#34

Still, in the same room and with the same company except now I managed to get a word with each of them, it was a strange speaking to them considering they were hiding from a weird creature not so long ago. I was on my feet and by a window, as I looked at the outskirts of the castle with my arms crossed, pondering what to do, I had Luna by one side with Dash on the other, Derpy and Rarity had gone to check on the rest. "So, you plan on defeating it?" Dash asked me from my right, there wasn't an option about it, I was.

"Yeah," I responded briefly staring out the window. I had a lot on my mind; from thinking of a way to defeat magic itself, to what I was going to eat. Dash neared me a bit closer and gave me a slight tap, "Are you okay?" I turned to her with a smile, I was fine, I was just a bit worried about them, that was it. "Yeah, just worried me when you all disappeared," I chuckled, I felt weird telling her that I worried about her, especially when she was safely right in front of me. Even if I thought it was weird, she didn't; she was gently smiling as she blushed a bit and expressed her thanks.

"You shouldn't worry about me, I'm cool, always!" She reassured me with a huge smile, how could I argue with her when she gleamed at me with that cute face. "I'm not going to argue!" I said turning to Luna on my left, she stared out the window with discomfort and melancholy. I reached down a hand and got her attention.

"Yes?" She asked turning to me quickly, she was spooked and would react to anything in an instant. "Do you need something?" I asked her but she quickly turned me down on that. "Okay, I'll let you think," I finished as I began moving away from the window with Dash following closely; I did this on purpose since I knew she wanted something, and this was how I would find out. I got a reaction instantly, I felt something tug my shirt and I turned to see Luna looking at the floor, her head hanging low in a depressed manner. "I want to end this creature…" She whispered, loud enough for me and Dash to hear it. I agreed with that, but it was strange for her to say such a thing, I've never heard this way of speaking after their encounter with me; above all her tone was serious and I had problems taking in her words.

"We will Luna-" She cut me off before I could finish. "No, I want to end this now!" Luna came back with a more demanding tone. This tone was becoming stronger, and I found it harder to accept this new vengeful Luna, I've never expected her to act this way. I had no choice but to follow her orders, if she wants me to kill it, then I'll kill it.

"Fine, I'll make sure of it," I gave her my word and I never back from my word. I made sure Luna could see how seriously I took her request, she looked up at me and immediately froze for a bit; she knew. "Th-thank you," She unwillingly squeezed out of her throat, all I could see in her was a lingering fear, from this creature or me, maybe both.

K cut in from inside, "So, we're going to end this today?" he asked as seriously as I was.

Yeah, Luna has spoken and I gave my word," I responded confirming his question; and today was the day to end this. He was silent for a while before cutting back in. "I agree, we must if we want to make it to that concert tomorrow."

I had no argument there, I looked forward to seeing Octavia again and to show off some musical skill but now I had to worry about this creature. "Damn it, I'm with you but this creature is a threat to everypony at that concert too!" I made clear and he remained silent for a while again, this time longer than before.

K? you there?"

Ben, look at Celestia…" K warned, his voice finally emerging again but in a cautious tone. I slowly turned my head to look at Celestia and indeed K was right; there was something there, transparent and nearly invisible but I could see its energy; dark and distorted. "What the hell is that?" I asked slowly reaching my hand down to my sword and pulling out a few inches. As I pulled it out I noticed Dash and Luna's voices whisper out to me.

"What are you doing?" Luna asked from my left sounding worried.

"What do you see?" Dash asked from the right sounding curious.

I ignored them as I pulled my sword out slowly, I was concentrated on what I was seeing. My pose must have shown my plans because I was aiming my eyes right at Celestia and with my hand on my sword. Luna quickly tried to stop me again with a whisper, "Ben!? What are you doing!?" I wasn't paying attention to anything but the weird thing over Celestia, while Celestia giggled with Twilight about something.

K quickly reappeared in my head, "Kill it…"

I quickly swung my sword out of the holster and let it go in mid-swing making it spiral to my target cutting the air as it rapidly moved. "BEN! NO!" Luna yelled out from my right. I quickly blinked my eyes wide-open as the sword I presumably launched was now inches from impacting my face. I dodged the sword and caught it with my hand, I was breathing slightly heavily as I aimed my sword at the creature again.

"BEN! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Luna asked trying to push me down with her magic but I refused to let her over power me. "LUNA IT'S BACK!" I yelled out hoping she'd stop and she did. She looked up at me and quickly at the frightened ponies in the room, she rapidly looked around before stopping and turning to me again. "WHERE!?" She asked. I held my sword to the creature that was easily visible to me, she looked at me and at what I was seeing multiple times but she couldn't see it.

"I CAN'T SEE IT!" She exclaimed making me walk up to the creature, Celestia was now out of the way and all that was left was the creature by the door of the room. I stopped at about a foot away from the creature, from the outline I could see it was just a bit taller than me, maybe six feet. Everypony remained silent as I stared up at the creature.

"Show yourself…" I demanded with a new approach; a grin stretched across my face and I had my sword holstered away. I could tell this creature understood by the way it seemed to flinch a bit. I waited a few seconds before a strange pressure tried to push me away but I wasn't moving from my position. In nearly a split second it appeared, and gasps were heard from all over as the creature made its presence known. It was a weird creature, all covered in black, worn out rags, almost like the depiction of death but this creature had a monstrous face that just read death all over. Its sharp teeth and tiny, insane looking eyes gave it the look of a merciless killer with no control, it's face was composed of cuts and scars and its skin was a dark green and to add on to it…it was humanoid.

