The moon loomed in the skies over Equestria granting its inhabitants another perfect night for sleep. The ponies were all in their homes sleeping, but in the shadows of the night a mysterious figure ran through the homes of Ponyville. It broke into ponies homes and stole whatever it deemed valuable. The ponies, however, could not hear the silent perpetrator as it ran through one house after another. As the thief was finishing his nightly rounds he broke into the house of Bon Bon, unaware that she was still awake. She was brushing her teeth when a strange smell began to flow by.

"Is something burning?" she asked herself, "Did I leave the stove on again?" Bon Bon began to walk toward her kitchen when she suddenly heard the noise of something in her living room. "What was that?! I know there's somepony in here, who are you?!" She called out in a frightened tone, "Show yourself you fiend!"

Then out of nowhere the dark figure came out from behind the curtains holding a bag of valuable gems that she had gathered since she was a filly and began running around the room. Bon Bon only screamed as it ran wildly through her house, she couldn't get a good look at it because the room was too dark. She watched it as it ran towards her room and she began to follow it. As she ran into her room she quickly looked up at her roof to see the figure jump off her ceiling fan as it glided over her and back to the living room. As she chased it she found it had opened her window, and as the figure began to lean out the moonlight shined over it revealing the culprit as he jumped out.
Bon Bon ran toward the window and quickly looked around outside, "I don't believe it; Spike just stole all of my gems!" She looked over at her window noticing it had been scorched by a flame.

The Following Morning

"What is it?! What is it?! I won’t stop until I find the answer! I can't stop. Not even for a second. I mustn't sleep. I can't sleep ever again!" repeated Alex as he wrote notes all over his study room wall. Occasionally his eyes focused on a drawer that had a lock on it.

"Open it...you know what's inside..."

"N-no! I must keep going! I can't let myself get distracted!"

Luna was coming down the stairs and walked over to Scootaloo who was sitting in front of Alex's study room door, "Has he come out yet?" Scootaloo turned and shook her head in disappointment. "Perhaps you should come with us for lunch?" asked Luna. "You haven't moved from this spot since he went in."

"No thanks, I think I'll wait until he comes out." said Scootaloo as she laid her head upon the floor looking at the door, hoping to see it open at any moment.

"Very well then, I do hope he's okay in there." said Luna as she turned back and headed up the stairs to meet Twilight.

"Well?" Twilight said.

"I'm afraid she still refuses to move until he comes out, I'm beginning to worry about her. We must get Alex out of that room!" said Luna.

"I know princess, that's why we're going to meet with the girls today. After we have our lunch, we'll bring them home and get Alex to come out of that room!" said Twilight as she opened the door to hear the roars of angry ponies.

Luna stepped up to the crowd in an attempt to control the situation, "Please, calm yourselves everypony! What seems to be the problem?"

"It's that dragon of Twilight's!" shouted one of the angry ponies.

"Yeah, he's been going around and stealing our valuables for days now!" shouted another.

"What are you ponies talking about?!" said Twilight as she walked up to face the mob, "Spike would never do anything like that!"

"I saw him!" shouted Bon Bon, "Last night, I saw him jump from my window with all of my gemstones!" The rest of the crowd began shouting once again.

"Everypony, please calm yourselves!" shouted Luna as the crowd began to get out of control. The two ponies were backed up by the crowd of angry ponies and didn't know how to get them to calm down.

"WILL EVERYPONY JUST SHUT UP?!" shouted a voice coming from door to the library, "I can't even here myself think with all of this damn noise!" The ponies turned to see Alex standing in the doorway.

"We want that dragon to give back what he's stolen from us!" shouted a pony from the crowd.

"Yeah, well guess what?" he said as he walked toward the pony, "I've been awake for several days now so I've seen whose gone out and in at any time. So I'm going to tell you right now, SPIKE DIDN'T STEAL ANY OF YOUR STUPID SHIT!!! Now unless you have any proof, GO AWAY SO I CAN GET BACK TO MY STUDIES!!!"

The angry mob began to slowly disperse as more and more began to leave quietly with angry looks aimed at the library knowing that Spike was somewhere inside. Alex began stomping his way back into the library and slammed the door to his study room shut. He shut the door so hard that it could be heard from outside the library. Twilight and Luna didn't know what to make of the situation and decided to go and meet the girls like they had originally planned. As they ate their food Twilight began telling them about what had happened earlier.

"He's been in there for five days?!" Shouted Rainbow, "So he hasn't slept since he had that fight with Gilda?! Just what is he doing in there?!"

"It seems that way." Twilight said with her head down, "Scootaloo hasn't moved either; she refuses to move until Alex leaves that room."

"Oh my, that's just awful." said Fluttershy.

"Twilight dear, have you tried going into his study room?" asked Rarity.

