It had gotten dark by the time we had gotten into the castle. Thankfully, the lights on my helmet were still working so Nyx and I could see where we're going. While we were walking we decided to start up a conversation to pass the time.

"Umm, Garen?" Nyx asked, "what were those things?"

I had to think about it before answering. "I'm not entirely sure what those creatures are. But they definitely shared the same characteristics as that poor marine that we encountered back when Twilight and her friends found us and brought us to Ponyville. And as for those giant mechanical looking scorpions, your guess is as good as mine."

We continued on walking until we came across a doorway leading to a small room. Nyx and I decided to spend the night in there before we started exploring the castle proper. I let Nyx go in first and checked if anyone was following us before going in myself and closing the door. Once the doors were closed, I looked around the room we were in to see that there were some furnishings here and there, a small fireplace with a worn painting above it, and a couple of bookcases. For safety's sake I decided to move a couch in front of the door to ensure that no one get in while we were asleep. Once I've done that I looked over at Nyx who had taken to curling up on one of the chairs and was already fast asleep.

"Heh, guess the kind was tired from all the excitement."

I placed the duffle bag next to the other couch and took off my helmet. I rummaged through the supplies I've brought until I found two blankets.

Seems that buying two blankets for the trip turned out to be a good idea, even though I wasn't really expecting to have someone to come with me. I thought as I covered Nyx with one of the blankets before heading back to the couch and getting myself situated. Well, might as well get some rest while we can.

I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take over.

By the time I woke up, the sun was out, or at least I assumed it was as the room was now lit up with natural light. I looked around and found that Nyx was sitting on the floor reading one of the books from the shelves while helping herself with some pieces of dried fruit.

"Mornin' Nyx," I said as I got up, "did you sleep well?"

Nyx brought her head up and looked at me before answering. "Good morning. I did have a few nightmares, but I was able to sleep okay."

I frowned when she mentioned the word nightmares and couldn't help but give a worried expression. "And how long exactly have you been having these nightmares."

Nyx lowered her head a bit as if regretting having said that. I was about to change my mind and tell her she didn't have to tell me when she answered. "I-I guess I've been having them for a while now. I think after you, Twilight and the other's found me."

Now I was really worried and glad that she snuck into my bag without my knowledge.

"Nyx, what kind of nightmares have you been having?"

She was reluctant to answer, but steeled herself and looked me in the eye, "I-I've been having the same dream involving that dark man. I keep forgetting what exactly what is was that he did, but I always find myself in a really dark place with his eyes towering over me." She shivered as she told me this.

I scratched my head as I looked for something to say. "Well, I don't know what else to say, but you're safe now. That dark man can't hurt you anymore."

When she lowered her head again I got up and walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey, it's alright. I'm with you now aren't I. I wont let anyone hurt you." I paused for a moment before continuing, "you know what, I'm actually glad that you snuck in with me when I left Ponyville. But please don't do something like that again. Who knows what could've happened if things went wrong."

Nyx nodded and went back to reading her book while I went over to my duffle bag and took out a small loaf of bread and a canteen and helped myself.

"So, what book are you reading?" I asked as I took a bite of bread.

"Just a little something from the shelves," she replied after closing the book and putting it relatively where she got it, "I think Twilight would have a better time reading them than I would.

I chuckled as I finished off the bread and took a drink before packing everything up and putting on my helmet.

"So, ready to head out?"

Nyx nodded and so I moved the couch away from the door and opened it. I looked out and check if anyone or anything was there and motioned Nyx to follow me as the coast was clear. We came across some more rooms but haven't found anything of interest. At some point I started to hear voice somewhere down the next corridor.

"Stay here." I told Nyx as I set my bag down and pulled out the magnum. Walking along the wall, I slowly made my way to the corridor when I heard the voices getting louder. I had my gun out and when I came out from around the corner I was not expecting what I would find.

Meanwhile at Golden Oaks Library.

Twilight paced back and forth while her friends sat in various places.

