake still had to know about my recently formulated plan, and Flintlock should probably meet him as well, since her talent could come in handy.

We moved back to the quiet town of Ponyville, making sure to avoid the restaurant from earlier.

As we walked, Flintlock told me about her own journey, how she had been born the daughter of a watchmaker and his wife, how she spent the early years of her life helping her dad to fix and make watches and other small clockwork mechanisms.

She had always wanted to earn her cutie mark and help her father with the shop, but her mother had other plans.

Sharp Flint was a royal guardsmare, one of the few according to Flintlock, her mark was that of a spear, symbolizing some shit about protecting and whatnot, anyways, she wanted Flintlock to enter the royal guard to serve and protect Equestria.

Flintlock's father disagreed, he wanted his daughter to help him out with the family business, so they came to an arrangement.

Depending on Flintlock's mark, she would either join the guard or help her father. Her mother started training her in basic self defense moves, and taught her about what it meant to be a guard, but Flintlock never earned her mark that way.

It wasn't until her mother had given up and allowed Flintlock's father, Clock Gear, to introduce her to the world of clockwork that Flintlock showed a keen interest and ability.

In a matter of weeks she was arming and disarming clocks and toys to create fully different machines and mechanisms, she could transform several small pocket watches into a fully functional record player, her skill was almost as impressive as her father's.

But still no mark, her family was surprised that by her teen years she was still without a cutie mark, nothing they did could get it to appear.

She armed a large tower clock, but nothing happened, she also made scale models of trains and even a tiny pony automaton that was able to walk around, but nothing.

In a night of desperation she gathered the many small creations and toys she had and shattered them, frustrated at not being able to find her talent, from the pieces though, an idea emerged.

She worked for weeks, assembling a completely different mechanism from scratch, it was like nothing she had ever made and its purpose was unclear, but she knew that it was what she needed, what would finally give her a mark.

Sketches were drawn of the pieces that weren't there, others were improvised and added immediately, the local smith was able to finally craft the missing parts with the help of multiple drawings and detailed specifications from Flintlock, she supervised the entire thing.

Nothing could go wrong if she was going to get her mark.

But it was only after several months of redoing the design or finding out several pieces didn't match or adding improvements, that she finally did it, she got her mark and her project was completed, a large celebration was held.

But something still nagged at the back of her mind.

It was her masterpiece, her ultimate work, the effort of many sleepless nights, it was...

Useless.

No pony knew what it was or what it could be used for, her parents were of little help.

Since their agreement still stood, Flintlock's mother insisted that the muskets on her daughter's flank were spears of some sort and as such, she would have to join the guard.

The father denied it, after all, that mark was the result of heavy designing and careful crafting and arranging of many different clockwork pieces, his daughter had to work the shop!

Flintlock couldn't have cared less, she still knew nothing of her talent and her mark was as mysterious as the device she had constructed.

After many a sleepless night she finally decided that it was no use, she stopped caring and locked her creation away in a small box.

Upon her fathers request, she helped him with the store, making all different sorts of clockwork mechanisms, and as her mother wanted, she joined the local guard.

By day she would patrol around her local town streets, and by night she would help her father with whatever extra work he needed help with.

And so the years went by, she came of age and lived a normal life, no worries about marks or anything, the occasional visitor or tourist would ask about it from time to time, but the event was rare and never bothered Flintlock.

She lived normally for many years, that is, until I appeared.

It seemed that my little fight with Rainbow became quite famous among smaller towns and common ponies, the wealthier ones denying the whole thing as an old ponies tale.

The rumors of a monster wrecking the entirety of Ponyville spread to the smaller communities outside of Fillydelphia and Flintlock heard about me.

She decided that my sudden appearance might have something to do with her mark...

"...and here I am!" Flintlock finished her story with a small grin. "You have no idea how much your help means to me Iron!"

I smiled at her and continued walking, it was only a matter of time until she asked the question.

We turned a corner and came across a large building, it was Pinkie's house if I remembered correctly.

God I swear the sight of the house gave me diabetes...

"Well, we should probably stop by and ask Pinkie for directions." I shrugged and walked towards the pink house, gesturing to Flintlock to follow me.

"Is she a friend of yours?" Flintlock walked slowly towards the door and looked at me.

"You could say that." I smiled and knocked on the door to... Sugarblock alley? Whatever...

A couple of seconds passed before a loud voice yelled from the inside and several sounds of shattering plates were heard from the inside.

"Coming!" Pinkie's loud cheerful voice was heard from inside.

Flintlock arched an eyebrow and looked at me questioningly. I just shrugged and said Pinkie could be a little eccentric.

The door opened and a barrage of confetti showered us in colorful doom.

"What in the-?!" I fell backwards and landed on my ass, the confetti had taken me by surprise.

"Whoa!" Flintlock fared no better, the mare fell backwards and landed on top of me, in quite a compromising position.

"Hey there Iron! What's up!" Pinkie smiled and sat down on top of her... Was that a cannon?

I stared dumbfounded at the confetti spewing war machine Pinkie had materialized out of nowhere.

I was so shocked about it that I didn't notice Flintlock until she cleared her throat and brought my attention to her. She was laying on top of me, my arm wrapped around her waist preventing her from standing up.

I smiled dumbly and muttered an apology as I lifted my arm and helped her to her feet.

Pinkie muffled amused giggles as the scene unfolded before her. After we were both on our feet/hooves, I decided to ask Pinkie about Snowflake's whereabouts.

"Snowflake? Oh! You mean that big screaming pony that helped you terrorize the town yesterday? He lives over there!" Pinkie smiled and pointed a hoof at a small building across the street.

Flintlock and I turned around and looked at the small house, it didn't look like much nor did it look like the kind of place a gang leader would live in.

"You sure Pinkie?" I looked back at the pink mare, she nodded happily and began to stuff her cannon with confetti again.

"As sure as a cupcake!" She smiled widely and finished loading her cannon.

"How sure is that?" Flintlock looked at her, slightly confused.

Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically and her eyes went so wide they resembled plates.

"New pony!" She screamed and ran inside the building.

Flintlock was completely taken aback by the odd display of surprise, she turned to look at me and I could do little else than shrug, I had never seen Pinkie do anything like that, but by her standards it was nothing out of the ordinary...

We stood there for about a minute before a pink blur came out of the building and surrounded us with a new wave of confetti and streamers.

"This calls for a paaaaaaarty!" Pinkie announced, as happy as ever to have an excuse to throw a party.

Flintlock and I just stood there, confused and slightly afraid of whatever the pink pony had planned.

"Actually Pinkie, we are kind of in the middle of a mission, you know, the 'saving town from a gang of ponies' type of mission?" I smiled and removed some streamers that had gotten stuck to my hair.

"Yeah! That's another good reason for a party! It can be the after-mission-party kind of party!" That mare had issues, that's all I've gotta say on the subject... "It's going to be even more awesome than the one we had at the hospital!"

Flintlock's mood seemed to darken at the comment, she still had my story fresh in her mind.

I barely noticed her change though, I was too busy chatting away with Pinkie, she had some pretty amusing ideas for a party, even if they were pretty odd.

We said goodbye to Pinkie after a while and walked across the street towards Snowflake's house.

Flintlock kept her eyes staring ahead, as if she were upset about something, I kept stealing glances at her, wondering what was wrong, and eventually decided to ask.

"Hey Flint? Something wrong?" I attempted a carefree smile but her mood was contagious and I found myself worrying about something I didn't even know about.

She kept the stare and eventually frowned.

"How can you stand her?" She whispered so as not to be heard by anyone else.

"Pinkie?" I was surprised by the question, how could I not like Pinkie? "She's nice, a bit weird but-"

"No, I mean how can you forgive them so easily for what they did?" She looked me in the eyes and stopped walking, her gaze reflecting all the pain and anger she thought I should feel towards the mares.

I returned her gaze and tried to smile, but once again her sadness moved into my mind and took over, she was controlling what I thought in the same way she would have handled the mechanisms of a clock.

"I... Well, they apologized, and I guess I need them so my kids can live happily in this town." I shrugged and looked at the ground.

"That isn't right Iron, you shouldn't live a lie for somepony else." She took a step closer and placed a hoof on my arm. "No matter who it is."

I looked up and met her eyes with my own, she was honestly trying to help me, not simply wanting me to be the embodiment of harmony and peace like Twilight did.

"I guess you're right..." I broke eye contact and looked at the ground, Flintlock smiled. "But still, those kids don't have to suffer like I have, they do not need to experience the world like I have been forced to."

"Iron..."

"No, I'm sorry Flint, I know you only want to help but, this pain is necessary, because through it I am ensuring that my children have a future as a part of society." I looked back at her. "It is through my suffering that I cleanse them of my curse..."

She nodded and fell silent, accepting my grim view of life and trusting me to know what I was doing.

We continued walking towards Snowflake's house, only this time we were accompanied by silence.

The place was really modest to say the least, it was a one story building, plain and lacking in decorations. I knocked on the door and we waited for a couple of minutes before it opened a little, revealing a small kid, or pony kid, whatever they're called...

"Yes?" The small one said as he eyed us from behind the door.

I knelt down so I could see him in the eye and smiled.

"Hey there... Err... Featherweight? Yeah Featherweight, I'm here to see your dad, is Snowflake here?"

"Yes... Are you the human that helped him beat up those ponies yesterday?" He opened the door a bit more to get a good look at me.

I smiled again, I was gaining fans! That was a good thing right?

"Yeah, can I come in?"

Featherweight opened the door completely and revealed the interior of the place.

Holy. Shit.

The entire motherfucking place looked like a goddamn castle! The floor was covered in a red velvet carpet, the walls were pure oak wood and several paintings that did not look cheap lined up the walls.

But it did not end there! The house seemed small on the outside yes, but that is because it was only the first floor! What? Oh yeah, I did say it was a one story building right? Well, that's because there was a fucking staircase that led underground!

It was a fucking mansion!

Featherweight led us downstairs, while Flintlock and I both gawked at all the displays of money and wealth that littered the entire place he simply moved about the house like it was no big deal.

We reached the lower floor and the sound of a shouting stallion immediately reached us.

"YEEEEAAAAAH! THAT'S TWO TO ONE THUNDERLANE!" Came the voice of Snowflake.

"Whatever, its not like we are here to play billiard anyway... Where is this new guy you kept talking about?"

"HE'LL COME, DON'T WORRY! JUST MAKE SURE NOT TO FAINT WHEN HE DOES!"

"Ah please Snowflake... He can't be that terrifying..."

That's when I decided to make my entrance.

Smiling as evilly as possible I motioned Flintlock to follow after I went into the room, she nodded and I walked in.

"Hey Snowflake! Where did you want me to put the dragon heads I hunted earlier? And what do I do with the dead body?"

I barged into the room announcing myself as grimly as possible, hood covering my face and head held high to add stature to myself, not that I needed it... I was twice as tall as any pony.

The reaction was immediate, the pony called Thunderlane was instantly shaking and gawking at my presence, the mention of a dead dragon and a body did little to calm him.

Snowflake was smiling and arching an eyebrow at me.

"DRAGON? IRON PLEASE! WE BOTH SAW THAT PONY GAVE YOU A BLEEDING NOSE!" Snowflake started laughing, not mockingly though, the dude was cool like that.

"At least I didn't get thrown to the side!" I laughed along with him and leaned against a wall. "Any news about anything?"

Snowflake smiled and picked up a glass full of cider from a counter, handing it to me he nodded at Thunderlane.

"THAT'S THUNDERLANE, HE'S BEEN IN THE MILITIA FOR OVER A YEAR, ONE OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS!"

I glanced at him and half waved, not impressed by the pony, he was muscular but not a lot, and the carefully styled mohawk on his head really didn't make him look like the type of guy who fought too much.

"I brought someone you might be interested in meeting too." I turned to the door and told Flintlock to come in. She walked into the room with an awkward smile.

"Hey, I'm Flintlock..." She introduced herself and stood beside me.

"WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT HER?" Snowflake arched an eyebrow, Thunderlane had barely broken out of the shock of seeing me and was now looking at Flintlock like a beggar looks at a hundred dollar bill.

I had noticed Thunderlane but didn't pay him much mind, there were bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"It's her mark, I recognize it from my world, her talent might come in handy if we have to fight."

Flintlock looked at me questioningly, I still hadn't explained what her mark meant completely so she was naturally curious about what I had to say.

"What does it mean?" She asked, hope in her eyes despite the confused look on her face.

I sighed, no point in hiding it anymore, we were already here.

So steeling myself for whatever her reaction was, as well as the others, I began to spill the truth.

"The mark shows your talent for making weapons, human weapons, I'm not sure if you are capable of making the more modern ones but the one you showed me at the restaurant was a fully operational pistol, we only need some flint, steel, gunpowder and some bullets to make it work." I scanned her face for any signs of anger, denial, or disgust at my explanation, surprisingly I only saw acceptance. I decided to continue.

"The weapons you are able to create are deadly, one shot is enough to end someone's life if aimed correctly, all we would need to keep the other gangs out of this town would be a little demonstration of power, not necessarily kill anyone, but if we were able to scare them off, I doubt they would ever come back."

I finished and looked at the three ponies in front of me, Snowflake was in deep thinking, Flintlock was staring off into space, digesting the meaning of my words, and Thunderlane...

His eyes were drifting down Flintlock's body towards her flanks.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, the pony immediately woke up from his daze and looked at me, I made the 'I'm watching you' gesture with my fingers and he instantly looked away and feigned innocence.

After a few seconds of silence Snowflake asked the question I was expecting.

"SO, YOU MEAN TO SAY WE CAN GET RID OF THE WINGSTERS JUST LIKE THAT? ONE FIGHT AND THEY'RE GONE?" Snowflake seemed skeptical.

"Only if Flintlock is ok with it, I'm not using her talent if she isn't comfortable with the idea." I looked at her and smiled, but I was sincerely hoping she would say yes, forcing her wouldn't be pleasant but I was not going to let a gang mess with my children, even if it meant losing a friend.

She smiled back and nodded, the small glint of happiness in her eyes at having found her talent forced a smile of my own to form.

Snowflake gave a short laugh and shot a wink at me, then looked at Flintlock and back at me again suggestively, I rolled my eyes but kept the smile, Flintlock didn't seem to notice or she didn't care.

"LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A PLAN! FLINTLOCK! WHEN CAN YOU START WORKING ON THE WEAPONS?"

Flintlock smiled and pulled out a small hammer from her bag.

"Right away!"
> Weekend At Fluttershy's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bunny Power



I bid farewell to all three of them, Snowflake and Thunderlane were going to play pool for the rest of the morning before setting off  to do whatever ponies did around here. 

Flintlock wanted to get an early start on the weapons and Snowflake offered her a room in his mansion where she could stay for as long as she wanted.

I on the other hand, had some pending issues back at Twilight's...

Three pending issues.

But before I could leave, I had something else I wanted to ask Flintlock.

"Hey Flint, come over here a second." I beckoned to the golden mare.

She nodded and walked over to where I was standing, away from the others so they didn't hear me.

"What is it Iron? Is there something wrong?" She looked at me, slightly confused at my sudden change of mood, one moment cheerful and enjoying a drink among friends, the next discreet and silent.

I looked at her, she seemed trustworthy, and so far she had shown a certain affection towards me, I wasn't sure if it was merely because I helped her find the meaning of her mark or if it was something else, but still the question remained.

Would she help me?

"I need you to do something for me. Can you keep a secret?" I knelt down and took a quick look at Snowflake and Thunderlane. They were laughing at some joke and drinking.

"I guess. What do you need?" Confusion shrouded her face, but she seemed willing despite the secrecy of it all.

There was something to this mare, something different than what I had ever seen, she barely knew me yet here she was, not only helping me in a fight against impossible odds, but also trusting me without knowing what I wanted.

I smiled, she would prove a very valuable ally and friend in the near future, but I couldn't dwell on the happy ending that was still quite far away from the present.

Despite my superiority when compared to ponies, I was still in a great disadvantage when it came down to raw numbers, I couldn't let my enemies gain any more advantage over me.

I couldn't let my enemies nor my friends become as strong as I.

"Make only one weapon."

She frowned and took a step backwards, her golden face was covered in confusion.

"What? Why? We would stand a better chance at winning if we all had one."

My smile was gone by now, replaced by a dark expression, one of conspiracy and secrets, one that was determined to keep everyone I cared for safe and sound in the only way I knew of protecting them.

By being the strongest.

The most dangerous.

But she would not believe that depriving the world of her talent would be a good thing, who would? After years of not being able to do what she was good at she wouldn't like to keep in hiding. But I needed to remain as the stronger species and she needed to be convinced.

"Flintlock," I smiled and looked her in the eyes. "You have to trust me, I care about you and everyone in this town, and I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to them, if anything happened to you."

She looked into my own eyes and a slight, almost invisible blush appeared in her golden cheeks, her expression changed almost immediately, she believed me, she had no reason not to, after all, I was the one who saved her from ignorance wasn't I? 

I was her savior and she trusted me.

"You have to promise me that you will not let anyone take advantage of you, or your gift." I placed both hands on her shoulders, my eyes locked in hers. "You have to promise me that you will keep your talent hidden and only allow me to use the weapons you create, they are too dangerous to be trusted to just about anyone, I'm the only one that can truly keep them from harming everyone in this world."

I would have been worried if Applejack had been there, she could sniff a lie before it came out of one's mouth, but white lies had never hurt anyone right? I was doing this to keep everyone safe after all, my kids and the town wouldn't be safe if firearms made it to the local market.

I couldn't let what happened back home happen here. I was not going to let my kids grow up as I did, in a town torn apart by gunfire.

Flintlock looked at me with her pale blue eyes, her smile could have pierced valleys and mountains alike with the sheer force of it's honesty, it was the kind of smile that is forged in the deepest reaches of one's soul, and I didn't know if I deserved it.

I smiled back, but it was shaken, hiding secrets from anyone can tear you down eventually, but hiding them from someone who trusts you completely can instantly destroy you.

Flintlock took it as a sign of concern and quickly placed a hoof on my arm.

"Don't worry about me Iron, I promise not to let anyone use my talent." She smiled gently and continued. "I will make an excuse up so the others don't ask and the design of the weapons won't let anypony use them."

I smiled back and patted her shoulder lightly.

"Thanks, it means a lot to me."

She trotted off to her room after that, with the excuse of starting on the 'weapons' early.

I bid farewell to the others and left, walking out of Snowflakes house and into the street, the rising sun announcing the arrival of daily life in the calm town of Ponyville.

As I walked through the cobblestone road that connected all homes and buildings in this strange town, I felt the weight of the many stares and looks that fell on me as the residents of Ponyville gazed at me, still nervous and afraid.

It wouldn't be easy to change their opinion of me, but I had to try, otherwise I would live an outcast for the rest of my lonely and miserable years in this land.

Worse yet, my sons and daughter would suffer just like me when they were older, and that was something I was not going to let happen.

So I removed the hood that covered my head, smiled and waved at whichever pony passed close by me, some smiled faintly and kept on walking, others actually returned the wave, a few acted like they hadn't seen me and walked away.

I moved through the town at a hurried pace, it made me nervous being surrounded by so many frightened ponies, and the male pegasi that flew close by made me anxious and caused my fists to clench and my eyes to dart from side to side, as if expecting to be ambushed.

I knew no one in this town, any of the flying bastards could be plotting to attack me and I wasn't taking chances.

Suppressing an urge to pick up a fallen branch and keeping it as a weapon, I stuck to the shadows of the taller buildings and made my way to Twilight's library unseen.

As I moved closer to it I noticed that the place was still quiet, which meant the kids were still asleep. I walked towards the door and knocking gently on it, I waited for Twilight or the lizard thing she kept as a pet to open.

The sound of voices inside the library reached me after a few seconds of quiet waiting, and a moment later the door opened to reveal a rather cheerful Twilight.

"Oh, hey Iron! Come in!" Twilight smiled and stepped aside to let me in.

