The Red Light King: Carolus Rex.

Ch.7: Know your team, it helps in the long run...

(Twilight Sparkle, present time...)

I.... I can't believe this.... I mean, none of it makes sense! How could Princess Celestia I know be such a spoiled brat back then!? This is too much to actually take in... I think... I might need to rest my head a little...

"Hey, purple girl, you alright there?" I heard Rex ask, but I was already losing focus... So tired... "Oh, she's gonna faint..."

(Carolus Rex, after Twilight keeled over....)

"Well, that's not good." I said flatly. "Can we get someone to take her to the sickbay?"

"What the hay!?" Rainbow shouted. "I can't believe this!"

"Which one: the fact I won? Or...?"

"Well, yeah, the first one!" She pointed out. "I mean, how can someone like you, beat the princess?"

"Simple, I just outsmarted her in ways none of you Ponies will ever understand. Besides, when it comes to us humans, we're very destructive, if need be." I told her. "This isn't rocket science. As a matter of fact, I doubt you know what that means."

"Um... I don't know what this rocket science thing is, but I guessing that's a metaphor for saying that it isn't very complexed."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Not bad for a lazy jockey."

"Hey!" She glared at me for that little remark.

"Whatever, anything else?" I waved it off and pushed things along. Don't want to be stuck in one place for too long.

"Oh, and Twilight fainting on us!"

"Oh! Well in that case, I agree with you on that." After saying that, a couple of maids ran in and carried the unconscious Princess of... Friendship? Was it?? Well, either way, sounds a bit sucky to me. Only because you don't necessarily need to be a princess to get such a... Weird title.

Speaking of which. "Hey Tia?"

"Yes?" She replied.

"Your ex-student is a useless ball-bags." If anyone of you know what I mean about that last one, holy shit, you are amazing! Because this isn't rocket science.

"Hey! It's not my fault she is so obsessed with completing tasks sent by me!" Tia retorted.

I just rolled my eyes at this. "Yeah, I bet you give her all of the things you, yourself, should've been doing."

"I tried them once, a lifetime ago..."

"How? By sealing the problems away?" She didn't reply at first, which actually made me remember what happened to both Tirek and Dizzy after their defeat. Groaning at this, the next thing I said was gonna probably break Tia, but this needs to be said. "Tia, I'm getting all the more disappointed with how you're handling things."

"Like you're one to talk..." Tia muttered quietly, but she realised that I was right next to her, so I heard it.

"Oh really? Since when do I seal away my problems?" I snapped at her, and was pretty annoyed by her remark. "Go on. Take a piss out on me, and see what happens."

"Rex, you left us..."

"Yes. I did. I won't deny that. But even you lot can't deny that, not only did you fail me, you failed yourselves." I said darkly. "What the hell happen to you, the team I managed, built, maintained, disciplined, that made you fall apart?" No answer was given, because there was no excuses made, only mistakes. "You don't necessarily need me for everything. You are all capable of using your initiative to solve them, especially the task I left for all of you to carry out." I know I'm turning over to the cold-hearted side of things, but that is the truth I'm seeing here, and all I'm doing is giving them that one simple crucial detail that let them faulter from when I was gone. They let their self-doubt dictate their mental capacity of deciding what to do next.

"... I'm sorry...so sorry."

Sighing, I told her this. "Tia, don't be sorry. Don't even say that. The only thing I need you all to do for me right now, when we get the time, is to set things straight. That's all I want from you. Square away all the wrongs and I'll be a happy man. But if you decide on taking a piss out of it, watch out. Because when I catch you doing something else, that's not work-related, we'll be doing some C.T." That got them all cringing at the very thought of Corrective Training, because I used this method on the lot back then, when they decided on taking a piss out on our sessions. Sometimes I even have to give a couple of them some individual punishments, and by that, I mean E.T.; Extra Training. At least the Arena was beginning to be used every now and then for this kind of stuff. Fun times I called it back then, and I still do.

"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy spoke up. "Rex, sorry to bother you with this, but, what is C.T.?"

"Oh that? That means Corrective Training. It's a punishment I give out to them, if they did something wrong. While at the same time, it's very rewarding." I answered her.

"Wait a minute, are y'all saying that ya gave them extra training?" Applejack said.

