The King Of Nothing

With tension so thick that you could be cut with a knife, the princess of the night kept going through a folder in front of her while Marcus was strapped to a chair in front of the princess of the night with a plain white desk in between the two. The two were in an enclosed dark room with dark blue walls around them and a simple metal door behind the princess.

At the time, Marcus was inside a cylinder the size of an oversized couch filled with a green liquid, making it seem that the princess was interrogating a preserved pickle. Without his human skin and ensuring his life wasn't in any danger, everyone could finally see Marcus' actual form.

A stallion with a petite frame with a broken horn and a black body that seems made of tar or petroleum, missing an arm and legs and instead having tendrils for both, making it seem like he somehow merges with an octopus with an incomplete spell.

"I must say, Marcus, you gave me quite the story to read. Or should I say Mark Cross?" Luna lowered the folder and showed him a picture of a small stallion with expensive formal clothes surrounded by two bodyguards to his sides.

"I recall how it reached the news of your mysterious disappearance; your family sure was disheartened and wanted to find you no matter what. I could only dread to imagine what they would think if they saw what you have become."

"Please, princess, you have to believe me. I'm the victim here. All I wanted was some beauty treatment. I might have looked up from shady ponies, but I never intended things to end up like… this." Mark tries to defend himself while pointing at his body.

"The ponies that did this to me and the monster they made. They are the real criminals; they alter my mind and make me do all of this. That is why I sought the mane six; I thought maybe the elements could…"

Luna stopped him by raising her hand. "You can save your excuses for your appeal, Mark. I'm not here to hear you whine." She slammed her hands on the desk. "I want the truth. Who was the group to whom you gave funds? What kind of experiment were you conducting, and to what purpose?"

Mark remains quiet, slightly startled at Luna's reaction, before lowering his head. "I want a lawyer."

"Fine with me, we can play that way. The punishment for what we have is petrification, your name slander by the media, and after ten years, we can resume this conversation," Luna replied casually.

"I was willing to offer you a deal to reduce your sentence and suggest putting you in the Starlight rehabilitation program, but if you don't want to cooperate…"

"DON'T YOU DARE BRING THAT BITCH!" Mark suddenly reacts by hitting the glass of his container in fury. "She is the reason I'm like this, the reason for all of this…"

Mark pauses to compose himself before speaking again, "You win, princess. I would take the deal and help you, but I would need two conditions. The first, you already know, is to keep Starlight Glimmer as far away from me as possible."

"...and the second?" Luna asks with a raised question.

"You need to protect me, put me somewhere safe with a new face and identity, because the ponies you are after. After what Glimmer did to us. They have lost any sense of morality."

"Tell me what you know, and I will see what I can do," Luna replied, intrigued by his reply. Marcus nodded.

"I suppose the beginning is as good a place as anything. Let me ask you, princess, how much did you know of the time that petulant bitch brainwashed an entire town?"

"Twilight told me the story in detail, about her plans, ideology… and methodology. I was under the impression that the citizens there managed to forgive Starlight in their hearts. I'm assuming you were once one of her victims back then?"

Mark only nods in irritation. "And I wasn't the only one sure the majority, for whatever reason, decided to forgive her, but some of us? Hearing what she did? And even worse, how did it end for her? It was more than enough to blind us in rage.

She broke the rules, endangering all of us, and committed criminal actions, and she gets to be the princess's right hand. We do the same and end up like this. Tell me, how is that fair?"

Luna remained quiet for a moment before gathering her hands together. "So that was your justification? Amon already told me what you ponies were doing, to think you were kidnapping humans from another world committing atrocities, in what I imagine was scientific curiosity… all of this was for some twisted revenge plot?"

Mark shrugged to her mild confusion and surprise, "Heck if I know." I was only one of her final victims, an entrepreneur seeking to make me taller. I had heard of her town when everypony was "equal," and I misinterpreted her meaning. By the time I realized what was happening, she had already taken my cutie mark and tricked me into buying materials for her brainwash chambers.

Cross sits on the opposite side of his cylinder. "By the time we were all free of her mind control, I was ready to fill a complaint and make numbers on how much I was willing to pay for her head on a silver trail when other ponies approached me with an offer of a lifetime. A way for me to finally be taller and more." Marcus smiles at the memory. Like I say, I was only the client there all this time."

Mark leans forward. "But I can tell you this: if you think I was crazy, you haven't seen anything. Others survived; they are the ones who started this whole thing and this alicorn project. After seeing what that specimen can do? I dread to imagine their original goal was… maybe their plan is still in motion."