"Hey Twilight, why so happy all of a sudden?" I smiled curiously and walked into the library.

Damn! The place was neat!

Every shelve and book was clear of dust or stains, the walls even shone a little! This was the perfect picture of what my room would never look like!

"Wow, you've certainly got a thing for cleanliness..." I looked around in amazement, the place was stunning.

"Huh? Oh that, it wasn't me, Spike cleaned up for today." She smiled and nodded to the lizard thing called Spike.

He smiled proudly and walked into the kitchen, marching like a goddamn trooper after a heroic battle.

"Something special going on today?" This was weird... No one cleans up like this for nothing...

Twilight blushed and looked away.

"Nope! Nothing! Nothing at all!" She smiled nervously and tried to back away.

Nah-uh Twilight, something's going on here and I'm gonna find out!

"Really? Then what's that?" I pointed to a neatly adorned table in the middle of the room, hard to miss when it's just sitting there doing nothing after all...

"That? Oh it's nothing! Really! It's just an old table!" She laughed weakly and tried to end the conversation.

"Uh huh... Yeah, well where's the kids? Where's the foods too? And where's them shower? I kind of need the last two and the first kind of has me worried..." I looked around and walked over to the kitchen, there was some cheese and bread on it, as well as a small glass of apple juice. "You mind?"

"No, not at all." Twilight smiled, happy to have gotten off the interrogation chair. "They were for you actually, you know, before you went out?"

"Ah yeah, about that..." I scratched the back of my head and smiled sheepishly. "I may or may not need a few moneys to pay for what I may or may not have kind off taken with or without permission..."

Twilight looked at me with the 'Are you fucking kidding me' look on her face, then sighed and went to her room.

"Fine... You're a lost case Iron, just don't do something that can't be fixed ok?"

"Sure thing fluffy pony!" I smiled and shot both fists up in the air, victory!

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me with a blush on her face.

"What was that?"

"Err... Nothing?" I shrugged.

"Good."

She walked out of sight and I headed towards the kitchen, more specifically, towards the food.

"Hehe... Nothing to keep us apart my darling..." My hungry gaze loomed over the poor unfortunate food, how long could it have lived had I not crossed its path? Who knows... 

Who cares?

Devouring the cheese and bread like a beast, I smiled grandly, lifting up some of the lettuce from before I decided to make myself a cheese and lettuce sandwich. Not too fancy but still good enough.

"Damn... What I wouldn't do for a slice of bacon..." I sighed and took a bite out of my mutant meal.

"What's bacon?"

I almost choked on the bread as the lizard Spike thing spoke behind me.

Oh shit, time to explain how I eat poor unfortunate creatures... This ought to be fun!

Turning around revealed a small purple whatever he was, looking at me with its green serpent like eyes.

"Bacon is... um..." I placed a hand on my chin and thought of the best way to phrase it. "You know how some creatures eat others right?" 

The small monstrosity before me simply shook his head, curious eyes looking at me the whole time.

Was this thing a kid? Had to be a kid... Few others can be so naive or irritating in their way of asking random questions...

"Well... Sometimes when a man gets hungry he... Err... Puts to good use the excess population of another species... By umm... Consuming their bodily form... Does that make sense?" 

"Nope."

"Doesn't matter! You learned!" I quickly made a dash out of the kitchen with the food in my arms, not gonna explain that to Twilight's kid! She might slap me for child perversion and whatnot...

I ran into the main room and finished my meal, quite quickly and I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have, but meh...

Twilight came back from her room with a bag full of moneys, she handed them to me and made me promise not to do anything stupid with it.

"And get a job Iron, you can't expect us to pay for your every little disaster!" Twilight said sternly and stomped her hoof on the ground, I smiled and tipped an imaginary hat to her.

"Anything else honey?"

She facehooved and rolled her eyes, exasperated at my awesomeness, I chuckled lightly and asked if I could use the bathroom.

"Up the stairs and down the hall to the right, sorry if there isn't any more shampoo but I haven't had a chance to go shoping in a while."

"K, No prob." I shrugged and went to take a shower, badly needed too.

The morning dragged on for a little while longer before it was gone, I took my shower, played with the kids when they woke up, changed a few diapers, and went to the store for some shampoo, food and other shit, nothing too exciting aside from a pony who got a little carried away and started screaming, and I quote...

"The horror! The horror!"

Then she fainted and all the ponies gave me an awkward look, I simply shrugged and walked back to Twilight's, haters gonna hate aye?

The kids had played throughout the entire day, running around the library, or trying their hands at drawing or sculpture making with books.

All in all, I ended up in such a huge debt with Twilight because of all the shit they broke that prostitution was actually considered as a liable way of earning coin to pay her back...

Ahem... Whatever... I cleaned up their mess and they ate some baby food thing that babies ate... Spike said Fluttershy gave him the recipe so there would be no shortage of it.

Now the day was at its end, the beautiful sunset appearing on the horizon, signaling the end of the sun's reign over the blue skies, and marking the appearance of something way more beautiful, more mystical and shunned by everyone.

"The moon... So gentle and beautiful... Protecting everyone from the scorch and heat of the burning sun, but never neglecting its light." I gazed at the orb of silver beauty as it rose into the sky, forever feared and neglected, yet so loving and protective.

Twilight looked at me and smiled a little.

"You seem to like the moon a lot."

"It's the most mystical of all the astral bodies, so many stories and poems have been written around it, but still we treat it like a villain, keeping away from its shine and light for fear of the dark, we fail to see its true meaning, to protect us through the darkness and guide us towards the day."

"Wow... That's really beautiful Iron." She smiled and looked at me, then back at the sky. "You should say that to the princess, I'm sure she would appreciate it..."

Her eyes lit up with a glimmer of something... Was it glee?

"Iron! I just had the best idea ever!" Her face was immediately occupied by a bigass gigantic smiley face. "I can write special friendship reports about you and how you cope with pony society! I'm sure princess Celestia would like to know more about you!"

I arched an eyebrow. More? Did this princess already know about me? It would make sense since she is the ruler of this pony place, knowing about an alien that barges into a town is something a ruler tends to hear about.

Another more sinister thought appeared in my mind though.

"Twilight, how come I'm allowed to roam freely?"

"What do you mean?" She seemed confused by the question.

"I'm not a pony, and no one has ever seen something like me, so how come I'm not strapped down to an operation table with scientists poking me and running tests?"

"You were strapped down to a table Iron, and we did run a few tests to see if you were a magical creation of Discord's." She frowned and looked at me curiously. "As a matter of fact, we didn't find any magic in you at all."

I was a bit shaken by what Twilight had revealed so far, I already knew that she had examined me to find out more about my anatomy, but it still felt weird to know that a bunch of ponies poked me around.

When her later statement reached me, I couldn't help but smile and shake my head.

"Yup, no magics here! Humans don't have that kind of stuff." I smiled and turned around to walk back into the treehouse.

Twilight followed and we walked downstairs.

"You mentioned the princess right? What does she have to do with the moon? Is she an astrologist?" I asked as we entered the main library room.

"Well, sort of, you see princess Luna raises the moon each night, and she also places the stars and dark night sky using her magic." Twilight picked up a book from one of the nearby shelves and handed it to me with her magic. "Chapter six, page two hundred and twenty four."

Quickly flipping through the pages I found the one Twilight mentioned, and there it was! A nice children's tale of how an alicorn... dafuq is that? Whatever... The tale said that the princess, alicorn, thing, raised the moon after her sister lowered the sun.

Smiling I closed the book and looked at Twilight.

"Nice try Sparkle, now really, you can't expect me to believe that a pony can move the moon and the sun aye?"

"It's a proven fact Iron, you cannot deny it." Twilight huffed and held her pony nose high in the air, obviously offended at being doubted.

Still smiling I walked towards a chalkboard by the end of the room and started drawing my completely hideous and inaccurate model of how the earth orbits the sun and the moon does the same to the earth.

Twilight looked at me and at my finished model curiously , her ever hungry pony brain scanning the information, devouring it like a starved man would a slice of bread.

"See? The gravity of the earth forces the moon to remain closer to its orbit, but the moon's own gravitational field keeps it away from the earth and makes it go around it forever!" I smiled smugly and looked at the bewildered pony. "Same thing with the sun, except that the sun doesn't move at all! I think..."

Twilight examined the drawings, she was clearly interested at the complexity of how it worked, she had been taught that it was moved by magic all her life after all...

"This... Is this how it works in your world?" She looked back at me, curious as ever.

I facepalmed, no way she was going to see the light that her princess had lied to her since forever... No one can move the sun...

"Yes Twilight, that's how it works..."

"Amazing..."

"Yeah..." A knock at the door broke through my epic disappointment of Twilight... How can someone so smart be so stupid?!?

"Oh horseapples! I forgot about him!" Twilight threw her hooves in the air, annoyed at forgetting about him... him?

"So that's what the table is for! Aha! Gotcha pony!" I pointed a victorious finger at Twilight and smirked as she made a dash to the door. "I'm actually surprised, I didn't think you'd be in for a wild night today since you're so obsessed with books."

She looked back, blushing madly.

"N-no! It's not like that! He's just coming over for dinner and... Err... Ah! The door!" Twilight straightened her mane and opened the wooden door, revealing her date.

"I will be damned and thrown over a cliff into a cactus filled hole piece of motherfucking shit!" I whispered and stared at the pony that entered the library.

"Hey Twilight, how's it going?" The pegasus smiled at her and walked into the room.

"Hello Thunderlane! You're early, I... Um... I made some food if you want to... Err..." Twilight stammered and the bastard smiled smugly, certain of his success over such easy prey.

"Thank you Twi, I'm sure it will be great, like everything you do." Twilight practically swooned at his words, getting all buttery in a matter of seconds.

I looked coldly at the pegasus, this was the same asshole that had been checking out Flintlock's ass earlier this day and now it turns out he has something going on with the innocent pony librarian that has probably seen as many dates in her life as I had seen elves...

"Good night... Thunderlane..." The words came out like daggers, sharp, cold, and straightforward.

The shameless bastard froze and his eyes went wide, he looked around until he saw me glaring at him from the other end of the room.

"You know each other?" Twilight asked but her query went unnoticed by both of us.

"H-hello Iron... How's it been?" He attempted to smile but the fear wouldn't let him.

"It's been nice... How are Snowflake and Flint? Seen much of her lately?"

He gulped and shook his head, the faint smile on his lips quivering, Twilight seemed confused and I didn't want to ruin her dinner, it wasn't my business anyway.

But I still had to deliver a warning.

"Well, good." I walked closer to him and looked at his eyes. "Seeing is not a sin, but doing is, and doing some things can have consequences, especially if those things are done to someone I know, aye?"

He nodded and I left the house, Twilight had arranged for me to stay at Fluttershy's for the weekend, it would keep everyone safe from the mafia if I didn't stay at one place for a long time.

I sighed, the kids weren't coming, Fluttershy had enough on her hands-err hooves to help me care for three babies tonight, Twilight would take them to Fluttershy's cottage in the morning, after her 'dinner' with Thunderlane, hell, even Spike was sent away for the night! He was at Rarity's place, cutie mark crusaders sleep over or some shit like that was going on over there and Twilight suggested he joined in or something.

"Poor Twilight... Getting it on with the wrong bastard at the wrong time..." I sighed after putting some distance between the library and myself, didn't want the librarian hearing me say shit like that about her guy.

I frowned and started moving towards the outskirts of town, towards Fluttershy's cottage.

The chill in the wind was strong, and I felt my skin and body shiver slightly as the air brushed my flesh, it must have been mid October.

I perked up at the thought and chuckled lightly.

"Halloween's coming up bro, whatcha gonna be this year?"

The buildings of Ponyville started to decrease in number as I moved west, towards the dark forest that bordered the town, the tree line looming spookily over the grassy fields before it.

It was a pure sea of grass that lay at the mouth of the threatening forest, pure except for a few trees and one small cottage.

Fluttershy's cottage.

I smiled at the sight and broke into a jog, happy to finally be able to rid myself of the cold air.

The path to the cottage was rocky and unkept, it obviously wasn't used by many ponies so it had fallen in ill repair.

As I got closer to the small house I began to notice the multiple bird houses that hung around it, there were also a lot of holes and animal burrows all over the place.

"Damn, she must take her vet job seriously..." I climbed up the dirt path that led to her front door and knocked gently, wouldn't like to frighten the shy pegasus.

I waited patiently for a couple of seconds before the door opened slightly and a really pissed off rabbit looked at me like I was some dishwasher salesman.

I stared at the angry rabbit, he stomped his foot impatiently and waved a tiny clock in the air, but before I could tell him to fuck off and let me in, a soft gentle voice interrupted my rising anger.

"Angel? Who is it?"  Fluttershy asked from inside the house, I was about to reply when the rabbit closed the door in my face and left me without words and out in the cold.

"Hey! What the hell dude?" I knocked again after the initial surprise of being told to fuck off by a rabbit passed. "Fluttershy? It's me, Iron! It's kinda cold out here!"

I could hear Fluttershy's muffled voice from behind the door, she seemed to be having a discussion with someone called Angel, her boyfriend maybe?

"Come on you guys! I've had a weird day..." I sighed and leaned against the door.

After a few minutes of shivering in the cold night air, the door finally opened and a smiling Fluttershy welcomed me in.

I smiled at her and walked into the cottage.

Only to be greeted by the angry rabbit from before, he was holding a large wooden spoon.

Fluttershy looked at him sternly.

"Angel... Put. That. Down."

The bunny shook his head.

"Angel! If you do to Iron the same thing you did to poor Mr. Scruffy-"

She didn't get enough time to finish her threat though, the rabbit charged, I raised my fists to meet him.

A Battle Of The Gods Took Place...



Or A.B.O.T.G.T.P. for short

> Market Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Buying stuff


Angel charged towards me, spoon raised and ready to slash and tear me to pieces, I took a step forward, prepared to meet him halfway, eyes locked on his weapon, his spoon...

I frowned and took a moment to think about what was going on.

A rabbit with a spoon, against a man...

"Err... Fluttershy? What's going on?" I lowered my fists and turned to face the yellow pony, wondering how in the hell I got so worked up over a rabbit.

"Iron be careful!" Fluttershy cried out in concern, how adorable, the pony thought a rabbit could harm a human being! The strongest, most powerful and superior of species in the world!

The little rabbit jumped into the air and raised the spoon, menacingly glaring at me while readying his strike.

I smiled at him and extended my arms to defeat the tiny motherfucker with a hug, aren't inferior beings simply adorable?

"Come here you adorable ball of fluff!" 

"Iron what are you doing?! Run!" Fluttershy looked in horror as Angel got ever closer to me, I simply turned to face her and started to explain why the bunny wasn't a threat, when...

Horrible pain, a white light, and a shriek of agony were the last things I heard before collapsing to the ground, my head was hurting badly, up to this day few things can compare to the pain I felt as Angel's spoon hit me square in the forehead.

"Ah! Fuck!" I held my head with both hands and tried to regain control of my sight, it had gone slightly blurred from the pain and the fall had not helped at all.

I was laying on the ground, confused and injured, but more importantly...

Defenseless...

The rabbit had bounced off my head and landed perfectly behind me, looking like a hero of old, the bastard picked up a red napkin and tied it around his neck before posing with his spoon held high in the air.

Several other rabbits began cheering from behind the couch, urging whom I guess was their leader to fight.

And the bastard complied.

Letting out a mighty battle squeak, or whatever rabbits sounded like when giving battle cries, Angel jumped on top of me and began pounding away at my face with the spoon, much to the enjoyment of his gang.

"Angel stop! Please?" Fluttershy flew next to him and tried to stop the onslaught, the rabbit simply shook his head and landed another blow, now on my hand as I tried to slap him away while shouting at the bastard to get off.

"Ah shit! What the fuck is that spoon made of?!" I tried to roll around to get the beast away from me, but the little rabbit was determined, nothing I did could get him to stop, he was fast and furious, like a bullet he struck.

The attacks were merciless, I was barely able to fight back, rolling around and slapping at him to force him back to no avail, nothing seemed to stop him, my hands were badly bruised by now, trying to swat him off had only given him another target to hammer with his spoon.

But never fear! Valiant Fluttershy, as a good friend, did her best to get him to stop!

Yeah you guessed right, she just flew close by and asked him politely to cease the ass kicking, not doing much else to prevent the onslaught.

After administrating an overdose of pure pwnage, Angel jumped onto a couch and swung his spoon around victoriously, his evil henchmen cheering and waving flags with a carrot on them at him.

He received the ovations as I lay on the floor catching my breath and trying to get on my feet.

And then, he glared at me one final time, the room fell silent, his supporters stopped the cheering and gazed at him with awe in their little eyes, Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth with both hooves, it was as if the world itself stopped and looked at what was about to happen.

I looked at him and he looked at me, our eyes meeting, the amount of rage in his tiny eyes was immense, like a sea of anger, and, you know how they say looks can kill? I assure you, that its not true, otherwise I wouldn't be able to narrate this...

Angel broke eye contact to look at a group of female rabbits, I'm assuming they were females because the entire group was swooning and making sexy eyes at him but I dunno about rabbit preferences...

He winked at the group and they all fainted immediately, sighing happily as the white rabbit acknowledged their existence, I simply mouthed the words 'what the fuck?' as the whole scene unfolded before me.

But no time for being confused, Angel's glare returned fully to me and he jumped, spoon raised and cape waving with the wind as he rushed towards me to end the fight, but I was not going to lose so easily.

"Oh no you won't!" I growled and rolled to the side, the bastard missed me by mere inches as his strike connected with the wooden floor. 

"Eat shit bunny!" I got on my feet as fast as I could and threw myself at him, the growing shadow of my body encompassing his little self as realization sunk into his brain, he was done for, no time to run or dodge, the battle was over.

I landed on top of him, a loud thud was heard as my elbows hit the wooden planks below me, I m=had made sure that my chest didn't squish Angel though, wouldn't want to mess up my shirt.

"Oh my, Angel!" Fluttershy gasped in horror and flew towards me as Angel's fandom ran around in circles, terrified at having lost their leader. "Iron what did you do?!"

Grimacing and massaging my swollen knuckles I moved to the side and allowed the bunny to see the light of life.

"Agh, he's fine! Not sure whether that's a good thing though..." I groaned and stood up, the pain in my head was stinging as bad as it could and I was sweating slightly from the effort and the massive ass kicking I received. "I swear, I'm never underestimating a rabbit again in my life..."

Angel was trembling, he must have thought it was the end for him, and as far as I was concerned, it was too bad that it wasn't...

"Angel! Thank goodness you're alright!" Fluttershy beamed at the sight of her pet and rushed over to fuss over him before giving the rabbit a stern look. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

The little ball of fluffy white fur glared at me and reached for his spoon, Fluttershy caught him in the act and took it away from him before he could do any damage with it.

"You ought to keep him away from the kitchen knives, you know? Not sure whether I'd like to see him with one..."

Fluttershy hid a slight smile behind her mane and put Angel inside a rabbit hole by the door, making sure to lock a small wooden door that seemed to be the entrance to Angel's home, the rabbit furiously battered against it before huffing angrily and disappearing into the depths of his house.

"I'm sorry about that, he just gets nervous around ponies he doesn't know, he won't do it again." Fluttershy seemed confident of it, but I seriously doubted it...

"Heh, ok." I decided to act like I hadn't just been beaten up by a bunny and walked over to the kitchen, the jog and fight had left my throat as dry as a desert and my muscles were aching.

It didn't help at all when upon reaching the majestic room of cooking I became aware of a lack of cider. "Hey Fluttershy! Where do you keep the glasses and cider?"

I scanned the entire place for any sign of glasses or the alcoholic beverage but my hopes were crushed as I found out that most shelves simply held plants or herbs and small boxes labeled with names I didn't recognize, but no cider...

