By the time everyone had woken up it was early afternoon and Brandon was still in a deep sleep of his own. That didn't surprise any of them since they knew he needed as much rest as possible. Soon the rest of their friends showed back up again, this time they had a few more guests with them.

"How is he doing?" Tallia asked before looking in his room.

"Still sleeping, but he'll make a full recovery. It's so good to see you two but where's the little one and your egg?" Luna asked.

"We left them with Sparkler and before you start explaining what happened there is one other visitor we're waiting for. Just hope you all don't mind," Ginger was the one who answered making them give a curious look.

"Seriously Ginger?" Tallia asked making the stallion give his own look of confusion making the griffin sigh. "It's that Sparkly Fountain mare, she was already coming to see her brother which is why she isn't here right now."

"H-how is she?" Lyra asked.

"She seems to be holding up especially knowing that her brother is safe and sound. Though I wouldn't be surprised if I were you guys if she is a little hesitant around Brandon right now," Tallia answered.

"Wait, why would she be hesitant?" Twilight was the one who asked this time.

"Twilight, as much as we know it's not true in her mind it was her association with Brandon that got her brother in that situation, to begin with. She may very well know that's not true now but fear can still linger especially since she was also beaten herself as a result," Luna explained making Twilight nod before looking down in slight guilt.

"Hi, Talli!" Grace said coming to give the griffin a hug after she came out of the bathroom.

"Well if it isn't Grace! Are you taking care of everypony here?" Tallia asked returning the hug.

"Mmmmhmmm, sure am!" Grace said making them all give a little smile since the filly was in a far more better mood today.

"That's good because they definitely look like they need it," Tallia said and Grace nodded before going to lay on the floor and bringing out a piece of paper.

"Is she drawing something?" Ginger asked making the group of friends all look at each other for a second before Luna spoke up.

"No, not that we can tell. She's been very secretive about that paper and the only one who has the slightest idea is Lyra," Luna said looking at the green unicorn who only gave a shrug in response.

"Let me guess, swore you to secrecy?" Tallia asked.

"Yup, but it does seem to be helping her and I think we'll all like it as well," Lyra said giving the filly a little wave and smile.

"Hey, where's Derpy and her youngest?" Tallia asked.

"Getting late lunch for us," Lyra said making the couple give a nod of understanding.

"You know you two can go in if you want," Luna said.

"Thanks, we can only stay for a little longer before we have to return home," Tallia said before she and Ginger went into his room.

After Derpy and Dinky returned giving the other five of them that had stayed overnight their food they quickly ate before joining Tallia and Ginger inside the room. The doctor had said that it was fine for them all to go in today since he seemed to be in far more stable condition. Soon they all saw Sparks looking into the room which she still looked pretty beat up.

"It's not as bad as when I went to see her before coming here," Applejack whispered making Luna nod before waving the mare in.

"I'm glad you came to visit," Luna said as the unicorn made her way into the room though her eyes never left Brandon.

"I-I'm just g-glad he w-wasn't killed," Sparks said as she stopped several feet from his bed and they all could tell she wasn't going to get any closer.

"As we all are, and I... we wanted to say thank you for telling the truth in your statement. It must have been a hard thing to do," Luna said making Sparks close her eyes taking a deep breath.

"I-it was t-the right thing a-and my brother is safe t-thanks to h-him. B-but a-after all t-that happened, y-you all must o-of had a h-harder t-time t-than me." Sparks replied.

"It has been rough, but we all made it through the toughest part of everything so far," Lyra was the one who replied.

"Yes, and you know he will at least appreciate you coming by," Luna said seeing that the mare was getting a bit anxious in the room.

"I-I am sorry that this happened to him," Sparks said before turning towards the door. "I-I am a-also sorry b-because I-I don't t-think I-I can g-go o-on a s-second date w-with h-him."

Before any of them could say anything else Sparks ran out of the room making them feel bad for the mare. Soon after Tallia and Ginger went on their way leaving the eleven of them waiting. Though the only ones in his room at the moment was his three marefriends and the two fillies and it was getting close to evening now.

"L-lyra..." They heard him whisper making the five of them all give a little jump in surprise as they saw his eyes open a little.

"Hey big guy, h-how are you feeling?" Lyra asked stepping to the side of his bed.

"L-like a-a p-pin c-cushion..." He said weakly making her give a little smile before she broke and wrapped him in a tight hug making him give a little grunt as the others came to his bedside.

