A/N: I've taken a short leave from my other fic, to bring you this one. Yes, it's a self-insert. Now keep in mind, the character representing me acts the same way I do. Also, I set myself before I thought ponies were cool. And this story is written in first person. My friends, all except for one, told me they didn't want to be in this story. Sucks to be them. Also, none of my friends will act the same way as they do in real life.

Chapter 1

Traveling Against My Will

Hi. My name's Brad, or Bradford, if you like the fancy stuff. Basically, I have no clue what's happened in my life, apart from the fact that it was drastically altered in the course of a single day. But I'll finish with that part. Unlike some people, I like to start at the beginning of my stories. It all started at school that Friday:

I was walking through the front doors of my high school. 'Here we go. Another day of being an unrecognized freshman.' I thought, as I walked to the meeting spot of my friends. This little time before school was pretty much the highlight of my day. I'm in all honors classes, but I guess my art and music classes are all right too. I was also standing at 6 foot 4, one of the tallest kids in my grade. I might have been tall, but I was thin as a board. Also, being only fourteen, I was also one of the youngest kids in my grade. Ironic. I greeted my friends, first with one of my best friends, Tanner. He didn't seem to smart at first glance, but you'd be wrong. But unlike me, he excels in sports too. We always greet each other with a fist bump, today wasn't any different. We punched each other's knuckles; the little sting was just something we like.

"Brad, you're finally here. Everyone's been waiting," He said to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Kidding. Sara's in the corner again, by the way."

"I'll go see if there's anything wrong," I told him. Sara was another one of my friends. She considered herself to be all dark, but she was usually to happy to be like that. I walked over to the corner she went to sometimes. Whenever she was there, she was either in a rare state of depression, or listening to music. She was just sitting there, playing her guitar.

"Bradford!" She said. She's not the only one I let use my full name, but she definitely does it the most. She immediately stood up and ruffled my short hair. It must look pretty funny, because she's only about five feet tall. She apparently does it because: A, it annoys me. B, she thinks it's soft.

"Hey Sara. Why don't you come up with the rest of us?" I asked her.

"I dunno." She did a little spin, hitting me in the face with her hair. She had gotten blood-red highlights.

"Nice highlights."

"Thanks! I got them last night!" She told me. "Let's go with the rest of the group." She ran off, leaving me behind. I followed, and we arrived back where Tanner was sitting, along with some of the others. I won't mention them; they don't play a big part in this story. My friend Jack wasn't here. He went to another high school. You see, he taught me how to fight. He was professionally trained in CQC, or close quarters combat. He and his dad took me camping, and taught me the fundamentals. I don't have much brute strength though, so they quite legitimately taught me how to fight with pressure points. After about a month, I knew about six ways to kill someone and one way to temporarily remove the use of someone's right arm for a few seconds.

"Hey guys," I said, bringing attention to my presence.

"Brad!" I turned to see my friend Kyle.

"Can you make it to D and D tonight?" He asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," I told him.

He whispered his next sentence. "Have I corrupted you yet?"

I knew what he was talking about. He and Sara have been aggressively trying to turn me into a brony for about three months now. "Nope. It's not gonna happen Kyle."

"I will defeat your morals!" he shouted and ran away. That's Kyle. He's almost as random as I am, and at times, even more so.

"When are you gonna give up this nerd stuff?" Tanner asked.

"Never! I am the nerd among nerds! The crown jewel of nerdom!" I shouted that. Out loud. Yeah. There's the random I was talking about.

The bell rings, and everyone gives a dissatisfied sigh. Nobody liked that bell. Not even me, and I kind of like school. I like a challenge. I guess that's why I enrolled in all those advanced classes. I put on my backpack, and began my route to class. I spotted Sara leaving nearby, and I stopped her.

"Hey Sara!" I called out.

"What?" She asked.

"You wanna go shoot a bit after school?"

"You know it." She flashed me the thumbs-up, and walked off. For about a month now, we've been hanging out and shooting bows. I say we've both gotten pretty good.

I made my way to my first class, Honors Algebra II. It's a bitch. But I haven't missed a day of school or been tardy in two years, so why start now. Besides, ditching would kill me inside.

I sat down in my assigned desk, and waited for class to start. I got out my phone, and played a bit of Angry Birds. Class started about two minutes later, a few regular late-comers pouring in after the bell. I'm in a junior class, so I'm pretty much the only freshman in the room. The whole class is just notes then homework. Funny. I didn't even have to do today's assignment. Anyway, as the teacher was giving one of her famous boring-as-hell lectures, I took my necklace off my neck and started fiddling with it. I guess I forgot to mention my attire, didn't I?