I shook my head. "No, Extra Training is based on individual punishment only. Corrective Training is based the whole company to take part, all because of that one person who muck it up for the rest. But Extra Training is slightly more on the punishable side of things, because the lack of self-discipline." I explained. "With these two tactics at my disposal, I can basically make them hurry it up. It also falls under how well they can make their timings."

"Wow, you sound like a Drill Instructor, or something like that." Rainbow commented.

"More like a Drill Sergeant if you ask me." Rarity suggested. "From the sound of things, he must have been very strict with all of them."

"Yes, I was very strict with them. Firm, but Fair. It was the only way I can get them into line and work as a team." I said to them.

"Hey! That sounds like you were running your very own army!" Pinkie shouted out. "Are you sure you weren't in the military back then?"

"Well, I was interested into joining the army back then. But then I lost it. Somehow though, during my time here, I found it again." I said.

"Honey, don't you think we should continue onward with the story? Twilight may not be here, but we shouldn't diddle anymore then we should be." Dizzy asked, and he has a point.

"You're right, we should be..."

(Carolus Rex, waking from his sleep the next day....)

"Urgh, my head..." I groaned out painfully from the major headache I was getting. Sitting myself up on the bed, I checked my surroundings, to see if anyone was around. Hoping to see the Royals youngest, Luna, it seems she has left me alone. "Well, she did her part. I need to make it up to her..."

"Aww... How nice of you to do so!" What the hell!? Jumping to my...hooves, I was looking about to find the intruder. "Wow, talk about being paranoid..." Wait a minute... Where have I heard that voice before?

"Discord?" I asked, if it really was him.

"Yay! You remember me!" He shouted before appearing in front of me. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got ran over by a fuckton of trucks, continuously. That's how I'm feeling, ball-bags." I answered him, ruefully.

He cringed away from my harshness. "Alright, alright! Calm down, and let me help you with that." He offered, but I was very reluctant to let him near me. "Do you want to get a migraine afterwards? Just trust me, or at least try to."

"That's the thing, you're a being of Chaos." I snapped my answer.

"Yes, yes, I know. But right now, our Leader is still feeling under the weather. And I'm the only one here that has to help him." After that, he reaches out with his lions paw. "All he needs to do is trust me and accepts my good intentions." Well, he has a point there. I'm no good if I'm not switched on. Nodding, I grabbed his paw and he clicked his eagle claws. I can already tell my head was much better. "There you go! Good as new!"

"Yeah, I actually feel great. Thanks. And I meant it." I said to him as I let go of his paw. But he didn't. "Huh? What is it?" I asked him.

"Well, it's just that you slept through dinner, and that it's 6 in the morning." He answered me.

"Damn, I was out like a light."

"Oh, most certainly!" He chirped.

"Well, I'm gonna need to take a shower." With that said, he lets go of me, and I went over to my chest to grab some fresh clothes. Selecting what I want to wear, I headed towards the bathroom and started to wash off the sweat and grime from yesterday's wannabe fight. Seriously, I'm gonna make that girl do a lot of Physical Training. Actually, most of them needs it, excluding Luna and Discord, for obvious reasons. Finishing up, I dried myself off and dressed up for today, I came out to find that Discord has brought me breakfast. Or was it yesterday's dinner? Could be both?

"Before you ask, it's breakfast, and I made this just for you." He told me.

"OK, cool." I nodded and walked up to it, sat down, and dug right into it.

"My, someone sure is hungry today." Discord commented.

"Yeah... Ever since I got this new form... I've been getting a bit more hungrier all of a sudden." I said between bites.

"Well, you're definitely gonna need it for today, especially with what they got planned." I don't like the sound of that.

"What is it?"

"Study, that's what we've been doing for so long! We rarely get to use the Arena for anything really!" Upon hearing this, I stopped eating my last bit of food, and stared up at him. Dumbfounded by this. "Yeah, I know, unbelievable."

"... I'm going to have a talk with them." I stated. Taking my last bite, I finished my breakfast, got up, and walked out of my room.

"Um... Are you sure about that's a good idea?" With Discord following behind me. "I'm not sure they would let you--"

"They will let me talk to them, because I'm in charge of managing the lot of you." I told him, cutting him off from finishing. "Besides, they can't deny me on what I have in mind."