"Come one Twi," Applejack said, "there should be nothing to fret about we'll find her."

"Yeah," Rainbow added, "I mean, it's not like she somehow snuck out to follow Garen or something like that."

After she said that Pinkie had a strange look in her eyes, causing Rarity to get suspicious.

"Pinkie," she said, giving the mare an accusing stare, "what did you do?"

Pretty soon all of the other ponies, including Spike, were looking in Pinkie Pie's direction.

"Okay, okay," Pinkie relented, "I may have helped Nyx with sneaking her into Garen's bag without him noticing."

At that Twilight teleported right in front of Pinkie Pie and came right on top of her. "Pinkie, do you know what you've just done?!?"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had to forcefully remove Twilight from Pinkie Pie before things got worse.

"Woah there sugar cube," Applejack said, trying to calm here friend, "No need to get all up in Pinkie's face like that."

"Yeah Twilight," Rainbow added, "I mean, if she's with Garen she should be in good hands."

Twilight sighed as she got herself to calm down. "I know, I had a feeling she would do something like this when Spike told me she went missing just when Garen left." She looked over at Pinkie with a confused look. "How'd you even get Nyx in his bag in the first place."

"Oh while you two were talking I snuck Nyx around behind him and stuffed her into his bag among his other stuff."

All of the other ponies gave her astonished looks.

"Well, least we know she's safe," Fluttershy piped in, "She is with Garen, so he should be able to take care of her."

Everyone else nodded, though Twilight gave Pinkie an accusing glare.

"Next time Pinkie, let us know if your going to do something like that again." Twilight told her

"Okie dokie lokie." Pinkie replied.

"I'm just glad that somepony had decided to pitch in and build a home for our human friend so he has a place to stay." Rarity chimed in, receiving nods from the other ponies and dragon.

"Ah reckon he'll be happy to find he will have his own place to stay in for the night." Applejack added, "uhh, no offence Twilight."

Twilight shook her head as she replied, "No, it's alright Applejack. After what happened before, I think it's better that he gets his own place to stay in. By the way, who exactly is doing this for him?"

Rarity tapped her hoof as she pondered, "they wouldn't say. I saw them start work down by the river a ways but they never bothered telling anypony who they were working for."

The other mare's gave each other nervous glances before Pinkie chimed in, "Well let's give him a surprise 'Welcome Back to Ponyville' party for when he gets back."

Everypony nodded in agreement.

"Oh, oh, I better go build a ramp before he comes back. Bye." At that Pinkie ran off leaving the other mares to stare confusedly as she ran out the door.

"Uh, anypony know what she was on about." Applejack asked, getting no answer from the other ponies in the room.

Soon everypony, save for Twilight and Spike, left the library to go back to their homes when Spike looked over to his friend, "Twilight, do you think she'll be alright?"

Twilight down at the baby dragon and nodded, "I'm sure she's fine. I wouldn't be surprised if he scolded her for it, but I'm confident he would keep her safe."

"But why wouldn't he bring her back to Ponyville?" Spike asked confused, "I mean, wouldn't he turn back to at least drop her off."

Twilight shook her head, "I think he didn't do that because he felt that doing so would mean that he would be coming back to Ponyville. So I'm guessing that he went ahead and kept her with him so he wouldn't have to come back. I'm pretty sure he'll keep her safe. It's not like he's some kind of jerk."

Spike shrugged as he walked off, "well if you say so."

Twilight walked up to her window and stared out to the sky. Please come back home safely.

Author's Note

And that's another chapter done. I'm going to leave it as a surprise as to what's going to happen next. And leave it to Pinkie Pie to help sneak Nyx get into Garen's Bag. As it stands, this is going to be separated into multiple parts where Garen tries to find out what exactly is going on. There will be some odd encounters as well as a few scary ones which will get pretty nasty at some point. Anyway, I hope you guys are still enjoying this story as I'm having fun writing it.

Also, let me know of any errors that I might have left. I'm having a funny feeling that there may be a few that I haven't caught, so let me know.

Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke.