Author's Note

I am so sorry for how late this is...feel free to abuse me as you may in the comments...I deserve it.

Anyway, I will try to update regulary but life must go on I'm afraid.

Benjamin's part does not progress the story in any sort of way. I wanted Clayton to progress the story so the next chapter is going to specifically be focused on him and Discord.

So tell me, what is your favourite Carmine quote? Who says it and what is it?

Thanks guys! And stay tuned for more Carmine kicking Locust ass action!

Chapter 17:

Chapter 17: The dream (1/2)

Ben didn’t remember waking up. He didn’t remember sitting in a bar, beer on a round table, with four other figures sitting around it. They were all having conversations with each other and laughing at the same time. There was distant sound of a gentle tune playing in the background while other waves of gossip swam around the room. It was a happy atmosphere though. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. The bar was big and there was lots of people standing and sitting, drinking, dancing, chatting, the works. Most of the people he saw around him were wearing some sort of rebellious green armour. Not that it could be called armour. Grabbing a hoodie, t-shirt, jeans and wrapping body armour over it doesn’t really count as armour. Some were wearing beanie hats while others did not. They did all have some strange symbol which was marked on their arms. However, there was something odd and secretive about everyone within the bar. They wanted to be loud, but it seemed as if they feared being too loud like they didn’t want to attract any attention. The curtains were closed and a few of the people occasionally took a glance from the corner of the curtains. Some shot some glances towards Ben but quickly dismissed him. They mostly looked keen on swallowing their beverages and paying for another. The cash would quickly flow from their pockets towards the overworked bartender, who tried his best to put on a happy smile. His smile was easily seen through though and they could tell from the exhausted smile and heavily bagged eyes that he was tired. But still he continued to serve the others and converse with them. Other people around the bartender appeared to be the same.

Ben’s attention suddenly focused on the beer in front of him. Where did it come from? Did someone buy it for him? Did he even drink? He looked down through the tip of the beer class and caught his colourised reflection through the bubbles. He wasn’t wearing his helmet. The rest of his COG armour was still attached to him though. He noticed it on the table right next to the beer. He had red hair that lengthened right to the neck. His fresh white face was noticeable and more conspicuous compared to some of the other faces around the bar, but it brought out the ocean blue eyes of his. Ben smiled at the sight. Sometimes he felt as if the COG helmet had become a part of who he is. It was like the helmet gave him a sense of identity that everyone could recognise because, for some strange reason much like his brothers, he hardly ever showed his face. Showing a little smile, Ben lifted the glass and allowed the alcoholic beverage to sizzle his taste buds. It tasted too good to even be real. Ben knew that since rations were scarce and water was more important than alcohol, alcohol wasn’t common among the COG. It was probably wise too since their race was on the verge of extinction and it would have been a stupid, and suicidal, decision to allow the COG soldiers to become totally pissed, useless and vulnerable to the Locust.

“So there I was me and Roach, stumbling down towards the chopper waiting for extraction. Roach, the poor bastard, already had the shit kicked out of him. When we got there, guess who was waiting for us? That bloody yank, Shepherd. The bastard put a bullet in me and Roach before burning us to death. Good thing the wonky eyed prick hit me shoulder, that’s how I escaped.” The sudden voice snapped Ben out of his thoughts. This was the first time Ben focused on the group he was sitting with. There seemed to be some sort of conversation transpiring between the other five.

“Wow that sounds rough, Ghost. But you should try having some goddamn Necromorphs chase you every now and again. Not to mention a couple of crazed, suicidal and fucking insane Unitologists with an overzealous leader, ready to wipe out the fucking human race. Danik…fucking asshole.” The second figure raised a beer glass to his lips and took a gulp.

“Too bloody right, Isaac,” Ghost replied.

Ben looked back at Ghost. What was the very first thing that stood out about him was the skeleton balaclava with Polaroid glasses and a headset. It completely stood out to him and was intimidating in a way. If it was used to scare people then it was working because Ben couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around him. Perhaps it was because he didn’t know the guy that well which was why he was afraid. He also appeared to be in some sort of military multicam and grey armour, but a lot of the equipment appeared to be missing. His accent sounded different but familiar at the same time to Ben. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. His drink seemed to be finished and he was shuffling a pack of cards. It did not seem like he was going to be distributing them any time soon. He was caught up in the conversation just like Ben. If Ben had to guess, Ghost was probably an inch or two taller than him.

The second character Ben identified as Isaac. He was in the strangest armour that he had ever seen. It looked robotic and all connected together and futuristic. Ben could easily tell that Isaac was older than he was. The grey mixed with the brown in his hair and five o clock shadow immediately told him that he was nearing, or in, his forties. Ben guessed he was the same height as him. He too possessed a beer and it was half full…or empty. His bright blue eyes looked towards Ghost first of all, and then quickly studied Ben before returning down at the table. Ben studied him for a few more seconds, becoming more and more confused as the seconds went by. He didn’t know what was real anymore. First, he was falling to his death to living and talking with, not to mention fighting alongside with, ponies of different kinds. The last thing he could remember was seeing a massive monster thing and loads of yellow glowing Locusts before passing out in a building.

“Ha, entire Unitologist and Necromorph babies will cry when they meet Sasha.” Ben’s attention directed to the largest member of the group. Immediately he could tell that the giant on the opposite side of him was the tallest of them all. He almost hunched over all of them. He would hate to see him on his bad side. His face almost looked innocent and friendly, like a giant cuddly bear. However, from the size of his muscles and overall structure, angering him would have been a stupid idea. Ben didn’t know exactly who or what Sasha was but he had a feeling he was going to find out soon enough. He was wearing some sort of body armour over a red t-shirt. He was bald too and his eyes were scanning ahead of everyone else, almost as if he was looking out for someone or something among the small crowd in the quiet but packed pub. In one of his hands was a sandwich. He raised it slowly, not taking his eyes off the crowd around him, taking prolonged and loud chomps.

