As the train chugged along out of the subway tunnel and into the open air of the Equestrian morning, harsh rays of early sunshine beamed into the large windows of the cart, and forced Tempest to stir. Her eyes groggily opened to see the gentle brilliance of the Equestrian ocean just a few dozen feet away from the train. Small waves caressed the sandy beach as the train ran alongside the waterline toward Baltimare.

Tempest squinted her eyes to see better through the glistening light reflecting off of the crystal clear ocean. After a few moments to appreciate the view, she turned her head to see John sitting across from her, his arms crossed and his head hung low. His hair obscured her view of his face, but upon seeing his fingers tapping on his forearms, it became apparent that he was still awake.

"Morning." Tempest greeted, quietly.

John slowly looked up and met her gaze. He gave a small nod of affirmation before lowering his head back down and resuming his quiet meditations. Tempest watched him with a raised eyebrow for almost a minute before deciding to speak up again.

"So... it was a minotaur. Did you at least get a name?" She asked.

"He wasn't feeling very chatty." John replied, not bothering to look up from his arms.

Tempest slowly nodded, "Ah. Probably not one of Merkle's then. He only had one minotaur ever work for him, and that bull wouldn't shut up."

John only gave a grunt in response, prompting Tempest to prop her head up with her good elbow as she continued to stare the human down. She rolled her tongue in her mouth for a few seconds before clearing her throat and gaining his attention. John slowly looked up through the stray locks of hair spilling down his face.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You seem pretty nonchalant about the fact that two creatures have tried to kill you in a matter of a few hours." She acknowledged.

"I'm used to it." John curtly replied.

A tense silence quickly followed, leaving Tempest to anxiously tap her good hoof on the table between them. After a few minutes of tapping, John fixed her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" He asked.

"That's not an answer a normal creature would give to that statement." Tempest said, flatly.

"I didn't realize there was a normal answer to that statement." John rebutted.

Tempest's ears flattened against her head and she gave him a deadpan look, "That's because it isn't normal. Why is this normal for you?" She asserted, a flicker of irritation sparking in her voice.

John rolled his tongue in his mouth, "What do you mean?"

"Why are you doing this? All of it? The killing, the working with Equestria, this whole mission with me? I can not figure you out." Tempest questioned, her frustration finally boiling over in her voice.

John sluggishly sat upright and fixed her with an undiscernible look, "Does it matter?" He asked.

Tempest slammed her good hoof on the table, "Yes! Of course it matters! I don't even know what you are and yet you've killed two creatures to protect me after almost killing me and then suddenly having a complete change of heart! You keep doing little things to be nice to me that no one else notices, but I do! What game are you playing!?!" She shouted, her tirade leaving her slightly panting for air.

John rolled his tongue in his mouth for just a second before responding, "That all?"

Tempest's face morphed into one of disbelief, "A-are you kidding?" W-what do you mean 'is that all'?" She rebutted, her brain struggling to process the human's reaction.

John looked out to the passing ocean for a moment, his gaze as unreadable as ever, and he let out a quiet sigh through his nostrils before his gaze dropped and he returned his attention to Tempest.

"We've got a few hours until we reach Baltimare. Are these really the questions you want to ask?" John replied.

"I-wha-yes! Tempest shot back, shaking her head in disbelief.

John nodded, "I'm a human." He answered, simply.

"Are we really going to play twenty questions here? I know that. You already told me that. Princess Cadence already told me that! What I don't know is what the hay a human even is! Where does your kind come from? I've spent the better part of two decades outside Equestria and never seen anything like you." Tempest responded.

"Well, we evolved from apes. I'm not really sure how best to explain it other than that." John replied with a noncommittal shrug.

Tempest groaned and facehoofed, "You look nothing like an ape, save for maybe the hands and lack of fur..." She trailed off, looking up to John to see that he looked completely uninterested in the conversation, as his eyes routinely glanced out to the ocean, "Fine, I'll just have to accept that that's all I'm getting there. Can you at least answer the rest of my questions?" She asked, an almost pleading tone in her voice.

John returned his gaze to the broken unicorn and gave a single nod, "All I can say is that Harmony brought me here, and gave me one mission: Protect the ponies. While I can still fight, that's what I intend to do."

"But why!? Buck Harmony! That's just a myth they tell little fillies and colts to keep them well behaved!" Tempest exclaimed, leaning forward against the table between them.

"Harmony is more real than you realize. It pulled me from my world... brought me here, and gave me one last mission." John replied, a somber tone in his voice.

"Pulled you from your world? Last mission? What are you talking about? You're not from this planet!?" Tempest exclaimed.

John shook his head, "Not even from this universe."

Tempest's jaw dropped, "What the buck even are you?" She questioned, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

John smirked, "Human."

It took Tempest a few moments to find the words to speak once more, but when she did, they came with a hint of worry, "W-what did you do back on your world? In your universe?" She asked.

John's eyes fell, "The same thing I do now... only... for less of a righteous cause." He admitted.

Tempest slowly shook her head as she sat back in her seat, her mind reeling from the overwhelming amount of outlandish information she received, "So... so you're just an assassin from a different universe?" She asked.

John nodded.

"Why... why would Harmony send you?" She wondered aloud.

"I don't know. All it said to me was that I was needed and that no one else could do what needed to be done." John explained, his eyes lingering on the wooden grain pattern of the table between them.

Tempest's brow furrowed in scrutiny, "You're lying."

John chuckled exactly once, "Only by omission."

Tempest rolled her eyes, "Oh what, so that's off the table? I just... I do not understand you at all. You're open about some things, and then you won't talk about other things. Why don't you make any sense!?" She shouted, slamming her good hoof on the table.

John listened to her outburst with an unamused look on his face, "Because you don't need to know everything, and I still don't trust you." He replied.

"Oh come on! Do I have to bring up all the nice things you've said to me!? The helping me get back up when nopony else would? Helping me put a bucking hoodie on? You either trust me, or you just want to buck me!" Tempest snarled.

John raised an eyebrow, "That's a hell of a jump."

"Well what the buck am I supposed to think!? Why are you so nice to me!? You tried to kill me! You would have killed me if it weren't for Princess Pudgy back there! Every creature in Equestria hates me except you for some reason!" Tempest screamed, standing up to her hindlegs and leaning over the table.

"She wanted you alive. If you kept fighting me, I would have had to let her down." John answered, refusing to back away from the furious mare across from him.

For a few seconds, they stayed locked in a staredown, neither one willing to back down or budge. Tempest's glare bore into John's dark eyes with enough fury to kill, but he only stared back with a small frown. John's cold gaze soon wore down Tempest's anger, and eventually, she backed down and sat in her seat with an angry huff.

She attempted to cross her forelegs, but her broken leg made that impossible. With a blush and a growl of displeasure, she settled for looking out the window instead of facing John anymore. While John raised an eyebrow in amusement at her childish behavior, he kept his mouth shut for almost a minute.

"Any more questions you want to ask?" He questioned, almost out of curiosity, himself.

Tempest huffed, "Not until you answer the ones I already asked."

John tilted his head to the side, "Thought I did."

Tempest instantly turned on him, "How can you go from having enough hatred to kill me without a second's hesitation, and then turn around and do all these nice things for me? What, do you feel guilty or something? I bet that's a first."

John slowly shook his head, "Hatred is poison. It eats away at you just as much as it does the object of your hatred. I've only ever hated one person... and only because he killed my dog. I never hated you. I was just doing my job. ." He explained.

Tempest gave him a look of confusion, "How... how do you kill so easily then? How can you kill creatures without hate? Is it really just a job to you? Taking somepony's life?" She questioned, her brow deeply furrowed.

"A lot of ponies were going to die in your invasion. Did you hate them enough to kill them?" John asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I was not going to kill anypony!" Tempest screamed, rage finding its way into her voice once more.

"Could have fooled me." John replied.

"I-I wasn't! The orders I gave were to take all ponies alive! I'm not like you! I don't just kill!" Tempest shouted, angry tears threatening to claw their way out of her eyes.

"Over three dozen ponies were being treated at the hospital with life threatening injuries when we left Canterlot. All of those were directly or indirectly caused by you. Would your soldiers have shown them the care and medical attention they're receiving now?" John pressed.

"I-we... I would have..." Tempest found her words dying in her throat, as she knew them to be untrue. Her gaze slowly fell to the table, and then to the floor below.

John observed her for a few moments as the inner turmoil that was her thoughts raged about in her mind. He watched her struggle to fight his accusations for almost a minute before speaking up again.

"For what it's worth, I believe that you don't want to kill anyone. The Storm King on the other hand... that's why we're doing this." John offered.

Tempest slowly looked up to John, "There you go again..."

John shrugged, "I never wanted to kill anyone either."

Tempest gave him a deadpan look, "You can't seriously expect me to believe that." She muttered.

"Why not? In a world with magic and unicorns and dragons... why can't that be true?" John asked, giving her a level gaze.

"Because... just because! The world isn't a nice place, as I'm sure you're well aware. Bad things happen to good ponies, and justice is never served! It took my horn from me, my freedom, and now, thanks to you, my sanity. All you've done is kill and tell me about how much you kill, and now you expect me to believe that you don't want to do it." Tempest spat, a snarl forming on her face.

