Equestria: The BEN Chronicles

by HylianJuggalo

Chapter XI: A New Business Model

“Ah, so this is the human! Hello darling, come in! I’ve heard quite a lot about you! Good heavens, you look horrible! What happened to you? And... *Sniff* What are all those awful smells!?”

“LOTS of shit happened to me, lady.”

“Rarity, we need some place to lay low for a bit. The town’s gone to hay, and my house was destroyed.” Twilight said, setting her saddlebags down on the floor. We all nodded in confirmation. I set all my equipment down on the nearby table (except for my gun and phone) and I stood there for a moment to collect my thoughts and finally spoke, choosing my words carefully to accommodate for Rarity’s lifestyle.

“Well, ma’am, about the smell, I apologize. I have been wearing the same ruined clothes for two months.”

“Oh dear Celestia, we MUST get you out of those horrendous rags!”

Rarity rushed over to me with a measuring tape, taking my size, then just like that, walked downstairs into her basement, and disappeared for several minutes. When she returned, she produced a shoddily sewn pair of jeans, and a very thin white tee, also poorly stitched. The time it took her to go downstairs and return was somewhere around ten minutes, indicating that this was a cheaply produced set of clothing - something was wrong; this was NOT her quality of dresswork. I walked into the bathroom and put the new clothes on, and as I walked back into the main atrium, the shoulder seams of the shirt tore. Rarity winced, and her face flustered red. She quickly ran down to the basement. Not too long after she disappeared, her voice, now of mostly screams of anger, were emanating from the bottom floor. There was the sound of what I could barely make out as a whip cracking, then a scream, with somewhat of a cultural flavoring behind it. I shivered and drew my gun, stacking up against the stairwell, when I heard another whip crack and the scream again. The others drew in interest, but I brought my arm up, signaling them to stay where they were.They all did as told, although they didn’t want to, and I slowly made my way down to the basement. As I got to the bottom of the steps, I could hear more whipping noises, screams, and a few mechanical sounds. I turned the corner, and I was greeted with a dimly lit room. The area had rows of sewing machines, each with poorly fed and dirty ponies, all of whom had a light-brown coat. A few stared at me as I came in, begging for help. Their english was poor, and their accents were flavored with a latin-american tone. A little colt, beaten and bruised approached me. He, like all the others, had the same cultural flavor.

“Please, mister, I am soooo thirsty. Will you help me?”

I didn’t say anything, just looked at the colt. On the far side of the room was Rarity, screaming at one of the workers. She didn’t notice me, so I walked over and approached her. One thing I should point out: her skin and mane, like Twilight’s before it, were grey. No sense in being a gentleman to her now.

“The hell is THIS, Rarity!? Fucking slave labor? Really!?”

She turned to face me, and she, to put it bluntly, didn’t seem too bothered by my discovering her operation. Instead, she kept a blank tone as she replied, giving a crack of the whip, followed by a scream of the nearby immigrant pony.

“Well, darling, you see, somepony has been stealing all of the jewels from the mines recently, and so I have nothing to make my dresses fabulous with. I wallowed in my misery for days, wondering what I could possibly do, when suddenly, it hit me; if I can’t make BEAUTIFUL garments, I can make cheap, affordable clothes for everypony! So, I went to the Equestrian border to find some poor down-on-their-luck immigrants. They needed jobs, I needed a business, it’s a win-win situation, honey!”

“You barely feed these people, let alone pay them! How is that a win-win!?”

Rarity hit me with the whip. I jumped back.

“The fuck, Rarity!?”

“Darling, do you honestly think these ponies would be better off left where they are? They came to Equestria seeking work when they had nothing, and I gave it to them.”

“DO YOU REALIZE HOW POORLY YOU’RE TREATING THEM!?”

“It’s a small price to pay, dear. What with the depression and all, I need to make a profit, yes? Since I don’t have any jewels, I decided to use cheap labor. We all need to look out for ourselves, first and foremost nowadays. It’s not perfect, but it’s about survival of the fittest.”

“Stop this shit!”

“Darling, don’t be so aggressive... I could give you a free evening with one of my mares, if that would make you feel any better.”

“What!?”

“One of my mares. They’ll show you a fine evening, sweetheart.”

“YOU'RE the one running the prostitution ring!?”

I slapped Rarity across the face. My anger was coming out again. I quickly jumped backward, shocked at myself, but soon went to her side. I thought I promised myself not to hurt anyone again...

“Oh dear god! I am so sorry, Rarity!”

She threw me off of her, smacking me in retaliation with her whip.

“Good heavens, you cretan! Hasn’t anypony taught you to never strike a lady, you monster!?”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me!”

“Stay away from me! I bet YOU’RE the demon that killed Sweetie Belle!” she screamed, backing away.

“Wait, WHAT!?”

“Don’t try to hide anything from me, human! I’ve heard how you killed Flim, and my parents told me everything that happened at the hospital; they told me you were there!”

“It wasn’t me, Rarity, I swear!”

“Why should I believe you!?” she yelled, smacking me with the whip again, which left a bloody gash across my face, my head reeling sideways, turning back with an angry glare.

“BECAUSE I HAVE PROOF!” I yelled, kicking her into the wall. I quickly put my gun away, and replaced it with my phone. I jumped on top of Rarity, pinning her into the corner as all the workers watched in fear and anticipation. I turned on my phone, which had been off since we had left the hospital, and opened the video file and set the phone on the ground. I then grabbed Rarity by the head and forced her eyes to watch the screen. The video opened with a somewhat wobbly camera looking at a team of surgeons. You couldn’t see Sweetie Belle very well, but you knew it was her judging by the size of the exposed white leg in the film. to the left of the frame stood the Belle’s parents. A few seconds into the video, the statue materialized, just like it had. The sound quality was shit, but that didn’t matter right now. The nurse looked over to one of the surgeons, then to the statue, jumping backwards a bit.

“Doctor, what is that?!”