"That's-that's…." Twilight stuttered in nearly a panicked sound before Celestia and Luna appeared by my sides. "It's…it's…." Luna stuttered as well not finding the confidence to say what she wanted to say but Celestia did. "…A reaper…" Celestia finished making me grin just a bit wider, Celestia explained this creature to me as I didn't break eye contact with it.

"What do we do now!? These creatures prey on magic dwellers until they're defense and kill them!" Celestia explained making me scoff, I chuckled as I looked up at the creature.

"Ben? A reaper it incredibly powerful…they come from Tartarus and are unable to be killed!" Luna added from my other side. I couldn't stop my grin, and my growing excitement; I've never felt so excited to fight, I had to remind myself what I was doing this for in the first place. "Ben!? STOP THAT! WE'LL RETURN IT BACK TO TARTARUS!" Celestia yelled but I was not listening. I looked up at the creature's grin and meet it with my own, it wasn't until a few seconds of staring that he tried something childish and gave me that classical taunt of "BOO!"

His voice was demonic, as in actually demonic. I wasn't fazed by his sudden scare, I remained still on the floor and with no changes in my expression. He cocked an eyebrow before laughing out like a mad creature. "YOU'RE NOT SCARED, YOU SHOULD BE!" He laughed out forcing all the ponies behind me into a freeze and making them tremble. I didn't move, I had my hand to my sides, defenseless and open for any attack; my excitement got in the way of my normal reaction.

"Scared of what? Putting a fool in his place?" I taunted back getting a sudden reaction by everypony, I could tell they couldn't believe what I was doing. The reaper laughed like he was losing his mind and grabbed his stomach as he laughed like I told him a joke for the ages; I didn't. He eventually stopped and looked down at me with a toothy grin. "Ben…stop it…" Luna whimpered behind me as she retreated away from me and this reaper, Celestia also retreated but she only shook her head hoping she wasn't seeing right.

"You think you can defeat me!? I'm going to torture you and your friends in Tartarus, once I kill you!" The Reaper taunted again but like before, I wasn't budging or changing my attitude. He might have a mouth but I got a strong will and a mission. I was going to kill it, nothing is un-killable, I'll make that clear to everypony and this Reaper. I chuckled a bit as I shook my head and looked up at him again.

"Defeat you? No, I'm going to kill you," I grinned making him pause for a few seconds, and everypony behind me froze in place. It must have been my smug voice or attitude because they were stunned into silence. "You think-GAH!"

I didn't give it much time to talk, I drove my fist into its stomach so hard I felt like I pierced it. I could tell this thing could feel pain, so I quickly switched my fist for a leap into the air and kicking him down to the ground with his back to me. I placed my foot on its back and pressed on its back as I forced it to kneel down. I gave the reaper a chuckle before quickly looking up at the ponies. Their looks were as shocked, impressed, and terrified as they could get. Luna whispered under her breath, "Ben?" while Dash whispered, "so cool!"

I've seen these things before, damn things can endure a fight since they feed off their surroundings," K explained in my head making me grin wider.

So, I just have to bombard it as much power as I can to end it?" I mentally asked back. I could tell K was grinning as he answered, "Yeah, but it will survive in Tartarus, so I'll seal its fate," K was seemingly more excited than before and seemed highly active.

You sure you can deal with it after that last thing you did?"

Hell yeah, doing this to these things is harmless to me! We just have to weaken it to the point it can't fight back!"

Cool, I got you!"

I looked down at the Reaper under my boot and quickly kicked its head to turn it around. I stared at the grin of a psychopath. "What's with that look?" I asked. He responded immediately by grabbing my ankle and gripping it to the point I felt like he'd probably broken it. I cringed a bit as he began massaging my ankle in the most excruciating way. He glared up at me as I did my best to not move my leg. "NOW YOU DIE!" He exclaimed quickly standing up, lifting me from my ankle and hovering me

over the ground upside down.

"Ah! Fuck you!" I cursed from the pain his actions caused my ankle. He quickly swung me behind him and I ran my fingers to my head as he ferociously swung me forward to the ground.

"BEN!" They all yelled before I quickly closed my eyes.

"INSTANT TRANSMISSION!"

He let go of me, sending me rocketing towards the Canterlot streets. The best place to take this fight was out of the castle and into the skies of Canterlot. It took a great deal of strength to stop myself before hitting the pavement below me, by luck I managed to stop inches from hitting the ground, now I stared at two freighted and curious ponies as they stared back. I had my back to the ground as I stared at them upside down and laid down in mid-air.

"Uh…hi" I awkwardly greeted with a smile, hoping to not scare them away. They looked at each other before greeting back.

"Hello, aren't you that new creature with unimaginable strength?" One of them asked, I nodded before I quickly looked up at the damn thing rushing towards me. I quickly reached for my sword and threw it in his direction before grabbing both ponies and retreating a few feet away from the action.

"WOAH! WHAT IS THAT THING!?" They both asked as I placed them down and looked up at the Reaper with my sword stabbed right through its chest. "That's a very dangerous creature, you two stay a safe distance away," I warned as I quickly took off to the sky and met my enemy about ten feet away. "Thank you!" They yelled hoping I'd hear them; I did. I looked down and gave a thumb up with a grin making them fluster and look away with blushes.