I was wearing my cosplay setup. I'm addicted to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I had on a cloak like Ed's (If you know him,) and gloves like Roy's. The cloak was designed to fit me, though. The necklace I mentioned was pretty much the most important thing I own. I made it by hand back in the seventh grade, and it's pretty important to me. It's just a little sword made of pewter, with a red inset. Otherwise, I'm a pretty plain guy. Dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, nothing special.

I pretty much zoned out for the class hour, and the bell rang. I basically ran out the door to get to my next class, one of the two I actually enjoy. I walked through the door of my ceramics class, and started on my next project. I don't want to bore you with details, so, I'll just skip that class and all the other required classes. I went to band class, where I picked up my trumpet, and took the last seat.

I was in no means the top trumpet. But I'm still pretty content with my skill level. We played, and I had a good time. I like to play, but class, and school, was over. Sara, who had her clarinet, was putting her instrument away in the locker next to mine.

"Still up for archery?" I asked her.

"Yep. See you at the range after school." She walked off. I loved that archery range. I knew the register girl by name now, and I get a discount. I started towards the bus, and got out my phone to check the time. 3:05. I can still make it to the bus.

As I stepped through the back doors of the school, I was grabbed by a burly hand, which shoved me against the wall. I stared at the guy the hand belonged to, and beholded his ugliness.

My life wasn't great, and it wasn't awful. But whenever this guy is around, my life is a living hell. His name's Ben, and he's the school asshat. I pretty much hated him since that time he threw my backpack in the trash. Now, he was straight-up hitting me in the halls. His little group of asshat minions stood nearby, snickering.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked condescendingly.

"I can't see my favorite nerd?" He said. That earned a laugh from the minions. I knew I was a nerd, but it was the way he said it.

"Look, I have a bus to catch, so if I could just go," I tried to get his arm off my chest, but his steroid-infused muscles were holding me there.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen you all day, and I need to get rid of some stress." He pulled back the hand that wasn't holding me, and balled it into a fist.

He struck me right on the nose. An audible crack was heard, and it started bleeding. He let me fall to the ground, and I just kneeled there for a minute.

He broke my friggin' nose! I looked up at his horrid face, which was grinning.

"God, that was easy," The bastard said, turning back to his minions. "I wonder if nerd boy's friends are as weak."
I snapped.

Several months of pent-up rage came pouring out of me in the next minute. I never told anyone I knew how to fight with pressure points. I stood up, and shot him a glare that could make children cry.

He turned to face me. "What, you want more?"

"You can beat the crap out of me each and every day, but nobody, and I mean nobody, fucks with my friends."

"Cute. Nerd-boy thinks he stands a cha-" he was cut off by me starting a full-on charge at him. Obviously it surprised him; I'd never seen fuck-face so stunned. He tried to punch me again.

I never gave him that chance. I put two fingers together, and closed the rest, just like Jack taught me. I jabbed those fingers straight into the gap where the ribs come apart. He cried out, and doubled over. As he was hunched over, he received a swift knee in the face. An even more audible crack was heard, and he fell to the ground.

I looked over at the asshat minions. I looked at them with an expression of pure malice. "Run."

The rest of the group absolutely bolted, leaving the asshat lord behind.

"Now, Ben," I said, leaning down, "Are you gonna fuck with me or my friends anymore?"
He only whimpered softly in reply. Good enough for me. I walked out the door, and left the wanker lying there in the hall.

Looking around, it was pretty easy to determine that the buses were already gone. "Damn," I swore, and began the walk home.

I arrived at the door of my home to a note that read: Had to take your brother to a soccer game. Be back in an hour. -Mom. I took out a pen from my pocket and wrote that I was going to the range. I stepped inside, and my dog, who I named Zip, bounded over to me.

"Hey boy," I said, giving him a little pat on the head. I went into my room, and picked up the necessary supplies. I picked up my five-foot longbow, and my quiver, slinging both over my shoulders. I hesitated a bit at my next decision, but I decided it was a good one. I picked up my combat knife, which was given to me by Jack, and slipped it into my pocket. I figured it might be a good idea, just in case Ben decided he wanted revenge. I also picked up my Ipod as well as my phone, which I had forgotten today. I felt my nose. It was crooked.

"Definitely broken," I thought, and went out to the garage. I got on my bike, and rode to the range.