“Y’all have some good stories to tell, but you would not believe some of the shit my buddy, Keith, got himself into. My buddy Keith tried camping out on top of a building once. He was shooting crows, but the police were too busy teargassin' him to ask what he was doin' up there. He screamed for an entire year every single time he opened his eyes! Oh, man! At first, it was funny; then it just got sad, but then it got funny again! Oh, man! Oh, oh, oh, I ever tell you about the time my buddy Keith fell out the rollercoaster? Yeah, he didn't drop far, mind you, just onto the tracks, but the carnival people wouldn't stop the ride 'cause all the other people paid good money and Keith snuck on for free, so he had to dodge for, like, 20 minutes or so. And this other time-“

“Ellis, mate, what does that have to do with anything?” Ghost asked.

Benjamin frowned when Ghost stopped Ellis. He really wanted to hear more of this ‘Keith’ person. Ben immediately took a liking to Ellis the minute he looked at him. Something about his green eyes and goofy smile reflected some sort of inner child that refused to grow up. It showed how much of a friendly guy he was and he was a very relaxed person in general. If Ben wasn’t as confused as he was, he would have been confident that they would have been good friends. His southern accent was extremely gentle and had that sort of silliness that people would not have taken seriously. He wore a bright yellow t-shirt that had a bull shifters logo inscribed in the middle and blue overalls that had the straps that were supposed to go over the shoulders lowered. He also had a blue and white cap with a picture of a tow truck on the front, but it was placed besides his bottle of beer. He did have manners after all.

“Sorry, just tryin’ to lighten the mood for y’all before…you know,” Ellis said, leaning in closer to whisper the last part. Ghost nodded, looking towards the rest of the group, including Ben. They all made some sort of eye contact for conformation. Ghost continued to stare at Ben as if he was waiting for an answer.

With that said, Ghost suddenly leaned in closer as if to whisper something only the group at the table could hear. The question he asked was directed towards Ben.

“Ben, you secured your rifle, didn’t you?” Ben didn’t know how to respond to Ghost. Quite frankly, he had figured out that he was somehow hallucinating or dreaming, or both if he even knew if that was possible. But what scared him was the fact that everything felt so real, such as the beer, and how the dream was so lucid that he could think of waking up and yet he still awake. Words twisted and wrestled on the tip of his tongue as he tried to think of an answer. Luckily, Ellis saved his skin.

“Holy shit y’all,” Ellis started in the most excited whisper ever,” he got that rifle with the chainsaw at the end! God damn I’d love to get me one of those!” Ben looked back down at his legs and remembered his Lance rifle was there. Why it was there he wouldn’t have known, but the others seemed happy about it.

“Sasha is hidden with barman. When time comes, cowards will run!” Heavy stated, leaning in closer and trying hard to whisper while sounding optimistic and aggressive. Ghost nodded and turned towards Ellis expectantly.

“No worries, y’all. Got my M16 ready on my lap right here,” Ellis started pointing to his lap before continuing,” also got me trusty Magnum pistol in my right pocket. Ya know, for when it all goes down.” Ben turned to look at Ellis’ lap to find the rifle he was talking about. Ghost had hidden his the same way like him and Ellis. Heavy, however, did not have his weapon for obvious reasons. Ben wondered why the barman had to hide it. Ben was still puzzled by it all. What exactly was happening? How did he even appear in the bar? Who were his fellow companions around the table? He couldn’t tell if this was a dream, or the other world with Princess Luna and the yellow things was all just a giant hallucination and this was a dream, and then he would wake up back in Sera.

“Good. My M4A1 is locked and loaded. Now, it’s time we go over the plan one more time-“Ghost started before a sudden voice, loud enough to grasp everyone’s attention, interrupted him.

“Holy shit, the Combine are coming this way!” One of the random customers yelled, his face peering slightly out of the closed curtains. There was a sudden tension in the atmosphere. The entire bar had suddenly dropped into an eerie silence. The group looked downwards and remained with their arched backs while their eyes seemingly scanned the table they were looking at. Ben was the only one not doing this. He somehow knew that something bad was going to happen, but he was intrigued about how one word can cause an entire pub to silence in under a second. He noticed that nearly everybody had shifted their attention away from the door and down at the tables. No one wanted to look. The man who made the call quickly shifted away from the curtain and leaned against a nearby wall with his back facing the door and window.

And in that sudden moment, the door was forcefully kicked open. Two figures marched in with what appeared to be electronic batons in their hands. Down by their legs was holsters for their pistols. They stood in line on the left and right, leaving space for one more to fit in the middle. Ben had never seen these people before. He didn’t even know if they were people. They wore this strange black armour with white gasmasks. Were they human? Ben didn’t get to ponder long before the third figure became visible and Ben’s eyes widened. The third figure also looked like a human. However, despite the white armour and the weirdest rifle he had ever seen in his hands, the helmet of this all white humanoid creature had one eye. Was it a Cyclops or a human with one eye moved in the middle? Ben watched as all three slowly walked forward to the counter towards the barman. The barman stared viciously at them as he continued to clean a glass with a piece of cloth. The two other figures bullied some of the people closest to them. They pushed them and shoved them into tables while laughing at the same time. Their laughter was gruff and muffled due to the helmet. Everyone in the bar either refused to look at what was going on or watched and refused to do anything to stop them. Ben watched as the white Combine walked to the counter and listened in closely to what they were saying.

“And what can I do for you fine gentlemen this fine evening?” The bartender’s question was filled with nothing but hate and disgust for the Combine elite. The Combine elite didn’t react to the distaste for him. Instead he chuckled while leaning on the counter with his strange, futuristic rifle resting on the side. There was an awkward silence as the bartender and the Combine elite stared at each other. The other Civil Protection Combine had stopped abusing the people around them and stared at their leader and the bartender. They had their hands on their batons as they kept their hostile postures.

“You know why we’re here, Eric. It’s our job to have these weekly inspections so that everyone is behaving and everyone is happy. Why, oh why, do we have to have these barbaric and hostile conversations whenever we meet? Why can’t we be friends, Eric? If you had any common decency to treat your superiors and rulers with the respect that they rightfully deserve then you would be serving drinks for the Combine overlords and not these…lowly, polluted, filthy, inferior fucking rats.” Ben winced at the Combine elite’s voice. It was hoarse and harsh. Ben watched as the bartender idly rubbed the glass while not taking any offence to the insults being thrown.

“Believe me, Combine, I know a rat when I see one. Your overlords are the filthy fucking polluted rats of our world.”

“Oh, how noble and heart-warming of you, Eric, really you have touched me right here,” the Combine Elite pointed to his heart before continuing,” if you think you can upset me by insulting my superiors and overlords then you are deadly mistaken. You see I like you, Eric, really I do, but I can’t keep constantly letting you insult the Combine power and regime without punishment.” The Combine elite nodded to the two CP Combine.
The CP Combine quickly turned their attention to the closest table that they could find. They destroyed it immediately. They kicked it and smashed it with their electronic batons. The glasses shattered into pieces and flew in multiple directions. The alcohol landed and stained the floor below in large stains. The CPs quickly turned towards the two people that had originally been sitting at the table. One CP grabbed the woman and threw a left hook across her cheek. The man who had been sitting with her immediately roared and tried to throw himself at the CP but was smashed across the back of the head with the stun stick from the second CP. The first CP quickly clobbered the woman with his stun stick over and over again. The woman cried out in pain and screamed frantically as she tried to cover her face from the onslaught. The man tried desperately to reach the woman but the second CP had the guy pinned on his stomach in the chokehold position so that he could witness the brutality in front of him. Both CPs and the Combine Elite laughed evilly at the scene. Ben was about to stand up and stop the intruders but Ellis threw a hand across his chest to prevent him from rising any higher.

“Not yet man, y’all got to what for the signal,” Ellis whispered delicately.

“Hey, that’s enough now!” Eric’s voice suddenly roared. The Combine Elite turned back around and stared at Eric. Whether he was smiling evilly or not Ben couldn’t tell, and quite frankly he didn’t want to see the face underneath that mask, but Ben could imagine that if he did see his face then it would be smiling viciously.

“Search the rest of the place! Make sure there’s nothing here that there shouldn’t be.” The CPs obeyed immediately at the Combine Elite’s orders and immediately harassed some of the people at the bar. The two CPs started off at the opposite direction of Ben and the crew. Ghost, Isaac, Ellis and Heavy refused to look at the CPs or the Combine Elite. Ben, however, couldn’t help himself. He was so mesmerised by the fact that, despite nothing made sense to him, the scene happening in front of him was so intense that he found himself holding in his breath for a long period of time. There were footsteps outside and Ben saw as three more CPs entered the bar. These ones were equipped with pistols and slowly started making their way down towards Ben and the crew. Ben then heard Eric speak up once more.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You’ve already searched this place a hundred times fucking before. If you didn’t find anything then, you won’t find anything now!”

“Like I have said before, Eric, we are your superiors and that therefore gives us the ultimate right to do whatever we want, how we want and when we want. If I believe that there’s something here you’re hiding, like weapons, then I cannot let you think that you step out of your place in this society. Rebellions are not tolerated under the rightful rule of the Combine. Any acts of rebellion are punishable via death. You of all people should know this, Eric. Each and every day I see more and more of these…pathetic, shallow, useless and wretched humans enter your little pub every day. But surly a lowly establishment like this is only selling cheap liquor that only ever fills the bottomless void in these washed up degenerates. So if this is the case then why are more and more people coming to this place? Another secret meeting will plans to overthrow the Combine superiors and take back your world, perhaps? You see, Eric, I’m on to you and I will not leave until I find what I want!”

“You won’t find anything, you useless, fucking dog. Why don’t you crawl back to your superiors and shag their legs a little more while you beg for a promotion into the higher ranks. In fact, why don’t you suck their cocks in the process? Yeah, that will definitely get you in their league for sure.”

Eric’s response was met with heavy hostility. The Combine Elite quickly snapped his large right hand around the throat of Eric and pulled him closer. Eric dropped the glass and it smashed and shattered below his feet. His hands had grasped the hand of the Combine Elite as he tried to desperately remove the hand from his throat. The Combine Elite was on his feet and he pulled Eric’s face so that it was directly in front of his. His words sounded darker and deeper, as if a new found evil had been awoken from within the Combine Elite.

“You have no right to talk to me like that you spineless fucking inferior rat! I am above you. I am greater than you! And you will show me the respect that I rightfully deserve!”

The three CPs with the pistols had almost made it to Ben’s table. All three had their eyes on the group as they shoved other people out of the way. One of them was spinning his pistol with his index finger through the little hole where the trigger was located. Another simply held the pistol in his right hand down at his side. The other walked cautiously and stealthily with both hands on his pistol. It was almost as if the last CP knew that there was something suspicious about the group. Ben suddenly heard the commotion rise again from the Combine Elite as he had slammed his free hand on the bar counter.

“You humans are all the same. You’re nothing but filthy, reckless, stupid creatures that need to be governed and controlled. You were made to live on your knees and serve those far superior to you. Don’t you understand? Your rights and freedoms are a lie. There is no such thing as ‘free’. You are, and always will be, lowly scum that will forever live in the shadow of those superior to you, never to witness the pleasure of happiness and clarity; never to understand what it means to hold true power; never ever being able to live in peace and clarity! You and your race will never be free again! Do you understand? Your race will never have a future, never again! Do you understand, scum?!”

The three CPs stood directly behind Ghost. Ben noticed that all three were looking at Ghost at first. Ghost had kept his head down as he continued to shuffle the pack of cards with no specific purpose. The CP in the middle remained with Ghost while the other two separated. The CP on the left made his way to Heavy while the one on the right appeared to be walking past Isaac. The second CP that was walking towards Isaac didn’t, for some strange reason, attempt anything on Isaac, and instead stood at the right of the table. Ben watched as the CP just stared at everyone in front of him. The first CP that had walked to the left appeared to intimidate Heavy. He was standing there while still spinning his pistol mindlessly as he stared at the Heavy, who in response refused to even look at him. But what caught Ben’s attention was what the second CP, the one staring at Ghost, said to Ghost.

“Stand up!” The command was harsh and spiteful. In the background, Ben could hear the tone of the Combine Elite gradually rising. Ben felt the tension. It was becoming increasingly palpable. What if they found the weapons they were trying to hide?

“Do you honestly think you or anyone on this planet has any chance of resisting us? Do you think your defiance and behaviour will get you anywhere? No! It doesn’t get you fucking anywhere! The only thing it will get you closer to is your death!” The Combine Elite was roaring while punching Eric in the face.

“Hey! I said stand up scum!” The CP pointed his pistol at Ghost to try and scare him. Ghost didn’t move.

“I don’t know why I haven’t killed you, Eric, but I am very tempted right now! In fact, I want you to beg,” The Combine Elite hissed. He pulled Eric over from the counter and dragged his body like a ragdoll. Reaching the centre of the bar, he pulled Eric until he was on his knees. Blood dripped down his face from the broken nose he had received from the endless barrage of punches. Walking back to the counter, the Combine Elite grabbed his pulse rifle and walked back to the beaten Eric, who was falling to one side slightly. He aimed his pulse rifle at Eric’s head. “Beg,” he commanded.

“I’m not going to say this again, you fucking prick, stand up!” The CP ordered harshly.

“Beg for me, Eric. I want to hear you beg and I’m sure all your friends here would too. Beg for your pathetic life. Beg!”

“Hey! When I tell you to stand up,” The CP started as he walked over to Ghost and proceeded to grab him on the shoulder,” you better fucking stand-“

“Now!” Ghost yelled.

Heavy roared and launched up from his seat, sending the table flying into the third CP who was standing at the other end, and knocking the first CP aside. Heavy charged straight towards the Combine Elite, who had no time to react as the giant collided with him. Ellis, immediately grabbing his M16 Assault rifle so that it didn’t fall off his lap, charged towards the CP that Heavy had knocked with the table. While the CP was trying to collect himself, Ellis was quick to put a bullet through his heart with his magnum pistol. A flat line noise along with jumbled coded messages came from the CP’s helmet. While the second CP was stunned by Heavy’s outburst, Ghost took the opportunity to take the hand that was grabbing his shoulder and flip the CP over his shoulder. Reaching for a hidden knife in his body armour pocket, he jabbed it into the CP’s neck. Blood quickly flooded down the CP’s neck and armour before the flat line noise was made. While Ghost was picking up his M4A1, Isaac moved in on the CP that Heavy had knocked aside earlier. As Isaac’s helmet started to warp around his face, he pointed his plasma cutter at the disorientated CP. The CP saw and tried to raise his pistol but Isaac fired a single round of his plasma cutter straight into the CP’s face. His face was split in two and his lifeless corpse dropped dead.

Ben remained in his seat. A stunned look had ensnared his face as he tried to contemplate what just happened. His Lancer rifle had fallen to the ground and his helmet had flown somewhere across the room.

“Take that,” Heavy roared as he threw massive punches with his massive fists into the Combine Elite’s face. Heavy was sitting on top of the helpless and continued to punch and punch and punch. “And this,” Heavy cried as his right hand smashed the right side of the Combine Elite’s cheek. “And that,” Heavy didn’t appear to be stopping. It was only until Ghost ordered him to stop that Heavy had halted the bombardment of his fists.

“Don’t kill him yet. Heavy go get your mini-gun while I, Ellis, Ben and Isaac deal with this asshole,” Ghost ordered as he walked towards the scene. Isaac and Ellis followed behind Ghost. Heavy smirked as he gave one last vicious look before removing himself from the beaten Combine Elite. Ellis turned back to see that Ben was still seating in his seat and staring.

“Hey, Ben, you coming brother?” Ellis’ question caused Ben to snap out of his trance and look at Ellis. He noticed that Isaac and Ghost had the Combine Elite on his knees and both were holding one of his arms. Ellis continued to watch Ben as he rose from his seat. Picking up his Lancer rifle, Ben walked over to where his helmet had landed and proceeded to put it on over his head once more.

“You…fools…you absolute fools. D-do you think…that…you can defy the might…of…the C-Combine Empire? You will pay…for…your barbarism. Y-you’re nothing but filthy…fucking rats!” The Combine Elite struggled to stay focused as he threw empty threats towards the group.

“Ben, do us a fucking favour and kill this fucker,” Ghost ordered. Ben was taken back a second. He was unsure of whether or not he should kill him. He didn’t look human and he could imagine him being another Locust, but it was what was happening around him that prevented him from doing so. When he saw Ellis, Isaac and Ghost kill the other CPs it seemed so real. The fact of the matter was simply Ben didn’t know whether he was actually going to kill this thing in front of him or if it was all a false and his mind was playing tricks on him. He broke his thought process when Ellis started to speak.

“Oh man, you should totally use your chainsaw and slice that mother up! It’ll be cool, then it might get a bit gross, but then it will get cool again!” Seeing no other choice in the matter, Ben walked forward.

“No…wait! Don’t do it you fucking animal! All of you are fucking animals!” The Combine Elite tried desperately to break free from the grasp of Isaac and Ghost but their grip was too strong. Each had a hand on one of his shoulders. Ben revved up the chainsaw on his Lance rifle. The blades started to spin and the sound was terrifying and grotesque; grotesque to the Combine Elite who was about to meet his end. The Combine Elite released one last cry before Ben brought down the chainsaw. Staring at the top right of the Combine Elite’s neck, Ben forcefully dragged the chainsaw diagonally through his chest. Blood flew everywhere and Isaac and Ghost immediately released the Combine Elite when the chainsaw penetrated the neck. Blood had splodged its way onto their suits but they paid it no attention. Finally, Ben managed to cut through the chest and finish off down towards the far left of the Combine Elite’s stomach. Pulling out the Lancer, the mutilated body fell into multiple different bits across the floor. Everyone stared silently at the scene.

“Ben is credit to team!” Ben looked over to see the Heavy was standing behind the bar and was carrying his massive mini-gun. “Ugh, tiny baby Combine met horrible fate. Horrible fate is good for him.”

“Alright lads, here’s the plan, we’re going to rally-“Ghost was cut short when something smashed through one of the windows. “Grenade!” Ghost screamed. Everyone leaped away as the massive explosion caused a small thick air to fill the room.

XOXOXOX

“I don’t think Ben will be waking up anytime soon,” Princess Celestia said calmly as she and her sister watched the sleeping body of Ben. He was in the princesses’ personal doctors’ room where he was being treated by the best medics in all of Equestria. He stirred slightly in his sleep while snuggled up in a hospital bed sheet. The doctors were writing down notes. The doctors told them that they couldn’t use magic to heal him since he was immune, and he didn’t appear to be physically harmed. They had cleaned the blood and imulsion from his armour but did not take it off in the process. Princess Celestia told them that they should respect his privacy and that Ben should be the only one to remove it.

“It’s very strange. I would enter his dreams and see what he is doing and where he is. However, dear sister, Benjamin is immune to all magic in this world for some strange reason. Not even I can use my magic and enter his dreams.” Luna replied with a hint of worry and fear in her voice, which was very uncommon.

Luna stared sympathetically at Ben. He had practically once again fought bravely on the field of battle and had become very badly injured in the process. They had lost many of their own in the battle too. Some of the bodies of their fallen Royal Guards were mutilated in the most gruesome ways that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn’t bear to look at for very long. More of their Royal Guards were injured and currently being treated in hospital along with the Changelings who also suffered heavy casualties. Equal amounts of Changeling bodies were found with bodies of the Royal Guards. All the other Changelings along with Queen Chrysalis were detained by Luna’s Night Royal Guards while the whole mess was being cleaned up. They had removed the giant stalk that had spawned outside and massive crews of ponies, excluding the nobles, had volunteered to help clean up the mess made.

“What I want to know is what these things that keep appearing from the ground are? Twice this has happened to us and both times we have barely managed to escape. I do not believed that creatures like the ones we have seen come from our world. They possess too much evil. This is more evil than we have ever witnesses before, Luna. If Ben cannot explain to us what these yellow glowing creatures are then we might have to find out for ourselves,” Celestia explained with worry and guilt heavily in her tone of voice. Too many of her loyal guards and subjects have been hurt in ways unimaginable to her. It was her duty as one of the rulers of Equestria to protect her subjects from harm in any way possible. She feared that she had let all of the ones who had already suffered from the recent events down and that they had lost faith and trust in her. The families of the fallen were the first thing she thought about after seeing all the corpses. How will they be able to cope with the fact that they had tragically lost one of their own? The thoughts terrified her. And she also wondered about what those who suffered serious injuries in the hospital were thinking. Princess Celestia noticed some of the Royal Guards were missing limbs from their bodies. Whether it was one of their legs or one of their ears, and even on some cases, their eyes, the amount of injuries stretched on for miles. “The newspapers and the media are going to criticise us for this, Luna. Or even worse, they might pin the blame to Ben.”

“What? Why Benjamin? He has done nothing but good since he arrived here in Equestria! How can the newspapers and critics possibly blame Ben for anything that has occurred over the past couple of months?” Luna sounded offended by Celestia’s remark but did not skip straight into judgement and waited for her sister to respond.

“That’s just the point, Luna. Not everypony in Equestria knows of Benjamin’s good deeds. I don’t think some parts of Equestria even know that he exists. News and gossip spread around quick, especially in cities such as Canterlot and Manehattan. They know that there is a creature in Canterlot that walks on two legs, wears the most alien armour that they have ever seen and comes from another world. Very shortly after his arrival, the attacks, the suspicions and paranoia started to escalate, from what my reporters suggest. The media can therefore pinpoint Ben as being the one responsible for bringing the attacks to Equestria and would demand that he be banished from Equestria.”

“But surly,” Cadence said suddenly, who had been quiet and standing in the corner of the room next to Shining Armor,” you could change the minds of the citizens of Equestria. You’re the most influential ponies in all of Equestria! I’m pretty sure if you explain everything to the press then everypony would be more understanding and wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Even if we did so, Cadence, that wouldn’t stop some pony holding their true opinions and feelings. They may appear to be agreeing with us on the surface but we even know that they only do so to try and personally appeal to us. The nobles do it all the time at any party that we may attend. Even if we announce that Ben wasn’t the cause, and even if we say that he is under our protection, that won’t prevent some organisation of ponies trying to scare him away from Equestria,” Princess Celestia replied while rubbing a hoof against her temple.

“Sister, far too much has happened right now for us to be overthinking such topics. We should rest and deal with this later,” Princess Luna stated with Cadence and Shining Armor nodding in agreement. Princess Celestia looked at all three before letting out a deep sigh and formed a smile on her face.

“You’re right. Let’s leave Ben here and let him rest.” With that Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor walked out of the hospital room. As they left Ben continued to fidget in his sleep.

XOXOXOX

“What the hell!” Clayton stared in utter confusion at the sight of Twilight Sparkle. He had pointed his magically enchanted flamethrower at Twilight. The fact that Twilight was a talking pony with a horn on her head wasn’t the bit that spooked Clayton out the most. Although it did freak him out. The pony had actually talked to him! Clayton was tempted to remove his helmet to make sure that it wasn’t the helmet that was playing tricks on him. COG helmets had been known for being seriously unreliable such as when his brother Anthony failed to see the sniper and was murdered. Then again, Clayton’s helmet had saved him on more than one occasion. He remembered how close that sniper bullet came to piercing his helmet from one of the surviving citizens. However, what freaked him out more was the mention of his dead brother’s name. How did she know who his brother was? Clayton started to question internally whether he had hit his head really hard or some imulsion had snuck its way up his brain which was causing the delusions that he was currently experiencing. Either way, he remained on his guard at the rather taken back Twilight.

“Don’t you remember me? It’s me, Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight held a hoof to her chest. She gave a weak smile in hopes that Ben would remember her. At least until she realised upon closer inspection that it wasn’t Ben at all!

