Several weeks had passed since the ugly fight that broke out between most of the Mane Six and Knuckles and things haven't been great. Almost all of them were expressing their deep hatred for him, but Twilight was a different story. She was conflicted and didn't know how to feel. On one hand, Knuckles had almost killed her best friend, and if she hadn't stopped him in time, he would have succeeded. But on the other hand, Rainbow was the one to provoke him into a fight when she should have known better than to do that.

Nothing about this was easy and Twilight didn't know where to go from here. Should she just isolate herself from Knuckles? Should she try to talk to him again? If so, how would that go? What if things got ugly again like it did a few weeks prior? All of these things circulated through Twilight's head and the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got. It should be easy on the surface, but once you take a good look into it, it gets more complicated. Sure, what Knuckles did was completely wrong and he should be ashamed of himself for doing that, but his past has been so tragic that it's not even funny.

Maybe violence is the only thing he knows because he hasn't been shown anything else in life and even if he did, it didn't last very long. Knuckles made a lot of overdramatic claims to say the least, but the one thing he was right about was all of them not being able to understand his pain that he went through over the years. None of them could ever comprehend how much that really hurt him and they probably never will. Twilight did have a similar story that has haunted her for her entire life, but it was only once and she had a great support system around it.

When Knuckles lost Maddi, it almost seemed like that support system disappeared and he no longer had it. Plus, the constant physical abuse from his parents definitely didn't help things. Twilight understood that the parents should be the biggest support system in a child's life, but not every single one is going to have that throughout their lifetime. Knuckles unfortunately was one of those kids that suffered that terrible fate. Twilight needed answers and she had to find out the missing pieces of his life. She knew that his parents were very abusive towards him, he lived in a city full of violent crime, and had lost Maddi in a terrible car accident, but there was still a lot missing.

Did he have any other siblings? If so, how did they treat him? What about his grandparents? Did they approve or reject his parents' raising style? Did he have any other family members at all? What was his tribe? Was it a big one or small one? How long has it existed? What was the ultimate power that Knuckles spoke of? Was it an actual artifact or was it something else? Twilight wanted to know those aspects and the only way to do so was to take another trip to Baltimare. She went to leave to the train station, but her friends asked her where the heck she was going.

Twilight didn't want to tell them that she was going to Baltimare because they would totally flip out and try to convince her not to go, but she had to come up with something on the fly. So, she said she had to go to Canterlot to settle a royal matter that required only her assistance. Her friends bought that excuse and told her to be careful. Twilight got on the train and sat down. The train eventually got moving and headed straight for Baltimare. This might not have sounded like the best idea, but Twilight needed to know what exactly caused all of this pain in Knuckles' life.

Meanwhile on Brody Island, Knuckles was busy practicing routes on the football field so he could get better at his overall strength and endurance. He always wanted to play for his hometown team Baltimore Ravens, but his parents shot down that idea real quick when he was really young. However, that didn't stop him from constantly practicing wide receiver routes just so he could stay in shape. He did eventually find the different forms of martial arts and that also helped him stay in shape, so it didn't bother him as much as he got older. But he still loved the game of football, so doing this gave him an opportunity to live out a childhood dream that his parents refused to let him do.

He may be aging technically, but physically, he still feels young when it comes to his athletic ability. It's almost as if he never aged at all kind of like how Tom Brady was throughout his playing career. Yeah, even in his freetime, he still watches football games every Sunday just to keep up with what's going on in the league nowadays. He has a secret way of doing so, but he can still watch it regardless. While he was running his routes, he had one of those automatic machines that would shoot out a football on a timer and he would catch it with both of his hands very easily.

He eventually took a break and stared out at the city of Baltimare from his backyard. He knew it wasn't quite the same as Baltimore, but it was still very similar. The only difference was it didn't have massive road bridges, highways, people, or cars driving around. All of the buildings were practically the same as it was back home in Baltimore, but the transportation was vastly different between the two cities. He also wished that this city didn't a very similar crime rate to his hometown. He remembers that Baltimore is notorious for it's ridiculously high crime rate where there is at least 200 homicides a year and it's much higher than the national average.