John eyed her, unimpressed. Once he was sure she was done, he replied, "That what happened to you then? Some pony broke your horn and got away with it? Is that why you came back and attacked your own people?" He asked.

Tempest rolled her eyes, "Oh drop the preachy speech, will you? What? Did the princesses not tell you anything from my interrogation? First the Storm King and now this?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.

"I didn't ask. I was busy dealing with the rest of your army." John explained.

"Killing the rest of my army." Tempest disdainfully corrected.

John paused before letting out a long sigh. He rubbed the bridge of his nose for a few moments before fixing Tempest with a more melancholy look.

"I don't enjoy killing, Tempest. It's just all I know." John said.

Tempest let his words sink in for a few seconds. She felt quite a bit of discomfort at John's admission, making her break eye contact to look out the window at the ocean once more. She pursed her lips as she thought over his words, although, the uncomfortable silence weighed heavily on her mind the entire time. Eventually, she quietly sighed and her gaze fell to the passing sandy beaches.

"It was an Ursa minor... when I was just a filly. One swipe of its claw, and I lost my horn and almost my eye too." She admitted, feeling a slight bit of relief at finally having said something.

John gave a small nod, "I'm sorry that happened to you." He offered.

Tempest scoffed, "Why would you be? Why do you care about me at all?

John pursed his lips for a few moments. His sudden silence caused one of Tempest's ears to flick back toward him, followed shortly by the rest of her head as she eyed him with melancholy.

"I need to stop the Storm King. I think you'll be instrumental in that endeavor. I don't see a reason to be harsh or cruel to you." John responded, thoughtfully.

Tempest shook her head as her gaze went right back to the ocean, "You sure you aren't just a machine?" She muttered.

John rolled his tongue in his mouth as Tempest's words stirred about in his head. He opened his mouth to respond, but slowly closed it. He looked over to the unicorn, finding her posture and the frown on her face as an indication that she didn't wish to speak any more. John quietly hummed to himself for a moment before standing up and making way for the train conductor's cabin. Tempest didn't even look over to him as he left.

John opened the door to the conductor's cabin, finding the stallion happily sitting at the controls of the train as it chugged along.

"How much longer until we reach Baltimare?" John asked, curiously.

"Oh, just about an hour or so." The conductor replied over his wither.

"Thanks." John replied, before turning back around to the first cabin.

Baltimare

John stepped out of the train cart and into the busy Baltimare train station with Tempest slowly coming out behind him. John gave the conductor a single wave, to which the stallion enthusiastically returned, before looking down to Tempest.

"Alright, we just need to get to the other side of the city and take a carriage ride to the Badlands. We should only need to stop once for rest. From there, it's on you to lead the rest of the way to the Storm King's shipyard." John instructed.

Tempest gave a single nod before striding off ahead of John, limping on her crutch the whole way. John quickly rushed after her and covered the admittedly small distance between them in a couple seconds, although Tempest kept her eyes straight ahead. John raised an eyebrow at her behavior, but decided to ignore it and continue on while adjusting his duffle bag.

Unlike Manehattan, the ponies of Baltimare didn't notice Tempest at all with her simple disguise. They simply went about their day as if nothing were out of the ordinary, save for the tall, bipedal human walking amongst them. John received several stares and confused glances, but also many gasps of recognition and excitement.

Tempest sourly watched as more and more ponies saw John and their faces lit up in enthusiasm. Ponies waved to the human-savior and cheered for him as he strolled past them. She eyed the tall man for just a moment, finding that while the pony's cheers did bring a small smile to his face, the happiness did not reach his eyes, and he only gave the smallest of nods to the ponies celebrating his arrival as if he were one of the Princesses.

Tempest eyed him warily for a few moments as they progressed to the tram station, her gaze locked on the far off expression John wore as ponies gave him a hero's welcome. There was something else there. What it was, she couldn't quite place, but before she could speculate further, they reached the tram.

"Tickets please." The tram officer asked, politely.

John reached into his pant pocket and fished out a couple of tickets to hand to the officer. The stallion in question gratefully accepted the tickets and looked them over with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Right then, you're all good to go mister Smith." The stallion happily announced as he hoofed the tickets back over to John.

"Thank you." John replied, before placing the tickets back in his pocket and stepping onto the tram.

Tempest managed to make it half way up the step, but her broken foreleg and crutch made crossing the last bit of height impossible. She uselessly kicked her hind legs in an effort to get some leverage, but putting any weight on her cast sent a shooting pain up her leg that made her wince. After several moments of painful, embarrassing failure, she saw a hand come into view before her face. She slowly looked up to the offered hand and the man attached to it, a small scowl forming on her face.