Unlike Ben, the figure in front of her was much larger and taller. He appeared to not be wearing armour around his arms and his helmet was of a different variant from Ben’s helmet. The chest plate of his body armour was a mixture of blue and black with splodges of blood everywhere from his recent battle. There were multiple words written across his chest plate which read ‘GRUB KILLER’, ‘KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN’, ‘PRACTICE RELOADING’, and ‘DESTROY LOCUST’. His arms were massive and the muscles appeared to be bulkier. What was more fascinating was that there were, what Twilight believed to be his cutie mark, pictures on his arms. On his left arm was the tattoo of an ammo belt, but Twilight had no idea on what it actually was. On his right arm was a picture of two helmets with a sword down the middle. There appeared to be wings behind both helmets and a COG was encircling almost the top of the sword. Just before the tip of the sword, which appeared to have something dripping off of it, was a banner wrapped around it with the acronym ‘R.I.P.’ which clearly told Twilight that the figure before her had lost some pony close to him. There also appeared to be two other banners underneath the helmets with words written within them. Twilight couldn’t read them from where she was standing but something about the helmet on the left seemed so familiar to her. The one on the left she couldn’t identify at all, but the one on the right looked awfully like Ben’s.

“Hey,” Clayton suddenly yelled which snapped Twilight out of her trance and deep observation. He must have tried talking to her while she wasn’t listening. She felt slightly embarrassed.” I’m not going to repeat myself again. How the fuck do you know that name?” Twilight winced at the aggressive use of his language.

“There’s some pony else…I mean someone else called Benjamin. H-he looks exactly like the right helmet on your cutie mark on your right arm,” Twilight stuttered as her ears displayed backwards slightly. “He said his name was Benjamin Carmine.”

“Liar!” Clayton suddenly screamed as he aggressively moved the flamethrower closer to Twilight, who in response, had jumped back slightly and hid half her face in fright. “My brother died from falling into a Riftworm. Sargent Fenix wrote that to me himself. He died defending Delta squad from incoming Locust! There’s no fucking way that Ben is here!”

“Your brother? You’re Benjamin’s brother?!” Twilight was shocked. Her mouth was wide open and she stared with wide eyes. Clayton felt awfully uncomfortable with the stare that Twilight was giving him. “How is that even possible? Benjamin’s appearance in Equestria hasn’t even been discovered yet.”

“Equestria? What the hell is an Equestria?”

“Actually, it’s what ‘is’ Equestria. Equestria is the world you’re currently in. I’m assuming since you’re Ben’s brother that you came from the same world. And right now we’re standing in Ponyville…or what’s left of it,” Twilight explained with a hint of sadness in her voice. Clayton was in utter confusion and disbelief over what was being said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me right? First you tell me that my brother is alive and that you know him and now you’re telling me we’re in another world completely. What the hell is going on huh? Just who the hell are you what are you even meant to be anyway?”

“Well my name is Twilight Sparkle and I’m a unicorn.”

“A unicorn? A unicorn!? A fucking unicorn? Oh well isn’t this fucking fantastic? And I suppose I’m a pretty fairy that flies around and grants everyone fucking wishes! Give me a break.” Clayton couldn’t believe it. He was in a world were unicorns actually existed. It was a complete contrast and juxtaposition to him and his personality. He always considered himself a badass that could slaughter more Locust than he could keep count. He had survived near death experiences and had nearly been killed by the Locusts so many times before. But to now find himself in a strange new world called Equestria where unicorns exist.

“Was that…really necessary?” Twilight didn’t like the way Ben’s brother was behaving. He was a complete contrast to what Ben had been. But her question was ignored.

“Great. This is fucking great. None of this makes any sense. I’m meant to be kicking the shit out of the Locust back on Sera, but oh no! Here I am talking to a fucking unicorn while slowly losing my damn mind.” Clayton had resorted to narrating to himself and sitting down on the closest debris that he could find. He held his right hand over his head while letting the flamethrower rest against his leg.

Twilight had many questions for the new human in front of her. She figured that if she was to get anywhere, she should start by trying to calm him down and get to know him a bit better. Maybe then would she be able to make sense out of everything that had just happened. Twilight was certain that he was acting this way because he was afraid and confused. If at any point he could be a massive help to her and Equestria. He might have a better idea of explaining what the yellow things that attacked Ponyville were and even tell her a little bit more about humans and where they live. He could even help her catch up with all the evacuated Ponyville residents that were currently heading towards Canterlot for safety. Then when they got there, she would tell the princess everything. She would tell them how Discord had escaped from his stone prison and was using an army called the Locusts, as Discord explained during their capture, to invade and conquer Equestria. More importantly, she would tell how all her friends had been captured and were currently at his hideout right now. Her heart immediately sank as she thought of her friends. She dreaded to think what awful things they were witnessing under capture of Discord.

“Okay…I think we should clam down and start again. As I said before, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”

“Clayton. Clayton Carmine. Some people call me Clay. My brothers mainly did. Most people tend to call me Carmine. Call me whatever you want. I don’t give a fuck. ”

“Well it’s good to meet you, Clayton Carmine. Now that we know each other a bit better, how about we-“

“Was that you?” The sudden question startled Twilight.

“Was what me?”

“Was you the one that lit that Berserker bitch on fire? I mean it lit up in purple flames! Ain’t ever seen that before.”

“I only used my magic to try and hold that monster in one spot so that it couldn’t move anymore,” Twilight responded. “It might have been that the mixture of magic with the thing that you were using to create fire which together merged to create one big fire,” Twilight suggested after giving it some thought.

“Sure as hell did the trick,” Clayton responded and looked over to the remnant burnt corpse of the Berserker. The creature’s hard shell was tainted black and was starting to smell dreadful. Afterwards the conversation died down with Twilight thinking of a way of trying to get Clayton to help her while Clayton contemplated with his existence and what was actually real. Time passed and small conversation started between the two about their personal lives. It was mostly Twilight talking about herself and her friends as Clayton seemed reluctant to share anything personal. But after a short while the conversation had died down a while. Clayton had resorted to throwing random small bits of debris into a larger pile further in the distance. Soon the awkwardness of the silence crept up to both Clayton and Twilight. It was Clayton who broke the awkward silence. “So what the hell do we do now?”