"Um, I don't really have any cider Iron, but I think I do have some tea leaves and I could boil some water, if that's ok with you..." Fluttershy entered the kitchen and in the most polite and timid voice anyone could muster she asked me if it was ok for her to make tea, that belonged to her, in her own kitchen, inside her house!

Correct me if I'm wrong but, shouldn't it be the other way around? Like, me asking for the tea? 

"Uhm... Yeah sure, thanks." I looked at her over my shoulder and smiled, pulling out a small wooden box that, as far as I could tell, contained tea. 

Pulling one of the chairs closer to me, I sat down at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, Fluttershy walked over to me and took the box with the tea leaves, but not before asking politely if it was alright for her to do so, of course.

"Fluttershy, you don't need to ask for permission to do every little thing, this is your house after all!" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Oh, sorry." Fluttershy smiled apologetically and took the box from me, she then flew over to a small stove and started to boil some water in a kettle.

I smiled and shook my head, these ponies all seemed to have a weird part to their attitudes, all of them either exaggerated on a certain trait, or lacked it completely! The only normal one so far seemed to be Flintlock, and even she was a little too trusting!

I frowned as the thought hit me, maybe she trusted some people more than she should...

It had been a single day and she had agreed to run off from a restaurant without paying, trusting me with the meaning of her mark, joining a fight that wasn't hers, and conspiring along with me to trick Snowflake into believing his gang couldn't use her weapons.

Fluttershy placed the tea in front of me, smiling as she told me to be careful, it was hot after all.

I simply nodded, staring off into space, lost in my thoughts.

Was there more to the golden mare than what met the eye? I mean, she wasn't bad looking, aye? But there was the species issue, one does not simply go up to another creature and... you know... 

But still, what were the chances of me going back home anytime soon? I was trapped in Equestria for as long as it took for the kids to grow up and make lives of their own, was I simply going to become a monk until then? 

What about my age? When I returned I would probably be old and tired, without the energy to do much else than complain and talk about the good old days... 

If that was the case then I was entitled to some fun before going back, hell, even if I did return young, I was not going stay a saint until then!

But then again, there was the possibility that I was probably over thinking everything... She probably didn't feel that way, we had just met! It would be stupid to jump into conclusions.

I grimaced, having made the same mistake with many a girl in the past, thinking they felt someway about me when they were just being friendly, but you learn from your mistakes, aye? By falling down you learn how to do it right, and then you stand up and carry on.

I shook my head to clear it of the thoughts, sad as they were, they didn't matter for shit anymore, it was no use trying to fix the past, and the hurt from before only made me stronger, I would not make the same mistake again, buuuuuuut, there was still the question...

"Hey Fluttershy, can I ask you something?" I took a sip from the tea and spat it back in as it burned my tongue.

"Um... I guess so, what is it Iron?" Fluttershy sat down on the other end of the table, her cup of tea in front of her.

Time for some awkwardness!

"What can you tell me about relationships in Equestria?" I leaned in so her soft voice actually got to my ears.

She looked at me with a blank expression before understanding of what I was asking sunk in.

"Oh, I... Um... Well, what do you want to know?"

Huh, what did I want to know?

"You know, when a pony gets the hots for another one, do they just walk up and say it? Or is there some sort of satanic ritual?"

"Satanic?" Fluttershy blinked and gave me the confused pony look I had been getting a lot.

"Nevermind that," I waved the subject away, no point freaking her out right now. "So how does it work?"

"Um... I... Um..." Fluttershy hid behind her mane and looked at the floor, embarrassed for some reason. "I don't know..."

Not wanting to press her any further in case it was a delicate subject, I decided to kill the subject right there and then.

"Yeah... Forget it, doesn't matter anyway..." I shrugged and drank some more tea, smiling at her, trying to lighten her up.

"Sorry, I just don't ..." Fluttershy looked at the floor, blushing from embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it, I never got together with many girls either." I said, trying to make her feel more comfortable about her insecurities, because we all know that feel bro, unless you're cool and successful, in that case you've got everything set and ready to go.

She looked up, surprised, not really believing that the big mean human that wasn't afraid to smash someone in the face didn't have the guts to ask a girl out.

"Really? But you're brave and not afraid to go after what you want, there must have been at least one mare."

I smiled at her and shook my head, there had been some girls, yes, not a total failure there, but nothing too serious.

"Nah, there were plenty who liked me, and I'm not complaining, aye? But there was always that one mistake, that one mess up from either one of us, and I simply never got serious with any of them."

I threw a hand up in the air and took another sip from the tea.

"It's not like it matters though, anymore I mean, with me being stuck here and whatnot..." I shrugged and finished my tea, glad that Fluttershy wasn't on the verge of tears anymore, pony insecurity crisis, averted!

"I always thought assertive people always got what they wanted..." Fluttershy frowned and sipped from her tea.

Got it wrong there, assertive people get fired sooner...

"Nah, being assertive usually lands you into more trouble than it's worth, but some level of it is needed, yes." I turned my cup upside down in front of my eyes, trying to see if I could get any more drops out of it.

"Did you get into trouble for being assertive? If you don't mind me asking..."

Lecture time!

"Yeah, sometimes a teacher would be a bitch and speaking my mind never helped... After a while you learn that sometimes it's best to grin and bear it." I frowned at the strange words coming from my mouth, I couldn't let ponies know that I had problems like they did! I had to seem indestructible! "Not always though, sometimes you have to stand up and kick ass! It's just a matter of knowing the difference from the right time to do it and the shit time to try, get it?"

"I... Um, I'm not sure if I do..."

"That's ok, no one here seems to need that kind of advice anyway, this place is as friendly as can be, even dangerous aliens like me get to walk around normally!"

Fluttershy smiled and I returned the gesture, we finished a second cup of tea and then said goodnight to each other.

Fluttershy headed to her room and I settled in mine.

A mattress, blanket and a pillow were the only things inside the small place, not that I really cared anyway, it was only for a couple of days, then I would probably go somewhere larger.

I said goodnight one last time, weird quirk of mine to repeat it a lot, and locked the door behind me, wouldn't like to have my throat slit in the middle of the night by Angel.

I smiled and approached the bed, glad to have people, or ponies, on which I could rely. 

It was getting rather annoying though, not having a place to call my own, having to take advantage of other ponies's kindness wasn't something I liked.

I sighed and told myself it would only be temporary, that I'd get a place of my own and pay them back for everything, but Twilight had been right about one thing at least.

I needed to get a job, charity just wouldn't cut it after a while, the kids would need food, Aquilder just couldn't eat grass and shit, Ectorius was part human, I think, and so was Lightshine, so they would need some meat.

Hell, Iwould need some meat! It had been an entire week of only vegetables and fruits! I wasn't sure how long it would be until I found myself roasting a pony over a fire...

Maybe there was some sort of black market where they sold meat? I dunno... But I was going to feed those kids, even if it killed me!

I frowned and laid down on the bed, pulling the blanket over my stomach but no further, I didn't like the warmth too much... 

"Whatever man, I'll just take Flint's gun when its ready and kill some deer in the forest..." I punched the pillow and got as comfortable as possible.

Sleep found its way into me rather quickly, and I slipped from consciousnesses in minutes.

The following day was rather planned out for me, helping out around Flutter's house, heading over to the market for some baby supplies and food, then finally helping Twilight move the kids over to Flutteshy's before spending the rest of the day hanging out with them.

I was actually looking forward to that, they never failed to amaze me, or cause an overload of cuteness, I had come to love the little ones.

With pleasant thoughts and my plans laid out for the next day, I went to sleep.




Next day... Or is it? Yeah it is...


Sunlight flooded the room, entering from the only window behind my bed, the rays of light falling right on my face.

I stood up after a while, the morning sun not being kind to my eyes as it invaded the room, I groaned as I moved about the place, it was small and I was still sleepy.

I walked towards the door and opened it, the smell of food immediately filling my nostrils.

"Awesome, food." I smiled and walked towards the kitchen.

Only to trip on a laid out string of rope outside the kitchen door.

"Shit!" I fell face first to the wooden floor, barely being able to raise my arms to cover my nose. "The fuck was that?"

I raised my head and looked around, angry at having been tripped, but there was no one around me, no one except a smirking rabbit.

"Oh you little shit!" I glared at the bunny, he simply stared back, we stood there for a couple of minutes, piercing holes into each others heads with our gazes, before the smell of food became unbearable.

"I'm watching you motherfucker..." I bared my teeth at Angel and left before seeing his reply, bitch wasn't worth my time anyway...

Fluttershy had prepared some breakfast and she seemed to have already taken care of morning's mundane activities like brushing her teeth and stuff, I on the other hand, was still a mess.

I entered the kitchen, stifling a yawn, and sat down.

Fluttershy smiled and placed a platter full of different assortments of food on the table, pancakes, fruits, yogurt and many other things that I could eat were beckoning to me, no bacon though.

She sat down on the other end of the table and picked her share of the food, after politely asking if it was alright for her to do so...

"So Fluttershy, what's the plan for today?" I asked in between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"Well, I was going to feed my animal friends and then tend to my garden, but I need some things from the market too." She hid behind her mane again and poked absentmindedly at her pancakes. "I was kind of hoping you could help me with that... If it isn't too much trouble of course..."

I smiled and nodded. "No problem Fluttershy, just tell me what you need and you shall have it!"

She smiled and thanked me, we finished our breakfast and I went upstairs to take a shower, sucks for me, a certain asshole decided it would be funny to pull the lever of the toilet as I showered and the water came out like fire, but besides several burns, my morning went fine.

After I was done showering, peeling off the burnt skin, and putting on my clothes, I walked downstairs and helped Fluttershy with her garden for a while before heading out towards the market.

"Lets see... Milk, carrots, cabbage, what the fuck is radish? Oh, nevermind..." I read the list Fluttershy had given me as I walked towards the town, it wasn't that far away but it was still quite the walk.

The sun on my skin felt warm and the cool air helped to keep the heat comfortable, it was a nice day, birds chirping and sun shining and shit.

The rocks on the ground made it somewhat tiring to walk but not too much and I soon found myself getting closer and closer to town.

Several ponies were already going about their daily lives, not a worry in the world.

"Well, time for some more quality time with the locals..." I muttered as I walked, I hadn't had the best of introductions with the town so far. "Well, here goes nothing!"

Pulling my hood down, I liked my hood shut up, I moved into hostile territory.

"Good morning! How's it going? Looking good! Is that a new saddle?" Doing my best 'haters gonna hate' walk, I greeted the ponies like a boss.

They were starting to get used to my presence by now, even if they weren't comfortable enough to engage in conversation, some of them even smiled and good morninged me back!

I smiled and moved towards the market, it was a single street with food stands on both sides of the sidewalk, some sold vegetables others fruit and there was also the odd one out that was selling only apple products.

Take a guess on who was standing behind that one...

"Howdy pardner! Looking fer some apples?" Applejack asked some ponies as they walked by her stand, they nodded and then traded their souls for the mighty protein filled product of apple!

If you actually thought that happened then fuck off, they just bought a couple of apples and left...

I looked down at the list Flutterpony had given me and scanned the products listed.

"Hay, celery, carrots, radish... Aha! Apples!" I fist pumped and kicked at the air, drawing odd stares from several ponies.

I stood in the middle of the crowd, which had fallen completely silent, all eyes on me.

"What? It's perfectly normal..." I shrugged and walked towards the apple stand, a few onlookers kept on staring but most returned to their own shit after I moved on.

As I got closer to the stand Applejack waved at me and smiled, I returned the greeting and leaned on the counter, pulling out Fluttershy's list and the bag of coins.

"Heya Iron! What can I do fer ya?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure if you can help me, Applejack..." I stroked my chin and looked to the side, faking doubt.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Oh well, you see, I need some very specific products, the kind I'm not quite sure you would have..." I leaned in, closer to her, our faces mere inches away from each other, she closed in the distance and I whispered, ever so softly.

"I need apples..."

I almost burst out laughing, holding my stomach with one hand and covering my mouth with the other, ignoring the ponies that had begun to look at me oddly again.

But once more, unamused Applejack was unamused...

She gave me the 'are you fucking kidding me?' look, and pointed at al the apples laying around her stand.

"Heh heh, you know Applejack, Twilight does that face better, your usual smile looks prettier on you..."

What's up with this ponies and their lack of humor!? I'm funny! Right? Guys?

Applejack seemed to warm up a bit with the compliment and chuckled lightly.

"Ya seem in a pretty good mood Iron, somethin happen?" Applejack pulled out a bag of apples from somewhere under her stand and placed them on the counter. "Take yer pick, fresh from them trees!"

"Thanks a bunch Applepony, and nah, ya know, just feeling good." I took the apples and placed a bag of coins on the counter. "How about you? How's it been?"

"Applepony? Ya know, it ain't kind ta call somepony by their race... Ah ain't calling ya hooman am Ah?" Applejack took the money and tossed it inside a chest full of coins.

"Ok... Just joking though, no need to go Rarity on me..."

Applejack and I shared a laugh at the joke, we both knew how worked up the unicorn could get over every little thing.

"Oh well, guess I'll see ya later Applebee's, save one of those apple tarts for me, k?" I winked at her and walked back a couple of steps, wouldn't want to be near the blast radius of Applepony's rage.

"Goshdarnit Iron! What good are names if ya ignore em?"

I made a 180 degree turn and raised both arms to the sky, trying to do a backwards moonwalk but failing...

"No can do Pony McApples! Rules were meant to be broken!"

Applejack rolled her eyes and sighed, she was smiling a little though so I win!

I turned to face the market, still needed more stuff for Fluttershy, and I was greeted by three baby ponies, one of them I recognized as Sweetened Ball, Rarity's sister or something, the other two I had no idea who they were.

I scratched my head and looked at them, they were just standing there, eyeing me curiously, so I decided to socialize.

"So, you looking for so someone or..."

The ponies were an odd group, one of them was wearing a red ribbon on her red mane, another one had messy purple hair and wings, and Sweet Balloon was pointing at me with a hoof while grinning creepily, the other two had their mouths open and their eyes wide.

"See? I told you! Rarity found one!" Sweaty Belle said happily in her squeaky voice, the other two looked at her and back at me, still surprised.

I decided that being awesome would probably be too much for them to handle, so I decided to be normal instead.

"Found what exactly?" I asked, completely freaked by the enthusiasm in Squeaky Bill's voice.

"Whoa! So that's a real life werepony? Ain't them fellers supposed ta be hairy?" Red Ribbon pony asked her friend...

Wait, I was a what now!?

"Nah uh! They can only turn at night! That's a mutant diamond dog!" Purple hair corrected red ribbon pony, and Squeakers corrected them both.

"Those are even hairier! Girls, what we have here is a..."

Normality doesn't work for shit! Time to do something Twilight wouldn't approve of!

"...prince." I finished for Sweetie Brawl, and the three of them turned to look at me, as if they had barely noticed I was there.

"A what now?" Red ribbon pony tilted her head in confusion, her two friends following suit.

"Yeah! Haven't you heard of the legend?" I sat on the floor and beckoned them closer.

All three ponies looked at each other and then moved a little closer to me, after they sat down on the floor I decided to tell them a story.

Guess which one it was? Yup got it right! Friday the motherfucking 13th!!

Nah it wasn't, I was saving that one for my own kids, I told the three mini horses the tale of the prince that got turned into a frog, nice bedtime story that one, definitely nothing bad could come out of it.

"Got it? That's why I'm not a pony anymore!" I stood back up and cracked my back, sitting down like that got tiresome after a while.

"So all ya need to do is find your special somepony to turn back ta normal?" Applebloom, I had made the mistake of calling her red ribbon pony and she got pissed, asked as if an idea had sprung into her mind.

Her two friends blinked once and then smiled, they turned to look at each other and then nodded, freaky I know...

"Um, sure yeah, why not? Err... Look! Gotta fly see ya later!" I smiled and waved at them while walking away, the three friends said goodbye and ran off into the distance.

All I could hear as they departed was something along the lines of

'Let's give it another try! No potions this time though...'

Whatever that meant...

I shrugged it off as ponies fucking logic from behind yet again, and walked through the market stands to the one that I assumed, sold carrots.

I knocked twice on the wooden counter and waited for the pony... Oh shit...

"Hello, one twenty four." Chief Golden Star greeted me as he turned around to face me.

Deep shit man...

"One and a what?"

"You broke the record, Ponyville's no arrests record that is." Golden Star looked at me coldly and placed a bag of carrots on the counter. "First prisoner in twenty four years."

I returned the cold stare and pulled out the coins Fluttershy had given me, placing them on the counter, I slowly took the carrots.

"And the best your tiny kennel will ever have the pleasure of holding." I smirked and turned to leave.

"You think acting tough will get you much? Getting you behind bars is all it will do, think about that."

I walked away, damn ponies and their damn pony talk, I was a boss!

Without a job, house, or anything to call my own... Except three kids.

But still a boss!

The rest of my market run went without much other excitement...

"The horror! The horror!"

"Goddamnit! Why? Huh? Why! You do this every time I walk by your stand! It's not even funny anymore!" I groaned and turned to look at the cause of my annoyance.

The pink mare stopped her screaming and a look of embarrassment spread across her face, her short blond mane was adorned with a lily on the side.

She wasn't bad looking either...

Whoa! What in the fuck...? Was I checking out mares now? Fuck... I needed to stop eating salads, that shit can mess with your brain...

Shaking my head to clear it of the thoughts, I walked over to the mare's stand and pulled out a coin.

"How much for a flower?"

The mare looked at me, a little surprised, before pulling out a small flower I didn't recognize.

"Um... Two bits..."

I smiled and placed the coins on the counter, then I picked up the flower and gave it a sniff, it wasn't that bad, but then again, I never cared much for plants.

"Nice! Never seen this kind of quality in a... Um, flower before! Say, do you grow them by yourself?" I flashed a grin and placed the little plant on my pocket, careful not to harm it.

The mare smiled back, a bit shaken but still a smile, and nodded.

"Yes, I... Well, Roseluck and Daisy help me out with some of the others, but I grow the lilies on my own, it's my special talent after all!" Her smile was genuine by now, ponies seemed to take pride in their marks, and it was a pretty good conversation starter.

As long as you didn't mention their flanks, never mention the flanks! Learned that the hard way with several nurses during my stay at the hospital...

"You're pretty good at it too, um...?"

"Oh, my name is Lily."

"Pleased to meet you Lily, name's Iron."

I extended a hand and she accepted it hesitantly, after the ancient ritual of 'hi' was completed she seemed more at ease.

"Um, I... Sorry for screaming like that, I thought you..." Lily looked at the floor and blushed from embarrassment.

"Not a problem, gotten used to it by now, nearly everyone greets me like that." I shrugged and looked at the sky, sun was still rising from the east, so I still had some time until the kids woke up.

Not much though.

"Well, it's been a pleasure Lily, but I gotta run, clock is ticking and all that." I smiled and made a little bow.

She smiled and said goodbye as well, I made my way out of the market since I had already bought everything the Flutternator needed, and started walking to Twilight's house.

The town in general was rather peaceful, few things actually worth noting, mostly just your average village with nothing interesting going on...

Except for the bastard that had been following me for a few blocks now...

I put the hood on, made me feel kinda safe, and took a quick glance behind my back.

A shadow, almost impossible to see, quickly darted behind the cover of one of the buildings to the left side of the street, hiding in between alleys had been his play for a while, every time I turned around, the bastard hid, every time I stopped looking, he probably came out of hiding and followed me some more.

I was getting bored!

"Bitch, you wanna hide inside an alley like some cheap prostitute? Two can play that game..."

I made another quick turn to see where he was, once again he hid behind a wall.

I took my chance and made a run for the next alley in between buildings, purposely exaggerating the sound my feet made as they hit the ground, I needed this bastard's attention.

Sweat was running down my brow, more from adrenaline than exhaustion, it was like the fight at the bar, only that the feeling of being by myself made it dangerous.

And danger was fun.

I got into the alley and quickly pressed my back against the wall, making sure I wasn't visible from the street, I forced myselfto breath normally and waited.