At that moment, in a well-lit infirmary with the window open, clean beds, and medical equipment, Amon was speaking with Twilight, Purple and one of the royal doctors as the four were looking at the skinsuit that used to be Amon's real body in an iron bed on top of dry ice. Said body was already decomposing and wilter away despite the ice slowing the process, making it look like a dry leaf.

"So he was telling the truth then. I can never go back to being human," Amon whispered, keeping his head down while looking at his face in remorse.

"I'm so sorry, Amon; if there is a way, by Celestia, I would tell you, but whatever these ponies did to you. To Marc… ah Mark. It irreversibly mutates your body; even a transmutation spell would only last a day." Twilight mentions in a melancholy tune

"Furthermore, in all senses of the word, this is a skinsuit," The doctor mentions in dread as he looks at the medical chart. "The muscles and skin are there without any opening cuts, but that is it; there are no bones, blood, organs, or nervous system. Nothing, trying to put you in there, will be no different than putting a brain on a hat."

"Okay, doc, we get the idea," Purple says, slightly alarmed by Amon's emotional state. "There's no need for gruesome detail."

Amon takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Now I understand what they meant by "successful trial."

Amon held his head with both hands as hard as he could. "Damn it! FUCKING DAMN IT!"

“W-Wow dude, stay with us, deep breaths” Purple suggest starting to get afraid

"Amon, I know this is horrible, you have every right to be angry but please remember what could happen if…" Twilight began, but Amon interrupted her.

"...They skin me alive and then inject me with some weird stuff that brokemy body apart and turn me into…this. Those bastards, it wasn't enough. They skin us as if we were some fish; they use our bodies like guinea pigs, to do… to make god knows what." Everyone in the room went pale the second they heard that.

"I swear, if anyone else is still breathing if I ever even heard their names again…" Black smog starts to emerge from Amon's whole body, alerting Twilight

"Amon, please calm down. Your emotions are starting to run rampant!" Twilight called for him as his fur got darker.

Her voice seems to reach him as Amon stops. His body returns to normal, and the smog slowly clears up.

"Could you keep yourself calm after living what I experienced, princess? I was the 'whole package' trial sort of speaker. I imagine they have already tried other alternatives."

Amon looked at her sternly. "I bet they didn't even expect me to survive. They only wanted a healthy body." The stallion could barely contain the tears as Twilight stretched her hand.

"Amon…" Purple calls yet Amon interrupt him

"Just burn it."

"What?" The doctor asks.

"Burn this… this thing already. Now, it is only a reminder. If I stare at it for even a second more, I am not sure what I would do." Amon's emotions were all over the place as he stormed off the nurse.

Twilight was slightly startled before shaking her head. She then went after Amon with Purple, stopping at the door frame to look at the doctor. "Keep it safe. He might want to give it a proper burial or something once he calms down."

The doctor could only nod as he placed the skin away in a safe location.

Meanwhile Twilight and Purple were running through the hallway trying to catch up to Amon as he stomped and walked as fast as he could, leaving hoof marks on his way.

"Amon, Amon, wait up," Twilight calls for him, yet the stallion doesn't slow down.

"Listen, princess, I know what you are trying to do, but I am in no mood to talk; I'm beyond furious right now and need something to bend. Don't worry. I have no intention to blow the castle or turn the day into night or whatever you are fearing."

"What if I give you a target?" Purple suggests getting in front of Amon and extending her arms so he could finally stop. The princess finally catches up to them and properly holds her knees as she tries to catch her breath.

“By Celestia am I out of shape” Twilight tells mostly to herself before looking up satisfy that Amon finally decided to listen and intrigued to what the guard had to said

"A place where you can work your anger without any issue. I can take you there; how does that sound?" Purple insisted

"...where?" Amon replies, getting curious about the guard’s suggestion.

As the three made their way out of the castle, Amon's curiosity kept increasing the further they went away from the city. Soon, the prestigious and expensive houses were replaced with shopping boots as they passed through the commercial district.

For a while, Amon groaned internally, thinking Purple had tricked him into some bizarre shopping spread. Purple admitted to lying and said something about distracting his mind or the like. Yet his fear was soon banished and replaced by confusion and wonder once more the second they took him underground in a more secluded part of the city.