“Well we could try to catch up with the Ponyville residents and go with them towards Canterlot,” Twilight suggested as she stole the perfect opportunity to try and get him to help her.

“Wait, what?” Clayton asked with a confused expression under his helmet.

“Well when those things attacked Ponyville, all the residents in Ponyville were evacuated with a few Royal Guards where they could be safe,” Twilight explained. “Right now they’re all heading towards the Canterlot where the princesses can look after them and offer them sanctuary since we’re all pretty much homeless.”

“Ponyville? This place is called Ponyville? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What’s wrong with the name Ponyville?” Twilight sounded offended by the fact that Clayton was mocking the name of the place she had come to know and love. The state that it was currently in destroyed her. To see the once beautiful village pillaged and destroyed by monsters and all the homes that once had happy families within them totally destroyed saddened her in new ways that she hadn’t felt before.

“Well it’s a stupid name. We don’t have a place called ‘humanville’. I mean come on; couldn’t you be a little bit more creative?”

“Clayton’s a stupid name,” Twilight muttered under her breath with a hint of anger.

“What was that?”

“Nothing…okay look we are really wasting too much time sitting here talking when we’re meant to be trying to catch up to the residents of Ponyville. I’m sure that they’re pretty far ahead by now. But I’m certain that we can teleport near them.”

“Teleport…you can teleport?”

“Yes I can,” Twilight said proudly,” All thanks to magic. I am a unicorn after all.”

“Bullshit,” Clayton said in disbelief. Magic was something you would read in a fairy tale and was completely fictional. They did have fake magic where there was some guys in the COG who could pull of a card trick or two, but no actual proper magic.

“Now hopefully I can teleport us near the Ponyville residents without causing any harm at the same time,” Twilight stated as she ignored Clayton’s disbelief,” hopefully you’re not immune to magic like Ben is.” With that, Twilight began the spell within her head.

“Immune? What do you mean-“Clayton was suddenly engulfed in purple light with Twilight as the spell began to take effect. Seconds had passed before Clayton and Twilight were located on a small dirt path. Alone in the distance behind them once stood the happy town of Ponyville but now was perished as more smoke and rubble was visible from the distance. In front Canterlot and the castle itself were slightly bigger.

“Well we’re not totally where I wanted to be…but close enough,” Twilight stated as she turned to look at Clayton. He was leaning over with both hands on his legs and was panting very heavily. He had dropped the flamethrower in the process but his empty Torque bow remained fitted on his back.

“Oh man, I don’t feel so good,” Clayton said, on the verge of being sick from the magic. He continued to breathe heavily until he was sure that he felt alright. Twilight waited patiently for Clayton to compose himself. She remembered seeing this before and knew of some of the side effects of first ponies that were using the teleportation spell. Not that she would admit that she ever felt like that in front of Clayton or her mentor. She wouldn’t be living up to the princesses’ personal protégé if she did.

“Don’t worry, the feeling will wear off soon enough and then we can get going,” Twilight stated happily. Clayton was tempted to give her the finger but was too focused on trying to get the sickly feeling out of his head and stomach. Another five minutes and Clayton started to feel a bit better and was able to walk without stumbling or feeling dizzy. He was able to walk normally but had both weapons placed on his back so that he wouldn’t accidently barf on them by mistake. Better safe than sorry. As they continued to walk along the path, Twilight was becoming more and more eager to walk faster to see where the residents of Ponyville were. “Could you walk any slower?” The frustration in Twilight’s voice was clearly evident.

“Yeah, I can, if you want me to,” Clayton replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“It was a rhetorical question,” Twilight stated with annoyance.

“Whatever,” Clayton stated,” Don’t know why we’re even doing this. Why I’m even doing this actually. I mean, nothing makes any sense yet here I am walking next to a unicorn, going someplace I know jack shit about, in a world I know jack shit about and somehow the Locust are here too.” Twilight had learned quickly to ignore or not argue with Clayton. She knew that deep down he was a good guy but he acted like such an anti-hero in front of her. By that she meant that he seemed to act like a careless, boneheaded fool who didn’t care for the opinions of others or what they thought about him, but yet he saved her from the clutches of Discord, which had to count for something. Wanting to change the mood from anything other than his complaining, Twilight figured she should ask him how he got his cutie marks and how they were different on each arm.

“So Clayton,” Twilight started which cut Clayton off from his complaining of how ‘babyish’ everything appeared to be,” How did you get your cutie marks?”

“Uh, what?”

“You know, your cutie mark, see?” Twilight indicated with her head towards her flank where he cutie mark was. She explained how cutie marks were unique picture symbols that showed your special talent and what made you unique from every pony else. Twilight then explained how she had received her cutie mark from Princess Celestia’s school for Gifted unicorns and used magic to hatch Spike’s egg, which then a Sonic Rainboom happened and her magic became totally out of control. It was then that Twilight explained how the best thing could have happened to her. Princess Celestia herself saw the magical capabilities in Twilight and made her a personal protégé. Then suddenly her cutie mark appeared on her flank and she felt as if she was the happiest filly in all of Equestria. Twilight felt nothing but pride whenever she thought and told about how she received her cutie mark. Clayton on the other hand couldn’t give a shit. He felt more confused with all the names and didn’t have a clue on what she was talking about.

“Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Clayton said as he laughed slightly.

“Well, all I’m asking is how did you get your cutie marks right there and there,” Twilight stated as she pointed towards Clayton’s arms.