Nothing.

I frowned, the pegasus was bound to have seen me disappear by now, shouldn't he be...?

The sound of approaching hooves reached my ears and a slight smirk crossed my lips, the idiot had fallen into my trap.

"Ponyfeathers! Ponyfeathers!" The pegasus muttered as he made the turn into the alley, failing to see me. "Horseapples! I lost him! What will madame-"

"Morning bitch!" I shouted and brought a fist crashing down into his face, hitting him square on the nose, the force of the blow made him scream out in pain and he fell backwards, crashing into some trashcans behind him.

Not giving him time to recover, I quickly grabbed a loose plank and hit him on the back of his head, the pony blinked stupidly and then he slumped to the ground, completely still aside from his breathing.

Knock out.

Panting and sweating, I slowly dropped my weapon and assessed the situation.

One passed out pony, check.

Reason for knocking him out, missing.

"Oh shit..." I grimaced and facepalmed, why did I always act without thinking!? I had no proof the bastard was going to hurt me, he was just following me around! That wasn't a crime! Or was it? I dunno... 

What was I going to do with the pony now that he was passed out?

"Well, I can't drag him around in the middle of the day..." Was there a river somewhere around here where I could dispose of a body?

Oh sit man, this was bad, really bad...

"Ok, ok, think bro, think! What have videogames have taught you so far?" Thinking back to all those sessions of shooting madly, cursing, killing dragons, claiming to have fucked someone's mom, and...

"Looting!" A large grin spread across my face, how had I been so stupid? It was the obvious thing to do when you beat someone...

I squatted beside the unconscious pony and looked him over.

Like all ponies, he was naked, so no pockets or anything like that to check, he didn't have any saddlebags either, so nothing there either, and I was NOT checking inside his ass... Fuck movie logic, if someone hides something inside their asses that's their fucking problem not mine!

"Fucking nasty..." I grimaced and stood up, giving up on my looting attempt.

I slowly turned around and began to leave, let shit sort itself out, aye? But then the idea crossed my mind, I hadn't checked under his wings! He hadn't been using them, so maybe he was carrying something there.

I turned around again and knelt beside the pony, not giving much of a damn I simply pulled both wings open rather roughly.

And voila! Out of them fell... A letter...

"Fuck me man... I killed the mailman!" I gasped and took one of the letters in my hand, then frowned. "What the fuck? This doesn't have an address..."

The envelope was blank, completely blank, no names, no address, no nothing except a large, red wax seal that held it closed.

I moved a finger to break the seal but found out that it already was, so I simply tore the envelope open and read the letter.

Ponyville. 

Monster.

Teach him a lesson.

Go to the forest, we'll find you. 

"Simple tasks for a simple mind..." I looked down at the pegasus, he began to stir and a slight smile appeared on his face, pleasant dreams huh? 

Feeling a sudden anger rush to my head, I decided to let some of it out, and kicked the bastard in the gut, he gasped and struggled to breath, but remained unconscious.

"Guess Twilight will have to babysit for tonight, Snowflake and I are gonna go for a little trek to the woods..." I smiled and nodded slowly, but then frowned. "Nah that's kinda gay... We're bringing Flintlock too."

I tore the letter in two and tossed the halves at the pegasus face, spat on him, and then I pulled on the hood and walked out of the alley.
> Set Sail!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Storm



No one had seen me come out of the alley, or at least I didn't think so.

The place was as calm as always, ponies going about their lives as usual, without even suspecting what was about to go down.

Twilight's house wasn't too far away from where I was, but I wasn't heading to the library anymore, I had a date with some bastards back in the forest...

My fists were shaking as I walked, it had been barely two days since I last beat the shit out of someone but I still felt like it.

Hell! I could have smashed a wall just to let out some steam!

"Fucking fuckers fucking with my fucked up life..." I muttered as I moved through the maze of streets, I knew my way around the place by now, I was always a natural for directions and shit like that, so it came as a sixth sense for me.

A turn to the left and one to the right, wait... Was it left? Or right left right? Maybe I should have...

"Ah! Here it is!" I walked up the street to Sugarcube Corner, aka diabetes and high blood pressure, and then crossed over to Snowflake's house.

The humble exterior was a perfect masquerade for the nobleman's castle on the inside of the structure, I doubt many ponies knew what it looked like inside.

I placed both hands on my pockets and instead of knocking, I opted to shout Snowflake's name as loud as possible, you know, cuz I'm cool like that...

"Yo Snowflake! Open up man! Something happened and I think you might be interested!" I leaned against a wall and waited for either Featherweight or Snowflake to open the door.

Several seconds passed, I was getting anxious by now, the adrenaline was rushing through my veins, fists still shaking and eyes darting from side to side.

"Come on you damn pony... Are the stairs really that hard to walk?" I groaned and knocked on the door a couple of times, maybe the walls were too thick for my voice?

"Coming! Coming!"

Wait... That wasn't Snowflake... That was a mare's voice...

The door opened and a smiling Flintlock appeared behind it, she looked somewhat surprised when she saw me, but afterwards her smile only widened.

"Hey there Flint, Snowflake home?" I smiled and waved, fury dissipating slightly, but not completely.

Flintlock took a little to reply, seemed to be entertaining a thought or something, but time was short running short, no time for thinking.

"Um... Flint? I'm kind of in a hurry? Left someone knocked out back there and he'll wake up soon..." I snapped my fingers in front of her face disrupting whatever was on her mind.

She shook her head and smiled again.

Then my words sunk into her brain.

"You did what!?" Her jaw nearly dropped and her eyes widened. "Why!? Are you hurt!? Did-"

Whoops Flint! Grave mistake there, you just gave a chance to be awesome!

"Am I hurt?" I arched an eyebrow and smiled smugly. "Worried about me Flint?"

Was that a blush?

"Wha-? No! I mean yes, kind off, I- That doesn't matter! You knocked a pony unconscious!? Why!?" Flintlock stammered and stood aside, opening the door wider to let me in.

"Dunno... He was kinda following me around, so I guess it was justified..." I shrugged and walked inside, wanting to explain the whole thing when Snowflake was with us. "So, where's Snowflake?"

Flintlock closed the door and walked inside, following me down the stairs.

"I'm not sure, he said he was going to talk with the mayor and left a while ago with Thunderlane and a couple other stallions, he said he would be back soon." Flintlock said as we entered Snowflake's true house.

The mansion never failed to impress me, some of the paintings depicted ponies in what seemed to be victorian garments, while a few others had both stallions and mares clad in armor.

"The big guy sure takes pride in his family, huh?" I walked closer to one of the paintings, this one was more simple, a wooden frame surrounding a photo of Snowflake and Featherweight playing in the park.

A smile forced its way to my face, would I have pictures like this with Lightshine? Or a photo of me and Ectorius playing soccer? Maybe Aquilder's first flying lesson?

The rage I had felt but moments ago suddenly dissipated, leaving me thoughtful and somewhat depressed...

Flintlock moved closer to me and lightly placed a hoof on my arm.

"Iron, are you alright?"

I turned to face her, the look of concern in her eyes said more than words ever could, she cared about me, whether as just a friend or something else I didn't know, but it didn't matter at the moment.

She was a friend, truly one I could rely on...

"Iron."

Despite the doubts she probably felt, despite everything, she was helping me...

"Iron..."

And she was not a bad looking mare either, yeah sick I know, whatever, I had come to accept that much about my situation, a rose by any other name is still a rose, even if it has a little more fur and doesn't have any boo-

"Iron!"

Flintlock gave my stomach a light punch, breaking my train of thought and snapping me out of my so somewhat strange thoughts, I blinked stupidly and focused on her.

She was smiling, a slight shine to her eyes.

"Sorry, kinda got distracted there." I smiled awkwardly, realizing I had been staring. "You said something?"

"I asked you if you were alright." Flintlock looked at the picture and then back at me. "Were you thinking about your kids?"

I nodded and looked back at the picture, a feeling of insecurity washing over me.

It was depressing, not knowing wether my children would be able to live happily, with all the differences between them and the ponies, with me as their parent.

"I'm not sure if I can raise them properly, I wouldn't want them to grow up to be shunned by society..."

Flintlock nodded sympathetically, then a hesitant look took over her face, as if she was entertaining a thought she wasn't sure about acting upon.

I acted like I didn't notice and watched as she made up her mind.

Slightly trembling with excitement, she slowly brought her head closer to me and nuzzled my arm.

I felt the hairs on my skin stand as the blood inside my veins boiled, my head felt light as a feather, her soft breath brushing against my skin, the feeling of her fur against my bare flesh felt comforting, peaceful, calm...

She sighed, not sadly, not comfortably, it was a sympathetic gesture.

"I know what it feels like... Not feeling up to a task, thinking you'll mess up... That you'll let somepony down if you fail..." Flintlock looked at the photo the whole time she spoke.

But her undivided attention was on me, it was obvious in the way she blushed as her face touched my skin, or the way she spoke.

Something told me that she was talking more about herself than about me though...

Perhaps her parents made her feel that way? When she was younger?

"They pressed you hard, huh?" I looked at her, feeling her pain as if it were mine, my heart was beating fast by now, out of my control, the feelings that controlled it having being born out of fondness for her.

Or was it more of a need? Was my sudden attraction to the mare a simple result of the lack of women? Was I really that instinct driven?

"They loved me... But yes, sometimes they pressed me to be more like the filly they wanted and less like the one they had..."

Heart beating furiously, nervous drops of sweat running down my brow, ears and face red as the fire burning inside my soul, screaming at me to comfort her, to hold her, to not mess up by doing something stupid.

In the end I gave a mental sigh and decided to play my cards.

I raised my hand, taking leap of faith, I ran my fingers, slowly, gently, lovingly, through Flintlock's mane, the yellow hairs felt like pure silk against the rough skin on my palms, her fur beneath it was soft and warm, it's texture leaving a nice sensation on my hand.

She stiffened at my touch and her cheeks got a little redder.

Oh shit, had I been too forward? Maybe she wasn't comfortable with this, what if I removed my hand? Would she feel offended or-

She relaxed, letting her body loosen at my touch, she gave a content sigh, barely audible but still there, and all my worries in the world disappeared.

I smiled a little, all thoughts about letters or fighting gone, and caressed her mane lightly, carefully.

All in perfect silence.

The house was empty, no sounds from the outside world could be heard since it was underground.

The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet, a sanctuary which time itself could not touch.

Seconds dragged by, Flintlock leaning slightly against my body as I continued caressing her mane, a smile had formed on her face and the blush had left her cheeks, she was comfortable.

But time waits for none, and mine was running low.

I sighed and tapped her shoulder gently, wishing that moment had lasted longer.

She stirred and looked up at me with slight disappointment in her eyes.

I'd be lying if I said the feeling wasn't mutual.

"Let's go find the tough guy, aye?" I smiled gently and she nodded, her expression unreadable.

Flintlock followed me back upstairs and through the doorway into Ponyville.

With time against us and it being a matter of minutes for the stallion to wake up, we would be seeing a miracle if we were to find Snowflake before he left the town hall.

I closed the door to the mansion and we began our trek to the town hall, the peace and quiet from before still accompanied us for a little longer, like a blanket, sheltering us from the world.

"Iron... Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Flint, ask away."

We were walking through the streets of Ponyville, the sun was hovering in the middle of the sky now, and Twilight was probably pissed about me not helping her out with the kids.

"Did you... Did you have family back in your world?"

We walked for a a couple of minutes through the peaceful town before the cobblestone road came to an abrupt end in front of a large plaza, the town hall stood in the middle.

With nothing better to do than wait, I decided to walk over to a fountain with a statue of what I assumed, was their princess.

"Yeah, you know, the usual members, mom, dad and a couple others-"

"No, I mean, like, any non related family? Like a-"

"Girlfriend?" I smiled and sat on the floor beneath the statue, it's shadow protecting me from the sun.

Flintlock remained standing, looking away from me while her hoof kicked lazily at the ground.

"The Equestrian term is marefriend..."

I nodded and offered her a seat on the ground next to me, placing the grocery bags that I was still carrying, in front of me.

"No Flint, I didn't have a girlfriend back home," Her ears straightened and she stood a little straighter. "but, there was this one girl..."

She turned to look at me, her expression blank, perfectly hiding any emotion she might have had.

Her poker face put Gaga to shame.

"There was?"

"Yeah, good looking too, was crazy about me." I looked at the sky and grinned, both at the memory and at Flintlock's reaction.

"And you?"

"Huh?"

"Were you? In love with her?" She was looking off to the side, at what must have been one hell of an interesting bench.

In truth, that girl had meant the world to me before she had to move out of town, but I couldn't voice my pain to those who followed me, they needed to be confident in me if they were going to fight.

"Nah, she was too clingy." I said flatly and looked away, just in case she was any good at catching lies.

We sat there for a little while longer, the sun shining high in the sky, not a cloud in sight, it was a beautiful sight, clear skies...

"Huh, I wonder how they do that..." I thought out loud, the weather was always perfect in town, barely any clouds and it never rained, despite it being late autumn.

Flintlock looked at the sky and smiled.

"Aren't there weather teams in your home?" She kicked a small pebble towards me, it landed next to my hand and I picked it up with two fingers.

"Like a weather broadcast? Yeah, but they can't control it." I threw the pebble into the air and caught it as it fell.

Although controlling the weather sounded pretty cool, it wasn't a big deal that we couldn't, humanity grew used to it I guess, but Flinty here thought otherwise.

She frowned and watched as I toyed with the pebble, intrigue overcoming her features.

"You can't control the weather? Doesn't that affect you?"

I smiled and tossed the pebble back at her, it landed in front of her hooves.

"It does, I guess, but it's just something we grew accustomed to, we don't pay much mind to it unless there's a real catastrophe headed our way, and even then, we don't move unless it's necessary."

"That doesn't sound very smart." Flintlock shook her head and kicked the pebble back to me, it rolled off slightly to the side and stopped by my shoe.

I chuckled and feigned injury.

"Well excuse me! Not everyone is able to use magical friendshipness and whatnot to prevent stuff!" Then I grew serious. "Some of us have to endure..."

Flintlock must have sensed the weight on my words, the pain and fear of years past...

"Was it really that bad?"

I slowly moved the pebble towards my hand using my foot, picked it up and looked at it as if it were a mirror into the otherworld.

Images flashed through my mind, newspaper articles, beheadings, shootings, corpses being found under bridges, outside police departments, inside boxes, and trash containers.

"No... It could have been much worse..."

The minutes dragged on, I didn't care, Snowflake was bound to come out of the town hall sooner or later and I didn't want to enter in case I got in trouble for the alley business.

I began to doze off, the heat of the sun and the calm of the plaza forcing my eyelids shut.

Flintlock had to wake me up every now and then, until she started to fall asleep as well.

My eyes closed, and the last thing I felt before sinking into dreamland, was a light pressure on my shoulder.

Sometime later.

"Why, don't you two look simply adorable together?"

The voice was coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

"Have you enjoyed my little treat so far, Iron? You have been a little rough, don't you think?"

I remembered that mocking voice, but I couldn't put a face to it.

"But oh, how much fun you have brought into the life of this boring old town!"

Wait, fun?

"This little experiment of mine has worked fairly well, even if I do say so myself!"

Experiment...

His plaything...

"Ah! But the best is about to come! Be in your best behavior when my good old friend stops by, yes? I have the most wondrous feeling you won't get along very well!"

The bastard.

"There he is!"

I heard footsteps, or hoofsteps? Beats me...

"He's with somepony else!"

My eyes opened slowly, the voices sounded familiar and I somehow knew that wasn't a good thing.

"He's waking up!"

As consciousness slowly returned to me, I noticed that my arm felt numb and warm, a few drops of sweat had stained the collar of my shirt, and that the pressure on my shoulder was still there.

I shook my head and tried to rub the sleep off my eyes with my hand.

I couldn't move my arm.

First thoughts? Taken, strapped down to an operations table and ready to be opened in half by a saw.

Reality? Flintlock.

She was leaning against my shoulder, sound asleep and breathing peacefully, we must have fallen asleep next to each other and she fell on top of my arm.

Her coat and the midday sun were what had made me stain my collar with sweat, although the cool autumn breeze kept it from being too much.

"Iron, you have a lot of explaining to do..."

I groaned and shielded my eyes from the sun with my free hand, I definitely was not in the mood for Twilight...

"I also have to take a shit and you don't see me yelling it out..." I muttered and gently nudged Flintlock.

She opened her eyes and yawned, then realized where she had fallen asleep and sat up immediately, an embarrassed look on her face.

I turned to face the rage of purple pony and noticed she had reinforcements.

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy stood beside an upset Twilight.

"Damn it... Did you have to bring in the heavy guns?" I stood up and waved at the ponies.

Pinkie was the only one to return the gesture.

"Where were you Iron? Fluttershy and I have been looking all over town for you! You were supposed to bring back Fluttershy's groceries and help me with your kids!"

"It's really not much trouble if he is a little late..." Fluttershy hid behind her mane, but no one paid her much mind anyway.

"Twilight, I know you're angry, but trust me, there is a really good reason for my disappearance." I held both hands up and took a step forward, fully knowing it could be my last.

Twilight gave me an inquisitive look and arched an eyebrow, I took that as my sign to explain.

"Well, you see..." Be tactful Iron, remember how easily they freak...

"I knocked someone unconscious in an alley and I'm planning to go to the forest to kick the ass of the ponies who sent him."

Flintlock facehooved, Twilight gave an exasperated groan and Rarity sighed.

Not sure what Fluttershy did though, her mane was in the way, but Pinkie had an alligator on her head for no apparent reason, so I guess she approved.

"Are you going to send the letter, Twilight?" Rarity asked, her voice was loaded with sadness.

"What letter?" I asked but if they heard me, they didn't care.

"I'll have to, he's out of control..." Twilight hung her head and Rarity nodded, the secrecy was making me angry, it was one thing to keep a secret behind one's back, but it was another to rub it in someone's face.

"Hey guys? Mind telling me what's going on?" The annoyance in my voice was evenly matched by the confusion, but I already knew it wasn't something I'd like.

"We're calling the princess, Iron, she instructed me to do so if you proved too unstable to live among ponies." Twilight looked at me, determined but equally saddened. "At first we thought you would adapt, that it was a phase, but you're dangerous."

Whoa! She couldn't be serious! What in the glorious fuck! The only fight I started was at the bar, and those bitches had it coming to them! I wasn't dangerous!

"What? Stop fucking around! He had been following me, it was self defense!" The volume of my voice had risen and some of the ponies that walked by stopped and looked at us. "If it were up to me I'd be living happily back at home instead of being surrounded by colorful mini horses! But it wasn't my fault I ended up here!"

"Iron please keep it down, we don't want the entire town listening in on us." Twilight moved closer and tried to place her hoof on my arm to lead me away.

That was it.

I pushed it away and took a step forward, overshadowing the tiny pony, Twilight was taken by surprised and took an instinctive step backwards as my terrifying self loomed over her.

I was not going to let her treat me like a child, she was horribly mistaken if she thought I was going to let her control me.

"Two things." My voice was dark and serious, leaving no room for argument.

"One, you don't tell me what to do..." I took another step forward.

"Iron, what are you-"

"And two, you don't tell me how to act..." I pointed a finger at her, and shook my head slowly, as if I were scolding a little kid. "Got it?"

Not waiting for her to answer, I turned around and left, making a hand gesture for Flint to follow me, but not bothering to see if she did.

I walked back through the streets and to the library, we were moving.

My honor had been insulted, and my pride called for either retribution, or a severing of ties.

The later was less taxing.

Upon reaching the library I knocked savagely on it, the urge to smash something had been a recurring feeling since my encounter with the pegasus in the alley, and Twilight's insult only made it resurface.

The door opened to reveal a confused Applejack, she smiled and said hello, I simply walked in and went straight for the kid's room, picked up Aquilder in my left arm, Ectorius on my right, and told Lightshine to follow me.