Amon had to admit to never having visited this part of Canterlot or even having an idea of its existence. An enormous tree root extended from the surface, now acting as their ceiling, toward the deepest part of what Amon could only assume was the whole, whose bottom he couldn't see as the root disappeared into the darkness.

Branches and the root itself acted as ladders for the two to use, and once they were deep enough, Amon started to notice how underground the city seemed. There almost seemed to be another city, one whose citizens seemed to be composed entirely of Thestral ponies living underground enjoying their day-to-day lifestyle. Bioluminescent mushrooms in the walls acted as a source of multicolor lights, giving this new section of the city a Neo-Night Live.

Most impressive of all was how the place was easily recognizable as part of Canterlot, with the design of the houses, shopping boots, and even the root itself, which had a fine layer of polished concrete on it. Needless to say, the scenery itself was so surprising that much of the anger in Amon was instantly gone.

"What the hell is this place?" Amon asks incredulously at the sighs around them.

Twilight looked over her shoulder at Amon as they walked with a mix of curiosity and surprise. "You have never been here? From what I heard, I thought you may have known of the inner city of Canterlot," Twilight replied with intrigue before a smile started to form on her face.

"In his defense, princess, this is Canterlot we are talking about," Purple mentions, beaming with pride. "The city of a thousand and one surprises, and there is always something new to see each time you visit. I see, you have never been here, dude."

Purple extends both arms. "Allow me to introduce you to Neo Canvas, the underground town of the city, a popular hub for the royal guard and residence of most of the Thestral population."

"I remember how much Shining Armor talked about this place. The way he described it the first time, I thought it was some sort amusement park." Twilight commented in amusement at the memory.

"Shining who?" Amon asks at the sudden name drop.

"Oh yeah, you don't know him, right? He is my brother and king of another kingdom called the Crystal Empire, but before that, he was a captain of the royal guard here in Canterlot."

"One of the best, too, slayer of evil and woers of princesses," Purple proclaims. "I mean, you had to if he managed to get the attention of the freaking princess of love."

"There is another…" Amon stops and leans closer to the two to whisper, "...another male alicorn out there?"

"What? Why would you think…? Oh, oh! Yeah, I get why you would think that," Twilight nods as she takes a glance at her wings. “But no, Shiny didn't ascend, although I would not be surprised if he did later. Celestia knows he more than deserves the wings." The princess mentions, beaming with pride. "I can spend all day telling you stories about my B.B.B.F.F some other time. Right now, we are here on a mission, and if I remember the stories of Shining, I know exactly where we are going."

"BBB… what?" Amon asked, but before the princess could respond, Purple got the attention of the two.

"Yeah, about that." Purple seems to realize something and stops gaining the attention of the group. "Not to be rude or anything, princess, but the invitation was mostly for Amon alone. No, you are welcome to come too, of course!"

Purple quickly adds, raising his arms in a panic at the princess, much to her and Amon's mild confusion. "But I was thinking more of the kind of guy thing. And where we are heading, it can be a bit… intense," Purple confessed, with some discomfort in his voice as he realized he hadn't thought of the idea all the way through. "So I must warn you. And suggest you to maybe change clothes, and try to keep a low profile, other guards may get a bit antsy…or worse, happy in seeing their princess in such a place. And I’m too young to meet an enrage captain if something were to happen to his little sister"

"Purple…where exactly are you taking us?" Amon asked, more than a bit concerned after hearing that, yet Twilight didn't seem to face at all as she kept her calm smile.

"I appreciate the concern, Purple, but I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. I have faced countless enemies, overcome the most dauntless of obstacles, and won against foes like Discord. There is no way I can’t handle that place," Twilight mentions in confidence before raising her hand with her thumb and index finger pressed together.

“But you are right about the disguise idea. I don’t want to make a scene now” By snapping her fingers Twilight changes her fur and mane from purple and black to white fur and blond mane and tail, she also changes clothes. From her formal long purple skirt and blue formal short sleeve shirt with a silver vest. To a simple brown shirt and skirt that cover her legs and robe that cover her face and wings

"What do you think? Now, this way, not even my mother would… wait." Twilight held her throat and let her palm shine for a brief moment before speaking again.

"There! Now, not even my mom would recognize me," Twilight proclaimed in pride with a higher pitch voice. "Now let's go."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Purple shrugs.

"Oh, sweet mother Celestia, what is this place?" Twilight says in surprise and is more than a bit uncomfortable once the group reaches their destination. Purple introduces them to a place called the iron cage.