"I don't need your help." She muttered.

"What's so wrong with accepting help?" John asked.

"Because it's yours." Tempest growled as she forced herself up onto the tram with her good hoof.

With a slight heaviness to her breath, Tempest got back to her hooves, finding John slowly retracting his hand. He pushed himself back up to his full height and turned around without another word, before leading her to their seats just a few steps away.

With no other souls on board, the tram gently jostled to life and cantered down the street toward the other side of the city. Tempest deliberately sat as far away from John as she could, which was only a half dozen seats away due to the small size of the vehicle. She adjusted her hood to hide the majority of her face, save for the very edge of her muzzle and looked down to the floor of the tram.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9d3UFRdPBc

John watched her from his seat across the tram, a slight furrow in his brow as he sucked in some air through his teeth. He moved to get up, but paused almost instantly. He quickly sat back down and shook his head. A few moments later, he tried again, only to sit back down and let out a quiet sigh.

Despite the outside noise, and the lack of volume coming from the human, Tempest's ear flicked back toward him, and she slowly turned her head to give him a sidelong glance. He instantly noticed her gaze, and opened his mouth to speak, only for her to quickly look away again.

At this, John let out a tired sigh, making both of her ears flick towards him.

"Listen, I get that you're angry. I understand why and I can sympathize-" John began, only for Tempest to cut him off.

"Oh really? How exactly can you do that? All I am to you is a tool so you can kill the storm King. I'm nothing more to you than I was to him. Just a tool... meant to be used and then thrown away when it inevitably fails." Tempest muttered, her eyes falling to the floor once more.

John eyed the mare for a few more moments, before getting out of his seat and making his way over to her. Tempest's ears flicked toward him as he approached, although her eyes stayed glued to the floorboards directly in front of her. She winced ever so slightly as he sat down beside her, almost as if expecting a blow to land, or a strong hand to coil around her throat once more. Instead, she only felt the close proximity of the human as he sat beside her, his hands staying on his lap.

The tram chugged along through the Baltimare cityscape with nary a care in the world, least of all for the only two creatures on board while they maintained an uncomfortable silence. Outside of the tram, ponies went about their days with smiles on their faces and sun shining down on them. Meanwhile, the cover of the tram bathed both John and Tempest in shadow as they found their eyes pulled to the bustling city life all around them.

Tempest found her eyes locking onto a small filly, a scar none too dissimilar from her own on her face, playing among her friends. She was a pegasus, not more than nine or ten years old. Most notable about the filly, however, was the distinct lack of one wing on her back. She flitted by with her friends with only one working wing and a stump, yet, there was a massive smile on her face.

Tempest stared after the filly long after the tram rounded a corner and she disappeared from sight. Her brow furrowed slightly and she felt her withers slowly sagging as she looked back down to the floor again.

"You want to know why I kill?" John suddenly spoke up, prompting Tempest to return her gaze to him.

She gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.

"It's because sometimes the only way to protect good, is to do evil. Sometimes... good people have to do bad things, so the ones they care about don't suffer." John explained, gazing out over the crowd of little colts and fillies apparently on a field trip to the zoo down the road.

Tempest followed his eyes to the object of his attention, finding joyful and laughing faces as the class followed their teacher to the zoo just a block away. The tram quickly passed through another intersection, cutting off her view and leaving her staring out at yet another busy street.

"And what if you've only done bad things for selfish reasons? Then what?" Tempest asked, her voice just a quiet whisper.

John took a few moments to answer her, but when he did, he looked down to the mulberry mare and placed his hand on her wither, "It's never too late to change."

Tempest softly scoffed, "Unless you're dead."

John nodded, "That's why you have to be precise when you do evil. Only ever give them what they deserve, no more."

Tempest slowly looked up to John's hand on her wither. The contact felt odd; comforting, yet foreign. It sent a warmth down her wither and into her chest as she continued to raise her gaze until she met John's eyes.

"So did I deserve to die when I attacked Canterlot? Was it only Princess Twilight's word that kept you from killing me?" She asked.

John rubbed his thumb through the dense fur on her wither as his brow furrowed slightly, "At the time... I would've said yes. But... I think I was wrong. We all make mistakes. We all fail. Even me." He admitted, slowly removing his hand.

Tempest watched John for a while after that. Throughout the rest of the tram ride, they stayed side by side, content to watch the beautiful city around them.

Author's Note

Maybe there is a soft spot in John's icy cold heart?

Hope you guys liked this one. Very dialogue heavy I know, but I feel like it's kinda necessary. The next chapter will be similar but after that we will pick things up a bit.