Chapter 5: Necktie Goes Deep

"Good morning, Necktie."

Necktie awoke to the soothing voice of Fluttershy, soon followed by the slightly less soothing smack of my hoof to the face.

"What... Come on, just five more minutes. Well, maybe ten. Heck, just give me an hour to be safe." he grumbled, rolling over and covering himself with a blanket. I nodded at Slender, who had told me how he normally wakes up Necktie. His military instincts cause him to stand at attention at the front of his bed whenever he hears a bugle, or, in this case, a trumpet.

Slender inhaled deeply and loudly, causing Necktie to jump out of bed and grab the trumpet. He then tossed it forcefully to the side, cracking a window.

"NOT TODAY, SERGEANT!" he screamed. Then he looked around and remembered where he was.

"My bad, guys. I, uh... yeah... Boot camp." he explained simply.

"You are one odd cookie, Necktie." I said. I noticed that he still had on the black necktie.

Does he wear it when he sleeps? I thought. Unfortunately, I pondered this for too long, and Necktie noticed me staring at his tie.

"Yes, I wear this when I sleep. I never take it off." he sighed. He'd obviously been asked that question before.

"And I'm guessing you won't tell me why?" I asked.

"Actually... I might as well." he said.

"Wait, what?!" said Slender, surprised. "You've never told anypony that!"

"I've never met anypony who was nice enough to tell." he said, causing me to blush. "Now, quiet so I can tell you the story."

"I'll start making breakfast, then. I've heard this story my whole life." Slender said. Necktie nodded and began.

"When I was just a young foal, my parents and I lived in Las Pegasus. At the time, Mom was pregnant with Slender. We lived fairly well for a lower middle class family. We had everything we needed. Then, one day, I was lying awake in bed way past midnight when I heard something. I went to check it out and to my surprise, I found a robber.

"Now, I was very young, only just getting to middle school. However, my father was asleep, so he hadn't heard the noise that I now saw was the window shattering. I trotted off as fast as my little pony legs could take me and got my dad.

"Now, remember, we were poor, so his only weapon was a lead pipe that he held between his teeth. He was never, in all of my memories of him, scared. In my eyes, he was indestructible, a Daring Do on steroids, or a Supermare, but in real life. But I looked into his eyes and saw genuine fear. He inched closer to the criminal, whose back was turned, and swung the pipe back, ready to strike.

"Unfortunately, the thief picked that moment to turn around and managed to dodge the attack. He was armed as well, and better than my father. I saw a knife in his hand, but that's the only thing I could tell. The rest of his body was covered in a thick black cloth, with only eye hole and a mouth hole. He stabbed at my father, but missed. This happened a couple more times, stabbing and my father dodging with reflexes honed in being in the streets.

"My father was old, though, and tired easily. His assailant got in a hit. The knife was left in his side as he staggered off and leaned against a wall. The criminal had his back away from me, and I saw that this was our only chance. I jumped on his back and started to choke him. Of course, I was thrown off, but I still somehow managed to continue fighting. My dad watched on as I blocked punches, head butts, kicks, and charges. I dodged, I jumped, and I ducked beneath his attacks.

"I soon got the upper hand when I decided to go on the offensive. The attacker was running out of energy, and I got in a good, strong kick to the ribs. He crumpled to the floor as continued to kick him, at this point starting to cry. Then my father put his hoof on my back.

"'Look, son. You finally have your cutie mark.' he said. I could have cared less. I got the police to come in and apprehend the would-be robber as I carried my father to the nearby hospital. By the time I got there, I had realized that I was bloodied and bruised. I also had sprained an ankle, but still I took him as far as he needed.

"When I got there, he was quiet. He was rushed to the emergency room, but the doctors came out within the hour and told me that he was gone. I stayed at that hospital morgue for three days, right by his body the entire time. The only thing he had on him was his tie, which was what he wore to work. Every day after work, he came home late, didn't bother taking it off, and went to bed. I never saw my father without that tie.

"The doctors didn't know what to do with it, so they gave it to me. I put it on and told all of them, right then and there that 'I swear that as long as I live, I shall never take this tie off. My father will live on through me.'

"They just shrugged it off, but I still wear this tie today. I got rid of my real name and used Necktie, as I only wanted people to remember me by what he was. It was only then, after I put on the tie, that I looked at my cutie mark. It was a pair of nunchucks with a halo. I have consulted many experts, and all of them have determined that I am a fighter, but I fight for good. I am not the brightest pony, so I didn't know for sure, nor do I want to, even now. For me, this cutie mark is just a reminder of what I didn't save. If I had only been good enough and fast enough, I could've gotten him to the hospital on time..."

"Wow, dude, that was… deep. I had no idea." I said, at a loss for words. I knew that the parents had passed away, but for his father to be murdered right in front of him… that was something else entirely.

I looked at him and, just as Slender had promised, there wasn't even a trickle of a tear or a small sign of sorrow on his face. All I could see was a deep-seated sadness in his eyes as he replayed the story through his head.