The people who lived there mostly deserved it because they voted for the same Democrat idiots who were soft on crime and completely ignored the victims, but these ponies didn't really deserve it as much. He didn't really know how the political party system worked here in Baltimare and across Equestria, but he knew there was probably some similarities with the two political parties back home in the United States. He really wished that these ponies didn't have to suffer the same fate families did back in Baltimore, but he couldn't control how these ponies voted every election year if that even existed here. A lot of countries today have that sort of system on the local level because they were inspired from America, but Equestria has no idea that the U.S. even exists, so that assumption can't really be made here.

Mankind was inherently evil and deserves death, but ponies aren't really supposed to suffer that fate because they are just part of the Earth's natural cycle and don't have the same intelligence mankind does. Although, if these ponies have the same sentient minds as humans, then they will probably fall to the sins of the world and also suffer death, so he couldn't weigh in on that either. All he could do was watch. He could only stop so much crime at night as he could, but even that effort would be in vain because the criminals would be out of prison before the end of the week anyways. So what was the point of doing it if the criminals don't seem to get the proper punishment they deserve and get released back out onto the streets a short time later?

He sighed and headed inside his mansion. He couldn't stand to stare at the skyline anymore because it just brought him bad memories and he couldn't deal with that after what happened in the Crystal Empire a few weeks ago. He eventually did figure out that he almost killed Rainbow and he felt awful about that. He was just so blinded by anger that he almost forgot that he was gonna do that. If Twilight hadn't stopped him, he would have committed murder and that would have been an entire legal mess which could have resulted in death because he had blood on his hands. Blood was shed from him, so his blood had to be shed in order to account for the one that already shed blood.

But Rainbow was the one to provoke him in the first place and she should have known better than to pick a fight with him. There is a reason why he is a master of several forms of martial arts and beats down criminals with relative ease. She should have expected that coming regardless of whether or not it was right or wrong. That is completely irrelevant to him. But it still felt wrong for him to do that. For him, this entire thing was conflicting and he wished Maddi was still with him to help him figure this out. But nothing he did could ever bring her back. She was dead the moment that Dodge Charger hit his truck from her side and it has been over five years already.

He was walking through the hallway when he stumbled upon the picture of his little brother, David. He looked at it and said "Hey bro. Hope Mom and Dad are treating you well back home and things are going good. I know they never treated me the same way you were, but that's not your fault in any way. They purposefully chose to do that because of the grudge they held with my grandparents over the Master Diamond. I know you miss me and to be honest, I miss you as well, but I can't go back home even if I wanted to. It's been five years now and you've probably forgotten me, but I haven't forgotten you. Take care, little bro. I love ya." He sighed and walked away.

The train arrived in Baltimare and Twilight stepped out of the train. She looked around to see where the mansion was and she spotted it in the distance, despite it being 20 miles out. She spread out her wings and took to the skies to get to the mansion. She found it unfortunate that he lived in this beautiful looking city, yet chose to live on an island 20 miles out and refuses to come out of it. But she did understand why he did. Baltimare is the most crime ridden city in Equestria and the amount of violent crime that happens here every day is unbelievable. Plus, he is a foreign creature that has been living here for five years, so he wouldn't want to reveal himself to the public because someone would call in the authorities to get rid of him.

However, he would have reveal himself at some point because he can't stay in that house forever. It's an unhealthy lifestyle and that will harm his mental health even more. Sure, there could be some risks with revealing himself to the world, but if he doesn't do it soon, he may never do it. He looks to be a supernatural human being, but that doesn't mean he'll be immortal. He'll probably die the same way any other creature does whenever they get old. The only way he would be able to be immortal is only through marriage from Twilight, but she didn't even want to think about that right now. She was struggling to hold on to him as a friend at this point, a relationship would be even worse.

He probably wouldn't even feel the same way and she could never replace Maddi. Maddi was considered Knuckles' world and to have that taken away from him is just heartbreaking. For now, she could only try to reach him through friendship and maybe it could turn into something more, but she's not holding her breath on that. That's still a very long time away and that's not even a guarantee. She's not seeing it like that right now and only focusing on making amends with Knuckles. If that moment comes someday, then maybe she'll do something, but until then, she will ignore it.