I turned back to my opponent before feeling my ankle, the pain has severed to a mere itch but I wasn't going to allow him to give me another "massage". I stared at him painfully dislodge the sword from his chest, groaning and aching. He nearly pulled out the whole piece if titanium before I quickly appeared before him and kicked it right back into him; he cursed and spat out a bit of blood as he pulled out the sword without hesitation.

"I won't give you any time to recover, so prepare yourself! I'M ENDING THIS NOW!" I yelled quickly stealing the sword from his hands and spinning a 360 to slash at his arm before quickly kicking him away. He clutched his arm as he did his best to use his magic to reattach it. I knew well that if he's healing, he's taking the living essence of anything to heal; I won't let him do that. I appeared once more in front of him and slashed at his other arm before going for a leg but he quickly dodged it and backed away.

"YOU FOOLISH MORTAL!" He exclaimed as he instantly caused his stubs to regrow the limbs. I stared disgusted by what I saw but I wasn't going to let him just go and use anything surrounding us to heal himself. I quickly got flicked my sword and made a charge for him again but this time I rocketed towards him using my backhand tactic. He smirked as he aimed his hand towards me and charged it up and my eyes widened at the fact I couldn't stop.

"DIE!"

"I'M TAKING OVER!" K quickly emerged inside my head, I quickly felt my body become unresponsive and my mind drift aside.

K quickly used instant transmission to appear behind his target and gave him a kick sending him down to the grounds of Canterlot. As the reaper was on the verge of hitting the ground, K reappeared under him and gave a spine-murdering knee to his back sending him back to the sky before he came towards him again with a series of kicks and punches. K pounded him towards the ground and pinned him to the ground by the face. He pressed his head to the pavement with his hand, cracking the pavement beneath it.

"I despise you Reapers, why can't you just stay in Tartarus where you belong?!" K asked, being strict about his question and removing his hand from his face. The reaper looked up at him and gave his psychopathic look as he laughed out loud; K wasn't going to be moved by his gestures. "What are you laughing about?!" K asked giving a punch to his chest. He didn't stop laughing and it seemed that the more it went on the more K was on the verge to break.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME YOU FOOL! I ALWAYS COMEBACK!"

K paused before, slowly, he grew a smile as he lifted himself off the ground and gave out the most psychopathic laughter; he didn't need to try, to laugh like that. The reaper looked at him; his grin and laughter were gone along with all the taunts he had.

"OH REALLY!?" K's laughed manically as his aura had erupted with his madness. The reaper gave a few mumbles before aiming a finger towards K. "I-I KNEW THERE WAS DEMON HERE! I KNEW IT!" The reaper exclaimed. K swapped his laughter for a grin before balling a fist and waving it in the air.

"IT'S TIME!" K exclaimed quickly separating his body from Ben's, "LETS GO BEN!"

"YEAH!" I exclaimed quickly powering up, and positioning myself in a fighting stance in unison with K. The reaper jumped onto its claws(feet) and gave us a growl as it as well powered up. Now we were all ready for a fight.

"I'll break its demon seal, and you get ready to end it," K explained locking eyes with the reaper. I nodded and chuckled as I looked around us. Ponies were everywhere; frightened, excited, curious, confused; Looks like I should make my debut in Canterlot. "Looks like we've got an audience," I chuckled making K look off with the corner of his eye to the over-crowded streets before focusing back at the reaper with a grin. "Let's not disappoint!" K exclaimed making his aura explode into its demonic dark shade of purple; Looks like K's stronger than he seems. "Right!" I replied making my own field of energy explode into a transparent white.

The reaper stared at us before he quickly powered up once more, it felt like multiple energies were being combined into his body as he quickly charged up more upon more. The multiple energies must have been that of the ponies he's already drained energy from; this guy was annoying. "NOW!" K yelled out making me charge out towards him with a fist out as K quickly pulled out the bowie knife from before and began placing the knife onto the backside of his other hand.

My fist met his fist and we practically created a huge wave of wind, he quickly powered up a sphere of sparking energy in his free hand trying to ram it against my chest but the end of my sword was always ready to meet anything. I swiped my sword at the energy making it explode in his hand before quickly returning the favor with my own energy blast; I flipped myself upside down in front of him and aimed a hand to his chest before unleashing the devastating blow that would conclude the "turning of tables".

He groaned and yelled as the attack that launched him curved and sent him straight up into the sky and before an explosion occurred at the end. I quickly took off to meet him in the sky; it was obvious he wouldn't die until K broke the "demon seal" thing, so I had to make sure to weaken him.

"K DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!" Celestia demanded quickly appearing beside K, startling him and making him drop his aura. K regained his focus and placed the knife against himself again. "Hey, just in time for the finally!" K smiled as he looked up at Ben trade blows with the reaper. Celestia looked up at Ben before Luna startled K from the other side. "YOU WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN!" She exclaimed taking the knife from his hand. K reached out for the Bowie but it quickly disappeared into nothing, making K frown aim a finger at Ben.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO KILL IT WITHOUT-!" K was stopped by Luna's quickly shoving a book into his face. "What the…" K whispered taking the book from his face and looking at Luna. She hinted the book with her eyes looking back and forth between the book and K; K got the point and looked at the book reading it rigorously. After some quick overlooks, he quickly perked up with an excited smile as he forced the book shut and looked at Luna with an "Okay, I got it" smile.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier…whatever, now you made this a whole new level of fun!" K exclaimed as he flexed his knuckles and neck. K looked behind him to study the over-crowed pony population and at Twilight and the rest within it. "HEY! ME AND BEN ARE GOING TO END THIS RIGHT NOW!" K yelled towards them; they nodded back unwillingly except Dash, Vinyl, Derpy, and Pinkie.

"Are you sure you have that much strength?" Celestia asked. K smirked and caused his aura to explode like earlier but this time the aura ravished and caused both Luna and Celestia to quickly retreat away from him. "I think he might suffice!" Luna reassured while Celestia nodded in agreement.

I quickly dodged his barrage of attacks and retreated away to a safe distance before K caught my attention. The reaper looked down at K as well as K placed his hands in that unique position and the words spilled out of his mouth. K's hands instantly lit up with the darkness of his attack.

"FINAL!"

I looked at the reaper and chuckled as I quickly teleported beside K leaving the reaper in the sky looking down at us. "So that's the plan!?" I asked with a grin before K nodded and aimed his hands towards the reaper. "Fine! I'M IN!"

I quickly did my body in that exciting pose with my hands over one another before I erupted my aura.

"LET'S GO! KA-ME-HA-ME-!" I loved the feeling of making my own Kamehameha wave, it felt like I could destroy anything. The reaper looked down at us and quickly reached its hand out sending out a beam of ravishing dark energy going towards us. I chuckled and I'm sure K did as well as I launched my arms out towards the light.

"HAAAAAA!"

"FLASH!"

The powerful beam manifested but not before I noticed something peculiar, the reapers attack was stopped by a bright green beam of magic and the reaper was paralyzed by the same magic; holding him in place. I heard the final yells of the reaper as our attacks finally made an impact. The yells were replaced soon by a huge exploding of white and black…and green and blue (not Luna's blue neither) light in the sky. I huffed out my breath from the attack and so did K but we both had our eyes wide open as we studied the fading colors in the sky. We kept our hands held out as we sighed out final breath; we stood straight up and stared as the last bit of color faded from the sky and the smoke from the explosion cleared. I dismissed the color when the sounds of multiple cheering erupted in the background, I turned to them quickly and smiled as I shrugged. That was simpler than I anticipated.

"I guess that's that right K…K?" I asked turning to K who was still staring at the sky. I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook him a bit, he turned to me right away and nodded. "Was it the other beams?" I asked. He nodded and sighed as he turned to the crowd.

"Yeah, Thanks to whoever helped out-" K chuckled before getting tackled by Derpy. He bounced a bit to regain his balance before he levitated into the air. As Derpy embraced him, K quickly looked around himself as if he was hoping he wasn't being watched, although everypony was here looking at us. "WOW! YOU'RE POWERFUL!" Derpy complimented making K look back, he was distracted from what he was looking out for and smiled down towards Derpy. "Thanks, he won't be coming back, I know that!" K chuckled.

I wanted to interrupt K to ask about the other present attackers but I couldn't when he seemed to be enjoying his time. I pushed my curiosity aside and joined them in their celebrating; how could I not when we were already surrounded by our friends and ponies asking for autographs. Geez, I like popularity but this was insane!

The day was just extreme apart from what took place. The evening was barely darkening, Luna and Celestia paid for the biggest feast I've ever seen and I still haven't begun to eat, the beauty of food before me was too beautiful to even touch. I would reach my hand out to get something but I'd stop myself before I could even do anything. We all sat at this long table that extended about 30 feet, it was a table fit for 18, and thank goodness it was because I never lost those two ponies I met in the beginning of my fight. I still don't know their names, just that they're two mares with a bit of anxiety going on and that they sit opposite of me.

I looked over to K, he sat beside me with the widest eyes. Something was going on with him as he couldn't stop staring at the caramelized apple in front of him; he'd near a finger to it only to retract it as if the apple would bite back. I looked around the table at everypony eating their own meal and conversating about all types of stuff; weather, the concert, some embarrassing things, etc.

I guess I could say I was just distracting myself from eating what was in front of me, I wanted to but I restrained myself. I was in combat with myself as my hand involuntarily moved onto the fork and grabbed it firmly. "OH NO!" I tried to stop myself without looking stupid but that was easier said than done; in the end, I had the taste of, As Celestia mentioned, Triple-Chocolate-Palooza-Vanilla-Coating- Extravaganza!

Now I regretted it all, this cake was about as broken as the low price it was sold at, Seriously, why does this delicacy only cost two-hundred bits? (Too low). I wasn't going to express my emotions over it but I was sure K would; I cut out a slice for K and gave it to him. He looked at it suspiciously before using his fork to gently detach a piece of the sweet. I'm not gonna go into detail but Derpy was doing her best to stop K from giving a sonnet about it.

"Woah, you two look so alike," One of the pony visitors admired. I chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, strange thing we act so differently."

They were a bit more comfortable after I answered them, they seemed kind and respectful. I took another piece of the cake; every bite was a shiver down my spine and an explosion of flavor in my mouth. As I was about to place another bite into my mouth I was stopped by the sudden stares I was getting by the two ponies in front of me. "Yes?" I asked them, they flustered a bit and smiled nervously.