"Well, If you insist." He said as we reached their Office. I was about to knock on the door, but they open up and my field of vision was blindsided by white fur... Wait, this is... Oh god have mercy on thy soul! Get me out of here!

"Oh my gosh! Rex!" Yep, this is definitely Gaia's upperclass trove I'm stuck in between... Can't... Breathe...!!

"Rex, hold on!" Discord... Oh thank GOD! Air! Sweet merciful air! "Just breathe, just breathe it in!" Discord told me while he held me in his arms.

"Oh... Oh man! Thanks Discord, you're a life-saver!" Once again, I thanked him.

"No problem." He smiled at me when he said that, but frowned as he looked up at an extremely flustered Queen. "And just what was that all about?" Whoa... Where did that come from? What got him so pissed off?

"I-I'm so sorry, Rex! I swear I didn't mean to do that on purpose!" Gaia said, in a...pleading manner?

"Whoa, hey! Let's all just calm down, take a breather, and move along. It was an accident, nothing more. OK?" Nodding quickly, she came over and help me up. Although, she also pulled me into a tight hug, but on the bright side, I was suffocating anymore. Prying myself from her bear hug, I tidy myself up before saying. "Hey, can I speak with you lot about today?"

"Oh, and what might that be?" She inquired.

"The Arena. Why have any of you not used it so often? It seems like a waste of time to just study." I told her straight up, not really liking how they neglect such a master piece, one that can literally put the Oculus Rift, or any kind of VR tech, to shame. 100Xs over, might I add.

She seemed a bit hurt by this. "Rex, what makes you think we don't let them use it at their own choice?"

"Well, they never knew they could. Feels as if one of you are keeping them pin down, in the books." I was starting to dislike this more and more, seeing as how things were going on. "Look, your highness, I'm not one for reading old textbooks, because things don't stay the same. So, as of now, I want to use the Arena for some Physical Training. And I'm not taking 'No' for an answer." I firmly stated.

"Rex, come in here please." That must be Solaris. Well, let's see what he thinks. Moving pass Gaia and inside, I took a seat at the front of his desk. "Now..." He spoke. "I understand that you're not happy with us not putting enough efficiency into the Arena. But there's a reason."

"Oh really? I can't wait to hear this, and it better be a good one." I snapped at him.

Sighing, he was about to say something, but didn't. Not because someone interrupted us. Rather, Solaris seems to be at a lost. Odd, he never came off as that kind of guy. "This...is actually frustratingly complicating than what I imagine..."

"Just tell me to your best abilities." I simply said, we got time. A lot of time.

"OK. There are a few reasons, with you being one of them..."

"Wait, did I nearly break it, or something?" I asked, feeling a tad bit fearful about the thought.

"No! No that's not really it!" He reassured me. "It's what you did yesterday, that got us really thinking. You showed us just how far we can actually go with magic!"

I rolled my eyes at this. "Sheesh! What did you guys expect? I mean, Star Swirl created a virtual-reality system with magic. That should've been a really big indicator on how far you can go, especially with some ambitious projects."

"We know, it's just that we fear for things, like these, will get turned into something worse."

"Ah! That one. Legitimate enough." I said. "It's reasonable enough, but unfortunately that's how things go, no matter what. But if you give it just one purpose, you'll be fine." I probably should've saw that kind of thing. There's always going to be one being wanting to change this, into that, instead of keeping it as it is made to be.

I better keep an eye out for that. For their sake, I hope none of these events come true.

With a big sigh of stress-free relief, Solaris explained more about their other worries. Apparently, there is a major risk of having all of them in the Arena that the same time. If all of them were to max-out, the whole thing will crash down, or worse, it'll start fighting back. The latter I found impossible, because the Arena wasn't artificially intelligent, it's basically their very first computer they built. But knowing this, they'll definitely need to put in some fail-safes. The rest were just minor details we can patch up first, before moving to the bigger problem. Simple, yet complex.

"... Alright, that's just about everything you need to know. You can't use the Arena. For whatever purpose." Solaris stated as his final word.

"Yes sir..." I nodded.

"Today, you'll be studying, like everyone else. But me and Gaia will be taking you through, while Star Swirl teaches the rest." I was quite surprised by this. I mean, I'll be spending the whole day with the Royals! That's...pretty weird. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool and all, but don't they got some royal duties they need to fulfil? Or do they have someone covering for them? Actually, they never did told me anything about that stuff.

Whatever, not important, no more questions. Let's just get to learning...

(5 hours later...)

"OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH........ This is so boring!" I whined, while throwing my arms up and falling onto my back.

"What? I thought you wanted to learn how our world works?" Gaia asked me.

"Honey, I think you may be just shoving it all in at once. That's not a good thing to go by learning and teaching." Well, at least Solaris understands. Then again, we're both males. "Let's take a break, this is starting to give me a headache."

"Finally!" I shouted in anticipation and excitement, as I jumped up to my hooves. "Can we please do some P.T.? I want to stretch out my muscles and get the blood pumping!"

Solaris laughed at my enthusiasm. "Well, by all means, let's go." We were about to, but...

"Hold it right there, you two!" Gaia didn't seem too pleased with this. "We're not done here yet!"

"Oh c'mon!" I shouted in annoyance. "Can we just do something pro-active!?"

"Enough!" Solaris commanded. "Now Gaia, what is the problem here? This is clearly not working for the boy, and I rather have him in a happy mood."

She scoffed at that. "As if that wasn't obvious. Unfortunately, you can't go about punching holes through walls, just to get what you want!" What the hell does that suppose to mean!? "Well, if this isn't it, then how about we have him talk to his team!? I mean, the more he knows about them, just as they will start to learn a thing or two about him. The more likely they'll get along with each other the better!"

You know, she might be onto something! Maybe I can learn about the team more, that way, we won't be jumping down each other's throats. But who do I start off with? Musing over this, Solaris looked my way. "Seems we are all in agreement." He commented. "We'll talk to Star Swirl about this. Hopefully he wouldn't mind this method."

"If he does, I'll kick his old wrinkling ass. He'll be held responsible for getting in the way of progress." I spoke my mind. "Besides, he can't do much to argue with this idea..."

"Absolutely not!"

"What the fuck old man!?"

"Silence!" Oh this is just perfect! The elderly geezer won't give way to Gaia's idea, because he's worried about the possibility of me going all psychopathic on each and every one of them!

"Star Swirl!" Gaia spoke up next. "Just what is the meaning of this!? Do you not see the logic in this plan I thought of, that we all agreed to!?"

"That's just it!" He shouted back, before pointing at me. "Leaving him with them is not the wisest thing to do! Have you forgotten what he did yesterday!?"

"Bring that subject up, and I swear to GOD I'll rip your tongue out..." I sneered at him, which made him flinch and back paddled from me a bit.

Solaris sighed at this. "Star... We're doing this. I don't care what happened yesterday. All that matters is the here and now! With, or without your approval." Staring at the king as if he has gone mad, I rolled my eyes at this and left the room. Not my problem anyway, if the old man can't move on forward, like the rest of us.

Walking back to my room, I open it to find both Discord and Luna inside. Were they waiting for me? Raising a brow, I asked them. "What are two doing in here?"

Luna answered. "Waiting for you. We wanted to ask some questions."

I nodded. "That's cool with me. Your mother, Gaia, suggested the same thing." Walking over to my bed, I sat down at its edge, and the two came over. "So, who wants to know what about me?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Me first!" Discord exclaimed as he came up to my face. Has he not been told about respecting other people's personal spacing? I'll have to fix that. "OK, so, what's your real name? I know Carolus Rex isn't--" I place a hand over his mouth and clench it shut. If anything, he was just asking for trouble with these personal questions.

Glaring down at him, I told him off. "First off, don't go trying to pry into my previous life. My real name is of no importance, whatsoever. Understand?" Nodding his head frantically, I shoved him back, forcefully, just so he gets the message. "And for that, you won't be asking anymore questions until I say so. Got it?"

"B-b-but--!"

"DON'T MAKE ME FUCKING REPEAT MYSELF!!! AND DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!!!!" I growled at him, and he just quickly slid underneath my bed. He even made the entire damn thing quiver in fear with him.

"Um... Rex?" Looking down at Luna, she was looking pretty scared of me now. Which made me feel like a complete dick.