She eventually made it to the mansion and knocked on the door. Knuckles heard it and went to open it. As soon as he saw Twilight, he immediately got angry and yelled "WHY DO YOU KEEP COMING BACK HERE?! *sighs* I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were never to show your face again, yet you keep coming back time and time again! Why?! What is it that you see in me?!"

Twilight said "I just want to talk. Nothing more, nothing less. I know things got way out of hoof the last time we saw each other, but it was all stemmed from a misunderstanding."

Knuckles wasn't liking that and said "Absolutely not! You yell at me for nearly "killing" your friend and you dare to come back to just talk?! Yeah, I'm not buying that. Either you leave or I make you. Your choice."

Twilight said "I'm not leaving. I just want to talk. Is that really too much to ask?"

Knuckles glared at her and said "Did you not hear what I just said?! I refuse to be ridiculed for something I almost did and then just have a chat over tea and biscuits as if we were British and nothing ever happened! If you wanted to talk, you should have done that a long time ago! The time to talk is over and I don't want any interaction with you again! Goodbye!"

Before Knuckles could slam the door, Twilight said "Wait! I want to talk because I have a story to share that is actually very similar to what you have experienced."

Knuckles scoffed at that and said "Yeah, likely story. You're an Alicorn princess of Equestria. I'm just a nobody that no one in this pathetic land even knows exists. How can someone like you as royalty have something similar to a commoner like me?!"

Twilight gave him a deadpan stare and said "I wasn't always royalty. I just so happened to become that way because I finished an ancient spell from Starswirl the Bearded that he abandoned long ago. And just because I'm royalty does not mean I don't have problems or experience them the same way regular citizens do."

Hearing the name Starswirl again made Knuckles' blood boil and he clenched his fists just thinking about him. That foolish pony was the one to take the greatest artifact in his lifetime away from his grandparents from some dumb reason and keep it hidden away for generations. He then remembered that Twilight was indeed right about royalty. He knew that royalty weren't always perfect, but they had to keep that perfect image so their citizens wouldn't hate them. He may have never met any royalty, but he wasn't stupid. He had full understanding about that.

Twilight also said "Also, I want to know more about this Maddi that I saw in that memory. I know that's a sensitive area for you to talk about, but the cat's already out of the bag, so there's no point in hiding it now."

Knuckles wanted to object to that, but then he realized that Twilight was in fact right again. She did witness Maddi's death through a memory crystal and because of it, she got curious and since it's been revealed, he might as well tell her about Maddi. He just better not get emotional while talking about it because it's a very sensitive subject to talk about.

He sighed and said "Fine, but don't expect me to just forget everything that happened just like that. I ain't built like that. Go sit down in the living room. I'll be in there in a minute." Twilight nodded and walked over to the living room. Knuckles closed the door and went to go get some Gatorade out of his fridge. He grabbed a bottle and went to sit down in his chair in the living room.

He sighed and said "Alright, this is going to be a long story, so bear with me here. As you know, Maddi was indeed my girlfriend and we hung out a lot. We met in high school freshman year and started dating sophomore year. *chuckles* I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so disoriented being in a new environment and everyone bullying me because of my weirdness. Then I met Maddi, who also happened to be weird, and the two of us instantly clicked. You remember the story I told you about Rapunzel? Yeah, she looked a lot like that except her hair wasn't that long nor did it have magical healing abilities through singing."

Twilight seemed surprised at this at first, but then it clicked for her because that must have been the reason why he brought it up. It reminded him of Maddi and he shared a classic story without getting sappy in the process.

Knuckles continued and said "You would think that she would be chased after for her beauty because she was probably the prettiest girl in school, but because of her weirdness, no one wanted anything to do with her. That was good for me because I was able to sweep her right up where no other guy would dare come close to. Anyway, we had many good memories and I cherished our time together. I didn't care how my parents felt about it because they were total [BLEEP]holes, but it made me mad that they didn't approve at all."