"Oh…uh…we were just wondering something," one of them answered, I lifted an eyebrow. "Really, what was it?" I asked. They didn't anticipate me responding like that, their try-hard smiles gave it away. They unwillingly chuckled as they waved a hoof.

"No, it's fine-"

"Come on, tell me!" I teased; they sighed as they controlled their anxiety.

"Uh, well, we were just wondering…what are you?" they asked with a wide smile, trying to not be rude. It was going to be hard to answer that, I'm not sure anypony here really understands what I am, not counting K that is. I scratched my head and pondered it a bit; I didn't really have a clear way of answering but I guess I could give it a shot.

I cleared my throat.

"Okay, if I told you that I'm a being from another world, would you understand?" I asked using my hand to keep them calm but I think all I did was trigger their curiously. "From another world?" They asked, I sighed as I nodded.

"Now listen, here we go…I'm Ben, I come from a land called Earth, this earth is full of creatures called "Humans", I'm a human. Now, I'm not going to go into details but humans were to earth what you ponies are to Equestria." I finished before one of them quickly cut in.

"You were peaceful and happy humans?"

I paused for a second, that was something I never considered in including in what I was saying. I didn't really want to answer that but I knew not answering would make them suspicious. I shook my head, hoping they got the memo, they did, but their curiosity followed.

"What does that mean?" They asked. I knew this was coming, hopefully, they understand.

"Okay, this may sound crazy but it's true; We humans had problems…some…very…serious…problems!" I made clear hoping they understood this before I got into detail. They nodded and gulped down as I used my hands to model how this was going to go.

"When I say serious, I meant it. Listen, we had bad and good humans, good humans were working for profit, playing sports, having fun with families, making friends, going to school, etc." I gestured with one hand before firmly placing the other hand on the table, startling them a bit.

"Now, the bad…these humans…uh…well first let me explain the people; we had terrorists, psychopaths, sociopaths, child molesters, murders, thieves, animal abusers, racists, corrupt authorities, corrupt leaders, cartels, drug addicts, the list would take months to finish." I finally managed to catch my breath before getting my arm grabbed by Vinyl. I looked at her worried look before looking around me and noticing all the attention I was getting. Oh fuck, now I've done it. I wanted to bury myself into my seat but I was frozen in place by all the stares I was getting.

"Was your world really so divided?" Celestia asked me coming from a few seats away from mine on the opposite row of mine. I looked at her and nodded still feeling a bit wrong for saying all that, K nodded too. "Yeah, Ben and I would be labeled on that bad side of the-!"

I gave K a good elbow to his side, forcing him to lose his air and clutch his side firmly. They looked at me and I was not liking it, this went downhill fast and now I didn't feel like eating.

"What does that mean?" One of the ponies in front of me asked.

I placed my hands on my face and rubbed out any stupid things to say but it seemed, all I could think of was stupid and incriminating.

"Uh…well…a few of you know what I use to do and what I did-"

"But I don't…" Vinyl added from my right. I looked down at her shaking my head hoping she would not ask any more about it but she was already full ears. I wasn't going to say what I did, especially since it was crazy and such a soul-crushing thing to say.

"Vinyl, please don't make me, you don't want to hear it…" I warned her but she quickly objected to it and demanded I tell her. I grabbed her hooves and looked her in the eyes. "Believe me! You might not see me as who I am!" I warned her again but she shook her head and demanded once more.

"Please tell me!"

"Vinyl…I'm warning you this one last time, I wasn't the person you see today…" I said trying to back her off but she was already at the point of no return. She frowned as she quickly banged her hoof on the table. "TELL ME!"

I paused, for her to hit the table and yell out was enough for me to understand she wasn't backing up. I glared at her before Dash grabbed my shoulder and pulled a bit. I looked at her, she was shaking her head; warning me, she knew well about what I would say. "Dash, don't interfere!" Vinyl lashed, before Dash countered furiously, "NO! JUST LET HIM BE!"

"Dash, it's fine, I'll tell her…" I said raising my hand up to her face.

"But Ben…" She whispered out before I interrupted her.

"I don't like to see my friends fight, let me tell."

She backed off and returned to her seat and passed by Vinyl's, but along the way she whispered out a something to Vinyl that set the tone.

"Don't look at him differently after this…"

Vinyl didn't take that from her, she shrugged it off arrogantly. I looked back to the princesses both sipping with worried expressions from their cider. I wish I had some cider right now. I was about to begin before K placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Make sure she doesn't ever ask again, and if you don't, then I will…"

K was good with threats, but I already was to the point I had no regrets on filling in some details I never said before. I nodded looking towards Vinyl as I placed my hand on the table and turned my chair to face her. K released me and I sighed with my eyes closed.

"I was a curse back on earth, I lived well for a few years before getting drafted into a world of mindless torture, murder, and twisted things-"

I could see she was already a loose enough, she wasn't going to like the rest; then again, the others only knew part of what I did; this was going to be something to explain.

"When I was sixteen, I finally killed someone who wasn't innocent, I remember it so clearly; he held his throat as blood flew everywhere and I was showered in it; I never understood what I was doing but he was the fulcrum of the chain of deaths I carry with me; he was a young, so young…but I didn't care, my enemy was my enemy!" I wasn't enjoying this; Vinyl's face was about as broken as my background. I stared at her eyes as they widened and refused to believe, now she has to suffer this. Her eyes grew watery and she covered her mouth with her hooves, trembling as she shook her head.