Luna and Derpy both opted to just give him a kiss instead though they could still see how tired he was. But he managed to stroke their cheeks with his good arm and gave Dinky a little pat on the head. Though that was when Grace climbed up onto his bed and looked him right in the eyes.

"C-come h-here," He said making the filly jump on him which to his credit he didn't yell out or grunt in pain as the filly wrapped him in a tight hug as she began to sob.

"I-I w-was..." Grace tried to speak through her tears.

As the filly cried into his neck the rest of his friends made their way into his room and he gave them all a weak and tired smile. After awhile Grace cried herself to sleep, which he honestly didn't need to be told what the little pegasus must have been feeling. It was hard enough already losing one family let alone the chance to lose another, which after some rearranging in his bed so there was room for the filly.

"W-we're really glad to see you awake," Twilight said giving him a little smile.

"He looks like he's ready to go back to sleep any second now though," Rainbow said making him give a slight laugh.

"I-I am s-sorry..." He tried though he was already starting to fall back asleep again.

"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry for. We will be here for you when you fully wake up and remember we love you with all our hearts," Luna said giving him another kiss making him give a smile as his eyes closed again.

"This doesn't surprise me that he was only awake for a few minutes," The surgeon from the night before said walking into the room.

"W-what do you mean?" Derpy asked.

"Well, you see we did a little more study on those cells we found. Turns out that while they do heal him doing so can pretty well drain him of his energy. A bit of a trade off which is why he has been sleeping for so long, and will most likely sleep for a good bit of tomorrow as well.

Him waking up like that was most likely because his body probably had enough energy to let him wake up. But it is a sign of his healing." The doctor said.

"S-so does this mean that they'll heal his shoulder?" Luna asked.

"Not necessarily, and don't get me wrong from what we think they'll heal him as best as they can. But the Hydra's toxin isn't something these cells were ready to handle. In other words, under normal circumstances with a regular spear, they would have healed it with no issue without any scarring. But with the toxin, it'll take longer for them to heal the wound and it'll definitely leave a scar." The doctor answered.

"Just a scar?" The doctor nodded at Luna's question. "Just hope it's physicals scars that remain."

The doctor didn't say much after that as he did a few test and scans writing things down on a clipboard. After that, he reassured them that Brandon would most likely be able to fully wake up by the morning before taking his leave. That was when Luna remembered what Celestia had suggested.

"Hey Pinkie?" Luna asked making the pink earth pony give her a kind smile. "I would like you to do a favor for me okay?"

Luna then took Pinkie off to the side and whispered her idea and the party pony grew a huge smile and nodded vigorously in agreement, really watching the mare gave Luna a cramp in her own neck. Returning to the group they all tried to get what they were talking about out of them. Though neither one of them gave in and waited.

By the next morning, most of the group was filled in except for Lyra, Derpy, and the fillies. Which as they waited they couldn't help but watch as Grace and Dinky passed the time by playing tag, even getting other ponies to join. But they had to quit as they noticed Brandon was staring at them with a weak smile.

"S-sorry, I-I didn't want to interrupt playtime..." His voice was stronger than yesterday but it was still weak and soft.

"No, we're just glad that you're actually awake!" Lyra said barely keeping herself from just jumping on him but settled for a nuzzle.

"How are you feeling darling?" Rarity asked.

"L-like a piece of g-gum," He managed to say getting them to smile and got a little laugh from a couple of them.

"Well, either way at least it's a bit better than a pin cushion," Derpy said making him give a little laugh himself.

"At least you seem to be yourself," Luna said though there was something in his eyes that definitely changed, almost like he was different yet the same.

"H-hey, I-I know what's g-going through y-you're mind L-Luna. Y-you c-can see it c-can't you?" He asked making Luna nod.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked. "He looks and sounds just the same to me."

"But there is something different in him, almost like he's all there," Lyra said though she knew that sounded strange but it was the best she could come up with.

"Y-yeah, a-all there..." He said drifting off a bit almost in a trance. "I-it's almost n-not my l-life a-and yet I-I k-know it is."

"Wait, are you saying you remember your entire life?" Applejack asked.

"N-Not exactly, I-I t-think I'm still missing some o-of it b-but it's m-mostly a-al there," He replied though they could see he was starting to nod off.

"H-hey Brandon?" Grace asked making him look at the little pegasus who had a piece of paper in front of her.

"Oh, right! I know you must still be tired but please try to stay awake for this okay?" Lyra asked pulling out her lyre and before she went by Grace she whispered in his ear. "Grace worked really hard on this just for you."

