#10

"Ben, hey dude, open your eyes,"

I quickly opened my eyes to spot Kusanagi on the far side of the room, he held in his hand a ball of clothes and on the other a wooden pole. It took me a few secounds to rub the blurr away from my eyes but after doing so I instantly recognized the clothes as mine and that the pole in his hand was actually a sword, a wooden sword.

"What are you doing with my clothes? And what's with the…"

I quickly flinched away as he flung the ball of clothes at my face, I extended my arm and caught the ball of clothes to instantly get the scent of lavender as I began curiously unfolding all the clothes to notice that they had all been cleaned and washed of all stains.

"Did you wash them?" I asked as I admired the smell, he slowly looked to the door which seemed about half open and from the door I could hear a gentle voice singing. The voice was slow and calming but the fact that it was Flutters voice gave me a minor shock.

"No, she washed them," He said throwing me my sword, I reacted quickly, reaching my hand out catching it by the grip and placed it down by the bed, as I sprang up onto my feet.

"Well then, I guess I'll go change," I said as I proceeded to head to the bathroom, only to be stopped by Kusanagi. He heavily placed his hand over my shoulder and spun me around.

"You're not going anywhere…without one of these," He said pulling out a toothbrush from his back pocket, I curiously stared at the brush as I took it from his hands and studied it.

"Where did you get this?" I asked feeling the bristles of the brush, he looked out the window and smiled childishly.

"I took it from a creepy smiling pony, its new though, and don't worry she didn't see me," he said making the whole situation sound like a common event. I wouldn't steal anything but since it was necessary, I didn't mind.

"Thanks," I said leaving for the bathroom.

"No Problem," he said throwing himself on the bed.

(After putting clothes on and other morning routines)

"Done, finally," I said opening the bathroom door and headed back to the room to check on Kusanagi. I slowly walked back thinking about how life was going as of right now: ponies, a demon, magic, friends: It was out of a dream. The fact that I have a demon by my side, talking ponies that are cute, magical power, and having friends were all too new for me, yet, I wouldn't I have it any other way.

Before I knew it, I was at the door but the strange feeling that something was off filled the atmosphere. Flutters had stopped singing and she didn't seem to be active. I quickly turned to the door that was now fully opened and showed the shadow of a small pony and a taller figure, I could only assume worst but slowly crept into the room.

The first thing that came into sight was Flutters who was looking up at Kusanagi, while her whole body shivered in fear. Kusanagi on the other hand just stared down at her with confusion shown across his whole face, both didn't look away from each other. I quickly concealed myself on the other side of the door and watched what happened.

"B…Ben, you…changed again," Flutters said slowly backing up, Kusanagi slowly placed his hands ahead of himself in caution and began to slowly back onto the bed.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I've said that already, haven't I?" He said sitting back down on the bed, Flutters stopped backing up but remained alert. I would have intruded by now but I wanted to see how he could handle this and if it gets out of hand, I'll go in.

"Yes, I…remember, but you threatened Luna and you're a-a demon," Flutters said backing even more but she quickly hit the wall behind her and stared at him with a look of terror. I wanted to step in right now but immediately stopped when Kusanagi got off the bed and walked over to her slowly. He got close enough for her to react by placing her head down with her hooves over her eyes, he didn't do anything for a few seconds until a grin appeared on his face.

"I did and I am, but even if that's true, I wouldn't hurt you for two reasons," he said reaching down and picking up Flutters, she quickly removed her hooves and stared at him, confused and terrified out of her mind. He lifted her up to the sun light shining through the window to see her clearly. I was equally shocked by his actions but something just kept on telling me this will end well.

"Wha…what are the two reasons?" Flutters asked looking down at him with that wavy/nervous smile, he chuckled a little before bringing her down and sitting on the bed with her in his hands.

"One: Ben has vouched to protect you and every pony, so must, in some way, also do the same," He said, still keeping Flutters in his hands with a firm grip. Flutters didn't react at the instant but her attitude changed, her look gave it away.

"And what's two?" she asked looking at the silhouette made by him. Kusanagi quickly turned Flutters around to face him, she looked at him wide-eyed as he stared into her eyes.

"Two: For a demon, I'm not as bad as I look like I am," He said finally allowing Flutters to go free, she didn't seem to know whether to trust him or not but I could tell she wanted to believe him.

"That sounded about right," I said finally emerging from the back of the door, startling Flutters causing her to jump into the air while Kusanagi just smiled a little at my sight.