"You'd think before that I was different, but it was only more horrifying, I participated in the massacre of an orphanage-"

"STOP! NO MORE!" Vinyl cried out covering her ears and crying insanely; that didn't take long. I sighed as I placed both elbows on the table nodded; I stopped. Vinyl wasn't the only one who couldn't hold back tears, almost everypony was crying, all except Dash, Luna, Derpy and K.

"I was stupid, an idiot…a monster…" I chuckled holding back the regret. K looked up at me and so did Luna, both seemed rather intrigued by that word "Monster" as I mumbled it a few times. I gulped heavily as I smacked my head on the table and rested on it.

"I guess…I can see why I have K by my side,"

"That's one of the reasons," K sighed drinking a bit of the cider he had that I wish I had. Life was still a bit broken and making amends was something hard to do since there is no cure for death. "One?" Luna asked. I nodded and sighed again.

"I said that telling my background wasn't easy, I hope you understand when I say, I was never who you see today, I was a-"

"You're alright, you may have been "that" then, but you realized the difference between "that" and "this" …come on, pick yourself up, you may have had a bad start but in the end, you choose where you want to go!" K cut in, handing me a glass of cider. K was always helpful, but he was a level of friendship I couldn't follow. He patted my back before rustling my hair with a huge smile; I couldn't help but smile in return.

"That's the spirit!" K exclaimed grabbing another slice of cake. "You're right, thanks," I thanked taking a deep breath before looking up at my audience still a bit shaken up and probably viewing me with questions. The two pony guests were crying as I expected them. Trying to calm them was first order.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that,"

"No-no, it's our fault for asking, you don't have to be sorry!" They tried covering up for me but I wasn't going to let them take any blame; it wasn't right when we invited them.

"Don't hurt yourself over it, Ben can't go life holding back his background, it just takes a matter of trust," Luna added hoping to ease the guests, her voice was the shift in their emotions; if Luna said it, it has to be true. I found her words soothing as well, she backed me up almost in every occasion that was negative against me.

"I find that hard to believe," Lyra said staring at her cider with a smile. I looked at her confused by her words and her look, how can she sound so depressed but be happy. "How did you ever manage?" Bonbon asked me forcing me to chuckle, I was optimistic even times of despair, that is, until a certain point in life. Applejack picked her head up and smiled as she answered for me.

"Because he found out life had more to offer than just hurtin' others!" She answered as if I hadn't hurt her enough. I found it surprising when most of them cheered a "Yeah!" across this table along with K and the princesses; Lyra, Bonbon, and the Visitors became a bit fonder of me but still cynic. "Thanks, AJ, I'm glad you understood it when I told you," She blushed as she returned with, "You're welcome"

I scanned as everypony was cheerful again, all except one, Vinyl; she wasn't here, not in her chair or in the restaurant. I turned my head everywhere searching but found nothing, I must have gotten a lot of attention doing so and the questions piled in.

"What is it?" One of the visitors asked before everypony asked. I looked around once more, hoping to get a glimpse of her; nothing.

"Did any of you by any chance see where Vinyl went?" I asked quickly forcing Dash to sternly stare at the empty chair before smashing her hoof on the table.

"Oh, come on! I'm going to find her!" Dash groaned, obviously annoyed by Vinyl's disappearance. I got up along with her and meet her at the entrance of the restaurant, "I'll go with you"

"Fine, I even told her but she didn't listen," She groaned, mumbling out her frustration and began trotting out of the place with me following behind her. "Uh…I'll be back as soon as I can!" I waved as I left through the gigantic glass doors.

All the ponies stared at Ben as he left the area before looked down at their food a bit confused. They remained silent as they exchanged looks between each other, pondering what had just happened before K lifted a brow. He studied their looks before chuckling, lifting his cider glass to the sky, and grabbing Derpy with his elbow.

"Any pony up for a challenge?! I've got a high tolerance for alcoholic cider!"

Luna quickly looked up with a grin and lifted the bottle of cider with her magic, "BRING IT!"

K chuckled as he picked up the other bottle of cider and filled his glass to the brim. "Alright, Luna but what about-"

"US TOO!" Everypony in the room yelled out, holding their own glass of cider via magic and hoof.

K remained stunned for the moment as he looked at Flutters, Celestia, and the guests holding their glass up with daring looks. "Oh…whatever!"

K let go of Derpy and slouched on the chair with a toothy grin, "Alright then, don't get too crazy and do something regretful…BEGIN!"

"Calm down Dash, you gotta understand it's not easy for her to listen to such things!" I explained jumping and grabbing her from becoming airborne. She turned to me and sighed, "...I'm sorry, I guess I was a bit shocked too when you became more detailed." I nodded and let her roam freely on the ground.

"Who wouldn't, let's just hope she isn't as traumatized as she was in there," I hoped, looking straight ahead. Even if it was dark out, I could see far with the help of some light posts. I took a minute to ponder those light posts, as far as I knew, this place was also highly innovated for ponies.

"Others were traumatized too but they calmed down and smiled…why?" Dash asked flying up and looking at me as she flew backwards. This brought back that memory of her first flying backwards in my presence, that ended up badly, so my head was on slightly alert for anything potentially dangerous. I chuckled a bit as I crossed my arms.

