The Soul Reaver

Chapter Seventeen: Understanding another

(OST)

The rest of the train ride was uneventful. Though the dream that I experienced kind of weighed on my mind...

Why now? Why am I seeing all of these dreams? Whatever reason, I need to tell someone about them. May as well be Celestia, since she's usually pretty calm about things. The train finally stopped, signalling me to leave. Without a word, I exit the train and make my way to the castle. I ignore the looks the upper-class give me, since it would require me to give a shit, and continue on my way. I stop in front of the gate, the guards nod and signal the other to open the gate. I nodded my thanks and continued.

"Dean!" I turned around and noticed Shining Armor trotting towards me. he stopped in front me and grinned. "How're you doing Dean? Came to the see the princess again?" He asked. I smiled and nodded.

"As for how I am, just... a little tired is all." Total bullshit, but no need for him to be concerned. He looked stern for a moment. I think he caught my lie...

"You're lying Dean. What's wrong?" He asked. I looked at the guards around us, and for once in my life, I felt nervous. I looked back at him.

"Um... do you mind if we go somewhere private?" I asked him with a pleading look. He smiled and nodded. we went to the gardens for some strange reason, and we found a bench. I sat on one end and he sat on the other, we sat silently for a few moments before he broke the silence.

"So, what's wrong Dean?" He asked once more. I thought about it, and I figure that someone needs to know. If anything, this will help lift some weight off of my mind.

"How well do you know me Shining?" I ask him. He thinks for moment before he answers.

"Well... I know that you usually act with ponies best interest at heart. Hay, you even saved my sister from being hurt in that human city! I may not know a lot about you, but I can tell you're a good human." He tells me with conviction. I chuckle at his answer, but smiled all the same.

"Well... what if I told you I'm not exactly the most socially accepted person back home? What would you do?" I ask him. He looks confused for a moment.

"Dean, what do you mean?" He asked me.

"I mean, that if you were in my world as a human, your job would be to find people like me." I tell him with a sardonic smile.

"Dean, the only ponies the royal guard catches are monsters and..." His eyes widened when he realized what I was talking about. "You...?" He trailed off. I nodded with a soft smile.

"Yup. One of the best. I held a criminal empire in the palm of my hands. No one could do anything without my say, and I robbed people of their money. I was once a Don of a giant Mafia family." He looked surprised, and hell, to my surprise he looked torn.

"Dean... I believe you. But you said that a human has to die in order to become a wraith, right? It basically starts a whole new life for you, right?" He asked me. I nodded in response. He calmed down significantly but still looked troubled. "Then you shouldn't have to worry so much about it! You left that behind you, and as far as I can tell, you never committed a crime here in equestria. You've changed since you were alive, and you must have regretted-" I held my hand up, silencing him. I glared at him harshly. He flinched under the scrutiny, but held strong.

"Let me make one thing clear. I will never regret doing what I did. I met some of the greatest people because of that job, and I would never take back working with them, or befriending them. Most would say there is no honor amongst thieves, well my experience begs to differ." I tell him. My glare softens back to a smile. "Besides, would you believe me if I said that I put that money to good use?" I ask him. He pauses, and slowly nodded. I chuckled at how easily he believes me. I guess It's kind of refreshing to have someone that believes you and doesn't hold your past over your head.

"What did you use for, if you don't me asking." He pressed.

"Monster hunting." I tell him simply. I felt a presence behind us and looked behind me, and lo and behold, Celestia was standing there with wide eyes. I looked solemnly at her, Shining Armor immediately stood up and saluted. Celestia signaled him to leave the two of us here and she trotted over to me.

"Is it true? That... you were a criminal?" She asked me softly. I nodded. "I see... Why didn't you tell me this before?" She asked me with anger in her voice. I stared at her.

"Because what would you have done? you barely knew me, the odds were you would have reacted strongly and tried to toss me in some sort of dungeon. I can't have that, not when I have a job to do." I tell her. She nodded in understanding.

"As for the Monster hunting... is that true as well?" She asks me. I nodded once more.

"Yes, it is. A lot of people don't know that they exist in my world. It's my job to keep it that way. Hell, that's the basis my family was founded on." She looks at me, urging me to continue. "I may be a crook, but I still have morals that I and my guys followed to a T. We never harmed children, those that did would get hurt a hundred times worse. If they were killed though... My mind goes back to that back robbery. "We would kill them on the spot. We never robbed from those that couldn't handle it. So the poor and lower-middle class were fine. The middle class we stole a little from, and the upper class were our cash cows." Celestia looked at me.

"So you held morals even when most would abandon them..." A strange look came across Celestia, I'm not sure what it was, but for some reason I felt slightly nervous. I continued on with my explanation.

"As for why I robbed, I used that money to procure weapons and old tomes that helped me research what monsters I would fight. I would also use them to procure weapons from various sources and give them territory and set some guide lines down for them. They would not harm children in any gangwars, and they would leave them out of it, and they would help the community they lived in at least once a year." Celestia looked at me with confusion.

"Why though? Why force yourself through all that trouble and pain?" I chuckled at her question.

"Because it's my job. Because no one else will If I don't. I may be part of a group that is dedicated to keeping the supernatural at bay, but even then we're few in numbers. There's only a hundred of us out of the billions of humans to protect. We can only do so much." I tell her. She stares at me with that look again.

"Tell me Dean, you mentioned that you were part of an organization when you were alive. What was its name?" She asks me.

"The Knights of the Holy Lance. They've been around since the 1400's of my planets time. Hell, one of my ancestors was one of the founders. So due to technicalities, I'm the heir to the Knights of the Holy Lance and the current leader. Every member has a tattoo symbolizing their membership." I tell her.

"Would it be too troubling if I see it?" She asks. I think for a moment before shrugging and begin to take off my coat and vest. She begins to stare wide eyed as I take off my shirt, leaving me with a bare chest.

Now, I wasn't the burliest guy on the block, but I had some muscle. I had to if I wanted to hold off some the beings that I've fought. But the way she was staring... Thank god I'm dead or otherwise my face would have been red like hers is.

"Umm... Dean, you're glowing." Wait what? I look at my arm and notice a blue glow. Shit, this must be a substitute for blushing...

"Dammit..." I curse. Celestia clears her throat and urges me to continue to show her. I nodded and turn around to show her the Holy Lance. I felt her hoof trace my spine, and shivered slightly. I will admit, it felt somewhat... nice.

"Is this your Cutie mark Dean?" She asks me. I turn around and raise an eyebrow.

"No... Humans don't get cutie marks. This was done by hand." I tell her.

"I see." She says. I quickly put my shirt and vest back on, along with my coat. I left my hat on the bench as Celestia and I stand there awkwardly. She seems to be thinking hard on something, and well, I can't help but feel curious as to what.

"Dean. I was wondering..." Celestia paused, and her face turned red, and she shook her head. "N-never mind." She stuttered. I shrugged and we sat in silence. I sighed and facepalmed as I thought of the time I've been in equestria.

"Dean. I understand now why you were always so nonchalant to authority. I understand why you never bowed. I... I guess that's what makes you so interesting to me." She told me. I smiled at what I consider a compliment.

"Eh, just the way I was raised, I suppose. You're interesting yourself, you know. I've never met an Alicorn prior to my dying, and I'm proud to say that you're one of the more beautiful ones if there is anymore besides you and your sister." I return the compliment. Her face flushed red.

*POMF*

The fuck? Her wings just kind of went stiff as a board! I think it nearly smacked me in the face! I stare at Celestia as she immediately went for a full body blush.

"erm... Celest, are you okay?" I ask her with a raised eyebrow.

"YES I'M FINE!" She shouts with that weird voice power into my face. It nearly blows my hat off, but I catch it in time.

"Umm, look I'll just go, since I need to talk to the others about some... things." I excuse myself. I thing I have an Idea as to what happened, but I won't assume.

Sun...

I leave the gardens with even more questions then before, and encounter Shining Armor on the way out. We stare at each other for awhile before he grins, which I return completely.

"Remember Dean, you and I still need to get that drink." He jokes with me. I laughed and nodded. I get the feeling that he and I are closer now. I make my way back to the train station without incident and find steam standing there giving out the tickets. She sees me and waves me over with a smile.

"Hi Dean. How did your visit go?" She asks me. I think back to the events that transpired and nervously laughed.

"Eh... Eventful..." I told her. "Besides that, I think I need a vacation. The mission I went on earlier this week was tiring. I could use a freaking break." I tell her as I stretch to get the crick out of my back. I notice steam look thoughtful then had a flash of realization.

"How about you come to Manehatten with me?" She offers. HRK- WHAT?!? Why is it "Mane"hatten!? Oh whatever, I'll take what I can get I suppose.

"I don't see why not..." I shrugged, hiding the overwhelming urge to facepalm. She gave me a big smile and cheered.

"Yes! Okay, just let me finish my shift and we can head back to PonyVille!" She says as she quickens her pace at giving out tickets. I shrugged and sat on a bench.

Looks like I'm heading to Manehatten...