As Lyra went over to Grace she looked at the piece of paper and gave an impressed look as she studied it. Tuning her lyre before taking a breath and waiting for her cue from Grace she started to play. After a few notes to everyone's surprise Grace started to sing in perfect harmony with the instrument it seemed.

The tune was a hopeful one and the way Grace sang they could feel her hope of a better tomorrow. But there was an underline of her pain of losing her family, they all could feel it hit them. As she sang they all knew she might have found her special talent, even if she herself didn't realize it.

Her voice was sweet to listen to and it really did surprise them all to hear such a young filly to be able to channel such emotion into her singing. For a lot of musicians, it could take them years to channel as well as what Grace was doing, even if it was their special talent. As the filly finished the song the room went silent.

"D-did you like it?" Grace asked the filly looking nervous.

"G-grace..." The young pegasus looked at him as he gave a tired smile. "Y-you h-have a-an absolutely b-beautiful voice. T-thank y-you for s-singing f-for me."

"Y-you're welcome..." Grace said though she tried to hide it she grew a little confident smile.

"It was breathtaking Grace, but how about I take you and Dinky back to Ponyville with me tonight if that's alright?" Pinkie asked making him raise an eyebrow and Derpy nodded.

"But I want to stay here!" Grace argued.

"I-I think s-she needs h-help with whatever s-she's planning Grace, I-I think y-you'll be a big h-help to her," He said making Grace give a little pout but nodded.

Grace and Dinky both gave him a hug goodbye and Pinkie gave him a cheerful smile and said her goodbye before leaving. He went back to sleep right after that and the rest of them made some small talk. Of course, they all wondered what he was going to tell them about his world, though Luna and Lyra already knew a fair bit of what he remembered from before.

Nurses came in and did a quick check up on him and taking their leave just as quickly as they came in. Lunchtime rolled around and they went in shifts to get something to eat. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity had just left when he woke up and this time his voice was a lot stronger, but it was still softer than normal.

"I'm soo hungry..." Was the first thing he said when he woke up, which after getting a nurse back into the room another staff member brought in a tray of food for him.

"Now, I know it isn't that much but the doctor ordered for you to eat lightly for the first few meals. Partly because the toxin can mess with one's stomach," The nurse explained before she left.

"At least it's something," He remarked as he stared at the bowl of soup before just gulping it down in less than ten seconds. "Ahh, that hit the spot!"

"You must be feeling much better after this morning," Luna said gently stroking his cheek lifting a napkin with her magic cleaning some spots on his chin where some of the soup ran down.

"Y-yeah, shoulder feels like it's on fire and my leg stings a lot but I feel much better," He said though they could hear the tone of his voice sounded almost hollow, almost broken. "Hey guys, I was wondering when you three would be coming back."

"You waiting for us? Funny, cause I thought we were the ones who have been waiting for you," Applejack teased making him give a little smile that quickly disappeared as he took a breath. "Also, before you say anything has anypony told you about Sparks?"

He shook his head and they all started on why they started looking for him and how they found him. As they told him what exactly happened with Sparks a look of guilt passed over him and he knew he couldn't blame her for wanting some distance from him. After hearing the full story he looked between Applejack and Luna giving them a hard stare making both of them feel a little nervous.

"I'm going to say this once to the both of you, especially you Luna. You don't need to put yourselves in danger like that for me because if anything had happened to either one of you I-I don't t-think I..." He trailed off feeling tears start to form making Luna instantly wrap herself around him.

"I know, I am truly sorry but I made a promise to you when I first came here and no matter what you say, no matter the danger I will always be there to try to protect you," Luna said and she felt him wrap his good arm around her.

"I know, just like I know all of you would because you all don't abandon those you care about," He said, and to their surprise, he only let out a few tears. "I love most of you like family, and for the three of you, I-I can't put into words how much I care and love you."

That's when the entire group seemed to dogpile on him making him give a grunt of pain but he didn't mind. The pain was worth it for being surrounded by his family, and that's what gave him the courage he needed to tell them about his memories. To tell them all about, at least from what he remembered, how his world worked, and how messed up it was.

"I think it's time for you all to know who I was, and about where I come from..." He said after they managed to untangle themselves and getting off of him.

They all sat around his bed as he began to tell them about his own life first, and of course Lyra, Luna, and Derpy knew some of the stuff from his younger years. But there were a lot of details about his life that they were just learning. For a moment he took a break taking a breath before sighing.