Sighing, I shook my head. "I'm sorry Luna. But perhaps I should have laid down some ground rules." I said to her. "Right now, my previous lifetime is of no importance, nor my kind. I'm not doing this out of spite, I'm doing this to keep both sides safe..."

"Safe? From each other?" She asked, and I nodded at her questions. "But why? Did we do something wrong?"

"No. Perhaps I should have worded that out properly. But it's more to the point of keeping my race a secret, that way, you lot are safe." She tilted her head to the side at that. Sighing again, I explained to her. "It's just that the things Humanity has done, can be very influential upon your kind, or any other in this world of yours. Most of it bad, while some are beneficially good."

Gasping at this, she asked. "But, why have there been so many bad things happening!?"

"What did I just say Luna?"

"Sorry...." She apologised and I forgiven her. After that, I asked her about herself and her older sister, in which I put in the hospital. Apparently, Celestia was never like the way she acted, at all. She was kind, well mannered, caring, and the like. But then all of a sudden things started to change, when they were growing up, especially when this team was formed a long time ago. Luna even told me about Discord being the only one of his kind, a Draconequus. No one knows how he came to be, nor could they find any trace of his people. What they did learn, is that the Draconequus are the embodiment of all things Chaos. Although they do believe he'll try to find them, one day. I'll have to keep an eye on him...

"So, Rex, now that you know us three, are you going to ask the others of our team?" Luna asked me.

"Yes. That is the plan after all." Standing up, I walked over to the door. But before opening it, I looked back at her. "C'mon, let's go. Can't stay in here all cooped up, you might turn into a shut-in, and that's bad for your health." Now, I meant that as a joke, but she took it to heart. Running towards me, she turn back to face my bed, where Discord was still hiding under. "Hurry up you dumbass, get out of there! I don't want anyone in my room when I'm not in it!"

At lighting speed, he zoomed out from under and out of my room. Don't know where he went, but I don't care what he does, as long as he doesn't get himself into trouble. Locking the door behind me, we went about, to see if we can find any of the others. Soon enough, we found Sombra walking the halls with some books floating beside him, as he takes down notes. As much as I appreciate one of them having brains, I also want him to at least get his head out of the books. Seems he haven't notice us, walking up to him, Sombra got quite the fright when he finally saw us, which made him lose focus and dropped his books.

"ACK! H-hey, don't go around scaring ponies like that! I nearly got a heart attack!" He shouted, as he got down to pick up his books. "But, since you're here, Rex. You probably want to know what my life was before coming here. Correct?"

"Yes." I simply answered.

Sighing, he got back up and indicated us to follow him. A few moments later we arrived at a Library, which was no surprise, I was suspecting he would come back here. Where else would you find books most of the time? Looking about the place, I notice that there isn't any other pony in here, or anywhere else for that matter.

Walking over to one of the tables, he placed his stuff down and took a seat. Checking the place one more time, just to be sure we are the only ones here, me and Luna took our seats as well. Clearing his voice, Sombra spoke. "Alright, so, since you want to know, I'll tell you. I'm a native of a kingdom called, The Crystal Empire..."

"I've read a little bit about that place." I said to him. "Isn't it further up north? How is it that your people survived the cold?"

"Well, we placed a magical barrier, when we were establishing ourselves there. It's actually a hotspot full of crystals and other sorts of minerals. The barrier itself was also tuned to turn us into crystal ponies as well." He explained.

"Well, that takes care of it. So what about yourself?"

"Oh right! Believe or not, I'm a chosen heir to the throne."

"So wait a minute, you mean to say that you've been made a prince." I was surprised by this, seeing that nearly all of us are royals.

"Yes, I am. But I was just an orphan, never really knew my parents. Then one day, the Empress came and raised me...." His life story was rather interesting. To think, that this guy was orphaned, probably by birth, wondering the streets, alone. But then faith would have it that he'd be more. It also explains about his.... Obsession.... With books. The Empress, his adopted mother, brings him to the kingdoms public library, every now and then. A bonus for his mother to get out and mingle with her people. Although, when he was declared the rightful heir, a certain General strongly opposed to this decision, even going so far as to attempt an assassination on his life. But seeing as how much of an epic fail that must have been, he was exiled and never seen anywhere else. Most likely dead by now. But that's everyone's assumption, you'll never truly know about that one persons fate. Sometime later, Star Swirl came around at the Empress request, to take Sombra as his apprentice. Not only that, but Star Swirl seem to also have made Sombra an Immortal. I don't know what kind of magic he used, or how much, it could have most likely been fatal.