"Because they weren't the ones who I was telling it to they just listened in, Vinyl must have felt it deeply and it hurt her,"

Dash looked towards the ground and nodded, "Oh yeah, darn, do you think she's alright?"

"I hope so Dash," I said before cupping my hands for the fourth time and yelling her name out for the tenth time, "VINYL! PLEASE COME OUT WHERE EVER YOU ARE! I'M-I'M SORRY!"

I stood still for a few minutes, nothing arose. I sighed as I placed my fingers on my head last resort. Dash flew up to me and gently placed her hoof on my shoulder, "Did you find her?"

I closed my eyes and it was almost instantly her energy appeared, it was swollen with emotion. "Yeah, let's go."

pop

I didn't recognize the dark place I was in until I squinted my eyes a bit more. This was the dorm room where they stayed, and there was the lump under a blanket. I didn't know how she got here but it seemed that it must have been teleportation or something because she moved quickly. I approached it before laying down on a bed parallel to hers; it was small and my feet stuck out the far end. The sound of the bed's springs made her twitch and lift herself from the bed, surprised and teary. I stared at the ceiling as Vinyl stared at me trying to make out what she was looking at.

"Who are you?" She asked throwing an object which I had no trouble catching. "Geez, I thought you'd recognize me," I chuckled quickly sending her into silence. I knew at some point she'd have to open her mouth again, so I continued staring at the ceiling.

"Why did you follow me?!" She asked defensively. I made myself comfortable on the bed before answering her. "I was worried, I had to find you," I said looking at the object she threw at me, it was a plastic bottle with some thick liquid. I could still feel that dread that roamed the area, but I could fix that with a smart mouth and some strange strategy. She stared at me through the darkness that surrounded, and I could feel it, her eyes wanted to burn me.

"Worried about what!? Like you would know what it's like to feel!" She sternly returned, I just stared at her off the corner of an eye before returning my sight to the ceiling. I wasn't hurt by her words, she was partially right, I didn't know how to worry in past, unlike these days. I was going to respond to her counter but I wasn't given the chance when Dash quickly spoke up from the bed on the other side of Vinyl's bed.

"Worried about you! And he does know how to feel, you know that!" She yelled out causing Vinyl to swap looks between me and Dash, "Wha- you too!?"

"Yeah me too, you had us waking up all of Canterlot-!" Dash exclaimed before getting a pillow thrown her way. Dash quickly threw the pillow back.

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ANYTHING WE SAY!?"

"YES, I AM!"

"Then stop fighting, I came here to fix something not make it worse," I calmly interrupted making them quiet down and drop the pillow. "Okay…" Dash accepted letting herself fall onto the bed and rest; listening in on what I was going to say.

I was still staring at the ceiling as I waited for Vinyl to cooperate, she sighed as she also laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "What do you want to say?" She asked annoyed. "What you want to say?" I asked her back making her look at me outraged.

"I have nothing to say!" She argued making me raise an eyebrow.

"I told you something about me, you should have some questions," I responded keeping my serious attitude. She must have gotten the point since she remained silent for a while. "Yeah, I guess," She finally responded looking back to the ceiling.

"Then ask…and I'll answer, who knows, maybe you'll understand me better than anypony will," I persuaded resting my hands between the pillow and back of my head. Dash must have figured where I was going with this because she surprisingly stayed quiet.

"Anything?" She asked.

"Anything…" I responded back closing my eyes and awaiting any question from her mouth.

She sighed and made herself a comfortable on the bed. "Well…why did you do those horrible things?" She asked, not sounding as annoyed or frustrating as before. I opened my eyes. That was the question I wanted to hear, it was the one that branched out to the other questions and answered all questions in one.

I cleared my throat and sighed. "I did those things because I was made to-" I didn't get to finish my explanation, she quickly interrupted with her own question, "By who?"

"I'll get there, as I was saying, I was made to do this because it was our "duty", to kill the enemy to make world peace."

"How does that make peace!?"

"Listen, our enemies were terrorist, do you know what they were?" I asked her. She didn't hesitate in answering with a gentle, "No".

"Terrorists were humans like me, but they killed innocents and injured many for the sake of proving a point! I hated these people, they were scum and they didn't care if they died, all they wanted was to prove a point! A stupid point too!"

"But you did what they did, and without a point!" Vinyl accused. I begged to differ with her on that, I did what I did for a reason.

"Yes, but you'll understand once I get into detail, so our President aka "Royalty" ordered a war on them since they wiped out millions with this massive weapon of mass destruction."

"Millions… a weapon of mass destruction!?" Vinyl asked outraged by the number. I assured her she heard that right and she remained speechless as I continued telling on. She was slowly getting insight into what I was trying to tell her and hopefully, she'll understand by the time I'm done.

"So, I was called up as S.O.U-"

"S-O-U?"

"Special Operations Unit, my job was to scout this place where the leader of these terrorists supposedly stayed-?"

"And?" Vinyl asked. Compared to before she was now interested in hearing me out.

"Oh, he was there! But I could have never predicted what was to come, something so brutal and horrifying that life became meaningless after it," I foretold before Vinyl asked the obvious.

"W-what?" She asked curious but fearful of what's to come

I continued looking at the ceiling as those memories replayed like a movie on the ceiling. I felt my throat harden and my feelings twist painfully.

"We were captured, somehow they knew! Someone shared some information and we were caught, the last thing I felt was a piece of wood hit my head before blacking out," I yelled as I brought my hands to my chest and grabbed a hand by the other hand tightly. Vinyl remained silent as I continued.