They were smart kids, already understanding a few basic words, wouldn't be too long before they started talking.

Lightshine smiled and giggled, dropping a few blocks she had been playing with and followed me out of the library, holding on to my shirt with one tiny hand as we walked.

Aquilder let out a high pitched squeak and flapped his wings in an effort to free himself.

He didn't do it to escape though, it was a little game of ours, I held him in my arms and he did his best to climb up to my head and pull at my hair, when he did, it meant he won.

No time for games at that moment though, we had to move before Twilight got back, she didn't know where I was planning to go and I meant to keep it that way.

It just wouldn't do if she were able to pinpoint my location to the police, aye?

Walking outside of the library, I gave Ectorius to Flintlock for her to carry, she had followed me after all, in complete silence, but followed nonetheless.

She balanced him on her back and he laughed happily, literally enjoying the ponyback ride as he started fumbling with Flintlock's mane.

She smiled, whether at Ectorius and his antics or at me to cheer me up, I didn't know, but I couldn't help but return the gesture.

Leaving a confused Applejack and the library behind, we walked back to Snowflake's house, occasionally sharing a laugh as one of the kids did something funny or outright adorable.

The walk was silent though, we both knew just how deep the shitpool I had thrown myself in was, and how hard it would be to swim out of it.

We knocked on the door and waited, Snowflake was bound to be back by now.

The mastodon of a pony opened and greeted us, we walked inside and briefed him on the desperate state of the situation, we needed to hide for a while.

He offered one of the guest rooms and I went to settle the kids in for their midday nap, it would give us about two hours.

As I secured the perimeter of the bed with pillows to prevent the kids from falling during their sleep, Lightshine decided to be adventurous.

The little centaur looked around the room and walked over to a cupboard, deciding it was worthy of her attention, she pulled out a drawer and spilled it's contents on the floor.

"Lightshine, no!" I moved in and started picking up her mess, pencils, papers, a map of the surrounding forest, and some...

I frowned and picked up the map, it seemed to be recent, judging by the date and condition of the paper.

I unrolled it and took a quick glance at it, not very detailed, but most of the forest's bordering topography was readable enough so I rolled it back and put it in my pocket.

"Snowflake, there's something I needed to tell you." I started to stand up with the intention of going over to plan out the next move, but a tiny hand stopped me.

Lightshine was tugging on my shirt, a pleading look on her face.

As I looked down at her, she held up both arms asking me to carry her, I smiled and lifted her from the ground, holding her with both arms.

"Ain't you the cutest little-"

Another tug and a bite pulled my attention from my daughter down to two other little faces, both sharing the pleading look Lightshine had given me.

"Just wait till they hit puberty bro, just wait..." I sighed and somehow managed to fit all three of them in my arms.

Flintlock had filled Snowflake in on everything that went down at the plaza while I was busy getting the kids to sleep.

They were sitting down at a table inside the kitchen, sharing a cup of coffee as Flint finished the tale.

I, being the boss that I was, walked in and announced my presence like a badass.

"Well, now that you know, we can skip the bullshit and get down to business, I found a map of the forest." I walked towards the table, Snowflake and Flintlock focused on me as I unfolded the map and laid it down for everyone to see. "I say we walk in and beat the shit out of everyone before Twilight sends the army after my ass."

Snowflake looked at the map and then back at me, concern clearly showing, Flintlock looked at her hooves without speaking, neither said anything for several seconds.

Seconds I didn't have.

I glared at both of them, annoyed at their reactions, I didn't have much time to do so something, and catching a couple mafia members could help ease my way out of trouble when Twilight brought the royal ass kickers.

"Hello? I don't have much time for this bullshit, ok? As far as I know, the fucking army is assembling right fucking now!" I didn't raise my voice, the kids were asleep on the other room, but I made it clear that it was now or never.

Snowflake nodded and stood up.

"Very well Iron, you're my friend and I'll help you out on this," He made eye contact and held it for a couple of seconds before continuing. "but I won't be able to help out if something bigger than the local police comes for you."

I nodded and placed both hands on the table.

"Fair enough, Flint? You in?" I looked at the mare, she looked up and nodded once, sharply and without hesitation.

I smiled and clapped my hands as I looked down at the map, eager to get started on the attack plan.

"Excellent! First things first," I pointed at a clearing by the edge of the forest, not too large and it was surrounded by plenty of trees, excellent place for an ambush. "The letter I found said that they'd find him when he got to the forest, and they didn't put a meeting place, so we can only assume that they have the entire forest edge littered with lookouts."

"What letter?" Snowflake asked, looking up from the map to me.

"Didn't Flint tell you?"

"You never told me anything about a letter, you just said you knocked a pony unconscious." Flintlock shook her head while looking at the area I had pointed out in the map.

"Oh, right, anyway it doesn't matter," I facepalmed and continued with my plan. "So, I have an idea, someone sneaks in and acts like he is the pegasus, aye? Then, the lookouts will meet with him and take him to their lair, all we would have to do is follow our spy and they will lead us straight to our target!"

I finished explaining by throwing both hands in the air, excited about my own machinations.

Snowflake thought it over and nodded, a smile spreading through his face, but women always have to complicate everything...

"Who is going to go then? As the pegasus I mean, Iron can't go and they already know Snowflake, so who's going?" Flintlock to the rescue! Killing my plans like a boss!

"Don't worry, I'll get a volunteer from the guys at the weather patrol, It'll be hard to get Dash to let us take one though... Mare's stubborn as a mule and she's captain of the weather team." Snowflake took the map and scanned it for a little while.

"Yeah, problem solved! Except for one little issue..." I looked at Flintlock, she frowned not sure what the problem could be, but it was quite obvious if you thought about it.

"I don't suppose you were able to make the weapons in such a short time." Snowflake asked her, catching on with our most recent obstacle.

The motherfuckers still outnumbered us.

Flintlock shook her head sadly.

"I still need about two weeks to finish a single one, don't even get me started on three..."

I nodded and stood up, no point in being sad about it, we were still going to kick some ass.

"Whatever, let's go." I walked over to the sink and pulled out a kitchen knife, not that I intended on killing anyone, just to be safe. "Better safe than sorry..."

Snowflake looked at me, surprise on his face, but afterwards he just nodded, although he was obviously uncomfortable at the concept of using a weapon, he was still a pony after all.

Flintlock was about to argue, but fell silent, looked at the floor and nodded as well.

I slid the knife into one of my pockets and walked over to the door, making sure I was still mobile enough to run without stabbing myself.

Snowflake and Flintlock followed me, we were silent as we walked out of the house, through the streets, and towards the weather patrol's ground offices.

"I'll be right back, shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes." Snowflake had been using his quiet voice, it seemed like he switched to it whenever he was uneasy.

Flintlock and I waited outside the place in silence.

It was as if that had become the norm, no talking, just waiting for the inevitable.

I took the time to reflect upon my dream, the one from earlier today.

It was like a prophecy, a bad omen waiting to become truth, with Twilight saying she was going to write to someone with authority, and with that someone coming to town, most probably to oversee my imprisonment, I was running out of time.

"I'll give it three days before the person Twilight was talking about comes to town and puts me in shackles."

Flintlock looked at me with sadness in her soul but resolve in her mind.

"The princess won't take that long, she should be here by the end of the day."

I froze.

End of the day? Royalty surely wouldn't concern themselves with common- scratch that, I was not common, I was stronger than the average pony and everyone knew that, it shouldn't surprise me if my head ended up rolling should I defy the land's rulers.

"What makes you so sure her highness would bother herself with me?"

Flintlock walked over to my side and gently leaned against me, like she did before.

"Iron... You underestimate yourself," she looked up and our eyes met, her's were concerned, mine felt heavy with the residue of rage, confusion, humiliation and excitement. "If the date you said you arrived in Equestria is true, then it only took two days for the news to reach Fillydelphia, by now most of Equestria should be aware about you, and the one we saw in the plaza was her protégé, Twilight Sparkle, she will no doubt send that letter to princess Celestia."

I lowered my gaze, there was no escape now, everywhere I went, they would know me and fear me, I had to make it big here or be an outcast to the entire world.

Twilight's position was not to be laughed at either, I had been an idiot and played all my cards wrong so far...

"So, I take it I should have been more gentle with the locals..." A twisted grin crossed my face, full of irony and despair. "Should have been more... Submissive..."

Flintlock did the equivalent of holding my hand by pressing her hoof against it, gently.

"Sometimes it's easier to just let others decide for you..."

The silence returned, the soft autumn wind blew the dry leaves across the floor, without caring if they liked it, not knowing, the leaves just rolled, they accepted their fate without questioning it.

Grin and bear it, fucker.

Grin and bear it...

Tears welled up in my eyes, it was hard being the epitome of strength, and that's what I had turned myself into, a bastion of solid rock that nothing would be able to break, nothing but it's own weight.

So tall and mighty I had made myself to the eyes of the natives, yes, I was the paper giant, I was the wooden greatsword, and I was an average fish from the sea, thrown into a small lake where I made myself feel powerful.

But now that my mistakes came to haunt me, now that the smaller fish were to bring the true king of the lake, what was I to do?

"I will fight..."

Flintlock looked up, her eyes had pierced the stone wall and were able to see me for who I truly was, a lost soul among strangers, a man torn from his world, and there is just so much a man can take before collapsing under the weight of his own lies.

"Iron... You don't have to do that anymore, just ask the princess to forgive you, just ask and-"

"And what, Flint? Hide? Admit that I was wrong? What would you like me to say to her? That I was wrong and she was right? What other lies should I tell?" I moved away from her, but not breaking eye contact.

She seemed hurt at my reaction, her eyes glistened with unshed tears and her hoof slowly fell to the ground, no longer being held by my hand.

"There will be no absolution, no salvation and no forgetting, Twilight and the other ponies will look at me forever as the man who thought himself better than them and was proved wrong, as the idiot who thought so highly of himself just to be slammed to the floor! And I will have none of that! Ectorius, Aquilder and Lightshine would suffer if I surrender!"

I took a step forward, and knelt before her, holding her head between my hands delicately, making sure she was able to see every ounce of determination in my eyes.

"You know the difference between a legend and a regular man? A man does as much as he can and dies happy because he knows he did his best, a legend does not, legends live with the expectancies of thousands, they stop being men when mortals elevate them to the heavens through tales and stories, they become so much more..."

"... and they are expected to be more, the moment they die, they go to the afterlife wishing they could have accomplished even more than what they did, because that's what they do, legends live on, but only as long as their stories are told..."

Flintlock placed a hoof on my arm and smiled tenderly. "Iron, you're not a legend, you are just one man, you don't need to be remembered by everyone, you have three kids to care for, and..." She looked down, hesitant, but then looked back at me, a fire in her eyes. "And you have ponies who love you, do you really need anything else?"

I stood up, she was sincere, and she was probably right...

But I was a legend, not a good one but still a legend, and my story was going to be heard throughout the land, it was my plan and only hope by now.

A peaceful life in the land of Equestria was no longer an option, if I was going to be a part of society, I'd have to be more than a pony.

I would have to become a legend.

"I'm sorry Flint, but no, it just isn't enough, I have called myself the Iron Galley, and I will become like one! Strong as iron and always ready to charge headfirst like a roman galley, I will fight for my children's right to have a good life, I will become a legend!"

I turned around and started walking to the end of town, Snowflake would have to catch up.

"Tell Snowflake to meet me by the edge of town, I'll be waiting there." I called back to Flintlock, not turning around to see what she thought about it.

There was no time for that, it was time to make my lies into truth, to make steel out of paper.

If the storm was to come, then the Iron Galley was going to break it's waves in half and sail through it.

Sail through the punishment.

Get to port with a grin on my face.

Look down at my wounds and laugh.

Because that's what we humans do, we endure the pain and punishment, we sail through our lives as the whip tears the flesh off our backs and then we laugh it off and carry on.

In the end, we endure.
> Heart Of Iron
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Paper Flesh



My hands pressed against the soft dirt beneath them, pebbles and small rocks brushed against my fingers and palms leaving a rough texture to them, hardening the flesh and setting the mood for what was about to come. It just wouldn't do to fight with soft hands right? No, It wouldn't, not now, not ever.

Being soft was something best kept in secret, hidden away inside us, it would be a disadvantage to show any sign of weakness to the world, because was brutal and savage, unforgiving and always on the hunt for those who lost their step.

These were facts, learned throughout the years of pain and fear, of uncertainty and despair, not knowing whether your father will come home at night or whether he is laying in a basement with missing fingers can do that to a man.

Fear and violence were tools of mankind to exert control over everything around them, and with the natives of this land being so soft and innocent, I was the sworn overlord.

Or at least I believed myself to be, who knows what dangers and powers the ruler of the land holds, would she have me executed? Banished? Imprisoned? Would she forgive the children or would they suffer as I would?

The pain and fear had turned against me, my acts were converging to ensnare me into a trap woven by my own hands, if I had only kept my head low and my fists down, if I had dedicated myself to caring for those who needed me instead of chasing delusions of glory, if I hadn't accepted Snowflake's proposition, if I had kept a regular job, if I hadn't been so full of myself...

"No... This is as it was meant to be... Now I have the gates of success open before me, I cannot let it slide," I frown and look ahead at the forest, it's trees and foliage calm and peaceful like the rest of the land. "By doing what I have done so far, by being 'awesome' I have only managed to trap myself in a deeper hole than any normal guy could crawl out..."

But was I not the strongest? Was I not the unbeatable warrior that was so much more than the rest?

And so it hit me, the realization of a lifetime, the base of my mistakes was not in my actions, but in my mind, the mind was were it all finds its source, actions are merely reflections of the thoughts that fueled them!

A girl, much smaller than any other, much weaker and poorer, a worthless body containing a human soul, was she worth less than the strongest warrior? Was she nothing compared to the mighty and powerful?

Did power grant worth? Or was it strength?

"The flames are rising Iron, and when they hit the deck of your galley, what will you do?"

The girl was worthless, and the warrior was just as worthless, neither had much value in them anymore, one was less than nothing because of his sins, while the other needed but a stronger body to be of any use, but I, I was healthy, I was strong and I was capable of great deeds, but what those deeds were, that's where my value would be determined.

"The  flames have already hit the deck, my galley is sinking, saving it is no longer the question here, but whether my crew and I will sink alongside it, the galley of lies I have created can go no further, so what will it's captain do? Stubbornly hold on to it or save his life and the lives of those who depend on him?"

The gates of success were opening and closing, I just needed to make a leap and hope, I needed to embrace a simple truth and it all would work out perfectly? No, it was not so simple, by embracing truth over lies I would only be me, and that wasn't enough anymore, my children needed me to be better.

Or did they? Was Flintlock right? Were the things I already had more than enough? Was it simple greed that led me forward? If so, where my children a simple tool to achieve glory?

"Can I truly be so much like those I hated back home?"

I looked up at the sky and sighed, the clouds were lazily drifting by, carrying nothing but calm, and here I was, polluting the peace and quiet that this world had in it, poisoning a perfect tapestry with a stray thread of dark silk, I had no place in this world, Discord perhaps chose me for this exact reason, maybe the god wanted nothing more than to spoil the beauty of the land.

Placing my thoughts to the side, I sat up slowly and looked back at Ponyville, its peaceful frame and medieval styled houses blended into the grassy fields without the slightest hint of contrast, it almost complimented the scenery.

Perhaps I could still back down from all this mess I had gotten myself into, the mafia wouldn't bother with me anymore if I left them in peace, Snowflake would have to forgive me and I'd deal with the princess as best as I could...

"Nah, I am not desperate enough to back down at the moment, I still need a certain degree of respect after all." And so, shaking the thoughts of surrender from my mind, I laid back down on the grass, keeping my head down and out of sight of any ponies that might have been lurking around the forest.

The attack would go on as planned, I was not backing down, not in my nature, aye? Though after the whole ordeal I might want to reconsider my actions and go about apologizing to a couple of ponies... But that was in the future and I was in the present so yeah, battle time.

Flintlock and Snowflake came by after a couple of minutes later, accompanied by another pegasus, blue coat, blonde hair yada yada no one really cares what the grunt looks like...

I waved at them and signaled to stay low, if they saw Snowflake then our cover would be blown, the sentries in the woods would fly off to warn the others and they'd all be gone forever, and I was not letting my prey escape.

The group did as instructed, with the newby having to be told what to do before following, and advanced to my position, always keeping out of sight.

"Guys! What the hell took you so long? I almost had an existentialist crisis over here from so much waiting!" Snowflake smiled and waved away my complaints, then positioned himself beside me, map in hoof.

"Sorry, keep your voice down by the way, if they really are hiding in the woods then they might hear you, anyway, we had some trouble with Dash on our way out, Thunderlane couldn't make it, had some work to do, so we took Blue Skies here."

The pegasus gave a nervous wave, great, another pony afraid of me... It was getting annoying... But at least we had our decoy and the plan would be able to continue.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, so you ready?" I addressed Blue Skies, hoping he had been explained what he was meant to do already, I wasn't in the mood for talking too much.

The little guy nodded and moved closer to the map, he gave it a quick look over and nodded again, more to give himself confidence than anything else I'm sure.

"Good, remember Skies, just go over there and act like you have a slight idea of what's going on, Wingsters aren't known for their smarts." Snowflake gave him a pat on the back and off he went, flying to the edge of the forest at mild speeds, taking his time like someone who doesn't give a damn.

Good acting, if he had been too hurried in his flight, then they might have gotten suspicious, gone too slow and they may have caught on to us following him, the newby wasn't as bad as I thought, so far anyway.

A quick glance back at Flintlock revealed she was carrying a saddlebag, its contents a mystery as far as I knew, but it couldn't be much, she would be doing a lot of running and it would weight her down, I tried to offer a smile but she looked at the floor and avoided my gaze, possibly upset about our earlier talk, I would have to apologize for that, but not at the moment, matters of the heart were secondary when a fight was so near.

Blue Skies approached the treeline in complete silence, not a sound in the air since we were quite a walk away from Ponyville, the stillness of it all was intoxicating, the tension among those of us who were about to fight was so thick you could have sliced it with a knife, it was the thrill of a fight, aye? Not knowing who will win, knowing both sides are equally matched, it reminded me of the second world war.

Thousands of allied tanks against a few German Tigers, not that I liked what the Nazis did with those tigers but the comparison was quite good anyway, strength against numbers.

We had an overly muscular bastard, a violent monster from another universe and Flintlock... Not sure what she could do, but meh, an extra hand never hurt, aye?

Skies landed in front of a tree and looked around, trying to find whoever he was supposed to find, I wasn't so sure it would be that easy but there was no way of telling him that without blowing our cover, as long as he didn't get the stupid idea of flying back to tell us he didn't find anyone, it would all be fine.

Snowflake was frowning as Skies failed to make contact with our targets, perhaps wondering whether I was actually right about the sentries, whether the letter was genuine or just a misinterpreted message or code, I hoped it wasn't, not only did I knock the guy unconscious but I also tore the letter in two, wouldn't want to get on the bad side of the post office as well!

Skies decided to press his luck and entered the forest, carefully looking from side to side as he passed the first couple of trees and moved through the foliage, into the wolf's mouth.

Not literally though, because that would be simply sadistic...

But what did happen took us all by surprise, just as Skies was beginning to disappear from sight, a black bag was thrown over  his head, and two pegasus flew from behind the trees and dragged him into the depths of the forest, a kicking and struggling Blue Skies desperately trying to break free, good thing he was smart enough not to call our names.

Snowflake reacted on instinct almost immediately, he sprung to life and tried to charge forward, intent on saving his friend, I couldn't let that happen, my arms shot out almost immediately and held him back as best as they could.

"Snowflake! Calm down! It's going as planned! They'll lead us to their leader!" I whispered loud enough for him to hear me, and slowly he began to settle down, his eyes still wide in anger and his wings standing at attention, ready to fly into the fight at any moment, the bastard slowly regained control over his actions.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away..." 