“There’s no time to worry about that! Focus on the patient! One, two, three, clear!”

You could see Sweetie’s body jump up into view as the heart monitor started up, then inexplicably went out.

“Clear!”

Again.

“Clear!”

“Celestia. Bucking. Damn it! You are NOT dying on me kid! Clear!”

Sweetie’s body jumped up into the frame again, blood flying out of her body at the jolt. Rarity was beginning to cry. I was too. I did NOT want to watch this again. From the video, you could hear me holding back vomit.

“Okay, beginning the sutures. Starting on the heart.”

“Be gentle, doctor...”

“Heart repaired. Moving on to the stomach. ….Done. Reorganizing the intestinal tract.”

“Sutures complete. Disinfecting.”

“We’re almost done, kid. Hang in there!”

“Sterilization done. Sealing the body. ...done. patching the wound.”

“Vitals are stable. Heart rate is normal. Congratulations doct--”

The video went black as the lights pulsed out, then came back on, revealing the room on the phone. They pulsed again, the skull kid’s laugh a distorted tone with the crappy speaker. The lights were still pulsing, and with the extreme changes, the camera had no time to switch to its automatic night vision mode, so all you could see were occasional shots of the Belle’s looking at the scene in fear, the camera shaking, and the statue rocking back and forth in the flickering darkness. The sound was again distorted, but you could hear a vile, snake-like voice in the video at the five minute mark.

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

The skull kid screamed, and everything in the hospital went out. The audio that accompanied the footage at this time consisted of screams, flatlining heart monitors, and a generator shutting off as my camera’s night vision activated and brought visibility to the scene. Not that was a ‘good’ thing, per se. The camera began to approach the operating table, where it was set down in front of Sweetie Belle’s hooves. From this view, all you could see was Sweetie’s face at the top of the screen, her body running the length. Everyone else, including myself, were on the left side of the frame, minus some doctors on the right; The camera had shot a perfectly cinematic angle, and that last conversation played right in front of my eyes.

“Hey... how you doin, kiddo?”

“I... I’m sorry Nick...”

“Sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry I let you down...”

“You... you didn’t let anyone down. You did what you had to do, honey. You may have gotten hurt, but you did the right thing; you saved us. None of us would be around if it weren’t for you!”

“Nick?”

“Yes, Sweetie?”

“What’s it supposed to feel like, living with all that pain? You’ve been hurt more than anypony I know...”

“I... I’m just lucky I guess... but listen, Sweetie Belle, you WILL make it out of this.”

“No, Nick. No, I won’t. I know it’s time. Is Applebloom okay?”

“I... I don’t know, Sweetie.”

“She’s fine, sir. She’s recovering in her own room.”

“That’s good. I can rest easy now. Applejack?”

“Yeah, sugarcube?”

“Can you tell Rarity I’m sorry about the Sisterhoof Social? I’ll never forgive myself for saying all those things.”

“Sweetie Belle, don’t talk like that! You’ll be okay!”

“That’s nice of you, Pinkie, but... I know I won’t be here much longer. Mom, dad? I love you.”

“We-we love you too, Sweetie Belle.”

“Nick?”

“Yes?”

“Can... you do me a big favor?”

“Absolutely, Sweetie Belle.”

“Promise me you will stop BEN. He can’t be allowed to torture anypony else! Pinkie promise me!”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Thank you. I’ll hold you to that.”

The camera went solid white at a flash of light, then faded to darkness. As the night vision came back on, a clear image of Sweetie’s cutie mark appeared in the shot.

“Heh... look at that. I got my cutie mark...”

“I’m proud of you Sweetie Belle. We all are. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

“You know Sweetie... I’ve only been here for a few days, but... I love you.”

“I love you too Nick. I love all of you. And Nick? Please forgive Twilight.”

The skull kid laughed, and Sweetie was levitated off of the operating table. Ten seconds later, the camera splattered in crimson red and fell to the floor, where the video shut off. Rarity just broke apart as her world came crashing down around her. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Watching your little sister be split open like that must be mind-raping. I felt absolutely awful for showing her, but I needed to prove it to her, it wasn’t my fault.

“That... thing killed her!? Why, he was the one who gave me the idea to reclaim my business! THAT MONSTER!” Rarity screamed with a mixture of wild emotions, her color returning to her mane and skin. I took her vulnerability as an opportunity to try and sway her - MUCH better than using violence.

“Rarity, listen to me... that statue has hurt all of us. His name is BEN, and what he is making you do; run slave labor, is something you need to break away from.

“But... my business... the economy...” Rarity began, tearing up. “I can’t just abandon my life’s work!”

She had a point; the economy was rough. Still, though, it didn’t make her actions right.

“We’ll find a way to fix it, but for now, Rarity, we need your help to take him down if you want to see that happen.”

Rarity stood up and hugged me, turning her head to the immigrant workers, all of whom were staring at us as they waited for something to happen.

“You... you can go. Be free. Get out of here, now!” She said, shooing them away with a hoof as she cried into my chest. The immigrants all stood up in wild excitement, cheering and hugging each other. A few of them approached us and shook Rarity’s hoof, hugging her, and screaming in joy.

“Madre de Celestia! Gracias Seniora!”

“Muchas Gracias!”

“Thank you so much!

They all left and ran up to the ground floor and outside, leaving the purple-maned unicorn and I alone in the dimly lit room. I grabbed my phone, which was on the ground, and noticed I had accidentally turned the flashlight on - which, unfortunately, was pointing to another door... that had a small trail of blood seeping out from underneath it. I drew my gun, and placed my phone in the front pocket of my buttondown (which I had thrown back on), flashlight at the ready, and slowly opened the door.

“Darling, please, don’t go in there...”