"I made waffles, and more waffles. I'm not a very good chef," said Slender, coming in the room with a plate of waffles taller than him. I glared at him.

"How can you be like this after your brother just relived the most traumatizing experience of his life?" I said. Necktie looked at me.

"He can do that because he knows that it's not the most traumatic experience of my life." He said.

I whispered in his ear, "Please, just don't think about it. I won't ask any more questions for now."

"Thank you." He whispered back. Meanwhile, Slender and Fluttershy were devouring waffles faster than I can make a situation awkward.

"Dude, slow down! You're gonna get 'The Diabeetus'!" Necktie laughed. Slender started laughing hard, and barely managed to swallow the waffles he had in his mouth.

"Oh my Celestia, you remember that? That was buckin' hilarious!" said Slender, still laughing.

"Diabeetus?" I said confused. I looked over at Fluttershy, who was just as confused as I was.

"There… there was this guy at a restaurant we went to. We were having an eating contest to see who could eat the most pies, and the only pony came over and looked Slender straight in the eye and said 'Son, slow down or you'll get the diabeetus!'," said Necktie. "We asked him what it was, and he told us it made our hooves fall off and our blood turn to sugar. The waitress said he was talking about diabetes. The way the guy said it made it sound like the pony plague, or like some sort of demon! Slender was terrified and even went to the doctor about it!"

"It turns out, that doctor got about twenty patients a month from that guy's diabeetus scares! The pony really was crazy!" said Slender, embarrassed, but still smiling. "But enough diabeetus. Do we have any plans for today?"

I saw an opportunity.

"Actually, I would like to go look at the forest around here." I said.

"Th-the e-everfree forest? N-no thank you! I'm staying right here!" Fluttershy said. This was great.

"Well, how about this. Slender, you can stay here and help keep Fluttershy company, while Necktie and I go into the forest?" I said.

"Fine. You know, you're lucky I'm a gentleman." He said.

"Thank you. I promise, I won't be boring or anything!" said Fluttershy.

"Do I even get a choice in this?" said Necktie, raising an eyebrow at me.

"No. Now, come on! I want to explore!" I said, pushing him out the door.

We had been walking for only about five minutes when it started to get dark. I looked up and could see the sun, but it was as if the sunlight was being blocked.

"Golly, it sure is getting cold." I said. Necktie reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a scarf. I took it and grumbled a thanks. I was appreciative, though, as it was getting cold very fast. I decided to go for it and just snuggle up against him. He looked at me, then just looked back ahead. I thought I saw a smile playing on his lips, but it may have just been me being hopeful.

"I think we should stop here." He said. "It's getting very dark and cold, and I don't want anything too bad to happen to you."

Yes! I thought to myself. Then, I nodded and stopped. He pulled a picnic blanket out of his saddlebag and laid it down, then a real blanket. He handed the blanket to me.

"Here, I can take the cold. It's not too much." He said.

"No, we should-" I said, getting interrupted by a loud roaring nearby. "What in the hay was that?!"

Suddenly, a large beast came crashing through the trees and bushes to the right of us.

"What is that think?!" I shrieked, terrified. Necktie calmly stood up and used his hoof to move his necktie up to his head. When he was finished, it looked like he was wearing a headband, similar to ninjas.

"That, my good friend, is a manticore. This one is angered and very dangerous. I suggest you let me kick this one's ass while you find a safe spot." He said.

Without warning, he shot off to the side, flying faster than I could follow with my eyes. I looked back at the manticore, who seemed to be having the same problem I was. Then I remembered what Necktie said and ran off behind a large tree.

I peered around the side and saw Necktie back in front of the beast, attacking it with a flurry of kicks to the snout. The manticore got in a few slashes with its claws, and a few hard blows to Necktie's side.

Necktie spun around and did a sort of uppercut, causing the beast to stagger. Necktie quickly rammed into it, making it fall on its back. He grabbed it by its tail, spun it around until it was well in the air, and let go, making it fly far away. The whole fight was over in less than five minutes.

I ran over to him and he staggered towards me. He was shaking and soaked in sweat and his own blood. He had huge gashes in his chest and his front left leg was obviously broken.

"Leave me… here… get… help… Hospital…." He said, and then collapsed on the ground.

I ran off as quickly as I could, and then my pegasus instincts kicked in. I flew as fast as I could right to Fluttershy's house, and she went to get help from a doctor. An ambulance wagon showed up, and I led them through the woods the where Necktie was.

They lifted him onto a stretcher and carted him away.

Hey, everyone. I have some good news and some bad news. First, bad news: I will be going out of state, so I won't be able to update my chapters very often. Good news: I will be making chapters the whole time, so stay tuned for more! And for those of you who are wondering about Twilight talking to Celestia, that's coming up. Oh, and spoiler alert. Oh, well. Too late now. As always,

The pony who only cares a little bit, BigBadFluttershy.