"Jesus! You guys got some Pretty interesting lives..." I commented.

"And you're saying you don't?" Sombra said. "Why is that? Surely you must have done something extraordinary in your life." The moment he said that, I basically just glare at him, which made him flinch. "Okay..... I'm cutting it a bit too close for your comfort here, aren't I?"

"Yes. That you are." I told him coldly, before speaking to him normally again. "Well, if anything, I think you might be one of the hardest to get some co-operation from you." He looked at me in confusion, but I didn't give him the chance to ask me for some elaboration. "We will discuss this later, when our team is all assembled." With that, me and Luna left him be, going about the place.

"Okay... Where to now, Luna?" I asked her.

"Um... I would say we go see Chrysalis. But she wouldn't want to be bothered with." Rolling my eyes at this, I know for a fact that she'll probably be the second most spoiled princess of all. And we all know who's first. "Maybe we should go see Tirek." Nodding, she leaded us to his dorm.

Upon arrival, his door was slightly open, hearing grunts and...was he counting? "...288...289...290..." Yep, he's busy doing weights in there. Knocking on the door, we waited for a response and he came answering it. "Yes, who is... Oh!" Opening it up, he was stunned to see us. "Well, now this is a surprise."

"Mind if we come in Tirek?" I asked him, and he shook his head and let us through. His room...man, it's almost set up like a gym in here! I could probably ask him to train me on this kind of stuff.

"Sorry about the mess. I would have had this place cleaned up, if I knew you were coming." He said in an apologetic manner.

"It's fine. Besides, you got time? I want to get to the team I'll be leading from here on in." I told him my reasons of being here.

Tirek smiled and gave a nod. "Sure. Although, have you talked to the others? The ones you didn't hospitalized."

I scoffed at that, before giving a little snicker. "Well, Luna over here told me about both Discord and Celestia. We've seen Sombra before coming here. As for Chrysalis, Luna said not to bother with her."

He sighed at that last part. "Of course. Chrysalis tends to be some other pony, just for...fun."

"I'm not liking this personality, no characteristics, of hers one bit."

Tirek looked at me inquisitively. "You're going set up some strict rules once you get to know us. Aren't you?"

I nodded at this. "Yes. Because I don't tolerate bullshit from any dumbass."

"Well, you may want to take a seat. You're not gonna like what I'm about to tell you..." And told me, he did. Tirek can't remember much about his race, other than the fact they're dead. From what he was told, when they found him as a baby, among the ruins of a once great, yet infamous empire. His people were once a proud warrior race, but then something went wrong. No one knew how, or why, but it happened, something turned an entire race into monsters. The Centaurs went on a bloodied rampage throughout any and all, and this lasted for over 700 years.

The first few years of it, where they were unstoppable, until the Pony-Centaur war started when they crossed the border into their lands. At first the Centaurs thought they were winning it, turns out they were wrong. Ponykind were only luring them further inland to launch a counterattack. During the war, it was going back and fore, until a stalemate was made. Eventually, the Ponies gain the upper hand and began pushing into the Centaurs lands. But even then, the Centaurs were building a weapon of some sort. All that they knew it was built for causing mass destruction. Finding it wasn't hard, getting to it was, since it was within the heart of their capital. After reaching to it though, they activated the weapon, not knowing what it would do. And if you think that the squad that made it there, overloaded the weapon, and got out of there with their lives intact.... You'd be half right.

You see, that's not how things work. True, they stop weapon from firing, but this...was a one-way trip. Every living soul in that city, was blown into oblivion. Those that were just outside the blast radius witnessed something that would have been seen as Armageddon. So many lives, lost within a blink of an eye. The Royals declared that ruined city as a mass graveyard, so they placed a barrier around it. Although, while they were doing that, they heard something they never thought possible: crying. Following it, that's when they found Tirek, in the arms of his, supposedly, deceased mother. No one knew how he'd survived, nor did they cared, they just went in there, paying their respects, slowly removed him, and headed on back to the Everfree Castle. After a full diagnostics check, he was in the clear. At least, that's what they thought. There are those who believed him to be a threat, or become a threat, just like his kind. Thinking he was no exception to whatever tainted evil that possessed him.