I slowly pushed open the door, but immediately vomited. In one corner of the room was a rustic looking bathtub, filled to the brim with blood and organs. There were a few pony mannequins down here, each of which had what looked like shoddily made dresses... of skin. I vomited again, then took a step into the room, the stench of death returning to my nostrils once more. It smelt just as awful, if not worse, than Sugarcube’s basement. But these horrifying dresses weren’t the icing on the cake; oh, hell no. Further, in the back of the room sat an operating table, and on a counter next to it, a vat of blood, accompanied by what looked like fresh organs, limbs, and other body parts of varying kinds. The thing that was on the table was a half-completed hodgepodge of ponies, all spliced and sewn together to make one. Quite literally, a frankenstein. What the FUCK was Rarity doing!? I’d have to get that answer later, as I was stabbed through the back with a pair of scissors. The blades went through, dangerously close to my right kidney. Rarity pulled the device from me, and I spun around and clocked her in the face as life began to drain out of my back. Her eyes? They were red. How’d you guess? She had fallen to her back, but stood to confront me again. I braced myself for combat, drawing my knife in place of my handgun. Rarity charged at me, but I dodged her, and tried to pin her to the floor. She started choking me with her magic, and I began to lose consciousness as my breath fell short. I couldn’t kill her, one of the elements especially. I scanned my options, trying desperately to find what I could do, then it hit me. I took hold of the base of one of the nearby mannequins, and forcibly threw it towards her. She fell, breaking her concentration. I took the mannequin again, and thwacked her upside the head with it, after which, she passed out from the trauma.

“Fuck my life...”

Several moments later, I woke Rarity up with a splash of ice water. She jumped, screaming, but I managed to calm her down. She had a large bruise over her face, and her eyes were their normal azure blue. She nearly fainted upon seeing the state of this sub-basement, but kept on her hooves.

“Rarity, you have a LOT of explaining. Get to it.”

“I-I-I... I don’t know how this happened!”

“Cut the shit. You know damn well what you were doing down here. What’s the monster for? Why make dresses out of pony skin?”

“Darling, I...” Rarity began, but broke apart crying some more, wallowing in self-pity for a few moments before speaking again. “The... thing over there... I... after the horrendous mess that was the Gala, I had nothing to fall back on after my dreams were crushed. Pinkie could still throw parties, Applejack could still sell apples, Twilight could still spend time with the princess, but I? I was looking for my prince charming! That’s not something you can turn around and fix! Finding that somepony that’s right for you... it’s often a once in a lifetime opportunity. Since mine was ruined, I decided to MAKE my own prince charming!”

“You DO know, Rarity, that there is someone waiting for you...”

“*sigh* Spike, I know. He’s just a baby dragon, though - his feelings for me are mixed emotions that don’t know what they want. He’s going through a phase.

“And you’re absolutely certain about this? I can TELL his love for you is genuine. Just look in that kid’s eyes for a minute.”

Aw fuck this, this wasn’t the time to talk about relationships. Back on track.

“The skin dresses. Why?”

“The statue... he said that he had an ‘incredible new fashion line’ for me to create, one that would blow all my competitors out of the water.

“You were actually going to SELL these!?”

“I... the economy is awful! I’m getting desperate here!”

Jesus, BEN, you sick bastard...

“Rarity, you need to free your prostitutes. Where are you keeping them?”

“The... the attic.”

“Thank you for being honest about it. I know it’s hard, Rarity, but please, I promise, we’ll fix the economic situation. I just need your promise that you will fight with us.”

“I don’t need to promise, darling; that beast killed my sister!”

I offered Rarity my arm. She took it, and we walked upstairs. After meeting with the others, Spike immediately hugged Rarity, but all the others were giving me puzzled looks.

“Why where all those ponies down there?” they inquired in unison. “What took you so long?”

“Trust me guys, you REALLY don’t wanna know.”

I ignored the rest, and followed Rarity up to the attic. She went up the ladder stairs, and a few unintelligible lines of dialogue later, a drove of mares, covered in makeup and piercings came out, who completely ignored my existence (which I didn’t care), followed behind them by a sullen and crying Rarity. I went to her side. Worst thing? Some of those prostitutes were kids.

“My... my money... how am I going to live?”

“Look, Rarity, you LIVE better than almost anyone else in town, money or not. Quit it with the drama queen bullshit, because I’m not gonna fall for that.”

“But.. but... I...”

“But nothing. Let’s go to the others. You TELL them what you’ve been doing.”

We went downstairs, to the main atrium where everyone was waiting. They obviously saw the newest group of ponies to leave, because they looked even more dumbstruck than they were when the group of immigrants went rushing out the door.

“Rarity, what have you been doing here?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head sideways.

“Everypony, ever since this mess with the economy, I have been wondering what on earth I could do to keep afloat, and this little statue came to me one day. He said that I should try and get the aid of ponies who were desperate for work.”

“Statue? Rarity, do ya know that thing done killed ya sister?”

Rarity began to tear up at Applejack’s statement.

“I do know that; the human showed me everything.”

“Rarity, call me Nick, please. And that’s not all. What about the sub-basement?”

“We-well... after the horrible mess that was the Grand Galloping Gala, I had my dreams crushed by that pig, Blueblood. It drove me into depression, and after, I took it upon myself to make my own prince charming... I...”

“Go on, sugarcube.”

“...I’ve been stealing bodies from the hospital morgue to make my own special somepony... and, I’ve been using leftover... skin, to make dresses, thanks to the statue.”

Everyone felt sick to their stomachs at the very thought of Rarity making dresses out of others. That... that was horrid. The unicorn trotted over to her couch and collapsed on it, crying into the armrest.

“Of all the worst possible things... this is THE. Worst. Possible. Thing!”

For once, we couldn’t help but agree. Losing family and friends to death; that is one thing nobody wants to see. I would have said something about her overreacting, but no, these tears were the most genuine I have ever seen her produce - tears of honest to god sadness. Tears of pure regret, and not just for her sister, but for all those she had desecrated and forced to work against their will. We all went to her side to try and comfort her. Well, all except Scootaloo, who was missing. So was my CD.

“Anybody seen Scoots?”

“Yeah, she ran off with ya CD to th’ back room.” Applebloom said, looking to me from the couch.

“Awww, damn it.”

I ran to the back room, only to see Scootaloo standing in front of a mid-nineties looking radio with a disc tray. Apparently, she was listening to the album while I was dealing with Rarity. The song that was playing right now? Home Invasion. I stood there, listening to the song, Scootaloo still unaware of my presence, as she hadn’t turned around yet. As the song finished, I cleared my throat with a meek cough.

“Oh, um, hi Nick. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, Scootaloo?”

“What’s a Juggalo?”

I smacked myself in the face.

“Fuck...”

---

“YOU FAILED ME AGAIN, DISCORD!”

“Master! Please!”

“Enough! I GAVE you your chance! You openly refused to have Rarity kill Jadusable!”

“Master, listen... I didn’t have enough to work with! I only used her emotions at the current time!”

“There was a perfectly open window for you to kill him; you could have used her anger about Sweetie Belle’s death as a weapon!”

“It- it didn’t come to me!”

“Oh... of fucking course not... ‘Oh, master, I’m so sorry, I’m just a worthless simpleton that can’t see a good opportunity when it comes...’ YOU ARE PATHETIC! WHY DID I EVEN RELEASE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!? Luna is doing more work than you! Why can’t you grow a sack and use your powers to kill something!? I had to fucking possess her FOR you!

“Well, master... I... have one idea.”

“And that would be...?”

“In the Everfree forest, they say there’s a community of ponies that don’t have cutie marks.”

“Why should I be concerned?”

“Master, listen: this community of ponies thinks cutie marks are a curse; they kill anypony that has them, and assimilates anypony that doesn’t.”

“What exactly are you getting at?”

“Well, you see, they’re probably going to go through Everfree at some point. If I can summon an apparition, and Applebloom hasn’t gotten her cutie mark before then, I can probably get her lost in the forest, and lead her to the town by bending the paths.”

“So, how will this kill Jadusable?”

“The human has a very ‘fatherly’ connection to the fillies. Applebloom goes missing, the human and a few of the others go to look for her. They get led into the town, and because some of them have cutie marks, but she doesn’t, they turn her against them, and the town kills them all!” Discord continued, as he twitched in pain from the sting of his missing arm.

“Hmm... your plan does seem sound. I just need to create an insurance policy...”

another dark purple aura filled the air, before levitating over to Discord, then up above his head.

“M-master, what are you- AUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!”

Discord fell to his knees, gripping his head in pain as an antler, followed by drips of blood fell to the grass.

“Wh-why?”

“You failed me yet a second time. This is insurance that my generous faith in you won’t be disappointed this time around. I’m going to try to get some down on their luck fools to kill him, in the meantime. Also, know this: I don’t NEED you. I felt as if you would relish in the chance to be freed, proving as a valuable ally, and the only thing I see thus far are excuses and incompetence. You have not killed a single soul, and before you even so much as think of pulling your stupid illusionist tricks by making houses turn into cardboard, just remember that I'm not impressed. I want to see death. I. Want. Jadusable. Dead. Remember that the only reason I freed you is because I needed your persuasion to get Twilight to consume the drink. Now that I’ve spent enough time around you, I HAVE your powers. I don’t need you, so unless you want to die, I suggest you get on my level of chaos, boy.”

And at that, the statue faded away with the mask salesman’s giggle.

---

It wasn’t too terribly late; the clock only read nine-thirty. We were back in the main atrium, and I hadn’t answered Scoot’s question yet. What exactly was I doing? Crushing some leaves. I put them into a lone piece of parchment that I had collected from Rarity’s back room, and began to roll. Scoots and Pinkie both stared at me with interest as the others talked. Pinkie was jumping up and down excitedly, her little ‘springy’ sound effect playing with every bounce.

“Ooo! Ooo! Watchoo doin’ Nick? Huh!?” She asked, poking my newly formed wound, that I had recently patched up, making me flinch in pain.

“Rolling a blunt.” I said, not taking my eyes off my project.

Applebloom turned at my words, away from her sister.

“What in tarnation’s a blunt?” she asked, approaching me.

“Nothing you should be worried about.”

The others drew in interest as Applebloom came to me. They were wondering what they were looking at. I finished rolling and looked up, only to notice I was being stared at by literally everyone.

“Guys, really? Give me this, please? I need SOMETHING to help me get this mess off my mind.”

I got up and walked outside, followed by the others, but I closed the door on them. I looked back, to see a sullen Derpy, obviously upset that I wasn't spending any time with them. They could manage a few minutes alone, though. I grabbed a lighter that was conveniently sitting on one of the porch railings, and put the stogie to my lips, watching the end begin to burn. I took in a deep breath, letting the smoke caress my lungs, as a memory came to me.

***
It was mid nineteen-ninety one at my home. My father was a marine, out fighting in the gulf. He was a very reserved man, and never talked to us much about what he was doing out in Iraq. Webcams were a relatively new thing, and no civilian homes or barracks had them, to my knowledge, thinking back. As such, we never physically saw him. The only time we ever got a chance to talk with him was a call to the house, which, my mother, going to college, left us rarely at home, limiting our contact even more. Fortunately, during spring break, my mother managed to answer a call from my dad. He said that, come Christmas, he was done with his tour, and would be home to celebrate the holidays. I was only about fourteen months old at the the time, but I truly do remember that moment, and hearing those words made me so happy. So, the holidays came, and we immediately jumped at the ring of the doorbell, in the middle of a blizzard. My mother and I went to answer the door, and, as expected, there was my father, but something was wrong. Being a baby, I didn’t know what had happened at the time, but he was missing his left eye and left arm. As I grew up, I learned that he got blown up by a grenade. But I didn’t care; my father was alive. I loved my family more than anything.