"Don't get me wrong as much of a good at home life I had I still had a lot of problems," He looked at the outside window watching the lights of the strip flashing. "You see, I have what's known as Aspergers. It's a condition that can make someone socially awkward among other things. Because of it, I was targeted by bullies throughout my school."

"That just ain't right, but you don't seem to have a problem now," Applejack said making him give a little smile.

"That's because I went through some therapy to help with my speech and for some social issues. Also, I had friends who helped me out, especially in middle school when I met her..." He trailed off feeling his heart grow heavy.

"You mean the woman you loved from your world?" Lyra asked making him nod.

"Yeah, we met in middle school when she actually fought off a bully who was attacking me. It's how we met and how we ended up together," He said remembering that day perfectly.

"You and she were together for a few years then before she left," Luna said though to her credit she didn't say anything about why she had left him.

"It's thanks to Sally that I gained the strength to stand up for myself and for the time we had together I wouldn't change a thing. Though it hurt a lot more than I realized back then I can understand why she didn't stay around, but I feel like that wasn't the last time I saw her. But that's part of my memories I haven't gotten back yet because I know at some point she had talked to me about something." He said but didn't dwell on it.

"Well, with your brother and her you sound like you were lucky to have a good support system. But I would like to hear more," Twilight said making him nod.

He continued telling them stories of when he was a kid, about his neighbor that remind him of Pinkie, about his school life. But he knew he was getting close to the point where he would have to start explaining some things about his world that he just didn't like. Though he knew he had to because it had a huge impact on his life.

"Are you feeling okay?" Derpy asked making him break out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, just trying to figure out how to explain a few things about my world," He answered.

"Whatever it is we're here for you," Lyra said making him rub her head.

"I know, but my world isn't as friendly as this one despite the whole kidnapping thing. Before any of you three ask, yes this does deal with some of my nightmares from my time in the military." He said making the other's give him a surprised look.

"No offense, but you aren't exactly the military type," Rainbow said.

"It's difficult for me to explain, for my world could be cruel especially with a population of over twelve billion," He said making them all go silent to let him explain. "You see because my world is greatly overpopulated there were measures that the governments placed to try to help with the limited resources we had.

It started long before even my mom was born. My countries government passed a law that if someone in your immediate family who still lived with them signed up for the army, that family would get a care package of food. The law eventually changed as the population kept growing to where at least one person in a family would be forced into the army."

"Is that what happened with you?" Twilight asked.

"Kind of, you see by the time I was born we could choose which one of us was going into the military when we were old enough. I managed to talk my brother out of it and let me be the one to go, mostly because there is more to that law. You see when you reach seventeen is when you're shipped to basic training.

Though there were two different basic training camps, the one I went to which is actually called the reserve camp and there is the regular basic camp. The reserve camp only trained people the basic of the basics, and once you graduated you could go into regular basic training. Though those who were serious about the military just skipped the reserve camp and went to normal training, not that I could blame them.

But this was not only to keep up the military but a way to control the management of resources like food. Which countries were fighting wars over, which really wasn't about resources, at least not to an extent. It was more about trying to lower the population so it wouldn't put so much strain on the resources." He explained.

"T-that is horrible! Starting a war just so you can send people in to die I-I can't even..." Luna started before he placed his hand on her cheek giving her a kind smile.

"I know it's messed up, but there is more to the story which isn't that fun to explain because of how horrible it makes my world sound. For what sent me to fight in the war in the first place was the day I lost everything, the day when my mom and brother died in those towers." He closed his eyes for a moment taking his hand away from Luna.

"Brandon..." Lyra said before he cut her off.

"Trust me I know I don't have to tell you all, but I want to so you all can understand me a little better and why I don't like my own world. let alone my own country. Because they allowed those towers to be blown up by terrorists, t-they let them k-kill thousands..." Anger and bitterness seeped into his voice as he talked.

"Including your family," It was Derpy this time who finished for him as he tried to calm down.

"Y-yeah, I had just finished with reserve training a-and I was going to surprise them. My mom had worked in those towers as an assistant and helped my brother get an office job there. I-I remember the moment that those t-towers went up i-in the explosion. I-I remember dropping to my knees because I knew they were gone," He couldn't hold it back anymore as tears streamed down his face.

"B-but..." Twilight started.

"B-because they wanted another war, to d-decrease the p-population as much a-as possible," He said not being able to meet their gaze. "A-after that I-I was forced to go to war, despite m-me not having g-gone through normal basic training. T-there were a lot of us like that w-who were shipped off. I-I didn't even g-get to go to their..."