"About time you showed," he said getting to his feet, grabbing his wooden sword and walking up to me. I smiled at his gesture and turned my attention to Flutters who was as about as lost as ever.

"If that's Ben, then, who are you!?" she asked pointing her hoof at me then at Kusanagi, me and Kusanagi gave a quick glance at each other before he aimed his thumb at himself.

"I'm Kusanagi, Ben's inner demon, and he's Ben, but you already knew that," He said twirling the wooden sword, on the other hand, Flutters slowly floated over to me, keeping her eye contact on Kusanagi.

"Is he really not going to hurt anyone?" Flutters asked in a near whispering voice. I could tell Kusanagi wasn't the type to hurt innocents but he was the type to be explicit about anything, aside from that he really wasn't a threat.

"I trust him and don't worry about him hurting anyone, he'll probably even hurt anyone who tries to hurt us," I said petting Flutter's head, she seemed to relieve all the stress in her but still kept her caution up. Kusanagi took kindly to my trust in him, since he picked up my sword and handed it to me holding it by the blade.

"Thanks," I said grabbing it and putting it away, I didn't know how I was going to explain this to everyone else but for now I'll enjoy his company. Flutters seemed to improve her view on him from his actions and landed back down onto the floor.

"Oh yeah, and about your vest, I put it away along with all the weapons in there, don't worry though, they're safe," He said looking at my torso, I had to admit I felt way lighter and comfortable.

"Thanks, I wasn't gonna use it that much anyway," I thanked him.

"How about I make breakfast," Flutters said quickly getting Kusanagi's attention.

"Breakfast?" Kusanagi asked with his hand under his chin, I quickly turned my attention to him along with Flutters, both Flutters and I had equally confused expressions as we looked at Kusanagi.

"Yes…Breakfast, the food you eat in the morning," I said trying to make sense of his confusion.

"Hmmm…" He said nodding his head in agreement but not saying a word.

"Have you ever had breakfast?" Flutters asked nearing him with a puzzled look.

"No…I've never tasted food before, I've tasted blood though," He said looking at the floor.

"Yeah… That really isn't breakfast," I said walking up to him and getting next to Flutters, who look a little disturbed by his answer.

"Umm…I can make you some eggs and toast instead, right?" Flutters asked with a strange worried expression.

"I know what eggs and toast are but…what does it taste like?" He asked putting his hand down and looking straight down at Flutters. I could tell Flutters was becoming nervous from her terrified smile.

"Hey, why not find out?" I said distracting him from Flutters, he turned his attention away from Flutters causing her to let out a sigh of relief.

"Ok, LETS GO EAT SOME EG…"

"FLUTTER SHY!"

Everyone immediately became silent and didn't move when the house door swung open. I quickly recognized the voice of that of a southern accent. Kusanagi quickly drew his wooden sword and put it up in an attacking position, both me and Flutters stared at each other, each one signaling each other to go check on the guest and rejecting it each time.

"FLUTTERS?! WHERE ARE YA?!"

Flutters gave a quick sigh as she slowly peeked out the door and fully exited the room, her face was enough to put me on edge, and retract myself away from the door.

"Oh…hey there Applejack, you don't look so happy," She said with the same terrified smile from earlier. Kusanagi and I both threw ourselves behind the bed and peeked over it cautiously as we both gave each other looks of confusion.

"OF COURSE, I AIN'T HAPPY, SOMEPONY CUT DOWN ONE OF OUR TREES!" She yelled, I could tell Flutters was gonna have a hard time calming her down, but that didn't grab my attention as much as the sword that Kusanagi had in his hands.

"You had something to do with that, didn't you?" I asked in a worried manner, he didn't answer but instead immediately placed his sword away into a holster behind his back that I didn't notice before, and put on an angered look.

"She doesn't sound friendly!" He said rolling himself across the bed and running at Flutters, I had no choice but to go after him.

"HEY YOU STOP THAT YELLING, I NEED SOME DAMN EGGS AND TOAST!" He yelled sliding out the room with his finger pointed at Applejack, I quickly slid out the door along with him and stared at Applejack who had her mouth hanging in shock and anger.

"Who the hay are you!?" Applejack asked giving Kusanagi a frustrated look. Kusanagi didn't take her actions too kindly as he immediately balled his fists and gave her his own stare, the only difference between his stare and hers is that his is a death stare. Applejack flinched her body upon looking into his eyes directly and backed a step.