***

I never had very good friends as I grew older. Like I said, most of them were just users and punks. I never spent time with anyone that I would have considered a ‘true’ friend for even a second. At the end of the day, though, I remembered I still had my family; at least they cared whether I lived or died. But my father? My father’s gone, rest his soul. What happened? Well, it was only eight months ago, actually. He was driving home late at night one time, and he got in a nasty accident. My father was a directionally challenged man, who often needed a GPS to get his way around. When I received the call about my father, I had lost almost everything, then and there. His GPS had malfunctioned, and he had driven off a cliff. We lived in the Kansas City metro region, and it was a rainy night, around eleven, I’d say, when the accident occurred. The road was dark, and recently, one of the front lights in his Civic had burnt out, making it that much harder to see. He was on an overpass, and his GPS, apparently, had told him to turn left a bit too early. He ended up turning, but just past the bridge, and straight into the small ravine that wasn’t protected by the concrete wall. The airbag had failed to deploy as well, and he had fallen, jaw-first, into the upper grip of the steering wheel, literally splitting his head in half at the jawline.

God, I still remember the autopsy photos...

I threw the roach to the ground and stomped it out, turning around to head back inside, lost in my thoughts.

“Nick, are you okay?” Derpy asked, placing a hoof to my back as I took a pillow and threw it to the floor. I turned to the wall-eyed pony and gave her a blank, emotionless stare.

“Just got a lot on my mind. It’s late. Can we all get some sleep? Please?”

“Yeah, ah second that! Ah’m all tuckered out!” Applejack exclaimed, and plopped herself on the couch. Rarity sighed.

“Well, yes, I guess I could allow you all to stay for the night, just keep your hooves off of my upholstery, Applejack!”

“Geez Rarity. You’re so high maintenance. Can’t you learn to relax a bit? I retaliated, taking extra pillows off the nearby couch and throwing them to the floor.

“Perhaps for the night.”

We all slept in the main atrium that night, and things weren’t too terrible. I was hit with another nightmare about BEN, but that was common for me. Suddenly, however, I was abruptly awoken by a voice.

“Nick?”

I groggily rubbed my eye, only to see Applejack looking down at me from the couch.

“Yeah?”

“Ah... ah wanted to thank ya.”

“For what?”

“Well, ya know... ya’re one swell guy. Ya may... do some less than desirable things ta solve a problem, but...”

“But what?”

“Ah... ah wanted to thank ya fo’ takin’ care o’ th’ girls.”

She’d already thanked me for this a thousand times before. She wanted something out of me, and knowing how close our relationship had gotten, I could see where this was going.

“What do you want from me, Applejack?”

“Ah don’t want anything from ya, Nick, ah just want to thank ya for all ya’ve done.”

“Well you’re welcome.”

I turned my face into the pillow. She slid off of the couch, and onto the floor, crawling over to me.

“Nick...” she began, taking off her hat. “Ah don’t think ya understand. Ya see, ya take care of mah sis like she was ya own daughter, an’ ah truly admire ya for that... Ah mean, th’ last few months ya’ve been livin’ with us at th’ farm, ya just give. Ya play with th’ girls, you discipline ‘em, ya help around just as much as Big Mac does. When I first met ya, ah didn’t know what ta think; I thought ya were gonna hurt us, given what ah knew of humans.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Ah know that. Ya can be irritable, but ya treat us like family. Again, what ya do for the girls, ah really admire.” she said, snuggling her muzzle against my neck, her fur rubbing up against my skin, the action of which made a cold chill run through my body.

“Applejack? What are you doing?”

“Ah want ta thank ya for saving mah friends, takin care of Granny an the girls.”

She began to nuzzle even closer. I started growing even more uncomfortable. Then, she started kissing my cheek. I shivered.

“Applejack, stop.”

“Nick, ah really need ta find some way ta thank ya. Ya have no idea how much ya work on th’ farm means ta-”

“No. Stop. Now. Look... I appreciate this, but... we’re not going to do this. I am a human being, you are a horse. It’s NOT happening.”

“But Nick, ah...”

I sighed and rolled over, wrapping my arm around Applejack, snuggling her close, and looking into her eyes.

“Listen, Applejack. I like you. I care for you. You’re all great to be around, and you’re some of the best friends I’ve had. I love you, yes, but I can’t bring myself to do this, do you understand? We aren’t... going that far, okay?”

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, but pulled away as soon as I finished. Applejack squirmed out from under my arm, and crawled back up onto the couch, accidentally kicking Derpy in the process. She yelped a bit, but didn’t wake up. The orange earth pony buried her face into the couch and began to softly cry. I picked up the hat that was on the floor, and set it on her back, but that only made her wails become even louder. I didn’t know what to say. Granted, I hurt her feelings, but I just... a human and a horse? No, that was disgusting. I had my views, and I planned to stay firm in them. I tried to get some sleep, but was nudged awake an hour later. I looked over to see a cuddly Scoots staring at me, and so, I smiled.

“Hey Scoots, can’t sleep?”

“Nah, I can...”

“What's wrong, then?”

“You never answered my question. What’s a Juggalo?”

I sighed, closing my eye and looking to the floor. Well, I couldn’t keep avoiding it. I had to say something.

“Scootaloo, a Juggalo is many things. Where I’m from, the most common definition is when a person is a fan of any musical group under a label called Psychopathic Records.

“Oh, you’re a Juggalo if you like that kind of music?”

I laughed a bit, petting Scootaloo on the head and tickling her ears.

“In the most basic sense, yes, but there’s more to it. Do you want to know the true definition of a Juggalo, or at least, what I think it is?”

Scoots smiled and nodded her head.

“Repeat after me.”

“Okay, Nick.”

I cleared my throat, and spoke.