Twilight asked "Why did your parents hate you so much?"

Knuckles sighed and said "That's a complicated thing to explain. The short version is they got mad at my grandparents over a dispute with the Ultimate Power and they took their anger out on me. How it works is that our tribe is responsible for protecting the Ultimate Power and anyone that tries to steal it will be defeated in battle. My parents were supposed to inherit the Ultimate Power after my grandparents died, but they got impatient and wanted to have it right away. They wanted it for themselves and one of the major rules about the tribe is you do not use the Ultimate Power for evil. When my grandparents found this out, they disowned them from the tribe and told them they will never inherit in the Ultimate Power. They went to me instead and started training me up to take it over."

All of this information blew Twilight's mind and she wanted to know more about this development because it sounded eerily similar to someone else she knew in her life.

Knuckles went on and said "My parents soon became angry that my grandparents chosen me to inherit the Ultimate Power instead of them and that's where the constant abuse came in. My grandparents also disowned my older sister from the Ultimate Power because she had the same goals as my parents as well and like them, she was also angry at them. So, she pitched in with the abuse, but more slander than physical assault. It made me so confused and angry why they were doing this to me, but my grandparents eventually told me the story and I never looked at them the same way again."

Twilight couldn't believe that his parents and older sister would treat him like that because they got obsessed with power, which she knows leads to destruction.

Knuckles asked her "Do you know what it's truly like to get beaten at least once a day by your parents for 24 years straight and then have your older sister pitch in as well with the slander from time and time?! I know I have said that before, but I've said that out of anger. I'm still angry at them for it and I will never forgive them for that."

Twilight asked "Who was your older sister?"

Knuckles sighed and said "My older sister's name was Brooke. She was about three years older than me, but she was a terrible role model as an older sibling. She did work in the medical field, but she always treated me like dirt for my entire life. She treated my younger brother David better than she did me. That's why I always tried to be the best big bro for David because I didn't want to make the same foolish mistake that my older sister did to me. No matter what happened growing up, I always got the blame, even if it wasn't my fault. Heck, even David tried to take responsibility for something he did one time, but my parents told him that he was simply brainwashed by me and he was too "innocent" to do any wrong, which is a bunch of bs in my opinion."

Twilight also believed that reasoning was terrible and she wasn't happy with the parents always blaming Knuckles for everything wrong that happened.

Knuckles continued and said "All I had was him, my grandparents, and Maddi. Maddi was considered my only real family I had and her family treated me a lot better than my own. They didn't like the constant slander and abuse that my parents and older sister did to me, and they told me that I was welcome in their household at any time. They knew that I wasn't a bad child at any means and was simply being raised the wrong way. To have Maddi ripped away like that was like having my "support system" if you would call it that, ripped away from me entirely and having to go back to that old lifestyle that I tried to run away from."

Twilight could definitely feel empathy for Knuckles, but it was best if she waited until he finished the entire story before she said anything.

Knuckles sighed and said "She was 24 at the time of her death, just two weeks after her birthday and three months after getting her master's degree. We were having such a good time that night and then it got ruined by that criminal. I was able to get out, but when I saw her dead body, it crushed me. SHE DIED IN MY HANDS and... I didn't do anything to save her. It's my fault she's dead."

He dropped down to his knees and went into a full breakdown crying. He had been holding that in for five years and kept it to himself for all of that time. Twilight just felt awful at Knuckles' pain and she went down to give him a comforting hug. Knuckles didn't really seem to think about it and accepted it willingly. They stayed like that for a little bit before Knuckles eventually got himself together. He got back into his chair and said "The worst part about it was that I never got to propose to her. I was just a few days out from getting the ring and proposing to her about a week later so we could be together for the rest of our lives. But that idiot with the stolen car didn't want that to happen and had other ideas."

Twilight felt even worse for Knuckles as she learned that he was so close to proposing to his girlfriend, but he never got the chance to because a criminal killed her in a car accident.