"You must be Applejack, heh, you're a very lucky pony, you would've been nothing but mounds of flesh by now," He said letting his fingers open and close in anxiety and his famous grin appear. I wasn't at all surprised by his choice of words, but Applejack was, as she quickly lowered her anger to a terrified look, Flutters was about as equally shocked but she didn't express it in her face but in her shaking.

"Darn, you don't have to be like that!" Applejack said back, but Kusanagi wasn't going to take that, he instead crouched down in front of her and drew the wooden sword from his back, showing it to her. I could immediately feel that this wasn't going to end well and so did Flutters she practically covered her entire face.

"Listen, your tree isn't there anymore, but instead you can have a look at this here sword!" he said sounding like a game show host. Applejacks anger immediately showed as she grabbed Kusanagi from his collar with her hooves and pushed her head to smack on his.

"YOU CUT DOWN MY TREE FOR A TOY?!" She yelled but it had no effect on Kusanagi, he instantly grabbed Applejack and picked her up and placed her to his side locking her with his elbow. I quickly took a step forward but was immediately stopped when Kusanagi stuck his hand out to my face.

"HEY, PUT ME DOWN!"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, but instead I want to show you why I cut your tree down," He said flicking the sword in front of him. I never noticed the design on the sword till now, it wasn't an easy project to complete. The sword looked like mine, but its design was completely different, his had a sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other side, immediately sparking my interest in why he would choose such a design.

"Okay-okay, just put me down, please," Applejack said lowering her anger to a disappointed look. Kusanagi just chuckled and opened his arm causing her to fall to the floor on all fours. She immediately pouted and sat down next to Flutters who tried to comfort her but she wasn't in the mood to be comforted.

"Alright then, show me what ya did…" Applejack demanded, sighing at the end and putting a saddened look on, I glanced over at her and my curiosity lowered slightly at seeing her disappointment but only slightly.

"Hey, Applejack, I'm sure your tree was put to good use, let's just hear him out," I said lowering my hand to stroke her mane but immediately retracted it when she sprang up and rapidly looked at me and Kusanagi.

"What the hay?! Who… yer… WHO'S THAT?! Applejack yelled switching her sight between me, Kusanagi, and Flutters, "They didn't tell me Ben had a twin, a rude one though,"

Kusanagi looked at me and I at him, as Flutter grabbed Applejack's attention and turned her to face us. He didn't waste time in holstering the wooden sword which was still making my mind itch, apart from that it also seemed to put me in a state of caution. I dismissed my thoughts when Kusanagi began to speak.

"Now listen at some point I'll have to introduce myself to everyone but I don't want y'all getting ahead and introducing me before I do, got it?" He said giving us the same "or else look" I have. Both Flutters and Applejack nodded obediently, I, on the other hand, chuckled as he placed his hands together and grinned.

"Alright…Now we will discuss this over some eggs and toast," he said immediately disappearing from our sight leaving me along with the two ponies beside me surprised.

"Where did he go?!" Flutters asked as she looked around moving her head side to side while Applejack and I looked at the location where he was standing before disappearing.

"He's gone?" Applejack added on using her hoof to lift her hat to scratch her head.

"Oh… He's here, He…" I began but was quickly interrupted when…

"I don't think this is as an egg, but hey, it on the plate, how do you taste little guy,"

"What?" We all said running and looking over the edge of a wall to see Kusanagi holding in his hands a small bunny who was trying to break from his grip. I stared at him in disbelief realizing he would eat a bunny alive as he neared the bunny to his open mouth, the bunny covering its eyes and shaking violently in fear. Before I could say anything to stop him from eating it, I heard Flutters scream from behind me.

"EEEKKKK! DON'T EAT ANGEL, HE ISN'T AN EGG!" Flutters yelled quickly stopping Kusanagi from nearly chomping down on the poor little bunny if she had stopped him a nanosecond later the bunny would have been decapitated for sure. Kusanagi quickly stopped and pulled the bunny away from his mouth and stared at it with a confused and angered look.

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't an egg," Kusanagi said waving a finger at the bunny: the bunny as well giving Kusanagi an angered look as well with its arms crossed. I couldn't wrap my head around everything that was happening but I now learned something new: Kusanagi isn't that smart when it comes to identifying things. I revealed myself along with Applejack and walked up to Kusanagi who had been staring the bunny down. The bunny was also staring up at him with a stare that matched his exactly.