I strode through the door of the large building, only to find Sara impatiently waiting for me. She had her short bow slung over her shoulder.

"Where were you?" She asked.

"Missed the bus. Shall we begin?" I asked, taking on a fancy accent.

"Indeed," She replied.

"Two targets!" I yell over to the register. The woman manning it nodded, then pointed at two neighboring targets. We took our places, and both readied an arrow.

I drew back on the string, the arrow sliding along the wooden bow. I payed attention only to the target. I released the string, and let the arrow fly. It sailed through the air, and struck the target. No bull's-eye, but it was relatively close to the center.

"Yes!" Sara shouted. "I got it!" She had stuck an arrow right into the center of the target. I envied her sometimes. She was great at archery the minute she picked up her shortbow.

"You win. Another round?" I asked.

"You know it!" We drew another arrow, and fired. We continued our game for the next two hours, firing all the arrows in our quivers many times.

As we walked to the target to retrieve our arrows once again, I got a really weird feeling. I broke out in a cold sweat, to say in the least. A looked over at Sara, who looked as distressed as I was.

"You feel that too?" I asked.

"What the heck is it? It feels... Evil."

"I know." I heard a howling wind outside, and I realized that this was no coincidence.

"Let's get out arrows and go. Something's not right." We raced to pick out arrows from the target, and headed back to the receptionist. I gave her a twenty, and we were out the door.

The wind I heard was evident. The sky was darkened, and the wind was bordering on hurricane levels. Something was definitely wrong. The sky was clear about five minutes ago.

"Come on!" I yelled at Sara. "We have to get out of here!" I grabbed her arm, and headed for the nearest stone structure.
Too late.

The unnatural phenomenon I was fearing happened. A giant hole opened up in the clouds. You would expect sun to be behind the clouds right? Wrong. What was behind these clouds was a swirling black vortex of doom. I stared straight into the maelstrom, fearing the worst. I was right.

The vortex started pulling in, the winds picking up speed. My feet started to lift off the ground, and I noticed street signs and cars lifting too. Objects of all shapes and sizes were flying into the portal, disappearing in its wrath. The roof of the range was torn off, and people were flying out of it. I started picking up speed and lifting into the cyclone.

"This is gonna be painful. I think." I feared my own demise. Never knew what mortal terror what like until know. I looked down at Sara, who was clutching my arm. My town's small, so I saw people I knew. All of a sudden, Jack slammed into me.

"Brad! Glad to see you! I was playing Skyrim when my house ripped apart! What the hell's happening?" He asked through the storm.

"How to hell should I know?"

"Screw it! This is probably gonna hurt, so brace yourselves!" Jack yelled his commands through the noise of the maelstrom. As we rose closer to the vortex, I looked at the forested city I lived in. It was crumbling, in utter discord. We were only yards away from the cyclone, and I closed my eyes.

"Here we go," I thought, and I was sucked in.

I opened my eyes to discover one thing. I was still alive, just floating in a black void. I had been separated from Jack and Sara. I looked around, seeing nothing but black expanse.

"Well, shit. What do I do now?" I contemplated on possible options, and got no conclusions. Eventually I just decided to try and move around.
It was like swimming. There was nothing there, but whatever wasn't there had the consistency of water.
Suddenly, something no one would expect happened. The whole expanse flashed from black to white, and started glowing brighter and brighter. It just got more and more luminous. I couldn't see my own hands anymore, it was so bright. My ears started ringing, and I felt like I was being pulled.

"This definitely isn't natural," I decided. Suddenly it dawned on me. This was a portal. A wormhole, and I was going through it. I had no idea where I was going, but it was pointless to resist. I was sucked into the white expanse.

I opened my eyes, and beholded a blue sky. "Guess it was all just a dream." I got up, and noted my surroundings. "Definitely not a dream," I thought. Rather than buildings there were rolling hills. No city in sight.

"Damn." I figured there was no point in waiting around, so I picked a direction and started walking. I contemplated where I ended up. "Did I just change locations, or have I traveled through time? Maybe even dimensions. Wonder what I'll see?" I checked my possessions. I still had my cloak, my gloves, and my necklace. Still got my phone, and my Ipod. My bow and quiver were on my back, and my knife was still in my pocket. Set. I just continued walking.

I had been walking for what seemed like hours. My feet ached, and I was thirsty as hell. Suddenly, salvation. A cobblestone road stretched out in front of me. "All roads lead somewhere." I headed left on the road, and followed it for about an hour.