Knuckles sighed again and said "That night when I went home, my parents had beaten me so hard to near death and then tied me up against a tree to leave me out all night in a dangerous thunderstorm. I was lucky I didn't get killed because that would have been super painful. One strike and I was done for. The criminal eventually got convicted for the crime, but a bunch of people from Hollywood raised a crap ton of money to get him out of prison and they successfully did so. He was released and then did the same thing a week later that he did to Maddi, only this time he died when he did it. From that point on, I deemed all government bureaucrats corrupt and I wanted nothing to do with them."

Twilight's blood began to boil after hearing that Knuckles' parents would dare beat him to death almost and then leave him out in a thunderstorm all night tied up against a tree. It made her even more angry that this criminal was convicted of the crime he did, but got bailed out by a bunch of rich people a few weeks later and then committed the same crime a week after. Do these people seriously have no respect for the law?! Do they not care about law and order?! Apparently not, according to Knuckles.

Knuckles said "After that night, I went into a depression and lost contact with my "friends" that I had at my job at the Pentagon. Eventually, I saw some white square a few weeks later and then I got transported here, where I have been living for the last five years. I know that I have been incredibly violent and hostile towards you all, but I didn't want you to find out the truth about my very dark past because it's something I'm not proud of. All that hatred and abandonment for 24 years has made me take my anger out on all of you and I want to sincerely apologize for that. It was wrong of me to do and I should have known better."

Twilight was taken aback by the sudden apology from Knuckles, but she appreciated it regardless. It's true that he did almost try to kill Rainbow, but he seems genuinely sorry about it and apologized for doing so. It was almost as if he wanted to start anew after the way he has treated them all over the last few months.

Twilight said "It's okay. I accept your apology. But why exactly did Maddi call you Caleb?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Because Caleb is my real name. Caleb Brody. That's why where we're at is called Brody Manor on Brody Island. Knuckles was just my nickname because my fists got really big whenever I hit a person. Someone might as well know."

Twilight said "Now that you have shared your story, it's time I shared mine. This is something that not even my best friends know about because there is no way they could really fully understand the pain of this."

This seemed to throw Knuckles off a bit and he raised a brow. He said "Go on." He wanted to listen to this story because he figured that Twilight's best friends would know about what she was going to tell him, but instead, they don't know and she chose to tell him about it first, which means she must believe that she has a lot of trust in him.

Twilight sighed and said "Like I told you before, I was the protege of Celestia at one point. But that doesn't mean that everypony loved me. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Everypony hated me because I was the personal student of Celestia and they weren't. They constantly made fun of me for being Celestia's student and they said things about me that I dare not wish to repeat because of how horrible they sounded."

Knuckles could definitely relate to that because when he was growing up, he was constantly picked on and mocked at school because of how weird he was all the time. His super strength didn't help either because when he accidentally used it to beat someone out of anger or fear, that would only draw more attention and he was bullied even more. That was until Maddi entered the picture. She had calmed him down and from then on, he didn't care what others thought about him. As long as he had Maddi, that's all that mattered.

Twilight continued and said "I would often get help in certain subjects that I didn't understand as well by staying after, but that eventually proved to be a costly mistake."

Knuckles raised a brow and asked "How so?"

Twilight said "Well, one night when I had finished up a study session, I was coming home when these group of colts stopped me. They weren't exactly doing the best in my classes from what I remember, but they knew that I was the smartest one in the class. So, they wanted to prey upon me and demanded that I give them my homework. Of course, I said no like any rational pony would say, but they were not taking no for an answer. They took the paper by force, ripped it into shreds, beat me almost to death, and nearly raped me. Yeah, they were THIS close to doing that to me. Fortunately, one of the school counselors called them out and they disappeared into the night."

Knuckles was left speechless about that, but he wanted to wait until the entire story was done first before he commented on it.

Twilight continued and said "The counselor asked if I was okay and I said I was fine. They took me home and the next day, it got reported or at least attempted to. Those colts had managed to come up with some bogus story that I tried to kill them the night before and the teacher had somehow believed it. I was on academic probation for the next year and was constantly put in the corner of the room because I was considered "dangerous." The worst part about it is after they came up with that, they were never seen again and my one eyewitness to that situation got fired by the school because it didn't sound "believable" to them and it was "making the school look bad." I know it might sound a little different, but I do feel your pain."