"I woke up, it was nearly deep at night, and I dangled from a rope that held my legs up to a tree. I was trapped. I was drowsy and I couldn't clearly see that horror taking place in front of me…"

"What?!" Vinyl asked getting up from the bed and staring at me, wide-eyed and waiting for an answer.

I looked in her direction before looking at the ceiling. My hands fidgited and my breathing got heavier as those images burned back into my head.

"Hundreds of my comrades, soldiers, nurses, fathers, mothers, children, new-born babies…all hanging by a rope…with no heads…" I squinted my eyes and gritted my teeth as those images flash back into my head. Vinyl and Dash gasped as they looked at me grip my hands tighter and tighter. "Ben…" Vinyl eased out in a mere whisper before I went on.

"I couldn't, I saw them do it to them! Each one crying, begging for mercy, and these…monsters…come and cut their heads clean off with a huge fucking sword!" I felt my hands begin to hurt and quickly unattached them from each other and shook them as I caught my shaky breath. "Ben…what happened to you?" Vinyl whispered again, as I stared at the ceiling as if I wanted to punch a hole into it.

"I watched as this kid! Cut one of one of my closest buddies head off, my friend was only fifteen, he acted so tough…and right there…he cried out for his mother…he screamed, "MOMMA, I'M SORRY FOR PAIN I CAUSED YOU! I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU ONE LAST TIME!" and I stared at him break down before his head hit the ground, I cried his name out knowing his head wouldn't answer back…you lose your mind in war," I said my hand shaking furiously. Vinyl and Dash's tears were numb to me in this state, all I could think about was how tragic that night was.

"Then…that kid walked up to me and placed his sword to my throat…I wasn't crying, I was raged, my eyes locked onto his eyes as I cursed at him to do what he wanted to do, "COME ON KILL ME! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?" I yelled out hoping he'd do it…but he didn't…he laughed and quickly slashed that sword of his near my face. I didn't flinch or blink, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry or plead,"

"A-and what…did he do?" Vinyl asked trembling along with Dash.

"He stared at me seriously and I never stopped looking him in the eye… he cut me down and forced me to work with them…I had no choice because if I got this chance to live, then I would be able to kill him when the opportunity arises,"

"Wait! is this where you…!?"

"Yes…this is how I began killing innocents, it was bad and terrible, but in my head, all I could think of what killing all of them, and leaving not one survivor! I WAS GOING TO KILL EACH EVERYONE OF THEM!" I yelled in a blood-chilling exclamation. They stared at me as I tightened my fists to the point my nails nearly pierced my palm.

"At last! They accepted me as one of them and gave me the authority to melt metals to bricks but I had another idea. I separated titanium with every shipment and…I made…this-this-this THING!" I cried taking out my sword, its shine in the moonlight made it visible along with my distraught face. Vinyl and Dash were in the same bed looking at me as I lifted my back and sat on the bed with the sword on my lap.

"One night, I got up and I went for this kid's room, you know how that went," I said my voice nearly cracked there but I sniffed back my emotions and ran my fingers through the swords face.

"It took three years…but I finished them all…one by one…and I made sure they cried and begged for mercy before ending them…then…I went home…HOME AND PRETENDED LIKE I NEVER KILLED SO MANY OR HURT OTHERS!" I yelled holstering the sword and covering my face with my hands as I ended that story once and for all. It only got worse the more I thought about it, and now I was holding back those tears that could never come out.

I sniffed away the tears and buried my eyes deeper into the palms of my hand. I always wanted to cry but now that I could, I didn't want to…I'm so messed up. I couldn't feel the bed sink or the two hugs from both sides before I felt tears run down my arms. I looked at the puddle of water in my palms before looking to my sides at the two ponies holding on tightly to my arms.

"Don't…cry…Ben! Please!" Vinyl pleaded gripping tighter with every sniffle and whimper she gave. I did my best to hold back but there was too much to even try. "I know! I wish I could have done this…earlier!"

"But then…you wouldn't be here…with us!" Dash sobbed from other side. I never realized how true that was, if I did cry that day, I would have died and I probably wouldn't be here. Life was played out so well, this is where life brought me and now I could see how.

"I'm sorry for being so rude, I didn't know!" Vinyl apologized making me sniffle back with the most externally painful and internally alleviated smile I could give her. "Don't be, I was waiting to cry again after that last time".

"Wha-"

"In other words, Thank you!" I thanked before she cried it out onto my arm.

Some time passed, and I finally gave into the sleep that followed crying, the best type of sleep is this one. I didn't care who it was with as long as it was these two, these two were the only ones who would know to this until they decide to tell others because I will never be able to say it with such feelings ever again. For now, I'll pray to whatever is out there that I never lose these friends that oddly changed my life so dramatically. I will live as long as they live, I'll hurt anyone who tries to hurt them, and I hope I never turn my back on these codes.

Sometimes, codes are forced to be broken…surprises lurk around every corner…and war never ends. Hope is a strong word, that is meaningless without friends, hope hangs by a thread always and so do friends.

I'm going to start doing this from now on…

NEXT TIME ON MLP: TTBLAIA: CHRYSALIS'S RETURN!? MORE AWKWARD MOMENTS!? CONCERT AT TWELVE!? DRUNK FRIENDS!?