“I am a Juggalo.”
“I am a Juggalo.”
“I am an individual guided by light.”
“I am an individual guided by light.”
“I recognize that the path to Shangri-La requires an open mind.”
“I recognize that the path to Shangri-La requires an open mind.”
“I shall not judge.”
“I shall not judge.”
“I am part of a family.”
“I am part of a family.”
“I shall love my family as I would my blood.”
“I shall love my family as I would my blood.”
“I shall do my family no harm, as I know what is done to others shall surely be done to me.”
“I shall do my family no harm, as I know what is done to others shall surely be done to me.”
“I shall honor my family, and not disgrace their name.”
“I shall honor my family, and not disgrace their name.”
“I am a ninja.”
“I am a ninja.”
“I have no fear; I do not fear the unknown, for I embrace the wonders of the world around me and the differences in others.”
“I have no fear; I do not fear the unknown, for I embrace the wonders of the world around me and the differences in others.”
“I shall meet adversity head on, for I am a survivor.”
“I shall meet adversity head on, for I am a survivor.”
“Nothing can stop my shine.”
“Nothing can stop my shine.”
“I am a human.”
“I am a pony.”
“I recognize my flaws; I shall strive to change the things I can control and seek strength for the things I cannot.”
“I recognize my flaws; I shall strive to change the things I can control and seek strength for the things I cannot.”
“I shall cherish the teachings of my ancestors and the family who have fallen before me.”
“I shall cherish the teachings of my ancestors and the family who have fallen before me.”
“I have love.”
“I have love.”
“With love, there is unity and strength.”
“With love, there is unity and strength.”
“Love does not hurt, nor does it seek to destroy.”
“Love does not hurt, nor does it seek to destroy.”
“I too, shall not hurt or seek to destroy.”
“I too, shall not hurt or seek to destroy.”
“With love in my heart, love for my family, and love for the Carnival.”
“With love in my heart, love for my family, and love for the Carnival.”

I smiled at the purple maned filly, giving her a kiss on the head.

“Now, what is a Juggalo, Scootaloo?”

“A Juggalo is somepony that has faith. Not necessarily in a higher being or others, but faith that, at the end of the day, everything will turn out for the better. They have an open, unjudging mind that embraces daily change, and respects the differences in others, and if, in the event any salvation exists, they must keep that mindset if they hope to reach it. They recognize they are unique individuals, but are still part of a family of like beings. They love their friends and family as they would themselves, and vow to protect them at all costs, and also vow to never hurt them or disgrace them, for violence begets violence, and shame begets shame. They recognize that they are not perfect, but strive to make themselves and the world around them better every day. Conflict is not in their nature by heart, but if pushed, they will do what they must. They do not aim to hurt or kill, and love all those around them. They face challenges head on, and treat each new day as an obstacle they must tackle. They recognize that love for their fellow beings brings unity and friendship, and through that power, nothing will stop them from accomplishing their goals.”

“Now THAT is a juggalo.”

Scootaloo smiled, followed by a squee. She hugged me, and I held the little filly close and slowly fell asleep for another hour or so with her snuggly wrapped under my arm. I was once again awoken, this time to voices that were outside. I carefully pushed Scoots off me, and stood up, walking over to the wall, and placing my ear to it. I heard a combination of four voices, it seemed, paying careful attention to the conversation.

“What the buck are we doin’ here, man? You said we could get a couple’a bits easy!”

“Hey, YOU picked it, plothole.”

“Look, if the Wonderbolts hadn’t disbanded, I would still have a job!”

“If the hospital wasn’t shut down by Celestia, I wouldn’t even need to be here!”

“If the Tardis hadn’t been destroyed by that statue creature, I could find the source of the economic problem...”

“If ponies would buy food instead of drugs, I would have a living for my wife and I!”

“Well, on our situation, we all agree. I heard there was metals and shit we could fence in here.”

“Look, the lady who lives here is hot. maybe we could get something out of her if we don’t find anything.”

“Ah. Take it out in trade...”

“Now I like the sound of that. Brohoof me, man.”

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Oh shit... thieves.

“Guys! Get up! Now!”

Pinkie sat up, rubbing her eyes, followed by the rest.

“Doesn’t anypony know what time it is?!”

A knock on the door. I drew my gun.

“Everyone, down into the basement.”

They knew I was being serious, and that something was up. Scootaloo and AJ were the last to go, about to step through the door. That’s when it happened.

The incident.

***

It was Christmas Eve, around seven-thirty at night. We were watching, out of family tradition, the 1970 musical rendition of Scrooge while my parents snuggled on the couch with some eggnog. My father had just gotten home from his tour, and I was giddily awaiting Santa’s arrival in the morning. Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door. My father paused the movie and went to answer. Without any warning, a team of masked men broke into the house, four in total. Two jumped through the window, and another two kicked down the door. One had an AK-47, another a baseball bat, the third with an uzi, and another with a desert eagle. My father was thrown to the ground by the flying door, slamming into the wall. the man with the rifle aimed at my father, holding him up on the floor while the two men with hand weapons held up my mother and I, the barrels touching our heads. The man with the assault rifle smacked my father in the face while the man with the bat unhooked our TV and other electronics from the living room. Despite the fact that he was missing an arm and an eye, I knew my father was a fighter.

“DADDY!”

***

I was violently thrown backwards as the front door fell on top of me. Two ponies in hoodies came barging through the door, and another two, also cloaked, jumped through the window. Each of them were armed with crossbows. Everyone in the basement stairwell screamed and locked the door...

...but they left Applejack and Scootaloo out here with me.

“EVERYPONY ON THE FLOOR!”

“GET THE BUCK DOWN!”

Two of the ponies held me at gunpoint while the other two went to AJ and Scoots. The ponies planted their bows to their heads.

***

“DADDY! HELP ME!”

***

“NICK! HELP ME!”

I was in the very same situation my father was in, all those years ago. I doubt I was going to live, but it was better to try and save those who had helped me than sit here and watch them die. I swallowed my fear and stood up, drawing my gun, my face covered in blood from the force of the door, the dark crimson red on my face sticking out amongst the blackness of the living room. Applejack’s words from the cave echoed through my head.

“Don’t ever hurt nopony unless ya absolutely need ta defend yaself!”