For a few seconds, Knuckles didn't know what to say. But that soon turned into rage. He couldn't believe that those colts almost committed a sexual crime against an alicorn princess, make up some bs story to the teacher, and then get away with it before disappearing for good. He might have been hostile in the past, but even he had standards. No man, regardless of their age, was ever allowed to defile a woman like that. They might not be people in this case, but the principle is still the same. In his tribe, if a man did that, they would immediately get disowned from the tribe and they would be cast out for the rest of their lives because they took this very seriously.

Twilight said "I don't blame you for getting angry. My parents even bought the story and it took me almost three years to get back into Celestia's good graces. The truth was eventually revealed to them and they apologized for not believing me, but by that point, it was already too late. Those colts had done permanent damage to my reputation and they were now completely off grid. I never saw them again."

Knuckles wanted to say that this sounds similar to his situation, but he still didn't feel like it was. He knew that Twilight's story related very well with his, but he didn't want to admit that out loud because he hates having to admit he was wrong, especially after claiming otherwise quite proudly for several times.

He said "I understand that your story might sound similar to mine, but it still isn't quite the same. While I do believe that what happened to you was horrible and I sincerely apologize for that happening, my situation was still worse. That incident happened only once in your life. Mine had occurred every day for 24 years and it left me permanently scarred. At least you had a support system in your life, I didn't for most of my life. The only one I did have was ripped away from me before I could even ask for the chance to marry her. So, I appreciate you sharing your story with me, but you still couldn't fully understand the pain I went through. It's just best if you leave. I don't want to burden you with my tragic life."

Twilight looked at him with worry and asked "Will I ever see you again?"

Knuckles sighed and said "Don't count on it. It's just better if we stay separated for good. Too much damage has been done and there is no way to go back now. If I don't see you again, it was nice knowing you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's best if you go home now because your friends are probably worried. No need to worry about boring ol' me."

Twilight tried to say something, but Knuckles said "Just leave. Please. I don't want to cause any more damage than I already did. Go home, enjoy your life, and become the next ruler on the throne or something. I'll do my own thing and I'll eventually die where I'll reunite with Maddi, so there's no need to stick around."

Twilight sighed and headed out the front door. She looked back for a few seconds and then said "Goodbye Knuckles, or rather, Caleb. It's not over yet and I'm not giving up on you. This is just goodbye until next time." She turned her head back around and walked towards the train station back home to Ponyville.

Back at the mansion, Knuckles watched her leave and sighed. He sincerely didn't want her to go, but he didn't want her to feel pity for him. She has everything she ever wanted and the only thing he had was a mansion occupied by three people. Sure, it's a cool mansion and it's got great stuff inside, but what's the meaning of it if it means you're alone for the rest of your life? He said to himself "You don't have to sympathize with me, Princess. You have family, friends, status, money, and power. I have nothing and the one thing I did have was ripped away from me unfairly. You'll probably forget me one day anyways." He sighed once more and headed up the stairs towards his bedroom. This was going to be a tough one to swallow.

Author's Note

AN: Well, this is a little more toned down from the previous chapter. I know it doesn't seem believable that Knuckles had this sudden shift in behavior, but anger often makes us think irrationally and we don't always make the best decisions. He is very torn up about it and he regrets doing it. But maybe not everything is lost and there's still hope out there for him. We'll see. One quick thing to mention is that I have now started school today, so chapter production might slow down a bit, but I'll try to get these out to you all as soon as possible. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The return of Tirek! After several months of not talking to Knuckles, Twilight wonders how he's doing, but the return of the ancient villain Lord Tirek has drawn her attention elsewhere. Knuckles eventually finds out about the threat of Tirek by watching him rampage through Baltimare and sucking up the magic from the ponies. Knuckles then makes the decision to try to stop Tirek, but the only way to truly defeat him is with the Master Diamond. Will Knuckles be able to find it in time to save Equestria from Tirek, or will the Centaur rule over Equestria for the following centuries to come?

Until then, my fellow readers