The group remained silent as his three marefriends comforted him as he wept, the pain of the loss of his family looked as fresh as if it just happened the day before. They all knew what he was going to say, he couldn't even have time to barry them let alone say goodbye. But after ten minutes he got calmed down still not meeting any of their eyes.

"I-I think that's enough for today," Luna said and before any of them could agree he spoke up.

"I-I'm fine, j-just wasn't prepared enough," He argued.

"That's the point, you aren't ready to explain everything especially in your condition! Because despite you obviously being in better shape then a few nights ago you were still seriously injured! I-I just don't want you to be in any more pain right now!" Luna screamed though she felt herself being pulled onto his bed and him running his fingers into her mane.

"I am sorry for making all of you worry like this, i-it isn't fair to you all. But this is something I need to do, i-if I break down again t-then I'll stop. T-this is important for m-me t-to tell my story," He said still running his fingers through her mane making her lock eyes with him.

"I-I think he should keep going," Lyra said making him break eye contact with Luna and give the unicorn a small smile.

"F-fine, b-but..." Luna started before he gave her a kiss.

"I know and I promise," He said and though Luna tried to get up he used his good arm to press her back down and she got the hint. "N-now to where I was shipped to war. Like I was saying because of those towers many soldiers that weren't properly trained were shipped off.

I was one of those ill-prepared soldiers, they sent m-me the day of the attack. N-now let me explain this, the reason why many of us who weren't planning on a military career was sent to war with very little training was mainly to do with lowering the population of course. But the thing with it is you are listed as active military.

Y-you, don't have to go through the normal basic training for that because in the government's eyes you were trained enough. H-hence why it's called reserve basic training, a-and if you don't sign up for normal basic training you were still listed as a person would still fight for up to five years. After that, you were taken off their list.

S-since I was a new graduate from the reserve they sent me to war so I-I w-would most likely die, along w-with hundreds of others. I-it wasn't fair o-of course, but my world h-has a tough t-time with fairness."

He then started to tell them about his time in the war, which he tried to water down some of what happened. Like the trenches that he and his fellow soldiers got pinned down in, and as he watched as they were gunned down and was even shot himself in the arm. Though he explained that the reason why he didn't have any scars from before was that they had specialized medicines and treatments for wounds like that.

"A-a few of us managed to escape into the jungles where the medic bandaged me up. W-we then s-started to make o-our way to the extraction point w-we were given. B-but then w-we came across a village..." His eyes became haunted as he gave Luna a tight squeeze, his three marefriends already knew this part as well.

"Brandon..." Applejack said and by the way, she said his name he knew that they figured out what the next part was.

"T-the villagers had no i-idea we were there, s-some of us tried to suggest going a-around and fought with o-our superiors. U-until they rounded up those of u-us who wanted to g-go around a-and threatened to kill us right then and there if we d-didn't follow orders. T-they said g-going around w-would make u-us miss our extraction, e-even though it wasn't true.

I-I remember them t-telling us i-if we didn't d-do as w-we were told a-at any point n-no matter what, w-we would be killed b-by our own people." He stopped as he took a breath for the next part. "O-our orders w-were to round up the v-villagers, a-and that was all they told us.

S-so we m-marched in and s-started with the orders. T-that's when I-I saw a young girl, no older than Grace w-who had just o-one arm. B-but I was the only one who noticed her a-at that point, I-I went over and k-kicked her to the ground..."

He was barely keeping it together at this point but he knew he had to in order to keep going. Because he knew once he broke down all the pain and fear that came with these memories would swallow him. That and he knew that his three marefriends were going to make him stop for the day, but he had to continue and started up before any of them could protest.

"I-I kicked her to the ground a-and t-tried to tell her t-to play dead i-in her people's n-native language. I-I had learned it years b-back in school, b-but one the c-commanding o-officers that threatened t-those o-of us who wanted to g-go around noticed. H-he grabbed the l-little g-girl and p-put her w-with the other villagers.

D-during that w-whole time I-I was f-forcing myself not t-to cry for w-what I k-knew would happen. I-I s-started to turn a-around a-and w-walk away w-when I h-heard gunfire. I-I made the m-mistake of l-looking back, a-and when my nightmares s-started h-here, her l-lifeless eyes.." He really couldn't take it anymore as the grief and guilt over what happened washed over him.

Author's Notes:

There is a little more to his story of course, so much more to his world. Hope you all enjoyed this little venture into his past and learn a little bit of how his world works. Again, hope you all enjoyed and remember to smile, smile, smile!