"I just don't see how you got that umbrella for only five bits!" A voice up the road said.

"Just a good negotiator."

"Shit," I thought. Luckily, this part of the road was lined with bushes. I dove into the brush, and waited for the voices the pass by I peeked through the hedge, wanting to see what the people of wherever this was looked like.

About A minute later, the voices got closer. I looked out of the bush to see, "Horses?" Two miniature horses, or ponies, trotted by, and they were talking. "Bu- what?"

Not only were they talking, but one was freakin' green, and the other was skin-colored. One's mane was a white with a tinge of green in it; the others' was blue and pink. And the weirdest part: they had pictures on their asses. Or I guess, flanks, speaking as they're horses. The green one had a picture of a lyre or hers, and the other had candy.

"What the fuck?" I put my hand over my mouth, realizing that I said that out loud. The two ponies stopped, and looked around. They searched for about ten seconds, then one shrugged. They started to walk of again, and then the worst possible thing that could happen right then, well, happened.

I sneezed.

"Damn it!" One of the ponies looked back and noticed me peeking through the bush.

"Hello? Who's there?" The green one asked.

"Here we go." Rather than introducing myself, I bolted. Good thing I can sprint. The ponies, surprised at my mad dash, took a second to recover. Then they gave chase.

"Hey! Come back! We just want to talk!" The one with the candy mark yelled after me.

"Dear god, it's female." I kept running, gaining ground. The thing about that is, well, I can only sprint. I'm not worth crap in a distance run. I was getting tired, and the ponies, which were apparently mares, were gaining on me. I spied a tree with a low branch, and tried to jump on it.

I landed on the branch, and started to climb. I reach a limb about ten feet up, and figured I was safe. Nope. Both ponies had seen me climb, and were looking up at me from the ground.

"Come down! We won't hurt you!" The green one yelled up to me.

I decided to at least reply. "Can't do that. To risky," I said. Damn it. I just told them they were a threat. "Nice going, dipshit. Insult the potential threat."

"It can talk!" The green one said.

"Jesus Christ. Minimal parkour skills, don't fail me now." I braced myself to jump, and the mares backed up. Good. I made it evident that I was jumping. I jumped off the branch, and fell the ten feet, then tucked into a roll. I hit the ground, but I kept running, and left the mares behind.

I ditched the road after a bit, and soon spotted a large forest of apple trees.

"Great. No one will care about these." I walked into the sea of trees, and picked a good-looking apple. I bit into it. It was probably the best apple I've ever eaten. So crisp and all around perfect. While I chewed, I took a little walk. My surroundings were anything but ugly. The grass was so green, the sky so blue. Then I looked to my left. "Shit."

There was a little pony, standing there in awe. It looked like a child, but I guess that would either mean it was colt or filly. I decided to try and talk it into forgetting about me.

"Hello," I said calmly.

"Ah'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"It's a filly then," I thought. "You just did."

"Ah guess I did. What the hay are ya? I've never seen yur kin before," The filly said.

"God, that's a thick country accent." The filly was obviously a farmer or something. "I'm not from here. Sorry for eating your apple. I haven't eaten in several hours."

"Ain't a problem. There's plenty."

"Thank you," I said. "I have to think carefully about my words."

"Yur welcome!"

I figured I might as well get some answers from this filly. After all, children are easy to lie to. "Where is this?"

"This here's Sweet Apple Acres!"

"No, I mean where is this. As in, what is this land?"

"Whaddaya mean? Everypony knows that this is Equestria!" The filly said in an irritated tone.

"Good god, now I have to remember to substitute human words for pony words. But that's not important. Right now, I have to get away from this one," I thought. "So this is Equestria. Finally. Been trying to get here for years," I said, thinking quickly.

"Well welcome to Equestria then!" The filly seemed satisfied by my words.

"Thank you."

Suddenly and out of nowhere, and call was heard. "Applebloom!" Another country voice called out.

"Darn. Ah have to go." The filly turned towards the voice, but stopped. "Hey! Ah have an idea! Ya'll should come an' meet tha rest of the Apples!"

"Meet the apples? They can talk?" I asked. I frowned at the apple I was eating.

"Not the apples, the Apples! My family's name's Apple!"

"Crap. Have to make up an excuse," I thought. "Sorry, but maybe another time. I have somewhere to be."

"Al'igh," The filly said disappointedly.

"Farewell," I said, then sprinted away. I was eager to leave that farm and it's terrible grammar behind. Did I mention I'm a grammar Nazi?Then I realized I had used my most sophisticated form of speech in that conversation. The filly probably didn't understand me that well.