I smiled and waved the issue away, it wasn't a problem anyway, they didn't seem to see us.

"Whatever, lets get going." I nodded at both Snowflake and Flintlock and they stood up, careful to keep as close to the ground as possible, the pegasi were still in the area.

The trek across the flatland and into the forest went undisturbed, all sentinels seemed to have retreated as soon as Skies was taken, they mustn't have considered the possibility of an attack, their leader was possibly as proud as I was, and believed himself indestructible, well, I begged to differ.

We crossed the treeline and entered the woods in silence, Flintlock had been keeping her distance from me while we crossed the plains, but now that we entered the shade of the trees she unconsciously began to move closer and closer to my side, it spoke quite a lot about what she thought about me, and it was a nice morale boost.

Snowflake on the other hand, had been moving ahead of us and we needed to constantly remind him to keep his speed controlled, we had been following the broken branches among the tree tops so far, and if Snowflake darted ahead of us it would all be over, we would have lost half of our fighting power with him and we'd still be outnumbered.

But all in all, we managed, the tracks were sufficient and they never went in complicated patterns, mostly sticking to going in a straight line, oddly enough, they didn't lead to the inner depths of the woods, the pegasi we were following seemed to go into the woods for only a few hundred feet before turning to the south and continuing in a straight line parallel to the forest.

It was as if they were avoiding it, maybe scared of it? I would have to ask someone at some point.

The leafs broke under my feet, making soft crunches that seemed amplified by a thousand to my worried ears, they couldn't be making so much noise could they? Were the others having the same problems? 

A quick glance at Snowflake said no, he was flying overhead, keeping us on the right path as we followed the tracks, him being the most silent of the group, since he could fly...

Which reminded me of Flintlock, turning around revealed my suspicions to be correct, she was having just as much trouble as I was when it came to moving silently, her hooves fumbling awkwardly out of the way of leafs and twigs, grimacing every time she made the slightest noise.

The sight brought a smile to my face, she was quite the sight to behold, even if she was mad at me, it only accentuated her beauty, I could really see myself getting used to seeing her face, contorted into that look of concentration as she tried not to step on the leaves, more often.

She noticed me looking and turned her head to the side, damn... I would have to apologize to her when I got the chance, seeing her angry was not really something I liked.

We continued tracking the Wingsters down for several more minutes until we found ourselves in front of a large clearing between the trees, we were still quite a way from the treeline though, about a hundred feet or so, not quite so hard to spot from the plains outside the forest but these ponies seemed to fear the forest for some reason.

We edged closer to the clearing, making sure to keep away from sight while still being able to see what was going on, the sight before me was rather encouraging.

"Vat happened to ze monster? Did you do as instructed?" Sparks Cloud, the pegasus from the bar was standing in the middle of the clearing, talking to a confused Skies, the pair was surrounded by four other pegasi, none of them seemed to be aware of our presence.

"I... I... Well, yes! I did!" Blue Skies was doing his best to remain calm, but being surrounded by five thugs with no idea of where your back up is can break even the strongest of wills.

And it was showing, Sparks Cloud arched an eyebrow and started circling around Skies, the other thugs caught the drift of the situation and stood at alert, the trapped Skies was barely holding onto his wits as the whole thing took a turn for the worst, his cover had been blown.

"Really? Very vell then, so vhat is your name avain?" 

"I... Well, it's... uhm... C-clear Clouds! Yeah! Clear Clouds!"

Sparks Cloud nodded to one of the thugs and kept on circling as the pegasus flew into the sky to block any attempt to escape to the sky.

"Ah! Good name, good name, the Clouds family is very good friends vith my mother's side of the family, vhere are you from?"

Shit, it's a lose lose situation, if he says the wrong town he's done for, if he chooses the right one, then he is just as dead, Sparks probably knew everyone in his own hometown.

Sparks Cloud continued to circle Skies as the thugs inched a bit closer to him, the one in the sky was grinning widely.

"I... I... Well, I'm from-"

Sparks jumped on top of Skies and pinned him to the ground, the blue pony let out a startled scream before getting a punch to the face.

"Ponyville! Blue Skies! Veather patrol, locker number thirty two and your brother vorks in small farm outzide of Vanhoover! Insult me avain and I vill not ve so kind!" The lieutenant of the Wingsters spoke with venom and strength into Skies's ear, loud enough for all to hear without giving away his position to anyone outside of the treeline.

Too bad for him, that was the last straw for a certain pegasus.

"SKIES!" Snowflake shouted and barged out of cover, darting full speed towards his friend's attacker.

"So much for stealth..." I sighed and rushed out of the trees as well, eyes locked on Sparks Cloud, the lieutenant was the only one I needed to get off the hook, if I caught the motherfucker then full royal pardon was scheduled for this afternoon followed by a shitload of coins being given to me and a lapdance, well maybe not the last one but still...

Flintlock followed without hesitation, which struck me as odd given that she didn't seem like one fit for fighting, but there she was! Following in the same manner I did, fearlessly throwing herself at the superior numbers ahead of us, well not so superior really, five against four, that is if Skies was still fighting fit.

"Vhat are you doing!? Get them!" Sparks screamed desperately for his thugs to do something, but it was in vain, we had the element of surprise, Snowflake tackled the Wingsters's lieutenant in one swift motion, sending both of them rolling across the clearing, shouting and exchanging kicks and punches, the thug in the sky stared dumbly at the unfolding battle as I changed targets.

Snowflake had the boss under control for now, and I wasn't about to leave Flint by herself.

"Ok then, will you be alright Flint? Or do you want me to take on all three of them?" I slid a hand down to my pocket and pulled out the knife, more for the Wingsters to be scared than to do any damage, three against one was quite the disadvantage, good thing the one they sent to fly was still staring like a dumbfuck.

Flintlock rolled her eyes and moved in front of me, taking a fighting stance, I shrugged and ran to the nearest bastard, knife arm pulled back to get a good thrust if it was necessary, the pegasus's eyes widened when he saw the knife but he didn't back down from the challenge.

With a powerful kick to the ground and taking impulse from batting his wings, the pony propelled himself at me, turning himself into a missile, ready to smash me to a pulp should he hit.

I wasn't stupid, I couldn't kill him, that would be sentencing myself to a lifelong stay in prison, and I couldn't let him land his hit, that would be even worse, so I opted for the safest option.

I swerved to the side and the pegasus missed, flying a couple of feet before starting to slow down, but the damage had been done, I turned around and ran as fast as I could towards the slowing pegasus, having lost his momentum he was completely vulnerable.

I was merely two feet away from the pony when a blunt pain on the left side of my body and a very strong push sent me to the ground, dropping the knife and losing my footing I fell, the world a blur as I rolled across the grass before coming to stop beside a lonely tree.

The pain wasn't that bad, If you can recall a certain incident from before then you must know there wasn't much left to break on my left side, aye? Well, it didn't stop the kick from being any less painful.

Gasping for breath, I looked up to find my attacker, in perfect timing to receive a strong hit to the face, the blood oozed freely from what was possibly a broken nose, all sounds seemed muffled as my head hit the floor, the soft grass doing little to alleviate the wounds, my body had stopped responding, my mind had stopped sending orders to the different extremities, all that still worked did it mechanically, for those couple of seconds I had no control over my body.

I was done for.

Just as my mind was slowly returning to my body, I heard something, no, someone call out my name in a scream of panic and worry, Flintlock? I can't remember, the world around me was shrouded in fog, dense and unrelenting, thick and unforgiving, I could barely see or hear anything, and yet, there it was, the soft voice, carrying concern and love, to say it sparked something within me to stand up would be simple fantasy, it did not, the energy that washed down my body to return the strength to my legs and arms was dark, it was not evil per say, but it definitely didn't have a harp and white wings.

Slowly, determinedly, angrily, my body forced itself to stand, blood running in a steady stream down my face, staining my neck and shirt, dirt and mud caked my features, I must have been a terrifying sight for the poor bastards standing before me, both pegasus let their jaws fall as I glared at them from behind my mask of blood and dirt.

Tsk, tsk... Iron, I thought you'd be stronger! Oh well, we can't let the fun be spoiled so soon now can we?"

The new voice in my head wasn't Flintlock's, it was well known to me and I didn't like it, but I got the hint.

I had a god on my side.

Wasting no time on comments or threats, I threw myself at the pegasus that had punched me, the bastard snapped out of his fear too late, I returned the punch and grabbed him by the neck then lifted him up, he batted his wings and tried to break free of my hold but it was in vain, the strength I had wasn't mine, and the acts I was committing were possibly influenced by something else.

"Are you feeling lucky motherfucker!?" I was practically growling at the pony, he had eyes larger than plates and tears could be seen forming at their sides, he might as well had been whimpering, his pal broke his staring and tried to tackle me again, using the same motion from before.

With a loud yell from exertion, I brought my captive crashing down on top of the charging pegasus, my arm felt like it was going to snap out of place from the resulting impact, the momentum the pegasus had when he collided with his friend wasn't something to laugh at, and I was sure one of them if not both were going to have to go to a hospital after this whole thing was over.

I fell on my back clutching my shoulder with my other arm, the pain was quite intense for several seconds but it started to subside after a few moments, I took it as a sign that I had nothing broken and sat up to see what was going on.

Well, it was surprising alright.

Flintlock was panting, her left eye covered by her hoof and her mane falling over her face, it gave her a dangerous look, one hell of a sexy, dangerous look... But what truly caught my eye was the stallion laying unconscious in front of her, twice her size and much more muscular, I had no idea how she managed.

Blue Skies was tending to an unconscious Snowflake, a knocked out pegasus laying some feet behind him, that accounted for four out of five Wingsters, with Sparks Cloud missing.

I walked over to the unconscious pegasus in front of Flintlock, my steps were heavy and I was tired, exhausted even, whatever Discord did to me was taking its toll on my body, muscles ached and a horrible headache had found its way into my brain, it was as if I had a set of drums being violently beaten inside my head, my breath came ragged and uneven, something wrong with my lung? My shoulder was horribly numb and one of my legs was aching badly in a spot below the knee.

But still, it could have gone worse, much worse.

"Whoa Flint... I honestly... Didn't think... You'd manage!" I smiled and looked at her, she was beautiful to say the least, the sweat running down her body, her hair hanging in front of her face, her breath, irregular and heavy, the entirety of her exhausted complexion simply gave her a wild look that made the heart race and the blood boil, and she had the attitude to match it.

"Yeah? Well I did! You know why? Because I actually planned out what I was doing! I didn't just rush in without thinking like the bunch of you!" She was still covering her left eye with a hoof, her right eye glaring at me with more excitement than anger, I was pretty certain I had a similar look in my face though, she and I weren't too different.

"Chill out hotstuff! Everything went fine in the end didn't it? Why lose our shit over nothing?"

Flintlock didn't blush as I expected her to, she simply smiled, it wasn't a shy smile either, it was wild and suggestive, matching the physical look of her body, it was the kind of gesture that sets the mind free and the imagination running wild, I smiled back, taking this small chat as the end of our little misunderstanding.

"Uhm... I'm afraid that isn't entirely true... Snowflake is hurt." Blue Skies spoke from behind us, shattering the moment and bringing us back to reality, with the big guy out of the fight, we had problems.

"How badly?" I cracked my neck and back, enjoying the sensation it left in my tired body, god knew I was going to need it for what was coming next if Snowy over there wasn't fit for fighting.

"Not too much, on the long run at least, but for now he is out of the fight, I suggest we leave immediately before they come back with more thugs." Skies looked around the trees, nervous and alert, waiting for something to happen, more specifically, for us to be attacked.

I was having none of that however, it was time to act, now or never, I was going to catch that Sparks bastard and get myself some royal pardons as well as respect, whether I was doing it for glory, for my kids, for the town, I didn't give a shit anymore, I was going to do it anyways, that was the plan and I was in too much pain to think of anything other than the plan.

"Fuck that shit bro, I'm following that Sparks bastard and I'm putting an end to this bullshit! He goes, the town is clear of those guys right? Well, then I'm going to get him and I will finally be able to get to do some other shit than getting my fucking ribs mauled by ponies!" 

And so I did it, I dragged my sorry ass across the clearing towards a trail of broken branches and torn bushes, Sparks must have gotten his wing injured or something, there were plenty of feathers lying around that matched his coat color and the trail of snapped foliage was really close to the ground.

My leg was screaming at me to stop that nonsense, my head was pretty much begging for some time out and my stomach was threatening to spit out my breakfast, but still I went on, forced onward by something greater than myself.

Raw stupidity and stubbornness.

Too bad, that shit won't get you too far in a fight, lucky me though, my warrior gal came to save the day just before I did something stupid, like running into a fight while being horribly mauled.

"Hey Iron! If you're going to keep on ignoring your common sense, here, ignore it with this." Flintlock dug inside the saddlebag I had noticed earlier and pulled out the box that held her treasure, she trotted over to where I was, revealing a black eye in the process, and handed me the box.

I stared at it, amazed at how easily she was handing me her most valuable item in the world, me, a completely reckless motherfucker that had almost gotten himself killed twice! In less than two weeks!

I blinked stupidly at the box in her hooves, the words wanted to come out but a knot in my throat wouldn't let them, it was too obvious to deny it anymore, this mare loved me, she did and I wasn't too far from it myself, her body wasn't the reason, although it was a plus, it was her, she was one of the few who stood by me in the hardest of moments, she would always be there, I was certain of that much.

This was the final straw.

I took the box from her and opened it, the pistol was perfectly clean and ready to fire, the flint and steel were there, and a small cartridge full of black powder was laying beside it, leaving one question.

"How...?"

Flintlock smiled and rolled her eyes, an amused look in her face.

"Your friend Pinkie Pie stopped by the mansion after you had left yesterday, she wanted to know my favorite type of cake, what interested me was that cannon of hers though, you said something about the pistol being a weapon, but I couldn't find any way for it to do damage other than by hitting," Flintlock's eyes shone a little and she raised her head in a gesture of pride. "Well, I got to studying the mechanism a little bit and it reminded me of a lighter, based on what you said about needing a piece of flint and steel, I could see it working perfectly fine for lighting something on fire, and that cannon of Pinkie's was the give away, by using the 'party powder' as she called it, I finally discovered how to get all the pieces working!"

Flintlock beamed and gave a large smile of pure happiness and pride, she was practically overflowing with excitement as I gazed at her with a sad smile of my own, she made it.

"So, you know what it can do, aye?"

Flintlock stopped her celebration and looked at me with her good eye, her smile still in place although a bit shaken, she moved forward and nuzzled my arm.

"I'm not worried about that, you promised to take care of it remember? You said you were going to keep it safe, I trust you."

A single tear rolled down my eye, it was too much, I couldn't lie to her, it would destroy me from the inside if I did, trust like that was too precious to stain with the filth of lies, but I couldn't tell her the truth... She wouldn't understand, she'd think I am a monster and leave, I couldn't let that happen, she had kindled a fire within me, a fire that only she could keep alive and I would do as much as I could to keep the fire burning.

Even if it meant a few more dark stains in my soul.

"Y-yeah... It's all good..."

"Hey you guys? We have to get out of here! They'll be coming anytime soon!" Bless you Skies! You saved me from an imminent moral breakdown!

Flintlock smiled and looked at my eyes, her belief in me hurt more than a thousand kicks to the chest, but the castle of my heart somehow managed to sustain the barrage of guilt that was thrown at it, the walls of lies got thicker and it resisted.

"I'll be back before you know it." 

With those words leaving my mouth, I picked up the gun and loaded it, having to improvise on the bullet by using a small, smooth stone I found laying around, but otherwise it went as it should, watching the patriot and last of the mohicans has its perks.

But there was one more thing that just couldn't wait anymore.

I knelt down in front of Flintlock and pointed at nothing behind her back.

"Hey what's that?"

"Huh?" She turned around to look and I move in as fast as lightning.

My hands held her head and gently pulled her back to face me, I closed in the small distance between us and planted a swift and simple kiss.

She was shocked at first, but just like before, she slowly started to melt at my touch, returning the kiss gently at first, never pushing it farther than what it had started as, a simple gesture of love, a move of need, an act of the heart, and I couldn't have wished it to be any different, she was so pure and beautiful, to stain that beauty with the darkness of my soul would be a sin I'd never forgive myself, so instead of following what my heart desired, I slowly brought the heavenly moment to an end.

Flintlock did not voice her protests, but they were there, it was obvious in the way she leaned in to steal one more gentle brush against my mouth, in the way her lips pressed against my own as if life itself depended on them remaining together, as if the world would burn and shatter should we part.

I would have loved nothing more than staying there with her, forgetting about all the ethical barriers between us and making her mine, out of desire, out of love, out of simple lust, I didn't care! I loved her, wanted her, needed her, but the taste of blood in my mouth was gaining strength, it was burning my skin as much as Flintlock's touch, it gnawed at my soul and forced me to break the union between us, it forced me to stand up and shoot a desperate glance at her, the kind that only a man being pulled away from paradise can give, that glance of longing and need...

And so, ignoring the burn of the flesh and giving in to the needs of the world, I ran after salvation, after the key that would open the gates to a normal life, or would it? perhaps not, perhaps my life would never be normal, perhaps my children's life would be of isolation because of my actions, perhaps the world would burn and shatter.

But it didn't matter, not anymore, not when the final strands of fate were beginning to tie themselves around my neck, when the executioner's block lay so close to me, when my actions came to haunt me, now was not the time to worry about the future, it was time to act upon the present, it was time to stand up and do whatever was in my hands to change that future.

Now it was my turn to fix my mistakes, starting by the first one, joining Snowflake's gang was childish of me, I placed the kids in danger as well as myself and those whom I called friends, and then I lost those friends in exchange for following the same wild dream of action that made me join a fight that wasn't mine.

It was time to set things right, time to actually plan my actions and act in behalf of those who needed me.

But I was not going to give up being awesome though, cuz ya know, that shit was too cool...



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Alrighty then! Woot! A thousand views and pretty much a hundred likes! I've decided to get ahead on the writing and give you guys this as a thanks for all the awesomeness you've given me! Keep on rolling!
> The Final Act
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The End Of a Life



Thoughts racing and blood rushing, mind set in one goal. To catch the bastard would set everything right, it would fix my errors and grant me forgiveness. All I needed was one chance, one clear shot, one bullet.

I ran through the woods as fast as my legs would allow me to. The foliage was dense and abundant, the air was still and suffocating, my heart was pounding against my chest as my sheer desire and will to fight drove me further into the woods.

The pain in my shoulder was not as bad as it had been before, and my injured leg only hurt if I pressed down on it too much. The headache and the broken nose were still there though, and every now and then I would swipe a forearm across my face to wipe away some blood.

I was in a sorry state by the time I was able to find some tracks on the floor. The hoofprints led through the woods and bushes, away from the treeline and deeper into the woods. 

“Odd... Weren't the bastards afraid of trees?”

I shook the thought out my head and kept moving. If Sparks got too far ahead I would never catch him. I couldn’t lose my last chance. I would not allow myself to do that.

Tired and mauled, I finally came to the end of the tracks. My hand pushed away a large plant blocking my view of another clearing, this one was much larger and well hidden. Sunlight dashed past my face as the plant got out of the way, revealing a new sight for me to behold.

A cottage, not too small but not too large. Wooden walls and straw covered roof, it brought to mind a medieval styled home. The front entrance was wide open, wooden door swinging with the wind and creaking loudly. 

“I’ll be damned if this isn’t obvious enough... Oh well, fuck it...”

I grimaced as the coppery taste of blood ran through my mouth. I angrily brought my hand up and wiped with the intention of wiping away the blood, but accidentally brushed my nose instead.

“Shit!” I quickly felt the sting travelling through my face. It was not a pleasant sensation, having your nose shattered that is, and the extra weakness point was the least I needed at the moment.

Grimacing one final time at my own pitiful state, I took a large breath and started walking towards the house.