I didn’t need to defend myself. I needed to defend them. My mind flashed back to the incident back home, but the most bizarre thing, was that I was looking at the incident through the eyes of my father, and I heard my father’s voice...

***

“Get the fuck...

***

...away from my family.”

...leave through my own mouth, as the scene before me changed, though looking eerily similar to my memory, replacing the image of my mother and I, and the hoods, with ponies. I brought my gun upwards into an aiming position, and was instantly held at gunpoint by all four of them, the latter of the two holding Scoots and AJ as pony shields.

“Nick, do something!”

I took a deep breath, and time seemed to slow down as I analyzed my situation. I was backed up against a wall, with two men to my right, each five meters apart, and from me, four feet away. On the other side of the room were the other four ponies, a good ten feet away. I had the ability to run to the left and avoid getting shot by the ponies holding Scoots and Applejack, but I would be shot by the ones next to me; that would never work. I quickly took a look at the weapons they were carrying. The ones that were holding up Applejack and Scootaloo clearly had semi-automatic models that self-loaded. However, the two that were next to me, had no visible loading mechanism; these were manual, single shot weapons. Now I knew what I had to do.

“I shall love my family as I would my blood.”

I took another breath before taking aim and quickly shot the head of the pony that was holding Scootaloo. She fell to the floor as the newly formed corpse did, and at that, I was instantly fired upon by the remaining three. I dove behind Rarity’s couch, narrowly getting shot in the arm. As I dove to the ground, I quickly flipped the couch over, and took cover, another three bolts going halfway through the wood. I popped up and fired five rounds, two of which managed to hit one of of the ponies holding me up earlier. He stumbled back some, but regained his balance and opened fire on me. Scootaloo ran away, coming to my side and hiding behind the couch.

“SCOOTALOO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“HELPING YOU! GIVE ME YOUR KNIFE!”

I ducked, a bolt flying just over my head.

“No! You’re staying right here!”

I jumped up and emptied another two rounds at one of the ponies, both going square through his head. Two down, two to go. The one was still holding Applejack firmly, and she was scared, unsure of what to do. I ducked down again, but got clipped on the way, a bolt going clean through my right shoulder.

“Nick!”

---

All anypony could hear on the outside were screams and a few loud booms, somewhat muffled by the door they were hiding behind. Applebloom looked to the others in the group, starting to get increasingly worried.

“Mah sis an’ Scoots are out there! Ah need ta go help!” the yellow filly screamed, and then tried to break through the tightly packed wall of friends, but was held back by a defensive Rarity.

“Darling, there’s nothing you can do! We’re not going to let you get hurt! Nick can handle himself!”

“EAT LEAD, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

“Ah can’t let them get hurt, Rarity! Let me out! Please!”

“Absolutely not!”

“YOU WANT SOME TOO!? I’VE GOT PLENTY FOR EVERYBODY!”

“I dunno. We should go out there and help.” Derpy exclaimed, sadness suddenly over her face. “He’s done a lot for us.”

“HAVE SOME AMERICAN JUSTICE!”

“Seriously!? Do you want to get caught in a crossfire!?” Twilight immediately retorted as she began to sweat, then screamed as a lone crossbow bolt flew through the door, getting caught halfway on its journey.

---

I fell behind the couch, gripping my shoulder in pain. Scoots lied me down quickly, and snapped the bolt in half. I screamed.

“Nick, you need to work with me here. We have a clean entry and exit through the shoulder; no muscle damage.”

“GET IT OUT!” I yelled, more bolts flying over my head.

Scoots nodded and took my knife, placing the tip against my wound, and wedged it gently underneath the bolt and pulled it clean through the hole. I yelled again, but oriented myself and stood up to fire on my attackers once more.. Another three rounds, right through the lone pony. He fell over lifeless, and I aimed my weapon at the one holding Applejack.

“I’ll bucking shoot her, human!”

“Human shields are very ineffective cover. Sometimes, to save a victim, they have to live with a sacrifice. The only reason an attacker uses a human shield is not for cover, but intimidation.”

Hm... there was the voice of that old man again. I swear I know it from somewhere. I was mulling ideas over in my head, but then I heard the voice yet a second time.

“Even by shooting the shield, you can still injure the assailant. Remember what I taught you.”

Then I did something. I aimed at Applejack.

“Nick!? What in tarnation are ya doing!? No! Don’t!

My heart ran cold in fear, but I knew what I had to do. It was the only way.

“Applejack, have faith in Nick!”

And that she did. AJ closed her eyes and held onto her own prayers. I took the shot. Applejack screamed in pain, a round flying straight through her left shoulder, but felt the grip of the pony behind her loosen, and both bodies fell to the floor. I got up from my cover and rushed over to Applejack, with Scootaloo trying to mend her shot foreleg. I went over to the corpse behind her - which had a bullet hole straight through its left lung. I kicked his face in to make sure he was dead, and went to go help AJ. I sat her up.

“I’m sorry I shot you. Are you okay?”

Applejack hugged me tightly, crying into my shoulder.

“Thank ya! Thank ya so much, Nick!”

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you. NOW tell me I don’t love you.”

I was covered in blood, but at least it was over. A home invasion at three in the morning, now THAT is some scary shit, let me tell you. I’d never wish it on anyone. I opened the basement door, and at first, everyone jumped back at the sight of blood, but hugged me anyway.

“Okay, first thing's first: we identify the bodies, then bury them.”

Everyone else nodded at the suggestion, then filed out of the stairwell. From the amount of blood that was covering the floor, everybody gagged at the sight before them. This was NOTHING compared to what I’ve seen here.

“Oh good heavens! My carpets! My couch!”

I just ignored Rarity’s words, laughing at them somewhat. Pinkie, Twilight, Derpy and I each took a body, lying them in the middle of the floor in a row. The first one on the left had a shot in the head. I lifted the hoodie, but was instantly taken aback. This pony was a pegasus. It had a dark blue, somewhat wavy mane, which complimented its lighter, yet still blue fur. It had a pair of aviator goggles on, and the bullet had gone straight through the right eye and out the back of the skull.

