Damned Are the Guilty

The following morning Frank was subjected to having to deal with Twilight's friends one at a time. Apparently Twilight thought that the best way to try to change him back to who he used to be was to have each of her friends, each of who seemed to represent a different virtue, talk to him and try to remind of him of a time he valued those virtues. He knew they were wasting their time. He wondered how long it would be until they noticed. But until then, he wanted to see how long it to him to get under their skin.

Rarity was the first. He didn't know why she wanted the first crack at him, but when he found her sitting down across from his cell, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. She was wearing a dress and seemed to be wearing even more makeup than before. If Frank was capable of being creeped out at that point his career, he probably would be.

"Surprised that I'm up first, darling?" Rarity asked him, each of her words holding the same tone of a person that was acting sophisticated. Frank didn't care. "Yes, I wanted first crack at you, especially how after you talked to my friends yesterday. I may not look it dear, but I'm very good at helping others to realize their mistakes."

"You mean you get them to do what you want." It was a guess, but from her air and the way she held herself, Frank figured that the pony was used to getting her way. When he saw her face shift slightly, it told him he was on the right track. "So how do you do it? Bribe them with money? With a favor? With your body?"

Rarity looked horrified. "Are you insinuating-"

"The dress with that makeup? Hooker. No question about it," Frank continued on, watching the rage and disgust burn in Rarity's eyes. "But maybe I'm wrong. You have too much confidence to be one of them. Slut, perhaps? No, you seem to dignified for that. Maybe you just do it for fun. Get your kicks."

"Listen and listen well, human. I am the Ambassador of Generosity and I-"

"Oh, so you give everyone a chance to get inside of you. Slut it is." Frank had to resist the urge to smile as he watched Rarity's face go from white to red, though whether it anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell. He was getting to her, though. Her manner was starting to break down. He could hear her muttering curses under her breath and the rage was causing the makeup to begin to smear.

"While I have enjoyed this little chat, I think I'm done here," Frank said to Rarity as he turned away from her and leaned against the wall of his cell, still able to hear her making choking sounds. "Twilight's upstairs though, if you feel like being generous. Seems like she could use some generosity."

With as much cold dignity as she could muster, Rarity rose out of her chair and walked out of the chamber. Frank did allow himself to smile when he heard her muffled scream come through his wall. One down, five to go. 'Not that these little talks are a bad thing,' Frank thought as he tried the same bar he'd been trying all night, finding that it moved a little now. 'Just need a little more of a push.'

Applejack was next. From the look on her face when she had entered, clearly Rarity had told her what Frank had said about the mare. He gave her a cold stare as she sat down and instantly started to tell him off. Once she was done with that, she glanced at the collar around his neck.

"Still think that's a bit much, especially with you locked up," AJ muttered.

"Truthfully, it shows that Twilight's learned she needs insurance when dealing with me. Shows she's learning. Now gone on, tell me your sob story." Applejack did just that. She told him about her own life, her own family and how she had to deal with losing her parents.

"So ah know what it's like to lose yer family as well," Applejack said in a pleading tone, but her eyes only held contempt for the human. "But ya have to live on fer their memory. What would they want ya to do, Frank? Would they want ya to go around and slaughter all these beings? No, they'd-"

"Applejack, let me ask you a question since you're so concerned with family. What would do if your sister, Applebloom was it, was murdered right in front of you?" Frank asked, his question getting the color to drain from her face. "What would you do if some being just blew her brains out right in front of you, for no reason other than he could? Then he did the same with your brother. Then your grandma. Would you be satisfied with just their memory? Or would you want his blood? Would you ever stop punishing them? Tell me. Honestly."

Applejack didn't come back after that.

Rainbow was next, but instead of trying to appeal to the good inside Frank she just talked about all the different ways that she would beat him up. He found her bragging amusing. Then he told her of how he watched his platoon be blown apart by enemy fire. That shut her up.

Pinkie was after Dash, though just like Dash, Pinkie didn't seem to appeal to the humanity in Frank either. She just kept trying to convince Frank how great it was to smile and how nice it was to have so many friends that cared about them. Frank then told her a story about what happened to the last friends that he had made and how what was left of them could have fit into a plastic bag when he had found their remains.

Fluttershy never showed.

"So you've sent Rarity away in a rage, got Applejack to question what she would do in your shoes, made Rainbow Dash stare at a wall with a look of horror on her face and now Pinkie has...well, she's trying to figure out which ponies in town would want to be friends with you since your old ones are gone. I swear she's stronger than all of us," Twilight summarized for Frank, her rage barely contained as she glared through the bars at Frank. "In one day you've managed to do what no other villain could do. You've broken my friends."

"Is that supposed to be hard? I told them all the truth. Guess they couldn't handle it," Frank replied with a shrug as he leaned back in his cell.

"No, you used manipulative words and stories to change the topic. You didn't even give any of them the chance to try and help you," Twilight said.

"Guilty as charged. So now what? I don't want to change and I've made it clear that I can deal with your friends attempts to change me. What now, oh all knowing princess?" Frank asked. He was genuinely curious. Each of her friends had attempted to change him. He'd shut them down before they could start just to see how they would react. But just as he had predicted, none of them had the ability to stomach him. Or his life.