“They’re not these ‘cutie mark’ things you keep yapping about,” Clayton started,” They’re tattoos that I got done back on Sera.” Noticing that Twilight was listening and not interrupting, Clayton explained further.” You see this one right here,” Clayton said as he pointed on his left arm at the ammo belt,” it’s an ammo belt. Hell I thought it would be cool to think that if I ever ran out of real ammunition, then I would use this to remind me that I always had infinite ammo within me so that I could kick ass no matter what; gun or no gun; ammo or no ammo.” Clayton then shifted to show the tattoo that he loved and dreaded the most. “These are my two dead brothers. Their names were Anthony Carmine and Benjamin Carmine. I called Anthony Ant for short and Benjamin…Ben or ‘Squirt’. I have this to remind me why I fight and why I continue to live each and every day; to avenge my brothers. When Ben died, I swore that I wouldn’t rest until I killed every motherfucking Locust on Sera.”

“How did they die…if-if it’s okay if I ask?” Twilight felt saddened by the fact that Clayton had lost two brothers. It was clear that he treasured Anthony and Benjamin very close to him. But what Twilight found hard to say was the fact that she knew that Benjamin was alive and currently in Canterlot with the Princesses. If she could just get Clayton there, then he could see for himself that Ben was alive. Nonetheless, she wanted know how he believed that his brothers had died.

“Anthony was sniped in the head by a Locust sniper and Ben fell into a Riftworm…they didn’t find his body or his damn COG tags. I was told that they both fought valiantly on the field of battle.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Twilight said with her ears displayed backwards. As they continued to walk, Twilight tried to lighten the mood from the death of his brothers,” I also have a brother. His name is Shining Armor and he’s my B.B.B.F.F!”

“He’s your what?”

“He’s my Big Brother Best Friend Forever,” Twilight said with a happy smile,” He used to be captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot before marrying Princess Cadence and becoming a Prince.”

“Sounds like an asshole. Can’t wait to meet him,” Clayton said plainly. Twilight didn’t know what he meant by the word but she was almost certain that it was an insult from the tone of his voice. They continued to walk along the path as the castle slowly appeared in the distance.“What’s with the castle?”

“That’s Canterlot castle. It’s a castle based in the very wealthy city of Canterlot. That’s where we’re going right now…as soon as we catch up with the rest of the residents….I didn’t think that they would be this far back. Do you think they ran into trouble?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Well I am certain that I teleported us as close as possible. There’s no way that I could have made such a simple mistake.”

“Oh no, it’s so tragic. What ever will we do?”

“It’s not funny.”

“I think it is.”

“Well you have a horrible sense of-“Twilight was interrupted by the sound of screaming. It was coming right in front of them. Acting on instinct, Twilight started running towards the screaming.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Clayton watched as Twilight started to gain distance from him. Figuring that since he had no clue on what was going and what to do; he decided to run after Twilight to see what was causing the screaming. As he continued to run, Clayton noticed that Twilight had stopped in front of him. Reaching to where she was standing, Clayton saw a massive group of ponies. They appeared to be carrying possessions on their backs but were cowering in fear. Looking more towards the front of the group, Clayton saw a couple of ponies in armour lying on the floor. They appeared to be beaten and hurt, and standing over them were three creatures that he had never seen before.

“Griffins,” Twilight stated in surprise. Usually Griffins were hard to come by when travelling and Twilight usually read about them from her library. But straight in front of them were three Griffins. Twilight immediately rushed ahead to see what the commotion was. Clayton stood there as he tried to take in what he was seeing. “What is going on here?” The Ponyville residents were more than relieved to see Twilight. She had come to their rescue.

“Well, well, well, look what we got here, boys,” one of the Griffins said with a cocky smirk on his face. The others laughed in response as they threw a couple of things randomly on the floor. They appeared to be bags that belonged to the Ponyville residents.

“Just what do you think you are doing?” Twilight eyed the Griffins with heated hostility.

“Uh, what does it look like we’re doing? We’re taking this stuff,” another Griffin replied with a sack in one of his claws.

“You can’t do that! They belong to my friends and I will not let you thieves think that you can just take what you want,” Twilight stated with a stomp of her hoof. The Griffins turned to look at each other before bursting out into laughter. Twilight continued to stare and not get put off by the fact that her threats were having no effect on the villains in front of her. “What’s so funny?”

“Look at your friends down there,” the third Griffin stated and pointed to the Royal Guards who had been knocked out, “Not even Celestia’s Royal Guards can stop us. What possible chance do you have against all three of us?”

“That’s Princess Celestia,” Twilight stated in fury. She immediately thought up a constriction spell that would hold all three of them in place. But all three took flight into the air and moved quickly out of the way of her beams. They laughed as they did so and each began to fly in a circle around Twilight, two going the same way while one went in the opposite. The force created a strong gust of wind that took Twilight off her hooves and sent her spinning with the wind. She spun for a few more seconds before being sent flying into the dirt face first. The Griffins laughed at the sight. As the Griffins landed, laughing heavily in the process, Twilight was quick to rise to her hooves and conjure up a force spell. She fired it at the middle Griffin, who stopped laughing when he saw the beam, stared wide eyed as he was sent flying across the dirt. The two other Griffins stopped laughing and the Ponyville citizens cheered.

“That hurt,” the Griffin stated as he rubbed the dirt of his eyes. “You’re gonna pay for that!”

Suddenly using his wings, the Griffin dashed straight towards Twilight. Reacting quickly, Twilight used her teleportation spell and moved out of the way of the darting Griffin. As she reappeared, the second Griffin made an attempt at grabbing Twilight. Again she used her teleportation spell and the third Griffin made an attempt only to fail all the same. The second and third Griffin attempted to catch Twilight by attacking together, one going left and lying directly at her while the other flanked right. They weren’t the brightest of Griffins as they both collided into each other with a crash. However, when Twilight emerged from her spell, she had unfortunately teleported right in front of the first Griffin. He quickly grabbed Twilight from behind and forced her to the ground. The other two Griffins gained their senses, and when they saw Twilight pinned to the floor, they smiled evilly. As she struggled to free herself from the clutches of the first Griffin, he forced her round so that she was on her back and looking at all three of them. She began to panic. They continued to laugh with smug smiles, happy with their victory over her. That was until the first two Griffins suddenly had their heads smashed together and dropped in a dazed fashion. The first Griffin stopped laughing when he heard his friends stop, and when he turned around he froze on the spot. A fist quickly connected with his face straight after.