Soarin.

The second pony I had killed, with two shots to the chest and two to the head, was an earth pony. He had a light brown coat with a dark brown mane. His cutie mark was an hourglass. Needless to say, I felt even worse, as a twinge of regret hit my heart. The third pony was a unicorn, which had three wounds; two through the shoulders and one in the heart. His skin was a caramel color, and he had glasses. It was Heart, the very same doctor that was taking care of me at the hospital - and I had just killed him. Each kill got more and more personal as the line went on. I placed my hand on the hoodie of the final horse, awaiting it to be somebody very important. I lifted the cloak.

And then, Applejack screamed.

The final corpse had one shot through his lung, which had exited from his shoulder. His face was caved in from my stomping on him, but I could just make the body out. This stallion was a pale yellow. His eyes were a navy blue, and his mane, a lime green. His cutie mark...

...was an orange.

“UNCLE ORANGE! DEAR CELESTIA, NO!”

Applebloom and AJ went over to tend to the body, Applejack tearing away from Scootaloo’s medical work.

“Applejack, come back! We need to get those lead bits out of your shoulder!”

“YA KILLED HIM! YA BUCKING KILLED HIM, NICK!”

“He was going to kill you!”

“How could you!?”

Applejack stood up and swiped at me in blind fury. I jumped backwards, nearly getting punched in the face.

“Jesus Christ! Relax!”

“No! I don’t wanna see yall around me, mah sis, or mah farm ever again! Get the buck out of here an’ never come back, human!

‘Human’.

Applejack just called me human. My soul was crushed at those words, my heart sinking down into my stomach. I couldn’t believe what I just heard; she didn’t look at me as a friend, not even a human being.

She saw me as a human from the foal’s tales.

I grabbed my things, took a crossbow from one of the corpses, wiped the blood off my face, and stepped out the door, not even bothering to look back as I threw my old clothes on.

“APPLEJACK! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?”

“Nick! Wait!”

---

“Master!”

“What is it now, Discord?”

“The human has split off from the main group!”

“Excellent! Do you know where he’s headed?”

“No sir, but I’ll follow him!”

“Good! Get to it, and whatever he’s doing, try to use his emotions to twist his action!”

“Right away!”

With that, Discord snapped his talons and disappeared in a flash of light.

“Soon, Jadusable... soon, you shall rue the day you released me from that cartridge.”

The mask salesman laughed once more, before being interrupted by a voice.

“Sir!”

“Ah, Queen Chrysalis. Are the forces prepared?”

“I’ve rallied my men, and we are mobilizing as we speak! We’ll be ready to begin the invasion in two days!”

“Progress. Congratulations.”

Another laugh of the mask salesman.

“Oh yes, Jadusable, you shall rue the day.”

---

I walked through the darkened town, taking note of how much worse it had gotten. A lot of structures had been razed to the ground, and many more were either condemned or burning. From the looks of things, there must have been a riot earlier, considering the amount of civilian and military corpses that littered the streets. I dodged through the darkness, careful to avoid being spotted by the curfew patrols as I made my way to the graveyard. Upon arrival, chills flew down my body. It was very early morning, and the sun was just over the horizon by the time I had gotten here. It was around five-thirty, I would say. I took a step into the yard, and was greeted by the sound of the church bell. I went over to Sweetie’s grave, which was located between the newly placed Flim and Carrot Cake headstones, couching down by the burial site.

“Hey Sweetie Belle. How you doing?”

“…”

“That’s good. You know I miss you, right?”

“…”

“I know, it’s hard living without you too.

“…”

“”What?”

“…”

“Sweetie Belle, I can’t do that!”

I took a look at myself. My clothing and skin seemed to be darker, more of a grayer shade if you will, but this was probably from the near-absence of sunlight.

“…”

“I, well, I guess I could try. I mean, I really do miss you; you’re like my daughter.

“…”

“In the keeper’s shed? Okay.”

I stood up and went into the open keeper’s hut, returning with a shovel. I wouldn’t deny Sweetie Belle what she wanted me to do. The church bell chimed again, as the clock tower struck six. One strange thing? The moon hasn’t gone down yet; it’s still out here in broad daylight.

Comments

[The Lich King]

1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TkbcIBMy1Y/T2Ioh3r-T_I/AAAAAAAABGA/BAJcgUhFm7c/s1600/firstpost.jpg

[xXOverWorkedXx]

No... NO!!!! -Autotunestylescream-

BEN! I WANNA FUCKING TALK TO YOU, AND INFACT, EVEN FUCKING KILL YOU, CAUSE NOBODY, AND I MEAN NOBODY, HURTS ANY OF MY FAMILY!!! GROOAAAAAAAHHHH -shot-

(But in all seriousness, I wanna cry...)

[Wheenesss]

Sir, you have officially rocked my world with this story. The only reason I just signed up was to comment on this. At first, I thought this was going to end like any other grimdark story, with every character we know and love dead and full of regret, and I was okay with that, but once you had Nick sing the Song of Healing and had it actually work, I know that it wasn't going to end like that at all. That and the fact that BEN is hypnotizing Luna into bringing down the moon like Skull Kid. It seems that he wants to play one last game of Majora's Mask. Well then, game on I say! Just one question, when will Nick use that song to go back to the Dawn of the First Day?

[HylianJuggalo]

889039 I've got some plans for how this is gonna end, don't worry. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but be sure to spread this around, and jump onto the watch list if you like it :D

[The Doctor is cool]

............D.....Doctor Whooves.....n......no.........BBBBBBBEEEEEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Abaddon_Satanas]

BEN is gonna die the day he escaped from that cartridge I just wanna get a sledgehammer and smash that smile of his face
P.s:sweetie belle doctor they are the only ones I cared about

[Abaddon_Satanas]

*Rue

[Iamnotabrony456]

DRESS.MOV reference for da win!