Amon could describe the facility as a mix between a gym and a bar. The entrance split into two hallways, one leading to what seemed to be a bar with chairs and tables to enjoy a meal and drinks. The bar was fully stacked, with some patrons sitting on boots enjoying their drinks.

They could see little from the entrance, but Amon could see a neo sigh and an intricate and delicate wood detail in the tables with a rustic old western theme. Behind the bar, a thestral bartender woman with short spiky hair, a green apron, black eyeshadow, and a white shirt served a round of beers.

The alicorn's attention was then caught on the left side of the building, with an entrance directly in their field of vision, which was also the source of most of the noise. Gym equipment, pool tables, a ring, and other target practice were spread out in different sections of the spacious room, where ponies of the three tribes and Thestral were using the facilities, even sparing in intense fights and flirting with the waitress or among them, without a care in the world.

The image alone was pure chaos, and Amon could feel his testosterone rising from all the fighting and taunts coming everywhere as the ponies let loose and competed in all sorts of events, from sparring to even ax tossing.

"Welcome to where we royal guards come to vend, practice, train, bet, and/or compete: the royal iron cage." Purple introduces it.

"Wow, I… S-Shining forgot to mention how… intense this place was and… are those two fighting or… making up?" Twilight asked nervously, pointing and looking away at the ring, where Amon and Purple were slightly startled to see Bliss and Bricks in some AMM sparring session that ended up with their bodies entangled as they currently were in what appeared to be a very aggressive make-up session.

"Oh yeah…that. A little bit of both, I suppose? It is more common than you think with royal guard couples," Purple admits.

"What?!" Twilight asks in alarm as Purple gets ahead.

"I will say hi and tell them to chill before they get tossed out again. You can wait at the bar in the meantime. Oh, and ah… try not to do anything. This place can awaken your wild side if you are not careful." Purple warns them before going to stop his friends from making a scene. He starts to rush when Bliss seems to be working on removing her shirt.

"Sweet Celestia, help me. I hope Shining never brought Cadence here," Twilight mumbles to herself, still processing the place in astonishment as she and Amon head to the bar.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say this, Candy… someone is your brother's wife and the so-called princess of love?" Amon takes a while as they find a table with two chairs for them to sit. Some of the guards were slightly surprised at seeing Twilight and more so at Amon, specially the mares, yet the stallion was used to it and was mostly wondering if the surprise was from his size or perhaps what he had just said.

"That is right," Twilight nods with equal surprise. “Amon, please don't take this the wrong way, but even if you lived on the street, it is impossible you didn't at least hear more about me and the princesses. How come you know so little of… well, everything? How long have you been in Equestria?"

"Honestly, I lost track of time a long time ago, princess; what those bastards took from me…" Amon clenched his fist before relaxing. "Anyway, not to be rude or anything but I’m here to release some stress, not to be question and judge”

“Right, sorry I stepped out of line there” Twilight mentions lowering her head in shame making the situation very tense and awkward.

Looking at her expression and feeling like he just kicked a puppy Amon has to bite his tongue and relent to her questioning. No matter how angry he was, Amon also knew Twilight wasn’t at fault and heavens know, with everything resolved he had nothing to lose in just telling her.

“I was focusing on something else, ok?” Amon mentions looking away gaining Twilight attention

“What?”

“Why don't I know anything? It is because I simply didn’t care, when your life focuses on survival, you tend to ignore everything else. Maybe that is why I barely knew about the royal sisters, and frankly, if it wasn't related to surviving, I wasn't much interested beyond what was necessary. And frankly with how my encounters with the law went before Purple, I couldn't care less about the government or who ruled this backwards world. Heck you can thank Purple that I even decided to gave Celestia a chance in the first place"

"I see," Twilight whispers and lowers her head once more. "You probably hate us and Equestria in general, don't you?"

The comment grabs Amon's attention, and he looks at Twilight in surprise as she sighs, "In reality, I can't exactly blame you, for who knows how long, all your memories of ponies have been of pure misery, pain, and suffering, only to be entrusted in this alien world and live Celestia know how much time facing the worst of our society. Anyone would be beyond hostile after all of that."

Amon stares at her momentarily before sighing in frustration. "If you really want to know, then yes. There was a time when I couldn't stop cursing the name Equestria and lived day and night building a grudge about this horrible world of nightmares."

The brutal, honest reply of Amon only makes Twilight flinch as her body goes stiff at his harsh words and the guilt behind his justification, only to be slightly curious by his next sentence.