If I'm being honest right now, I have this distinct impression of conflicting emotions. On one hand, I felt the need to actually kill him, right then and there. The other, well, just to keep an eye on him and see where this will take us all. If anything, I think both the King and Queen have something to do with this. I guess the latter will have to do, because I'm not sure if I could bring myself to kill Tirek. I only just met him after all.

"... And that's all of what you needed to know. At least, that's what I've known for all my life." Tirek was finish with his life story, although he also seemed drained from talking about it. Not that I blame him. Checking the time, it was already half-past 12. "My... Time flies by quick."

"So it seems. Do you think we've missed out on lunch?" I asked. Knowing how this whole thing works, it's probably three course meals a day, with little snacks in between them.

Tirek shook his head. "No. On some occasions, they'll play this whistle tone to let us know..." As he explained, a certain whistle was playing out of nowhere. "Like that. Now we'll be needed in the mess hall." Getting up and walking out, the two of them lead me towards the mess hall.

While making our way there, I thought back on that whistle tone of theirs, something about it sounds familiar, perhaps a reference to something back home? Oh fuck it! I'll figure it out at a later date. Right now, my stomach demanded food! Reaching a big set of doors, Tirek pushed them open to reveal a modest, refined dining room. Well, I'm still calling it the Mess hall. Sitting at the table were none other then the King, Queen, and that old fart of an Arch Mage. Sombra was seated next to Star Swirl, seemingly discussing a few things. I'm not one for caring about something like that, it's not my thing. Discord seems a little tad nervous when he saw me, but tries to put on a brave face.

Taking our seats, we sat next to Luna's parents, and it seems Celestia is still hospitalized. Looking around and about, we appear to be one short. "Where's Chrysalis?"

Sombra snorted at this. "Rex, trust me, forget about her. She doesn't exactly show up whenever this kind of thing happens." Hearing about this made me feel...unhappy...in a pissed off way. Before I could say anything, the maids and chefs came in and placed all of the food across the table.

Most of them seem to be avoiding me, probably because of what they heard of me and winning against one of their princesses. Although, when one of them walked past me, she started to shiver and buckle in her walking, until she fell to her knees. Everyone was surprised about this and came to help her up.

That is, they would have, if I didn't got up and walked towards the downed maid. All eyes were on me as they all froze in place, apprehension was thick in the air, as I got close to her. Bending down on one knee, I analysed her for a moment, and signs of discomfort were apparent. But something about this seemed familiar somehow. All of a sudden, her figure seem to shimmer, like ripples you create in the water when you disrupt the calmness. Then it hit me. "Oh for god sakes.... Chrysalis."

As it turns out, it was! She was hiding out as one of the staff members! No wonder no one could find her, they can't even pick up on her! If anything, I may need to develop some sort of method to try and track her... And possibly other Changelings. Chrysalis didn't seem happy about me finding her out.

"Alright... You found me." She muttered out.

"Why are you hiding? Are you planning on something?" I questioned her.

She scoffed at that. "Of course not! Why would I!?" Not sure if she's telling the truth. I guess the only way to get much answering out of her, is through emotions. Feeling enraged, she started to go through a painful experience. "Argh!! W-what are you...!?"

"I'm not sure I can trust you, so the only way is to put you through pain. Once you've realise your folly, you will tell me what I need to know." I stated to her firmly. "Now, what's your game?"

It took a while, but she relented. "OK, you win! I was...trying to see if I-I can...seduce you!" And if you think I was happy with the answer, you're dead wrong. Grabbing her by the throat, I slammed and pinned her against the wall.

"Un-fucking-believable..." I snarled. "You would dare use such tactics to try and get into my bed. Unless you knew what kind of woman I desired, you have no chance of getting to know what makes me tick!" By this point, I'm pretty sure I was crushing Chrysalis's windpipe.