"I'm afraid that I can't get in no matter what I try." said Twilight, "He cast some kind of spell so only he can open or close that door. What do you think we should do?"

"He cast a spell on the door? And you can't break it?"

"No, it's strange but...it doesn't feel natural. Not even Luna can break through."

"It's true. Something about his spell is wrong."

"What do you think Applejack?" asked Twilight.

Applejack was lost in thought so she didn't hear Twilight's question, "Huh? Yeah, whatever you say Twilight."

"Is there something bothering you Applejack?" asked Twilight.

Applejack shook her head, "What? No, not at all Twilight, why? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" shouted Rainbow, "What's wrong is that Alex hasn't come out of that room for five days!"

"Yeah, ah kind of noticed." said Applejack with a sad look on her face.

Luna decided to speak up, "I believe you six may be able to get him out of that room. After all he trusts you six the most, does he not?"

"Well...I mean, I think he does." said Rarity.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rainbow.

"Well, we know that he no longer stutters when speaking to any of us. But he's been here for so long and yet none of us have ever really spent any time with him."

"What? That's not true!" said Rainbow.

"No? Then tell me, what was the last thing you two did together?"

"We...um...I...nothing. We haven't done anything together."

"It's true. We don't even know anything about him." said Twilight. "And we were supposed to make him feel welcome here in Equestria but we haven't done anything to help him at all."

"Whenever we're around it's almost like he has somewhere else to be." said Rainbow Dash.

"I see. This will make things very difficult." said Luna.

"I'm sure it's not too late to fix this!" said Twilight, "This is our chance to turn that around! We can get him out of that room and we can help him the right way! What do you say girls? Will you help me?"

"Of course!" said all ponies in unison.

"Thank you girls, now I just have to figure out what's happening to Spike." said Twilight as she got up.

"What's wrong with Spike?" asked Fluttershy.

Twilight took in a deep breath, "The towns ponies believe that Spike has been going around town and stealing their valuables at night. So after we finish getting Alex out of that room, I'm going to go around town and see if I can figure out what's going on here."

"Well then, let's get Alex out of that room!" shouted Rainbow.

The ponies followed Luna and Twilight back to the library where they led them down to Alex's room. Rarity began to look around at all of the drawings that Alex had made since he arrived checking to see if she was among them. Scootaloo was still there waiting in front of the door, Twilight walked up to her to see that she had fallen asleep while waiting. Luna decided to tuck her into bed as the rest tried to get Alex to leave his study room. Twilight walked up to the door and knocked on it three times, all six ponies waited to hear an answer from the other side.

The noise coming from inside his room suddenly stopped, "Is that you Scootaloo? I'm sorry, but I'm very busy right now so I can't come out to play right now."

Twilight approached the door once more, "Alex? It's Twilight, can we talk?"

"Twilight?" he called out, "Sorry Twilight, but like I said before I'm busy. I have a lot of studying to do, is something wrong?"

"Alex, I brought the girls here. We're all really worried about you, can we come in?" asked Twilight.

"...Hang on." he called out. They could hear the door being unlocked from the inside and it began to open as Alex popped his head out, "Only Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are allowed to enter."

"Wait, why not us?" asked Rainbow.

"This is the only time I'll let any of you enter, so either take it or leave It." he said as he began to close the door.

"Wait!" called out Twilight, "Go ahead girls. Get in there and see if you can get him to come out."

"Are you sure Twilight?" asked Rainbow, "I mean, don't you find it a little strange that he picked those three in particular?"

"Yes I'm sure." she nodded, "Go on girls."

The three ponies entered the study room and looked at Alex's giant mess as he closed the door and re-locked the door. "So," he began, "Why did Twilight bring you girls here?"

"Because," Rarity said as he tried to tidy up the mess he had created, "It's come to our attention that you've been in here for five days?"

"Yup that's right." he said as he ran back and forth, "I haven't slept either, I can't sleep. It's driving me crazy! Not to mention this bandage over my eye isn't helping either. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for."

"Maybe your scar has finally healed up?" said Applejack, "Ah bet it's completely gone by now. Here, let me take that bandage off of your face."

"Don't touch me!" he shouted, "Sorry, I've been on edge ever since I got this thing. And I guess staying awake for five days straight takes its toll on you."

"Maybe you should take a break?" said Fluttershy.

"I'd love to take a break Fluttershy, but I can't." he said as he began placing new notes up on the wall with his magic.

"Alex...has your magic...always been that color?" asked Rarity.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well...from what I've heard it sounded like your magic took the appearance of a red color but, it's so...blue."

"What? Don't the colors of a unicorns magic change from time to time?" asked Alex.

"No, they don't. That's not natural." said Rarity.

"Well I'm half human so maybe that's the reason. I can't worry about little things like that Rarity."

"I think maybe you need a break Alex." said Rarity as she put her hoof on him.

"Break?" he said as he turned his head, "What I need is a breakthrough! I can't afford to stop, not now, not ever!"

"Ah think Rarity is right Alex," said Applejack, "Maybe you could come out of this room, just for today?"

"Sorry but that is not an option for me...What is that noise?" he said as he stopped in his tracks. "I warned those fools to stay away!" He ran out of the study room and headed up the stairs to find Spike being taken away by the royal guards. "What's going on here?!" he shouted.

"Alex!" shouted Twilight as she ran toward him with tears on her face, "They're taking Spike away! He's going to be put on trial!"

"Trial?" he said as he looked over to the guards, "Hold it right there! Just what is going on here?"

One of the guards turned to face him and walked up, "Well your majesty, eyewitness reports say that this dragon has been stealing from this town."

"Do you have any proof?"

"As of now, we are only going on the fact that Spike is the only dragon currently living in Ponyville."

"But that's not enough to prove that he's the culprit!"

"I'm sorry your majesty, but orders are orders."

"Orders? Whose orders are you following?"

"Princess Celestia's."

"What? Princess Celestia believes that Spike is the thief?!" asked Twilight.

"No, but my guess is that she's only doing it to calm down the citizens of Ponyville." said Alex. He and the others were forced to watch the
guards put spike into a cage and take him towards Canterlot. "He's innocent, and I will prove it!"

"I'll head to Canterlot right away and see if there's anything I can do to help Twilight." said Luna as she prepared her chariot.

"Thank you Princess Luna." said Twilight as she bowed her head.

"Right then, back into the study room!" Alex said as he turned around.

"Back into the study room?!" shouted Twilight, "Spike's in danger and you're going to just go back to your studies?!"

Alex turned his head around, "Well if I'm going to help spike then I'm going to need supplies. Now if you don't mind, I've got a job to do. I want to get this over with as soon as possible so I can get back to my studies."

"What is with him?" said Twilight, "He spends five days in that room, Spike gets taken away, and he acts like he's got something more important to do!"

Applejack looked over at her, "Well ah don't know about that Twilight, maybe Alex has had a good reason for being in that room for so long."

Twilight turned to face her, "Applejack, do you know something about this? Just what did you see in his study room?"

"Hey yeah!" said Rainbow as she flew up to Applejack, "How come he only let you, Rarity, and Fluttershy in huh? Are you hiding some kind of secret from us?"

"Alright then!" shouted Alex as he came out, "Let's go find us a burglar!"

"What's with those strange glasses?" asked Twilight.

"What, these?" asked Alex as he lowered his glasses, "These are sunglasses, sunglasses are cool. I got them from a local shop a while ago. Plus, I haven't been out for a while so the suns light kind of hurts my eyes. Alright, now let's go find us a thief!"

Alex and the girls scattered across the town, Alex went by house after house examining everything. He wrote down anything important on a note pad. From one house he got the description of a 'red flame' being used to burn through the windows. A red flame huh? Definitely not Spike. At Bon Bon's house he wrote down the description of the dragon gliding across the room. Gliding? Now I know this isn't Spike, but this could mean only one thing. An hour later he met up with the girls at the town center.

"So did you find anything out?" asked Twilight.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but no matter who we ask they say it was Spike." said Rainbow.

"Humph, please. They couldn't fool me for a second." said Alex as he stepped up.

"Have you found something?" asked Twilight with hope in her eyes.

"Of course I have! It's like I told you Twilight, Spike is completely innocent in all of this." he said as he took out his notepad. "What we have here, is a case of mistaken identity. There's another baby dragon here in Ponyville, hiding somewhere."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Applejack.

"There's not a doubt in my mind, now I just need to find the little dragon." he said as he looked over. "The only problem is that I have no idea where a baby dragon would be hiding in a town like this. Is there anywhere in Ponyville you think can be used as a hideout?"

"Hmmm, not that I know of. I just can't think right now, I'm so worried about Spike!"

"Alright, well I think I can take it from here. You should get to Canterlot to stall Spike's trial."

"What?!" shouted Twilight, "And leave you here by yourself?! I thought you said you didn't know where to look! How are you going to find that dragon?!"

"Hello? Have you all forgotten? We have a professional thief living under our roof!"