Soon I arrived at a small clearing in a forested area, where I sat down to catch my breath. "God Damn it! Where the hell am I?!" I yelled into the sky. Clearly, this wasn't the best idea, as something could have heard me, but I didn't give a crap. I was lost in another dimension, and I had lost my friends. For all I knew, they were dead. I could have no one left and not known it. God, it was a depressing thought.

Apparently the universe sought to give me physical pain as well as emotional, because something slammed into me at around mach 2. I was thrown across the clearing, and I grunted with pain when I landed. As I looked back at what hit me, I made a strange discovery. I was another pony, (Unharmed by the way,) but this one was deformed, with growths out of it's side. It was also cyan-colored. It stood up, and shook its head. The growths moved, and I discovered that they weren't growths at all.

They were freakin' wings. Explains the speed that it hit me at.

It tried to come closer, so I edged away. I had to stop almost immediately to give a yell of pain. I clutched my chest. "You broke my freakin' ribs!" I yelled at the Pegasus. I could identify the look of worry on the pony's face.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" The pony-now identified as a mare-asked.

"My goddamn ribs are broken! How could that be okay!?" I was yelling at her now. I realized my mistake, and identified the situation. "I'm sorry. It was probably an accident. I'm don't think you're the kind of person-" I caught myself, "Pony to try and kill whoever they see."

"Can you walk?" The mare asked.

"Let's find out." I stood up, only to be rewarded with a searing pain for my efforts. I fell back to the ground. "Nope," I grunted.

"Celestia's mane, I'm sorry. How can I help?" The mare asked.

"It's not obvious?"

"What?"

"I need to see a freakin' doctor!" I yelled.

"Oh," The mare said sheepishly, "The town clinics nearby, we could go to that."

"No! No public hospitals! I don't want to be seen. Do you know anyone-" I caught myself again, "Anypony with medical experience?" I asked.

"I know somepony! Let me carry you there, though, it's not a short trot."

"No thanks. I don't like charity. Besides, I have an idea. Can you get me that branch?" I pointed to a branch about five feet long. She trotted over, picked it up in her mouth, and brought it to me. I took my knife out of my pocket, and raised it. The mare backed off, I guess she was a bit surprised. I used the knife to carve the twigs off, and boom, I had a makeshift walking stick. I plated it on the ground, and used it to raise myself. It hurt, but not near as much as when I was supporting myself.

"And here we go. Now where is your friend?" I asked.

"This way." She walked off in another direction. I followed, slowly but surely.

We walked for about an hour. I think we would've gotten there first if the mystery pony hadn't almost killed me with her face.

"God, this is boring." I decided to strike up a conversation with the mare.

"So, can I know your name?" I asked.

"Name's Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" She yelled the last bit.

"Bit wordy. Can I just call you Dash?"

"Most ponies do. But who, and what, are you?" She asked.

This is what I was fearing. I had to come with something reasonable. It didn't look like there were humans here. "Let's see... There are pegasi here, so... Greek mythology!" I knew those legends like the back of my hand. "I'm a manticore," I said.

"Really? I always thought manticores were more... Threatening," She said. That kind of made me mad inside.

"She just called me unintimidating! What, the bow on my back and knife aren't enough? This whole world is mad," I thought. "I'm pretty unique. One of the only ones who can talk, but I'm not bulky."

"Good to know, but you didn't tell me your name."

"What's the harm in a name?" I thought. "Just call me Brad," I told her.

"Weird name. Then again, you're a manticore, so It must be pretty common."

"Yeah right. Even on earth, Bradford isn't a common name."

"Here we are!" Dash said. I was looking at a house that appeared to built into a tree. It was thicker than a freakin' redwood.
We walked to the door, or in my case hobbled, and knocked.

"Better let me talk to her first," Dash said. I nodded, and stepped out of view from the door. It opened, and I heard a voice not unlike my own when I'm around people I don't know, when I'm not mad at them. It was quiet, almost inaudible, but I could make it out.

"Oh, hello Dash. What brings you by?" The new mare asked.

"Oh nothing much, just... You know... Broke somepony's ribs."

"What? Where's the pony? You didn't leave him or her where you injured them did you?" The new mare sounded mad.

"Not really a pony... It's a manticore," Dash said. "And I brought him here."

Everything was silent. "You broke a manticore's ribs?" The mare asked.

"Yep."

"And you brought it him here."