"Whoa there! Rex, let's tone this down a bit and call it off!" Discord came to me and started to pull me away, which eventually made me let go of Chrysalis's neck. Walking out of the Mess hall, he spoke to me. "Rex, I know this isn't your thing, and that you won't tolerate such deceitful trickery. But remember that she is a Changeling. They were taught that way by birth."

"I don't care how she was brought up, or how Changelings worked." I told him. "Truthfully, I rather have her use it more efficiently, then having her bedding with random guys, or girls."

"How so?"

"Her kinds abilities. Copying others and feeling their emotions. That makes them the perfect spies and interrogators..." Taking in deep breaths to calm myself down, I looked back at Discord. "I'll discuss about this at a later date, once I see where each of you stand..."

Throughout the rest of the day, after lunch, was basically the boring stuff. As for Chrysalis, I got the chance to talk to her about that stunt she pulled off, told her to never abuse such gifts. She got the message, but I wouldn't be surprise if she went and done it again. I understand that her kind survives by feeding on beings emotions, and I was practically the perfect candidate for filling her up. So I basically gave her some of...my Love.

Shocker, ain't it? Well, I may have worsen it, because that small treat seem to have enforced her drive on finding what makes me tick. Which is going to be annoying as Hell, because she doesn't know how humans work, and most likely can't even flirt for a dollar. Freaking A! I'm not trying to turn her into a hooker!

After spending the remaining time with my head stuck back in the books, night time came around and I headed off to my room to make some dinner. Oh yeah, as for meat, they don't got any. Even if I told the chefs about it, I doubt they would give it to me. As least they have pasta, so that's good.

And somehow, this is only the beginning of it.

Finishing up on that, I went to take a shower, brush my teeth, and headed off to bed. Or so I would have, if not for Luna being there. Good thing I had my pants on, otherwise, things would've gotten pretty awkward. The only thing I regret was me bumping into her, which made her fall backwards. "Owie...."

"Oh shit!" Realising this, I got down and picked her up in my arms. "Hey, Luna, you OK?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh good..." I sighed in relief, before looking down at her sternly. "So tell me this: why did you come into my room unannounced?" She didn't say anything at first, although I did saw something she did unexpectedly; Luna was rubbing her head up against my chest! "W-w-wha... What are you doing!?"

"Hmm..." That's all you have to say Luna!? Dear god, I hope I don't get sent to Hell for this. "You smell like strawberries." ... Shit. I'm founded. I tried to say something, anything to get me out of this, but looking down at her.... That innocent look she gave me... While blushing and smiling up at me... Jesus Christ save me!

"Hehee... You look cute when you blush." Crap! I can actually feel my own cheeks burning! "Rex... Can I sleep with you?"

"... I'm sorry... But what???" I think my brain is fried.

"I know we shouldn't...since I'm a girl, and you're a boy..." Soon I felt her arms wrap around my neck. "But big sister is still in the sickbay, and I feel lonely sleeping by myself." Dammit Luna, please stop! This is cutting it too close for my comfort! "So please... Just this once..."

Struggling, I tried to find a way out of this! Alternatives I can take! But it was no use, I'm trapped, in this unpredictable situation. That will pretty much get me a first class, one-way trip, into Hell. Sighing in defeat, I agreed. "Okay Luna, you win." After saying that, yet another unexpected thing happen to me, she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered. Walking to my bed, I placed her on the right side while I lied on the left side of the bed. I had my back turned to her, and even though I couldn't see it, I can feel it, she was sadden. As much as I would like to turn to face her and hug her to sleep, I just can't. Wait... Is she...? Yep, that's Luna arms wrapping around my waist.

Again, she brought her head up to my ear and whispered. "Goodnight Rex." I may have shuddered a little bit from that, and I also used my right hand to grab hold of Luna's ones, and had my left arm under my head.

"Goodnight Luna." After saying that, I felt her grip on me tighten a little bit, and soon we both found sleep.

Still.... I plan on using the Arena for training, and see where everyone stands in my team. It isn't gonna be easy, nor will they like some of the things I'll have them do. As for Luna, she can't participate in them, not until she's old enough to handle the stresses and hardship we will all go through...

Author's Note

So... Yeah! Anyway, apologies for the lateness. I have been busy for sometime ever since I got back. But hopefully you all like this.

As usual: comment, like, suggest, and thanks for reading.