"Oh no...no! No! No! No! You seriously can't mean-"

~~~~~

"So you need my help?" asked the cat. "Hah! You thought you were so high and mighty and look at you now! Begging at my very paws!"

"Do we seriously need him?!" asked Twilight.

"You want to help Spike don't you? He is exactly what we need. He is a thief, and one of the best if he almost got away with stealing a kings crown. I know he can find this little twerp with ease. So what do you say? Care to help us catch a thief?"

"Sorry, but we thieves have a code. We must never provide help to any sort of authority to catch another thief."

Twilight became enraged. "Why you!!!"

"Although, I could be tempted to look the other way this time."

"What do you want?" asked Alex.

"I want Twilight to beg."

"I WILL NOT!!!"

"Listen!" said Alex as he lowered his head to level with the cats. "Right now we need you. There's nobody else I would turn to because I know that you are the only one who can find this dragon. You have the skills and you have the experience, even if you are a cat. I know you can do this. Will you help us?"

"Mmmmm...fine. I'll help you, but it's just gotta be you and me."

"Why are we being left out?!" said Rainbow.

"Because I can't trust you. If I do this then it's going to take absolute cooperation, and I know this kid is serious. If I do this, then you have to name me."

"Consider yourself named."

"Alright, now I suggest the rest of you head for Canterlot right away."

"Wait why?" asked Twilight.

"The kid was right. We need somepony to stall the trial as long as possible, we need time to track this little thief."

"Alright then." said Twilight. She then placed her hoof on Alex's shoulder. "Alex...I'm counting on you."

"Right. I promise I won't let you down." said Alex.

"Alright, let's get going!" said Twilight as they all left.

"Hop on cat, we've got some dragon hunting to do." he said as they ran out of the library. The two headed to the last place the dragon was said to have robbed, Bon Bon's house.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We've come to find the real thief."

"They already took Spike! He is the thief!" she shouted.

"Give us five minutes and we'll prove you wrong." said the cat from Alex's back.

"D-did that cat just talk?"

"Yes, now would you let us in?" asked Alex. Bon Bon opened her door and Alex let the cat examine the living room where Spike was said to have broken in from.

"Pfft. This kid is an absolute mess. I can see him everywhere." said the cat.

"So you can tell where he's been?" asked Alex.

"Of course, as a thief you must examine every inch of your target. This kid never even got a second look at this house. He tried to make a get away from your room but he couldn't so he came back to the living room didn't he?"

"Y-yes. How did you find that out?" she asked.

"Yes, and then he made a run for the window." said the cat as he leapt up to examine the window. "Kid, look at this."

"What did you find?"

"There's a hole in this window, but take a closer look. This cut is too clean. The dragon intentionally made it small enough so he could fit his hand in and unlock the window."

"So? Spike can breathe fire too!" said Bon Bon.

"Look closer you idiot." said the cat. "If our dragon in question simply used his fire breath to melt the glass then we would've seen it on the window still, but look."

"There's nothing. It's just a clean hole, you can't even tell it was burned through!" said Alex.

"Exactly, which means our culprit must have blasted the window with a quick shot of fire. Fast and precise so that it wouldn't leave any marks."

"But I could smell it burning last night!" said Bon Bon.

"No, what you smelled was his flame dying in the air. He made sure that his flame would only pierce the window and then disappear into the air right after. Interesting, this dragon is very interesting."

"So what? I saw him with my own eyes! I saw him fly over me!" said Bon Bon.

"Fly? How could he fly over you if Spike doesn't have any wings to fly with?!" shouted Alex.

"He...he...oh my gosh. I...I thought..."

"We don't have time right now! Can you find out where he went after?" asked Alex.

"Of course. Our little perpetrator left us a trail." said the cat as he leapt out the window.

"Wait for me!" said Alex as he ran for the door.

"W-wait!" said Bon Bon as she stopped him by the door. "Please, tell Twilight I'm sorry."

"...Sure. Now come on cat, where is he?" asked Alex.

"This dragon is clumsy, he's left his prints on the ground." said the cat. "He left in a hurry since that pony saw him so I can easily follow him."

"But I can't see anything." said Alex.

"I wouldn't expect you to. But I can see the subtle disturbances in the ground, it's necessary to see these incase thieves steal from each other."

"What? That's allowed? What about the code amongst thieves?"

"It's only the one rule. We're thieves, what can we say? Now come on, he's this way!" said the cat as he ran.

"Hey! Wait for me!" said Alex as he chased after him. The cat led him all across town to a building unfamiliar to them both. "What...is this place?"

"I don't know. But there's something very odd about it."

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"Take a look at it." said the cat. "There are no doors, and there are no windows, almost as if they don't want you to see what's inside. And...wait!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"This smell! T-that's impossible!"

"What?" asked Alex as he sniffed around the building. "Whoa, that's a new smell. But...I don't know it smells...familiar."

"I'd know that smell anywhere! That's sacred powder!"

"What's sacred powder?"

"Only the most valuable treasure among thieves! You could make a fortune with even just a small pouch full of the stuff! Whoever this dragon is, he knows his valuables. I can smell a lot of sacred powder in there!"

"Well how do we get in?"

"Hmmm...that's tough. There's no way of entering this building from the outside, our thief must have some way of entering it from below. The only problem is, his trail has gone cold."

"What?! How could he have gotten away from you? I thought you said this dragon was unprofessional!"

"Well let's think about this. Bon Bon mistook him for Spike, which means our thief is still a child. My guess is that he became spooked after he was noticed by Bon Bon and began to make amateur mistakes. This place is perfect for him. Look up, he could have easily climbed up the building from here with his claws. And look at the buildings next to it, the roofs are so close to each other that he could have climbed up and ran from roof to roof just to reach the entrance of his underground getaway. We have no way of knowing where he went."

"...I do."

"You do?"

"Yes, but it's risky."

"Please, a thieves life is all about taking risks. Lay it on me, what's the plan?"

"Teleportation."

"...Excuse me?"

"I know for a fact that magic can be used to teleport a pony from one location to another. If I use it, then we can get inside!"