"For today, we're done," Twilight scowled as she turned and headed for the exit. "But you better start shaping up. Because if you're so adamant on not getting any help, then we'll simply imprison you for the rest of your life after all you've done."

"Seems like you're pouring a lot of time into me. Don't you have a centaur to stop?"

"Celestia, Luna and Discord have been searching for Tirek for these past couple of days. So far...nothing. But we will find him. And when we find him, we'll deal with him," Twilight replied with a cold stare. "And then we can finally deal with you. Even if that means an eternity in prison."

"The heroes of my earth said the same thing. And I still got out. You're nowhere close to their level," Frank replied. Twilight left the chamber, slamming the door behind her and pounding up the stairs. The moment he was alone Frank placed his hands on the cell bar that was loose and began to work it even further. He knew that he needed to act quickly. Every moment he spent in the cell was another moment that Tirek was out there, attacking the innocent. Frank had no love for this world, but he still punished the guilty no matter where they were. That was his oath.

Then he heard a sound that made him stop working a few hours later. The sound of feet descending the stairs. Feet was the key word. Not hooves. That thought alone got him to stop working and turn his attention to the door, which opened a moment later and a small purple and green lizard entered the room. The design of the creature caught Frank off guard and for a moment the two stared at each other in interest.

"You're taller than I'd thought you'd be," the lizard said at last, giving Frank the once over before walking over to the chair that the other had used and sat down across from Frank. "Don't look that dangerous. Of course, Twilight said that just because you don't look dangerous doesn't mean that you aren't. You really killed all those centaurs and ponies, huh?"

"You're taking that news better than your friends," Frank replied, not able to pinpoint the lizards age. He sounded like a kid. Not a little kid, but not yet a teen. Close, though. Kinda like the kids his little girl used to hang out with.

"It sounds horrible. I'm grateful that I didn't have to see it. But I honestly thought that such a bloodthirsty monster would look more...monstrous."

"I'm a human, kid. Nothing more monstrous than us," Frank replied.

"Spike. Not kid. Spike the dragon," Spike the dragon corrected for Frank.

"Why you down here, kid? If you heard how dangerous I am, then shouldn't you stay away?" Frank asked.

"You're only dangerous to criminals. Which I'm not. So I'm pretty sure I'm safe," Spike replied. It was then Frank realized just how terrified of him the lizard was, but he was doing an incredible job hiding it from him. "I've also faced down a tyrant made of shadow, brought a new age to the dragons of this world and helped to save hundreds of ponies from being crushed to death. Danger is nothing new to me."

"Brave kid. You how old, ten?"

"Twelve. Close guess," Spike replied before giving Frank the bravest glare that he could muster, but the action nearly made Frank smirk. "And I came down here to tell you that we're not afraid of you. No matter how dangerous you are, I'm not afraid of you."

"You switched from we to I there. You trying to prove how brave you are?" Frank asked Spike, who swallowed hard instead of answering.

"You hurt Twilight, who's the closest thing to a mother I have. I'm here to tell you that if you do it again...I'll...kill you."

Frank knew it muster have taken every last ounce of courage the kid had to say that. Frank also didn't believe a word of it. 'He's trying to intimidate me. Trying to make me think that just because he says that he'll kill me means that he'd actually do it. He won't. He doesn't have what it takes. He's brave. Not a killer.'

"You'd kill me, huh? So you'd be a killer, just like me?"

"If I...had to be."

"Don't be like me, kid. No one should be like me," Frank replied, trying to get rid of the harsh tone in his voice. He couldn't blame Spike for trying to scare him. Frank had attacked his family. Spike was trying to make sure it wouldn't happen again. He could respect that. "You're different from Twilight and her friends. She sees me as someone she can save. You see me for what I really am, don't you?"

"A monster," was all Spike replied with, but his tone made his thoughts clear. "Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Smart kid. You've already picked up on it. Did she tell you my story?"

"You had a tragic life. Doesn't make up for all the lives you've ruined," Spike replied with fire literally spewing from his mouth. "I had a tragic life as well. Abandoned by my parents. Left to die in the cold. If Celestia hadn't found me, I wouldn't have made it out of my egg. I was left to die. Don't see me running around killing every bad guy in my way."

"You've got a good heart. Stay that way. Maybe you'll be better than me one day."

"I'm already better than you. I chose to be better. I chose to be strong."

"You calling me weak?"

"You are weak. That's why you gave up."

Frank looked at the little dragon for a long time after hearing that, while more and more of the fear faded from the little guys voice. Frank believed almost everything the kid had said, except for the killing him thing. Spike didn't have it in him. But with the way he was acting towards Frank, Frank wouldn't be surprised if he had stood up to the villains of this world.

"Maybe you're right, Spike," Frank replied as he laid down on his bed, using body language to tell Spike that the talk was over. "This was an interesting talk. You're smarter than your friends, that's for sure. They just talk about nonsense. You know what's real."

"I do. I know that they're the heroes and that you're the one trapped in this cell," Spike replied before Frank heard him leave the room. Despite himself a smile crossed Franks face as Spike's words stayed in his mind.

'At least there's someone here that talks some sense.'