"But then…"

"Hi!" The waitress attending the bar not too far ago appeared in front of the two with a bright smile and notepad. "Welcome to Iron Cage. My name is Livid, and I'll be your waitress for today." The thestral clearly lived up to her name with her chip voice and friendly disposition.

"I must say, I don't think I've ever seen you before, and I make a mental note to try and remember our best customers. Are you new recruits of the royal guards?" She suddenly smirked. "Perhaps a high school couple decided to join the ranks? Hmm?"

"No, and no," Amon was quick to answer. A friend of ours is a royal guard and suggested this place to vent my anger. Neither of us is a royal guard nor a couple," Amon replied sternly, yet that didn't seem to detriment Livid, who seemed more interested in the last part of his statement.

"So you are saying you are available?" Livid asks as her eyes turn sultry. She places a hand on top of Amon's palm, which seems to tense him even more until Twilight intervenes.

"Sorry, Ms. Livid. My friend just broke up with her herd recently, so he is not interested in any relationship," Twilight mentions as Amon retreats his hand from the thestral.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm not looking for anything serious, either. Tell me, big boy, would you like to know what is the best medicine for a broken heart?"

"Right now, I only want the menus and some water, please," Amon cut off the waitress, who simply nodded, unfazed by his cold attitude.

"Apologies, I didn't mean to put you on the spot, big guy. But I’m serious there, there is nothing more quick than a nice good old roll in the hay. Just think about it." Livid, she ended her statement with a wink before stepping away. "I will bring you the menus right away. Any drinks while I'm out?"

"Just water, thanks," Amon replied, keeping his head down.

"Do you have some light apple cider?" Twilight asks as Livid nods.

"Coming right up!" She goes to her professional mode and retires as Amon nods in exhaustion.

"I swear to god, all the mares…"

Amon stops before looking at Twilight. "Please don't get me wrong, I don't mean to generalize, but for some reason, all my encounters with mares end up like this. Minus you, the sisters, and your other friends, for some bizarre reason all mares become this thirsty the moment they see me."

"I admit she came up a bit strong, but she was mostly only friendly." Twilight is unsure how to respond to that. "Aren't mares… ah, female humans in your world similar?"

"No, I mean… There are some but. No the short answer is just no, and frankly it is exhausting how things work here and your definition of ‘friendly’, specially toward stallions and how many mares are ok with treating them like a slab of meat all the time as the norm, and cringy seeing other stallions happily seen that way and just parade around like it glorious be consider some kind of prize without any shame. It too much for me"

"How else do you courtship a herd?" Twilight argues back.

"Look, it is clear that there is a cultural shock here, and I don't want to offend anyone. Let's just say that is not for me, and it really didn't help Equestria while I was just wandering around, yet despite that, I don't hate this world anymore, Twilight" Amon admits. "I'm done with whining and crying over the past in that regard."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Do you want to talk about it? It may help you and help me understand you a little better."

For a while, Amon just remained quiet, wanting nothing more. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt he had little to lose in telling her. With a resting sigh, the stallion closed his eyes.

"Well, I was telling you anyway, so I might as well." He looked back at Twilight. "As I say, for a time I didn’t want anything to do with Equestria, my experience with a humble hamlet and what happened there, make me believe I was cursed to remain alone.
I only wanted to be left alone in some dark hole where I could spend the rest of my life pretending I wasn’t in an alien world nor hurt anyone, until one day, as I was looking for scraps, a mare and child in the same boat as me approached me, and they offered me a moldy piece of bread. They were starving, and they found something, and yet despite that. They offered me what little food they had."

Amon gathers his hands at the memory. "To this day, I couldn't believe what I was seeing; they had nothing, yet they still showed me kindness; that is when I started to see Equestria in a different light, and try to work hard in making sure nobody would get hurt because of me."

"That is when you wanted to give us another chance?" Twilight asks, yet Amon shakes his head. "Nothing much changed; I still hated how mares treated me and wanted to make me some sort of "boy toy project," and I had lost faith in the law, but those small sparks of kindness, the times I felt at peace, slowly made me realize two things. One, I couldn't just spend my life hating all of you. That would not make me any difference from the monsters that made me. And two, how Equestria and Earth aren't that different at the end of the day."

"Did… did you also have a hard time in your home world? Where you perhaps a homeless there too"

Amon could only nod. "You could say I virtually was one. I was… am a loser, Twilight. Graduate from school, work my ass off trying to get my title to try to make as many connections as possible, and how do I end up? A leech, a freeloader, failure after failure, finding only slave corporations that think they can walk over me, so little money to live and mountains of stress, in other words, the norm of life. And because I was unable to keep a stable job, my family was losing hope in me, they were even threatening me to accept and just endure whatever came my way or not bother coming back to them and just embrace living in the streets. And yes I can see the irony there"

Twilight could feel her heartbreak hearing his story, yet she didn't want to interrupt and wanted to wait until Amon finished venting.

"Eventually, I thought my luck would finally change with a last opportunity for a job interview; that is how I ended up at Equestria, a trap made by then to lure those that no one would care if they disappeared. After that, you can figure out the rest; before they were gone, they even ensured I would not have a home to return to, one last sadistic trick of theirs."

"What did they do?" Twilight asks in alarm.

"Dilatation time movement spells something or another, curse. Any humans they caught were placed on some weird magic shenanigan thingy; I don't know what the hell they were trying to accomplish, but for what was a day here, it was 30 years in my world thanks to that. And they made sure to tell us one month after being captured to ensure we will be consumed in rage and despair after well… you can do the math there."

"Sweet Celestia, to even rob you of your family like that… is… it beyond in equine."

"I don't want to talk about it, Twilight. I just… I don't," Amon asks her before weakly chuckling. "You can go ahead and laugh at the irony, though; heavens know it is the only thing I have left. "The loser that could not obtain anything ends up with nothing. An alicorn who is supposedly a symbol of divinity or whatever the heck you want to call it… having nothing. No place to return, no friends, no family, no past, no identity. Yeah, the king of nothing. A fitting title for me, don't you think?"

"Of course not! Amon you don't…" Twilight wanted to say more, but at that moment, Livid returned with their drinks and two menus.

"Here you go, two menus and…" Livid paused once she saw the mood. "Wow, did I come at a bad moment?" Livit asked, feeling the tension there and placing a hand on Amon's shoulder. "Listen, dude. I was just messing before, but this is my serious face. Take some time for yourself. Don't dwell too much in the past."

Amon was a bit perplexed but just nodded and took the menu. "Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetie, and if you ever on the lookup for a rebound…"

"Thank you, Livid! We will call you when we are ready!" Amon replies, feeling annoyed once again

"Right, I will give you a moment."

Once she was gone, Amon could only sigh and shake his head. "I swear, mares like her…"

"I'm starting to see what you mean now. That definitely was not the time nor place." Twilight agrees before she looks at the menu. "Amon, I will not say I understand because I don't. You truly lived through hell and have every right to be bitter right now. But if you allow me to say something, I think you still have something of great value."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?" Amon asks sarcastically.

"You still have your heart," Twilight answered without skipping. "The entire world went against you; you went through horrible ordeals; you even tripped and fell, resigning to anger, and yet you rose up again. You saw the kindness in an otherwise bleak world; you learned and grew in ways I couldn't imagine. If that is not the attributes of a saint I don’t know what it is"

"Okay, now you are just buttering me up."

"No, I'm serious, Amon. You truly are someone admirable. Any other pony would have broken and gone insane in their rage, deciding to destroy everything in their paths or take the coward's choice and become another monster." Twilight doubles down.

"But you didn't. You never broke, nor surrendered. You kept your mind and your will and kept giving others a chance and after all that it finally pay off. I mean, look at where you are right now." Twilight extended her hands.

"A roof over your shoulder, actual food. And potential friends, so don't say you are the king of nothing, Amon, because that is not what you are anymore."

Twilight lowered her hands. "I don't think you ever were, not here, and I believe not in your world either."

Amon remained quiet for a moment and lowered his head, a small smile forming on his face at Twilight's words as he couldn't argue back. He knew that any argument at this point would be petty and childless. There was still so much for him to be furious about, but he couldn't help but agree to Twilight and even remember what Celestia told him and how she managed to win him over.

"You and her are quite similar, you know?"

"Me and who?" Twilight asks, blinking a couple of times.

"Nothing, just me thinking out loud." Amon shakes his head as he scans the menu. "So… if you don't mind paying, should we order something for Purple, too? Maybe a plate of fries?"

Twilight can only chuckle and look at the menu. "Maybe you did deserve to ascend," She mumbles to herself.

"What?" Amon asks her in confusion.

"Nothing, just thinking out loud as well, and yeah, I don't mind paying for some fries for Purple." The two remain quiet while they await the return of their shared friend and his idea on how to vent some steam from the angry alicorn.