"You're crazy! Let's do it!" said the cat as he hopped up onto Alex's back. "Okay, so let me tell you how to do this. In order for this to work, you must envision yourself at the place you want to teleport to. So you have to imagine yourself inside of that building."

"But I've never seen the inside of this building. Then again it wouldn't be risky if I did would it?"

"Nope. Now let's get to it."

"Alright, here I go." Alex closed his eyes and began to build up magic in his horn, he then felt a burning sensation overcome his entire body and suddenly he felt as though he had been thrown with an immense amount of force. He finally opened his eyes and discovered that he had successfully managed to get them both inside of the building but not without scorching his mane and tail a bit. Unfortunately some of the cats fur burned a bit in the process as well.

"We...are never...doing that again." said the cat.

"Hey, at least we're inside right?" he said as he began looking around. "Man, look at all of these barrels."

"These barrels must be full of sacred powder!" said the cat as he sniffed the barrels one by one. "It's unbelievable, this kid has so much of the stuff. There's no way he collected this himself."

Alex walked over and opened one of the barrels to see the sacred power with his own eyes. "Wait a minute, i-isn't this gunpowder?! How did this even get here?!"

"Hold it right there!" said a voice coming from behind him.

Alex and the cat turned to face the true culprit. "So you're the one who's been stealing around town I'm guessing?" he said as he scanned the baby dragon. He was a blue dragon with yellow eyes and red spikes that curved back going down his spine. He also had a pair of wings that were folded in.

"Yeah that's me, what about it?" asked the baby dragon.

"I've got a friend who was mistaken for you, he was taken away by the Canterlot guard." said Alex. "After I learned that the dragon had 'red' fire breath and that he could glide, I knew Spike couldn't have been the one who stole all of those things."

"Not only that, but after I was told the list of items that you stole it became obvious to us that you were only interested in one thing, profit." said the cat. "Not to mention is was simple to track you here, you should work on your escape routes."

"Not bad, but too bad for you two that you had to find me. Yeah it's true, I stole those things. I used what I like to call a 'spit blast' to burn holes in their windows so I could let myself in. And yes, I also plan on stealing this 'sacred powder' as well." he said as he crossed his arms, "This stuff is going to make me a fortune, enough to be set for life. Now all that's left is to get rid of you two, and I can get back to stealing from those idiots again!" He began to take in a breath of air.

"Wait stop!" Alex shouted, "You can't breathe fire in here! You'll kill us both! You do realize that this place is full of gunpowder right?!" Then he suddenly remembered, Oh shit! They don't know what gunpowder is! The baby dragon blew a spit blast at him and as Alex jumped out of the way and suddenly a small barrier covered him and the cat before the fire ball reached the barrel. The entire building exploded causing the whole town to shake, everypony was screaming left and right. After it was over Alex's barrier had disappeared, the building was still in flames and he and the cat had to find a way out. On their way Alex found the baby dragon trapped under some of the rubble.

The baby dragon opened one of his eyes and looked up at Alex while trying to form words. "I....don't want....to die...like...this." was all he could say before he passed out.

"Come on kid! We've got to go!" said the cat.

"I...I can't just leave him here!" shouted Alex as he lifted the dragon with his magic and quickly placed him on his back. The two began to run as fire enveloped their surroundings, they had no choice but to run straight into the flames. The smoke began to affect Alex's breathing as he ran, he made great leap and they both landed outside of the building. Ponies came by to help them get away from the fire and the weather patrol put out the fire with rain clouds. It took some time until the baby dragon regained consciousness; he looked over and saw Alex speaking with a royal guard.

"W-what did you say?! Your majesty, please reconsider!" said the guard.

"I've made my choice, but he still has to make his." said Alex.

"Very well then, but what about the stolen items?" asked the guard.

"I'm sure he's hidden them somewhere safe, I don't believe they were destroyed in the explosion. Oh, it seems he's waking up. I better go and check up on the little dragon." said Alex as he walked over to the dragon's side.

"You saved me? Why? I didn't do anything to deserve your help." said the dragon as he began to stand.

"I wasn't just going to leave you in there to die. I'm not heartless you know." he said as he lifted the dragon by his tail with magic.

"Hey!" shouted the baby dragon, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Look, I may have saved you but I still have to turn you in for stealing." said Alex. The baby dragon gave him a mean look. "However, there is a way I can help you from being thrown in jail."

The dragon became curious, "Why would you want to help me?"

"Because you're just a kid. And I'm not going to just stand by and watch as a kid gets thrown in prison. You got a name?" asked Alex.

The baby dragons quickly looked away with an upset look on his face, "No, I don't have a name."

"Huh, just like me." said the cat from below.

"No name?" said Alex, "Didn't your parents give you a name?"

"They abandoned me when I was still in my egg, I've lived my life alone." said the dragon.

"You know," Alex began, "I was alone when I first arrived here in Equestria. I had no one by my side, I felt like I would never find my place here."

"You were alone too?" asked the dragon.

"Yes, but...I guess I began to make a new family for myself here in Equestria. Soon I had adopted a child and now she keeps me so busy, but she does bring a smile to my face. And right now, you need my help like she did when I first met her." he said with a smile. "Still, I need to call you something." Alex began to think, "I know! What if I call you...Draco?"

"I never had a name before, Draco...I like it!" he said with a smile.

"Well what do you know? He does smile." said Alex as he gave him a goofy smile.

"Shut up!" he said with an embarrassed look on his face, "A family, I never knew what it was like to have a family. I tried desperately to find a family willing to give me a chance to be a part of theirs, but they all just tossed me away."

"Would you like to know how it feels?" asked Alex as he lowered the dragon to his feet and put his hoof out.

"Y-you're willing to give me a chance?" asked Draco.

"Yeah, but it's going to come at a cost with everything that you've done to these ponies in Ponyville. I'll do my best to make them go easy on you though."

"Wh-what do I have to do?"

"Alright, get ready because this is where it gets complicated."

~~~~~

Up in Canterlot, Spike was in the Celestia's throne room with the girls behind him. Things weren't looking good for him; multiple witnesses had spoken against him. Twilight still felt troubled about leaving everything to Alex. Not only that but Applejack couldn't help but feel bad since and Rainbow refused to speak to her, Rarity, or Fluttershy until she knew why Alex only let them into his study room. She knew she couldn't tell her the truth because she promised not to, but she didn't want to lose their friendship either. She had no choice now, if she wanted to stop their friendship from falling apart, then she had to break her promise with Alex.

"Girls, there's something ah got to tell ya." said Applejack.

Twilight turned her head back, "Not right now Applejack, we need to give Spike our support right now."

Applejack took in a deep breath, "I need to tell you girls the truth about why Alex has been spending so much time in his study room."

Rarity gasped, "Applejack! We promised him that we would keep it a secret!"

Twilight became curious, "Secret? What are you talking about?"

"We have to Rarity," said Applejack, "Alex has been spending too much time in that room, and it's because we were never there for him when we should've been. Alright girls, listen up." Applejack began to explain everything that has happened to Alex up to that point. Even Fluttershy decided to tell them about Alex's nightmares that had been occurring recently. The girl's expressions became that of worry, except for Luna. After Applejack and Fluttershy had finished telling them everything, Luna left the group and headed out of the doorway without them noticing.

"I can't believe he's been going through all of that, and he's been keeping us in the dark about all of it." said Twilight as she her head began to drop. "He's been going through so much and yet we've done nothing to help him!"

Applejack put her hoof on her shoulder, "You didn't know Twilight, you can't blame yourself."

"But I should have known! I live with him so I spend the most time with him and yet I didn't know any of these things! You girls even know more about him then I do! I was in charge of him, I should have noticed something was wrong earlier! I feel like such a failure, how else could this day go wrong?"

"Spike the dragon!" began Celestia, "You were given to Twilight Sparkle many years ago and I watched as you grew into such a fine dragon. Hearing that you have stooped so low as to steal form others is very upsetting. It brings me no pleasure to do this to you Spike, but I'm afraid that I have no choice but to find you..."

"Not guilty!" shouted a voice as the doors opened wide.

"Prince Alexis, what are you doing here?" asked Celestia.

Alex began walking toward her, "Oh come on! Seriously?! After all the letters I sent you to stop calling me that? Tch! Well anyways, I'm here to prove Spike innocent Princess Celestia! For you see, Spike cannot possibly be the culprit behind all of the robberies!"