"THIS BUNNY WANTS TO DIE!" Kusanagi yelled putting the bunny down and quickly drawing his hands forward and aiming them at the bunny. I quickly recognized the position of his and rushed over to stop him as sparks began to form around his hand and a dark energy ball appeared.

"FINAL!…"

"WHAT!?" Flutters and Applejack yelled as they threw them to cover, while "Angel" hoped away.

I quickly got in front of his attack and balled my hand swinging it into his stomach causing him to gag releasing saliva as he cringed his fingers. He quickly reacted the same way, he balled his hand and buried it into my stomach as well causing us both to stand there with pain pulsing throughout our bodies.

"SHIT! YOU HIT HARDER THAN I EXPECTED!"

"DAMN IT BEN! I COULD'VE WON IF YOU HADN'T GOTTEN IN THE WAY!"

We both pushed ourselves away from each other holding our areas of impact and laughing the little air our lungs had left, insanely.

"You watch yourself K or I'll hit you harder next time, Hehe…"

"Next time you'll take that Final Flash to your gut dumbass!" We said as we grinned at each other and fist bumped. I honestly had never taken an open punch to the stomach but it felt like a burning flame in my body had been given an overload of fuel and I could tell that Kusanagi felt the same way by his grin.

"Is it safe to come out?"

I quickly turned my attention to the two ponies and bunny peeking over the table with wide eyes. I instantly remembered what had happened before we ended up with a printed fist on our shirts and gave Kusanagi a slap behind the head causing him to rub the back of his head and stare at me with a frown.

"What the hell, I thought we were even," he said giving me a gentle punch on the shoulder.

"EVEN!? YOU TRIED TO FINAL FLASH A BUNNY! NOT ONLY THAT, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED THE FLUTTERS AND APPLEJACK YOU DUMBASS!" I said whacking him again behind the head again, he immediately became defensive and came back at me.

"I JUST WANTED SOME EGGS AND TOAST, THAT BUNNY NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT NOT BEING AN EGG AND GAVE ME THE "I WANT TO FIGHT" STARE!," he yelled back whacking me behind the head causing me to rub my head in pain.

"HOW THE ACTUAL FUCK DO YOU MISTAKE A BUNNY FOR AN EGG!" I said locking his head with my elbow and rubbing his head violently.

"HEY BEN!" Kusanagi yelled from his locked position.

"WHAT!?" I yelled holding him in place.

"FINAL!"

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"STOP FIGHTING YOU TWO BEFORE I FINAL FLASH YOUR BREAKFAST FOOD AWAY!"

"WHAT!?"

Both our eyes widened and we instantly stopped and froze, as we looked up at Flutters who had an angered look that sent chills down both our spines. We immediately let go of each other and sat down on the kitchen chairs, giving her our maximum attention.

"Oh my, I didn't mean to scare you two," she said losing her angered expression and picking up Angel, holding him tightly. I let go of my breath along with Kusanagi and placed our heads down on the table.

"Wow… Ya got the same magic as Ben," Applejack exclaimed hopping onto a chair across the table, Kusanagi and I perked up immediately and looked at each other. We gave each other an awkward stare before looking back at Applejack who was cocking an eyebrow.

"You could say that," Kusanagi started putting his hand out and creating his dark energy sphere. Flutters quickly hopped on a chair to observe him. I acknowledged his gesture and followed.

"Except… I'm "Light"," I said placing my hand out and creating my bright blue energy sphere.

"And I'm "Darkness" Kusanagi finished, both of us closing our fists making the spheres disappear. Flutters and Applejack gave each other a glance before looking at us.

"OH! Like Princess Luna and Celestia," Flutters said placing both hooves on the table making the table shake.

"Oh yeah! They do kinda have some similarities," Applejack said slamming her hooves onto the table, leaving me and Kusanagi with our hand on our chins, pondering.

"I never thought about it that way," I said lowering my hand and looking at the two ponies before turning my attention to Kusanagi, who had wide eyes staring at the wall behind Flutters.

"Hey man, you okay?" I asked reaching my hand out to get his attention, he broke his stare and looked at me with a serious expression and then back at the two ponies in front of us.

"NO!... I still have no idea what an egg is!"

"GOD DAMMIT, SOMEONE GIVE THIS DEMON AN EGG!"

"I'M ON IT!"