"Yep." more sheepish speech from Rainbow Dash.
The mare sighed. "Bring him inside. How big is he?"

"Bit taller than we are."

"Alright. Go get him."

Dash called me over, and I made my presence known. "Hello," I greeted the mare. She looked panicked a bit, but directed me to the couch. She had a butter-colored coat and a pink mane.

"Strange manticore. I always thought they were more threatening."

"Again with this? Is weaponry not dangerous around here?"

"I ran into him in the woods. Like, literally ran into him. Cracked his ribs."

"What is wrong with these ponies? I have a freakin' bow! How is that not threatening?" I realized I was rambling aloud. Again. The pink-maned mare was stunned.

"You can talk?" she asked in her quiet voice.

"Yep. And why aren't I threatening? I have weapons, for crying out loud!"

"Yes, yes you do. But until I heal you, you can't use them. Got that?"

"Alright," I said quietly.

"My name's Fluttershy."

"Brad."

"Well, then we're good, I'm outta here!" Dash said as she sped out the door.
Both of us just watched the galloping mare, until she was out of sight.

Fluttershy immediately got to work. She had me in a splint in minutes with little to know pain. "Wow. You're better at this than I am." I may have forgotten to tell you that I've been volunteering at the vet's for years now, and I often put splints on the animals. I wanted to be a vet later on. I now see that the dream's gone, since I'm in a new dimension now.

"You have medical training?" She asked.

"Little bit, but just with animals."

"What a coincidence. I work with animals, too," She said.

"May I see some? It been forever since I got to handle any."

"Alright, but don't disturb them." She led me outside, to a large clearing where there was a chicken coop. I knew chickens. Bastards, every one of 'em. Got attacked by a flock of then once, back when I was a kid on grandpa's farm. I hated those flying asshats.

There were animals of every different kind, the kind that you just can't help but find adorable. A little puppy ran by. Dogs are my favorite. I don't know of you can put adorable and motherfucking in the same sentence, but I'm doing it anyway. This whole thing was motherfuckin' adorable.

"You can look but don't touch. I don't know what I would do if the animals panicked," Fluttershy said.

"What was that?" I had called a rabbit over, and it just jumped right into my arms.

"I said-" She was, for some reason, stunned by me holding the bunny. "How did you-"

"What's wrong? The little guy just likes me, I guess." The rabbit was pretty much asleep in my arms.

"But that's Angel! He doesn't let anybody but me hold him!"

"I told you, animals like me. Except for chickens. Don't ask about that. I really don't want to relive that." I put the rabbit back on the ground, and walked toward a little ferret scurrying across the ground. I whistled, and It came running.

As I petted the ferret's head, I looked back. Fluttershy had a stunned look on her face. "I told her animals liked me, why's she so surprised? Oh... Crap. She thinks I'm a manticore."

"How did you do that? Benny only comes for food."

"Good with animals, remember? But even I'm surprised. The animals are never this friendly where I'm from," I swear I couldn't stop myself from dropping subtle hints on my origin.

"I just take care if them. It's easy."

"You take care of every one of these?" I asked.

"Every one!"

"I envy you," I said bitterly.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you get to do what you love, each and every day. I only got the few great moments of free time when I get to shoot my bow, or volunteer at the vet's office."

The mare seemed taken aback a little. "W-what? You don't get to do what you love?"

"Rarely." I sighed, and stood up. "Is there any way I can repay you? I hate unpaid depts."

"Don't bother. I'm always ready to help a friend in need."

"We're friends? But we hardly know each other."

"Of course. I think anypony nice to me should be my friend."

"You're too nice. Just find me and let me know if you need anything," I told her.

"But you aren't healed yet!"

"It's fine. I'll be alright, just direct me to the nearest town." I don't know what it was, but I think this Fluttershy mare sort of indirectly convinced me that I didn't need to hide anymore.

"Fine. Just don't scare anypony, okay?"

"Alright."

"It's over in that direction," She said, indicating the direction with her hoof.

"Thank you. May we meet again, Fluttershy." I walked off in the direction Fluttershy pointed in, being careful not to hurt my ribs.

A/N: So how was this? Keep in mind, every thing I do in the story, I have done in real life, except obviously the parts about interdimensional travel. I am an archer, and I was trained in pressure point combat by my friend Jack, and I do own a combat knife. My necklace is also real. Ben the asshat is real too. And I have fought back before, but not like that. He hasn't gone so far as to physical punches, just mental ones. I just thought it made for a nice touch. Also, the range isn't real, just another story theme.