"Oh? And why is that?" asked Celestia.

"Simple," he began, "The fire used to break in. Everypony I asked said that the culprit used a 'red' flame to burn through the windows. Spike breathes green fire, not red. Plus, one of the residents told me that the culprit 'glided' across her room and over her head. For this to be possible the robber in question would need wings in order to glide, Spike has no wings to glide with. Lastly, the criminal needs motivation, a reason for wanting to steal from other ponies. The criminal has been stealing these items to make a profit by selling them, but Spike has no need for money because Twilight gives him everything he'd ever need."

"Well then, it seems that we have another criminal in Ponyville then?" asked Celestia.

"That is correct your highness." said Alex with a nod. "And I am happy to tell you that I have found the true criminal!"

"You have the true criminal with you?!" asked Celestia.

"Of course. Bring him out!" said Alex as the guards entered with Draco. The six ponies on the side just glared at the mean looking dragon.

"So you are the dragon that has been stealing from Ponyville, then I'm afraid I will be showing you no mercy then." said Celestia as she prepared to call in the royal guards until Alex put his hoof up.

*Ahem!* "Sorry to burst your bubble Princess Celestia but...I may have already declared his punishment." said Alex.

"I beg your pardon? You did what?"

"Well you see, according to your guards I had to do something about him. Because of a certain little floating light bulb, I was apparently the highest form of authority around at the time so they left his punishment to me. Of course this was after that building full of sacred powder exploded."

"Exploded?! That sacred powder is..." Celestia began.

"Is something that shouldn't exist here. Not only that but I'm a little concerned as to how you came across it."

"But the items that Draco has stolen, he still must be punished for his crimes." said Celestia.

"Not necessary, for he has returned all stolen items. He was a little stubborn about it at first, but I managed to convince him to return everything. It seems that building had a hidden cellar down below so all of the items were safe from the fire." said Alex.

"Very well, in that case I have faith that you have chosen an appropriate punishment for this thief?" asked Celestia.

"I like to think so. I've decided that this dragon will have to serve under me for the time being."

"Serve under you?!" asked Celestia in shock. "Prince Alexis, I ask you to reconsider! He is a thief! It would not be wise to have him around."

"Princess Celestia, he is only a child whose had nobody in his life to teach him right from wrong! I feel that after much time he could grow up to be a proud and noble dragon. Besides, I already have a thief living under my roof. What's wrong with adding another?"

"Very well, I shall allow this for the time being. But I will request that you send me updates on the dragons progress, I will be watching."

"Thank you Princess Celestia." said Alex as he bowed his head. Oh god, that was the most stressful thing I have ever done! Giving a speech is hard, arguing with a princess is unimaginably difficult. I'm just glad that's over with.

"No...not yet."

No! This can't be happening now! I...have to get back to Ponyville...fast! "I will take my leave now Princess Celestia, come now Draco. We must be off." said Alex as they left the castle together.

Twilight and the others followed behind him but they didn't say anything to each other on their way out. They didn't know to say, they felt at a loss. The train ride back to Ponyville was a quiet one, Twilight knew that they would have to talk once they got back home. The train had arrived in Ponyville and they began making their way toward the library, Draco was still a little nervous about living with ponies as his family. Finally they had arrived at the library and when they had entered Alex's room they found Luna inside with five of her royal guards with her.

"What's with the guards Luna?" asked Alex as he moved towards the center of the room.

"SEIZE HIM!" shouted Luna as two of her guards leaped forward and pinned Alex down.

"What are you doing?!" asked Alex as he tried to fight the guards off of him.

"Princess Luna?! What are you doing?!" asked Twilight.

"Keep them back!" shouted Luna as another guard rushed over and kept them from getting any closer.

"Alex!" shouted Scootaloo she tried to run to him.

"Seize the girl!" shouted Luna. "Take the dragon as well!" Two more guards ran toward them and took Scootaloo and Draco from Alex.

"Stop, what are you doing to them?!" shouted Alex as he struggled for his freedom.

"Scootaloo will be taken back to the orphanage and the dragon will be taken to prison for his crimes." said Luna.

"What, what are you talking about?!" asked Alex. "I've already talked about it with Celestia! Why are you doing this?!"

"Simple, your friends Applejack and Fluttershy told us everything. About your nightmares, the visions you had of the future. I'm afraid I have no choice but to remove you permanently. You are too dangerous to have around other ponies." said Luna as she turned to Applejack,

"You did the right thing by telling us the truth girls."

Alex turned his head, "You told them?! How could you?!"

"Ah swear ah didn't mean for any of this to happen!" said Applejack.

"We...we were just trying to help!" said Fluttershy.

Luna began walking towards Alex, "That's enough you two. I cannot believe the Gospel thought this plan would work in the first place!"