Gun in hand, mind of steel and heart of ice, I approached destiny. The soil in front of the house was green with grass, well taken care of and lively. The trees around it looked like they had been planted with the explicit purpose of keeping the construction hidden, they were closely placed so as to make a wall around the clearing.

The skies were clear and cloudless, the wind blew softly and calmly. Birds were chirping on the forest around me, oblivious of what was about to occur. My steps were clumsy and shaken, leg aching badly once more, just below the knee. My breath was ragged and uneven yet again, perhaps from exertion, or maybe my lungs were injured from the kick.

I didn’t care. I just kept on walking, certain that whatever waited for me inside the house was no match for a gun. Anger drove me onward, fury kept me on my feet, rage maintained my resolve to fight.

But there was also fear, uncertainty, insecurity... How could one man fight the world? How could a soul carry the burden of so many mistakes and errors? Was I doomed by my actions? Or would I be given the chance to reach absolution?

My steps brought me to the open doorway. The wind flew past my head and into the house, caressing my hair softly, inviting me into the embrace of fate and future, of a final resolution and finale to my story.

How that story was about to end I did not know, nor did anyone. It was a matter of the gods, whether they be the mad one that incarcerated me in this world so distinct from mine, or whether they be the ones of love and compassion, it was up to them to see me through the tale and prose, to the final lines right above the end.

It was their story and not my own, and they would see to it that it ended as they saw fit.

The door started to close slowly, the wind having stopped blowing. I looked at the house one final time. It was a cold glare, an emotionless gaze that failed to register any beauty or appreciation for the structure.

I smiled without emotion and pushed the wooden door open.

“Not much to look at...” 

I raised the pistol and looked around. The house was dark, curtains had been drawn in. The house seemed small from the outside, but it was slightly larger than it looked. I was in what looked like a living room. A circular table in the middle of the room surrounded by tables. 

Cupboards and shelves to my right along with a stove marked the other room as a kitchen, and the final room was right under the house. A wooden staircase led to a lower floor where, I assumed was the bedroom.

I took a final glance and then shrugged.

“Better get this shit done with right fucking now...”

I slowly made my way forward and into the darkness, making sure nothing was hiding behind the few pieces of furniture around the cottage. The silence was dreary, the atmosphere was heavy and the weight of danger was becoming exceedingly overcoming.

But I knew I had to do it, I knew what was at stake and what would happen if I failed. 

My steps brought me to the top of the staircase, and I began my descent. Hand pressed against the wall for balance, I slowly placed foot after foot, slowly moving downwards and into the darkness.

The wooden steps creaked under the pressure of my feet, the wooden wall splintered my fingers and caused small cuts along the surface of my palm. But I did not care, there were much more pressing issues to worry about.

“Alright then, even if I beat this motherfucker, how will I pull him out of the house? I’m in no shape to be doing any of that stuff... Maybe Skies will help out with that? Huh, never gave much credit to that guy, but I guess he played his part quite well.”

I thought to myself as I walked, mainly to ease the tension on the air as I drew closer to the final room standing behind an oak door. The place was dead silent, nothing from the outside world could be heard.

I began to breath heavily, expectant of what was about to happen, excited and afraid, ready and unsure. With a swift motion I pressed my hand against the door and pushed. The wooden entrance swung open and slammed against the wall. I screamed and raised the gun to shoulder level, ready to shoot the first fucker I saw.

It was empty.

I groaned and kicked at the ground, or at least tried to. As soon as my good leg left the floor the rest of my body fell. With the injury on my other leg present, I was in no shape for standing on one foot.

My body hit the ground as curses and swearing left my mouth, I broke nothing however and was able to stand up after a couple of seconds. 

Angry and disappointed, I stood and walked back up the stairs, leaning against the wall and making sure not to lose my footing. A fall down the stairs was not something I wanted.

I walked towards the door with a furious pace, angry at having lost my quarry and at my body for being such a pansy and not taking the pain like a man.

I grumbled as I moved past the door frame, worry was beginning to dawn on my mind once more, adrenaline was draining swiftly and leaving the pain to roam freely yet again.

Each step was another stinging wave that travelled from my knee to all areas around it, causing me to grimace and curse. My shoulder ached, although not badly, but still it hurt. The headache that had started some minutes back was now raging fully, mercilessly threatening to destroy my brain from the sheer pain.

My hand clutched at my stomach as the pain inflicted by the bastard that kicked me a few minutes back, returned with newfound strength and sting. I fell to my knees and spat on the ground.

It was blood.

"Ah shit... Fuck!" I tried to slam a fist against the ground, but my injuries would have none of it. I was to groan and suffer, nothing more. Thoughts crossed my mind as I lay useless and spent.

How cool would it have been if I had actually gotten to be a father to the kids? Maybe I wouldn't have been the best, nor the most appropriate... But I would have managed. Always did after all.

The pain was worsening and my wounds were deepening. Discord's magic had worn off and my mortal frame could no longer maintain itself with a possible fracture in my leg, a sprained shoulder, a mauled stomach and a migraine of hellish proportions.

And Flint? Heh, guess I had been right about her. Damn, that kiss! If I hadn't been in such a shitload of hurt I swear I could have still felt it against my lips... Oh well, if I survived there would be more, and if I didn't then it wouldn't matter anymore, would it?

I tried to stand up but my strength was leaving me, abandoning my tired mind and body. I had failed, allowed the motherfucker to escape and now I was too wounded to carry on. Well, guess it was written long before my birth.

"Born to die, I guess..." I spat the words out and blood accompanied them, I had led a good life before getting transported into this shithole. Well, as good as life can be after a war, but still better than most.

I squinted and grimaced as a wave of pain surged throughout my bones and flesh, defeating my resolve and forcing my mind to bend, to surrender. It had been a good run, but it was over. Relatively pathetic should you think it through, to succumb to a colorful world of an inferior herding species...

The winds remained calm and the winds refused to appear strong as they should have. It was the end of october and back at home the wind would be slashing and tearing through civilization like a beast, never forgiving, never relenting. What sort of thing other than the winds can outlast so much time without refusing to stop? 

“Russians... And vikings...” I chuckled and spat once more. Blood was becoming more frequent, forcing its way up my throat after the blow I got in the head from earlier. My fucking medical bill was going to hit the ceiling...

The pain was bad, not unbearable but intense nonetheless. However, luck has a habit of abandoning an unfortunate bastard in the worst of times.

“Afternoon...”

I grimaced and groaned, too tired to actually feel compelled to look up at my newest visitor. I already knew who he was anyway.

“You did not think it vould ve eazy to ezcape? Fell right into ze ambush my dumb friend.” Sparks Cloud grinned from behind the treeline, looking as mauled as I was if not a tad more.

His left eye was bruised and colored a dark shade of purple, his fur was matted in dirt and it was badly out of line, simply unladylike if you ask me... Pfft! 

The pegasus took a step forward, and I rather admired him for that, given the condition he was in. But any sort of respect or sympathy left as three other fuckers left the trees behind him, faces covered with the, oh so cliche, ski masks.

“What are the masks for? Afraid to show your shitfaced friends?” I forced my body to push the pain to the background and steady my muscles. I had one final trick up my sleeve and I was not going down til the fat lady sang.

Or in this case, until the slim, metallic, gunpowder filled weapon sang.

The thugs following the injured pegasus took a couple of steps forward, intent on being menacing. But it’s hard to scare someone when you’re a pony, and you’re wearing a ski mask...

“Vell, my friends vouldn’t like to be seen publicly.” Sparks attempted a smile but ended up grimacing and pressing a hoof to the left side of his face, right below the black eye. 

“Something wrong with your eye, sparky?” I smiled and managed to get on one knee, my hand slowly sliding down to the floor to pick up the gun I hadn’t realized I had dropped. Good thing it didn’t fire when I lost my hold of it though, Flint must have been really good at crafting that thing.

The pegasus smirked and kept silent as his friends moved closer. Faces hidden and steps menacing, drawing nearer with every step. Intent on beating me to a pulp, as far as I knew of course.

I chuckled a bit, exposing my bloodied teeth, trying to bare them as much as possible to make the canines noticeable. It worked to a degree, the closest pony blinked and faltered for a second, wondering whether the blood on my 'fangs' belonged to someone other than myself.

I stood up and managed to stay standing through quite a bit of effort, my leg was giving me trouble and the overall condition of everything above my waist wasn't encouraging. But at least I was still alive and kicking.

And I intended to kick.

"You really thought it vould be that zimple? Follow me here by yourself and vin? I feel conflicted between feeling inzulted or happy the plan vorked." Sparks unfurled his wings to maintain his balance after one of his injured forelegs failed to support his weight.

I tilted my head slightly to get a good look at the pegasus wings he sported. They were badly mauled, much like the rest of his body. The feathers were chaotically out of place, several fell to the floor as he unfurled his wings and the left one twitched badly, causing him to grimace.

"Fuck you! I'm not the one looking like shit!" Another mouthful of blood spat on the ground, another insult thrown. Awesomeness levels: Rising.

Sparks Cloud arched an eyebrow before rolling his eyes and waving a hoof at the others to continue.

The three pegasi wasted no time obeying, although the wary looks in their eyes were proof enough that they were nervous being around me. And they should be, since I still had the gun in my hand. 

But I was not going to waste my one shot in a random brute, I had bigger fish to fry. 

My approaching foes got closer, breaking into a light trot. They spread out, blocking any way of retreat by moving to all possible sides and behind me. I had one pony per side one on my back and Sparks in front of me, with a clear shot.

I smirked and held the handle of the weapon a little tighter, as if afraid I would lose it should I loosen my hold. Sparks looked at it curiously at first, but didn’t give it a second glance after that. None of these ponies knew of what power I held in my hand, none knew of what could happen to them should I decide to use it.

I corrected my stance, trying to look more like a soldier ready to fight than a beaten up guy about to collapse. My feet obeyed and my body held together for the time being, but I knew I was in no shape for a long fight. All they needed to do was drop me on the floor and I wouldn’t be able to stand up again, it was over. This was the final push and final try, with one shot I would injure their boss, and the others would hopefully run away in fright.

If I managed to pull it off, and that was a pretty big if, then I would be finally free and without worry. If it didn’t work though, I was probably going to have my ass handed to me.

The pegasi wasted no more time, they made a run for it. All three at the same time ran at me giving me little time to do anything other than raise a fist to meet the one on my left. 

They reached me.

Using their wings to propel themselves forward, the three pegasi dashed through the short distance separating us and collided with me. All at the same time, I felt pain on my sides and back, having no time to react or even dodge my attackers.

I fell to the floor coughing and struggling to regain my breath, trying desperately to remain conscious while still holding the pistol with my hand. Sparks limped closer to me but kept at a safe distance, away from my reach.

The pegasi moved in before I could stand up, not that I could anyway. Two of them pinned my arms to the floor while the last one did the same with my legs, effectively immobilizing me and leaving me defenseless.

I was still holding the pistol tightly on my right hand however, and decided not to struggle lest they decide to break something or tie me up, in which case the gun wouldn’t be much use anymore.

Sparks cloud approached and lowered his head so our eyes were seeing each other. The pegasus looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and disgust, eyeing me warily in case I tried anything violent.

“Vhat are you? Vhat sort of twisted magik vould make something so... Veird.” The pegasus stood up and gazed down at me in disdain before nodding to the other pegasi. One of the thugs nodded his head in understanding and ran towards the treeline. He came back a couple of seconds later, holding a blue plant with a pair of pincers.

I spat more blood on the floor and struggled to keep myself awake. The pain was furiously battering at my body, trying madly to destroy what little resistance remained within me. But I would not let it have its way, I was going to fight for my freedom and safety, but not merely for mine. There were others who needed me to win this at any cost. 

I was not going to let them down.
The pegasus carrying the plant got in front of me and lowered it down so I was facing the blue flower. It was strange and had no scent I could discern, but whether that was a property of the plant or the fact that all I could smell at the moment was my own blood, I did not know.

“Now, for getting involved in things that did not concern you... Vell, lets say you von’t live normally ever again...” Sparks smiled and the pony lowered the plant and practically shoved it into my face.

It tickled.

“What in the fuck is this?” I moved my head to the side, trying to get the flower out of my face but the pegasus was stubborn. He repeatedly pressed it against me, as if trying to stab me with the colorful plant.

“It is poison joke, there is no cure but feel free to squander as much coin as you vant trying to find one.” Sparks attempted a smirk, but grimaced as his injured wing twitched in a manner it shouldn’t have been able to. “Now you know vhat happens vhen you mess vith the vrong ponies.”

I looked at him with anger. I had no idea what this poison joke was, so I assumed the worst.

“Fuck you.”

In fury and rage, in despair and as a last act, I used all the strength left in my body and pulled, I pulled my arm free, I pulled my revenge out of their grasps and set it free to be consummated. Gun in hand and said hand free.

The pegasus that was holding the flower immediately dropped it and tried to take hold  of my arm once more, but he was too late.

I screamed and put the gun level with Sparks Cloud’s head, aiming between his eyes. He seemed startled but made no attempt to move away, not knowing what was about to happen. The other two pegasi jumped forward, trying to stop me.

A sad smile broke my lips, and I pressed the trigger.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Man of The Hour



Laying on a warm bed amid a cold room inside a peaceful town, covered in blankets and bandages. There was a faint sound of hooves moving about outside of the room as nurses and doctors ran from patient to patient. There were four, and two were in very bad shape.

Of ponies and pegasi the doctors knew much, both how to tend their wounds and how they would react to treatment. They expertly and accurately removed the pieces of shrapnel and wood that had stuck to their flesh and bone, careful not to harm veins and arteries as they skillfully moved about in the dance of life and death that was their profession.

Outside of the rooms were these pegasi were treated, were their lives were to be saved from a most horrible happening, guards and police officers stood. Making certain the patients remained inside the rooms until their bodies would allow for transfer to more appropriate facilities. Facilities specialized in the housing and rehabilitation of convicted criminals.

A fourth pegasus pony had already been sent to the Canterlot penitentiary for a two year penalty for violence and aggressiveness, as well as inharmonious behavior. All were severe charges, but the evidence was enough to confirm them.

An injured townspony with ties to the local police, a mare from Fillydelphia sporting a black eye and several bruises, a pegasus from the weather patrol team claiming to having been ambushed. The total number of arrested ponies went up to eight, it was the largest scandal to have ever left the streets of Ponyville.

Police forces were pressed by the media to release information, ponies panicked and began to send letters to their families and friends in Ponyville to assure themselves of their safety. It was chaos incarnate. The princess had to give a public speech to assure the populace that all inharmonious activity had ceased withing the territory of Ponyville, but it was not enough.

A lockdown had to be called in when the masses demanded she made sure of the safety of all ponies. Nopony was allowed to either enter or leave the town for twenty four hours. Royal guards patrolled the streets and scanned the nearby woods were the assault had taken place. A large cottage in the outskirts of the forest was found, substantial amounts of evidence linking the captives to the infamous gang known as the 'Wingsters' was encountered within its walls.

A ninth member of the gang was later identified through interrogation of the original captives, as a patient already inside of Ponyville's hospital, having been taken in after being found unconscious in an alley. It was too much for some of the residents, and they demanded stricter laws be passed. They pressed their ruler to assure their safety.

So the great machine of politics was moved, greased by the complaints and demands of the hundreds of ponies who woke up one morning to see dozens of guards patrolling their streets. The largest cities found plenty of supporters for stronger reforms as well. If something so violent could occur in such a small town, what was to stop something worse from occurring in larger settlements?

Political opposition to the rulers began to move contacts and allies, pressing for their own interests as the ponies of Equestria cried for safety. The reforms began to transform from mere suggestions into petitions and formal demands, and with the two princesses having their backs against the wall, there was no option but to comply.

And so it happened. Police forces were bolstered, for the first time in hundreds of years. For it had not been for centuries that the peaceful land had needed stronger security, and had it not been for a certain someone, it never would have needed it.

There, laying on said bed, was the harbinger of security for a world that had not needed it in a very long time.


I opened my eyes, but found that one would not obey. So I raised my hand to feel what was wrong, but it would not move. I groaned in exasperation and tried to sit up, but I was incapable of but the smallest of movements. I was encased in bandages and in a very dizzy state. 

I had no memory of what had happened, nor did I remember how I had gotten to wherever I was. But one thing was clear in my mind, and that was the confused pain. Pain for not knowing what had happened, for not being sure if I had made it, and if I indeed made it. How did everyone react? Was I in prison for killing in self defense?

My eye, the one and only that was able to look around, moved its gaze about the room, trying to make out any detail about even the smallest of things. Just to feel a purpose, just not feel so alone. But there was only darkness, deep and unrelenting darkness moved about me in complete silence. Never retreating, never dying, it moved like the waves of the calm seas along the shores, but without the comfort of it's sound.

Through much effort and attempts, I finally managed to discern some form out of the blackness of the room. Lines and shapes began to take form before me, a table, a nightstand and chains on my foot. Not that I'd be able to go anywhere, not with my leg encased in a cast.

I grimaced at the thought of having yet another bone broken, but decided it could not be helped and moved on to see what more I could find from my surroundings.

It was a rather uninteresting room, yet it was oddly familiar. I had been there before, and in a not so different position. I groaned as the realization hit me, I was back in Ponyville's hospital being treated by wounds that I had inflicted upon myself by inflicting wounds upon others. It had become rather repetitive by now, getting hurt I mean, it lost its strangeness after a while.

Eventually I closed my eye and made a quick check of everything I could still move and the stuff I couldn't.

Eye? Check. Legs? Left one is useless. Arms? Right one is useless, the other one is chained to the bed. Everything else? Meh... Guess I can make do with several more bandages across my torso.

All in all, I was in a shitpile of shit. But, what happened?

I groaned and a stinging pain shot throughout my face, more specifically under the part of my face covered in bandages. I stared at the ceiling and forced my mind to remember, to recall anything and everything it could of the past events. Had it been yesterday? The air felt colder, much colder...

It was like pushing through a barrier that could not be moved, like a wall of bricks that simply refused to budge. Looking through the fog in my memories proved impossible and I groaned in exasperation, the one leg that I could move kicked against the bed in a vain attempt to ease some of my frustration.

The bed creaked and I bounced a little, but nothing was disturbed otherwise.

"G-guys? A-an-anyone?" I stammered with words and my voice was dry and low, almost unnoticeable over the soft whispers of the wind that blew in almost nonexistent strength across the dark hospital room. But still a shape shifted in the darkness, stirred in the stillness and moved before my eye.

"Iron?" 

I looked among the shadows for the source of the voice, I remembered that voice. It was soft and caring, yet it carried so much sadness in it, and resignation.

She pulled herself out of a corner of the room, wearing the saddest eyes a soul can have. Red from weeping and dark from sleepless nights, she moved closer to me with a sad smile. I tried to return the gesture, but the bandages would not allow it.

"H-hey Flint... What's up?"

She cast her eyes over my broken body and bandaged wounds, looking on the verge of tears. But she was not weeping for me, not in its entirety at least. There was something else, something deeper.

Her eyes finished their tour by looking into mine, and her smile vanished instantly. Flintlock looked like the most beautiful creature to ever be placed upon the earth, and thus it was painful for me to see her as she was. So sad and scared, not knowing of what she was scared of made it only worse, augmenting my own tears as they threatened to spill out of my eyes.

"I'm... I'm so sorry..." She sniffed and covered her eyes with a hoof, trying in vain to hide herself as she wept yet again in front of me. It helped little that I had the feeling it wasn't the first time either. "So sorry, I... I didn't mean for this to happen! I..."

"Hey, hey! It's ok, it wasn't your fault." Not much could be done to comfort her, as I lay badly mauled and incapable of movement as it was. But I still needed to let her know it had been my fault and not hers that I ended up as I was. "I... Shouldn't have ran off like I did... Should have waited, you know?" 