"Plan?" said Alex, "What plan?"

Luna looked down at him, "The plan of having you live here in Ponyville with them of course. The girls believed that if they pretended to be your friends then you would've opened up your heart and you would get your element to activate. It was all just an act from the very beginning. They never truly wanted to be your friends."

"No! That's not true!" said Twilight.

"So you mean...they aren't really my friends?" Alex once again turned his head towards them, "You were just using me?! All of you?! Everything was just a lie?!" He focused his attention to Twilight. "Those words you said to me...you were lying?" Alex's anger began to grow. "I knew it was all a lie! I could never have true friends! You were just using me! All of you!"

"No Alex! We weren't lying!" shouted Twilight, "We are your friends! We never meant to-"

"Shut up!" shouted Alex, "I hate all of you! I can't believe I ever thought I could trust any of you! I've been used by others my whole life because I was too nice, but now...now..."

"Yes...Yes! Open the door! Let me out! LET ME BE FREE!!!"

His eyes began to glow a dark purple as the bandage on his eye flew off, "I WON'T LET ANYONE USE ME EVER AGAIN!!!" Suddenly his horn began to glow and dark magic erupted from his horn creating a shock wave that ended up blowing everypony away and covering the room in darkness. Alex took this chance to grab Scootaloo and run out of the library. Scootaloo was unconscious from the sudden outburst of magic that erupted from his horn

"Wait up!" shouted a voice from behind him. It was Draco, he began running after Alex. "Don't leave me behind; I have nowhere else to go!"

"Can I trust you?" asked Alex.

"You know you can, I was never a part of that plan they were talking about to begin with. I'm with you all the way." said Draco.

"Then get on! We're leaving Ponyville!" shouted Alex as he lowered his head. "Make sure Scootaloo doesn't fall off." He began running at top speeds through the streets of Ponyville, but he stopped as a figure suddenly got in his way.

"Hello there boy, I believe you have something of mine and I think it's time you give it back." said the figure.

Alex looked at the figure, "Well look at what we have here. I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed your face. It's an honor to finally meet you, Doctor Whooves."

"Likewise" said the doctor, "Let's go for a small chat shall we? But not here, let's talk somewhere outside of Ponyville."

"Gladly, lead the way then doctor." said Alex as he began to follow the Doctor.

Back at the library

*Cough! Cough!* "Where did he go?!" shouted Luna as the smoke began to clear. "Find him now!" Her guards quickly took to the skies and began searching for Alex. "I'm afraid I must leave you here girls, I must find him before he brings harm to others." Luna began to exit the library.

"W-what have we done?" asked Fluttershy.

"What do we do now?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What do we do?!"

"I-I don't know." said Twilight.

"Ah don't think there's anything we can do for him. It's...it's over." said Applejack.

"It...It's all our fault. This is because of us!" said Fluttershy as she began crying.

"No...no! We're his friends! We were only trying to help him...weren't we?" asked Applejack.

"Well there must be something we can do! We are his friends, right?!" said Rarity.

"Y-yeah! That's right!" shouted Rainbow, "Alex went out of his way for others whenever they needed help! Now we have to do the same for him! Fluttershy and I will look for him, if one of us finds him then that one will come back to get the rest!"

"Yes. You're right Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight, "Alex is in danger because we couldn't help in time, but this time we will save him! Are you all in?" Twilight put her hoof out.

"You can count on me!" said Rainbow.

"Absolutely!" said Rarity.

"Let's do this!" said Applejack.

"You bet!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Me too!" said Fluttershy.

Rainbow and Fluttershy took to the skies and began scanning the area for Alex while avoiding Luna's royal guards. Twilight and the rest went down into the basement and discovered that Alex's magic had caused his study room door to collapse. The four of them entered and began looking for anything that they could use to help them in their search. They found all of his research that he had done in the past couple of days; Twilight then discovered horrifying notes on the side. Not only that, but she also took notice of a drawer with a lock on it. She opened the lock only to discover a bottled potion with a single page next to it. The page contained a recipe from the Star Swirl the Bearded spell book for traveling between worlds.

Author's Note

HOORAY! The next chapteris finally here! So here are some important things I need to say, firstly no the fic is not being cancelled for anyone who just thought that was what I was going to say. What I AM going to say is that my recent editor had to quit because of time issues. He simply does not have the time of day anymore to edit, he barely has enough time to work on his own story. So basically that means the hunt for another editor is on! Now I've been busy with a side project as of late but now I will most likely have enough time to start working on this story again. No, you don't have to wait for me to write the next chapter, it's done, but I won't release it just yet. Right now I'm on chapter 15, and I have to finish that one. So for now please enjoy this, and look forward to more chapteres coming out real soon! And thank you for reading! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!