She shook her head rapidly, shaking and trembling. Her eyes were closed but the tears were obvious, her feelings and her guilt were apparent in the frame of everything as it fell together piece by piece. I knew nothing, and yet it was obvious.

"It was the pistol!"

She wept openly now, not caring for whoever heard her, not bothering to shield it anymore.

"The... The barrel wasn't... It wasn't..." She closed in the remaining distance between us and hugged me as best as she could without harming me. I tried to hug her back but couldn't, so I just laid there, waiting and understanding. As the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place, and the golden mare showed her value. "I'm so sorry!"

"Did the others... Well, you know." 

She looked up at me and shook her head softly, then wiped her eyes with her hoof. 

"They are on the upper floors, there were guards and police ponies... I... I just wanted to help, I didn't mean-"

"Hey, it's ok. I'm ok, I just fell down the stairs, aye?" I tried to smile again but the bandages had opposing plans.

She shook her head again and pressed a hoof to my bare cheek, lovingly moving it up and down while she looked me in the eye.

"Iron, the pistol exploded when you pressed the trigger. Pieces of metal and wood went flying everywhere, you barely survived." She looked away and sniffed again, fighting hard to hold back the tears. "The bullet went through your hand and... It almost hit your eye..."

My invisible smile wavered and I felt a chill run down my spine. I could have died.

"What stopped it?"

"When the pistol blew up the hammer smacked into your face, and the bullet hit that instead of your eye. It was deflected out of pure luck... I... I should have made it stronger! I didn't mean for this to-"

"Hey! Stop that! It wasn't your fault." I would have frowned if not for obvious reasons. "Shit happens and people get fucked, that's how it goes. Nothing we can do about it."

Flintlock nodded but remained unconvinced, she would blame herself for this all of her life, I was certain. But it had not been more of her fault than it had been mine. But I needed to know what had happened afterwards, badly.

"So, tell me Flint... How much of a celebrity am I now?" 

Flintlock wiped her eyes once more and looked at me with concern, she smiled faintly but it was forced.

"Turns out you were right, Iron... In the end you did manage to turn yourself into a hero of sorts. A new set of Equestrian security enforcement reforms are on their way. Ponies who have heard your story have even come to call it the 'Iron Reforms' since it's because of you that they are happening."

I tried my best to look smug, but the question remained...

"Why am I chained up then?"

Flintlock lost the smile and looked at the floor sadly.

"Inharmonious behavior, assault, shoplifting, indecent language and, well, the list goes on..." 

I gave a weak laugh, it was honest and uncaring. I was honestly expecting to be dead or something worse by now, so the charges seemed small enough. But Flint begged to differ.

"Those are some very serious offences in Equestria, Iron. You can't expect to get out of this mess by throwing punches at everypony."

Ouch.

"Heh, it's worked so far!"

Flintlock sighed and laid her head on my chest, trying to ignore everything and simply relax. The cool night air smelled oddly familiar, reminiscent of... Winter! Christmas! Holy shit how long had I been out?!

"Hey Flint, how long has it been since my accident at the woods?"

"Hearth's warming eve is coming up... I guess it's been about a month and a half."

My eye widened. A whole fucking month and a half?! I must have been starving!

"Hey Flint?"

"Yeah?"

"Are there any leftovers from that lettuce with dressing I stole the other day?"

Flintlock facehooved and shook her head.

"No Iron, I doubt it would be any good by now anyway..."

"Oh, ok then."

"Good night, I'm going to catch some sleep."

"Ok, ok. I'll do that too." Flintlock smiled and left the room, walking slowly and without hurry. She was finally at peace with herself, knowing that I was, somewhat, ok. Seeing her calm eased my heart and gave me the peace required to drift off into sleep, knowing most things had turned out alright.









A week later.

The week had gone by, nothing out of the ordinary happened, not at all. Just the usual, you know, cops walking in and out of the room as soon as they were told I was in shape for visiting. They showed me pictures of the captured pegasi, they asked me questions with little respite and in the end they decided to read me my rights and all that bullshit.

Cops or no cops, it didn't matter. The week had been quite good for me, Pinkie and Applejack visited with the kids and briefed me on the situation of the world around me. Needless to say, the whole thing was the largest pile of shit to have ever graced the land of pony.

The town had calmed down a little after the whole thing passed, regular life resumed its course and ponies began once more to take to the streets without much worry. I was quite surprised to hear about the exaggerated precautions everyone took just because of the fight. Sure, sure, nine ponies arrested for some pretty high charges in Equestrian standards, the only human ever being the tenth captive and several other stuffs and whatnot... Still a complete exaggeration to get the goddamn army involved if you ask me.

And the kids? Well, imagine my surprise! Aquilder was hovering! He couldn't fly yet but still! He was the first to burst into the hospital room, batting his little eagle wings while keeping himself a few feet above the floor. Too bad he couldn't land very well, he had to improvise a landing track out of my bandaged stomach...

The other little ones weren't much more different, Lightshine was taller, and her hair had gotten longer. She couldn't talk as of yet, but she made the most adorable little sounds whenever she wanted something, therefore she pretty much always got what she wanted. Unless it was a dangerous object, of course. In that case she just took it and we had to tempt her with something else so she would drop it.

Ectorius was a shy one though, he kept quiet mostly and obeyed really well. Never gave trouble that one, and he behaved better than the other two. Which was odd, considering that Lightshine used to be the well behaved one. But generally, yeah, no complaints from the little minotaur. No complaints except his excessive strength! He could lift a wooden chair, twice his size, for a full three seconds before getting tired... He was just a calf! That's like asking a grown man to lift a car above his waist!

Fun times were had by all whenever the little ones came along. Turns out being a suspect for criminal activity didn't negate your right to have visitors in Equestria, although I'm not sure how that worked back in earth. I was somewhat surprised that the police was giving me as much freedom as I could have inside the hospital room.

I still had to remain inside and I couldn't get out of bed yet, but other than that I was fine. The food sucked, but I had gotten used to that, and the cold was beginning to bite but not more than usual. All in all, my hospital days went fine. What had me worried was what was going to happen after they were over.










Locking Horns With Royalty



I stood before the town hall, waiting by its front door with three guards making sure I did not escape. My hands and feet were not bound, I had no chains and no shackles. I was waiting for my sentence, waiting for my destiny and fate. Behind the gates lay what I supposed was the answer to all the questions and the result of all my actions.

"Where are we going?" I had asked.

"The Princess wants to see you." The guard had replied.

It was time, it had been delayed too much now that I think about it. I was bound to meet the sovereign of this colorful pony land of pony. And I better make a good first impression too, who knows! If I played my cards right... You know what? Last time I said that, everything ended up as shit, so I'm not saying it... Let the whole thing follow its course and lets see where it goes.

The doors opened and a scrawny looking pony stepped out, wearing glasses and looking more like a squirrel than a pony, he quietly whispered something to the guard and then retreated back inside, giving me the most terrified look I had seen all day. Even the guards seemed a tad nervous around me.

"We're going inside, please follow." The guard to my right said, not looking at me, not giving me a glance. He simply said it while looking forward.

I was still wearing the bandage across my face, covering the place where the hammer had hit me. It was badly swollen but nothing out off this world, I would survive. My right arm was still bandaged, and that was a true cause for concern. Turns out the bullet had jammed inside the cannon of the gun, that's why you shouldn't shoot stones kids! No matter how smooth they seem...

Anyway, the thing got stuck, and when the gunpowder blew off, it got unstuck. Sadly it was sent flying on the wrong direction... Some shit about the gunpowder getting in front of the bullet when I dropped it apparently happened, and the fucking stone went backwards... My hand happened to be in the way of the bullet.

No fingers lost, no worries there... I did lose the ability to move the two smallest ones though... They're just sitting there like a pair of lazy assholes... Nothing to worry about! Not at all! Not going to miss my very own fucking fingers...

My leg had broke though, badly... Right below the knee and my shoulder was almost dislocated from the impact during the fight, it wouldn't be as strong ever again. But still worked! So there's that... I didn't lose my eye however, and that is very good news.

I nodded my head and followed the guards inside the large wooden doors to the town hall.

There, waiting for us by the middle of the room, was the princess of Equestria. Dark coated with a blue mane, flowing freely with stars shining across it. Her mark was that of a moon, and her posture signaled royalty and commanded respect. She waited for us to advance.

And so we did.

The guards moved forward and I followed. Flintlock, Snowflake and Blue Skies were sitting before the princess, waiting for us. She looked beautiful, like always, if not a bit tired and somewhat frightened. Snowflake was determined, looking ready to accept whatever the punishment was, though I doubt he would encounter much trouble since he was an unofficial agent of the princess. Skies was looking somewhat down, but not ashamed. Snowflake had made a good choice when he picked the guy for the job. He was tough, and didn't fear the consequences of doing what he thought correct.

Whether it had been correct or not was yet to be decided though...

The Princess looked at us, assessing each and everyone. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw me, but not too much. She still maintained the air of command that one would expect from royalty. All four of us stood before her, awaiting her judgement.

In the end she spoke.

"Are thee aware of the charges by which you are held captive?"

We nodded, all four of us had a guard read our charges before being lead to our meeting with the princess. We knew the size of the whip with which they planned to slash us, and while it was rather stupid to think a brawl would get you into so much trouble back on earth, here in ponyland it was reason enough for a month of banishment to some prison or island they liked to call 'The Moon'.

The dark princess rested her eyes on Snowflake, looking at him inquisitively. Something told me this wasn't the first time he had been brought before authority.

"Snowflake FrozenField, would thou deem it correct to address thee as the head of this... ethnically diverse conglomerate?"

Snowflake nodded once and sat up straighter, keeping his eyes down so as to avoid direct eye contact with the princess. All of my 'accomplices' seemed rather intimidated by their sovereign. And you know what they say, when in Rome...

I lowered my eyes and stared at the floor as well, expecting to hear some sort of hollering like you see in bootcamps in movies. I'm not sure why, but it seemed fitting for some reason.

"Very well then, explain to us the happenings and their importance by which thou hath committed such deeds." The princess spoke once more, pointing a hoof at the solemn stallion. "Bother with lies and embellishments not, for we have aplenty of eyewitness declarations."

And so he did. The pegasus that I had come to call a friend spoke shortly and truthfully, narrating the dire situations his militia had faced. Snowflake revealed before me and the others more than he had originally intended to.

"We caught wind of the Wingsters seeking aid from... Discord." He stated dryly, being blunt and to the point. The princess narrowed her eyes and leaned closer.

"How certain art thou?"

"Very. Sparks Cloud was frustrated after we first drove his influence out of Ponyville by alerting the police of his operations on the western side of town, so he turned to darker allies... We don't know to which extent he has come to agreement with Discord, but we do know he redoubled his efforts to take west of Ponyville afterwards, and that during the Canterlot wedding incident while the elements of harmony were away, several of our members became ill with cutie pox and poison joke related illnesses. If it hadn't been for a zebra called Zecora, our guys would've been out for much longer than a few days."

I pretended not to be surprised, but it was hard not to be. Discord had been helping the Wingsters all along? And yet he helped me beat them? He was one fucked up individual if he had no ulterior motives for this whole shit...

Flintlock and Skies were surprised to hear this as well, but not to my extent. The shock they received from the news of Discord teaming up with the Wingsters was not on a personal level, unlike me. The mare and weather pony looked at Snowflake briefly before stealing a quick glance to the princess, awaiting her response.

She maintained her piercing gaze on Snowflake for a while, assessing his words, weighing their veracity. In the end she sighed and rubbed her temple with a hoof, easing a building headache, before speaking a tad more softly and with less intensity and royal firmness.

"And the... Human... How did matters unfold for his participation to become necessary in these events?"

"He's a fighter, a strong one too. We needed as much help as we could get to push the Wingsters back if they tried any funny business in Ponyville."

I nodded once and made a mental note to thank Snowflake for the praise.

"Business, you say? Like a harmless gathering at the local pub?" She arched an eyebrow and looked at Snowflake expectantly. "Do forgive us, but we fail to see the threat in such trivialities."

Snowflake hung his head, not sure how to reply to that. I on the other hand, believed that my silence had lasted too long.

"They were planning something, besides, they were all wanted ponies, right? Where's the harm?"

I smiled and all three other ponies flinched. The princess looked at me neutrally and replied in a cold manner, that which leaves no room for argument.

"Four thousand bits, that was the amount of harm caused to the establishment."

So much burn...

"The bounty on their heads payed for that quite well, I even heard they got some extra compensation."

Skies almost fainted, Flintlock nudged me in the ribs to shut up and Snowflake shook his head rapidly at me while grimacing.

"Dost thou believe that to be reason enough for thy deeds to go unpunished? Our subjects might have been injured or mistreated because of thine acts, such misdeeds shall not go without proper consequences."

She kept a calm demeanor throughout the speech, but it was clear she was getting angry. Between the political reforms and demands, Discord aiding a criminal organization, a human getting into several brawls against said organization, and getting back talked, she must have been quite adept at not getting pissed off!

I locked my eyes on her's and kept the stare long enough to be defiant, but not too long so as to be insolent, then I broke eye contact and nodded, waiting for her verdict.

The princess cleared her throat and a guard approached with a scroll in his mouth. The princess took a hold of it with her magic and unrolled it, the thing falling for several inches before stopping.

"Flintlock Dust of Fillydelphia, accused of theft, fighting, condoning unharmonious behavior, and executing such behavior. How dost thou declare thine self of these charges?"

Flintlock wiped a hoof across her face and looked at the princess pleadingly.

"I...I'm sorry..."

"Answer our question."

I took a step closer to the mare beside me and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"She had nothing to do with-!"

"Be silent! Answer us or all charges shall be regarded as true."

The dark princess did not shout nor did she raise her voice, but the strength and power behind each word was more than enough to silence the wind itself. I had no power there.

Flintlock wiped a few more tears from her eyes and held my hand with her hoof. I held her tighter and she reciprocated the act by pressing with more strength. She gained the strength to speak.

"Guilty..."

The sovereign nodded and then looked at Snowflake and Skies. She read them their charges.

"...accused of fighting, condoning unharmonious behavior, and executing such behavior. How dost thou declare thine selfs of these charges?"

Both exchanged a quick glance with everyone before replying.

"Guilty." They both said at the same time.

Then she looked at me, no despise in her gaze, no anger and no prejudice. Simple neutrality was all one could find in her eyes. I could respect that impartiality.

"Iron Galley, of origins unknown. Human in species as it is speculated by thine own testimonials. Thou art accused of multiple acts of assault, theft, condoning of unharmonious behavior, inciting unharmonious behavior, executing unharmonious behavior, threatening innocent civilians, utilizing foul language in public spaces, utilizing fear as a means to acquire thine goals,utilizing illegal and alien weaponry to wound and injure the residents of Equestria as well as manufacturing such weaponry in Equestrian territory. How dost thou declare yourself of these charges?"

"Culpable, guilty."

The princess arched an eyebrow but said nothing about my statement, instead she rolled the scroll and addressed us once more.

"Art thou repented of thine acts?"

That was the question. The real question at hand, and the only one that mattered. A smart man would say yes and get to kissing some serious ass so he could be free, but I never considered myself as overly smart. Surprisingly however, it was not I who first spoke.

"No..."

Flintlock Dust, the mare who had so many a time suggested we do as we're told and back down. She had done so all her life and lived by the wishes of others. And yet there she stood.

"I don't regret anything about the past days." She held my hand tighter as she said so, looking at the floor with a determined gaze, not a trace of the quivering gal from before.

"Neither do I." Snowflake smiled at us and gave a salute. "IRON, IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR! FLINT, SKIES, NEVER HAD BETTER FRIENDS IN ALL MY YEARS!"

Flint and I smiled back and I returned the salute. Skies looked from us and back to the princess, confused. In the end he sighed and sent it to hell.

"Oh well, guess we'll meet again on the moon... I didn't do much, but of what I did do, I hold no regrets of."

The princess's eyes were wide, but not with anger. She was surprised. Judging by her strength in rule, and her decisive attitude, few must have been those who would actually oppose her.

She turned to look at me, awaiting my response.

I nodded and smiled at all my comrades.

"The only thing of which I could hold any regrets, is of not having more time to do it again."

The princess nodded and for once seemed at a loss for words. She no doubt had something prepared for a trio of remorseful ponies, and maybe a not so regretful human. But with all of the prisoners refusing to repent, she would either have to relent or deliver.

"Very well, Blue Skies, Snowflake FrozenField, Iron Galley, and Flintlock Dust. Thy punishments shall be dictated respectively." The princess looked at Skies and Snowflake first. "Mr. Skies shall be fined for five hundred bits and will have to report for community service twice a week for a period of five months."

Skies sighed with relief as his sentence proved lighter than expected, but then he frowned in confusion.

"Mr. FrozenField will be fined for one thousand five hundred bits and be under home arrest for a period of six months."

Snowflake nodded and shared Skies's look of confusion.

"Mr. Galley, it has come to our attention that, due to particular singularities in thine case, we cannot force thee to pay an exuberant sum of money nor can thou remain in home arrest. Which would normally require for us to send thee to a rehabilitation center for the dangerous and unstable. But we cannot do such a thing either because of thine... Wards."

I nodded and waited for her to explain her solution.

"Due to the previously stated reasons, we have decided along with our sister and legal counsel, that thou shalt be restricted to the area surrounding the settlement known as Ponyville. Not to leave and meant to coexist peacefully with the inhabitants within, under the guidance and supervision of the elements of harmony. Thou shalt be required to write a monthly report on thy understandings and lessons assimilated during your time amongst ponies, thine reports must be relevant to a harmonious existence and support the thesis that humans can coexists with equines."

"A special tax will be placed upon thee to be paid by the end of each and every month with no exceptions, as soon as thy economic stability is ensured and balanced. Should thou fail to live harmoniously or to pay the tax, thou shalt be sent to prison upon thine ward's reaching maturity."

Well, I was honestly expecting execution sooo... Hooray? No, seriously though, I was fucked.

The princess then moved her gaze to the last one on the naughty list, Flintlock.

"Miss Dust, thou shalt be returned to Fillydelphia to serve a lapse of six months of home arrest, as well as pay a fine for the sum of a thousand bits. Court is adjourned, sentence is to commence tomorrow at midday. Violators will be prosecuted, and new sentences assigned. Please make arrangements as needed beforehand so as to avoid unnecessary inconvenience."

And so we were dismissed. But not a minute before leaving the building, a courier flew towards us, rolled up scroll without a seal in mouth.

The scroll had one sentence, and no signature:

Consider thy selfs fortunate that Sparks Cloud happened to be a notorious enough criminal so as to allow thy punishments to be not as severe as they ought to be.

And so we departed. Not to see each other for the rest of the day, till the morrow and new day come. When our lives as free men ad equines would end and give way to the challenges of a new life, one of confined freedom for as long as it may take to cleanse our beings to the eyes of the populace.

Snowflake swore to never give up, Skies promised to meet us for drinks.

And flintlock vowed to return, to come back and see us all once more. To see me yet again and continue with what was left unfinished. I needed to be threatened not, for I would wait for her in Ponyville for as long as needed.

In the glum of the evening and the cold of winter winds, I departed to Applejack's home, were my destiny was set. For I had not failed nor had I wasted time and strength.

The land was safe now, through much damage and sacrifice we finally achieved our goal. The reforms were in place and the leader of our foes was in prison, my sons and daughters were now safe from their schemes.

"And bitches thought violence never solved anything... Pft! Although it was quite a good thing none of my injuries were lethal... Though I'm not entirely certain about being bathed by a zebra while I was asleep because of a plant..." 

Having gone to the orchard and carried my wards back to the house in the woods, were it all was decided, were my fight finally brought conclusion to it all, I was enjoying a hard earned mug of cider by the fire.

Aquilder and Ectorius were playing in their room, the one downstairs. Lightshine sat beside me, quiet and tranquil after munching on an apple.

The house was small, one kitchen one living room, and one bedroom with a bathroom. But it would do, as simple as it was.

It was home.