It was close to evening by the time Relyks woke. While others would say that he looked peaceful while asleep, he would be quick to remind them that the ground is not comfortable. With several pops coming from his neck, back, and other various joints, he took note of his surroundings, seeing that he really was in fact in Equestria.

"And here I was hoping it was some sort of fever dream." With a dejected sigh he made his way through the gardens back to the castle.

With it being late in the day, the castle was quieting down and getting ready for the night. Relyks took advantage of the silence as he walked alone in the halls, using the time to think to himself. Thinking of how he got here, trying to figure out why he is here, and how to deal with the nagging spirit in his mind. It wasn't until he noticed that everything around him was still silent that he realized the Nightmare was being quiet. Deciding not to question his sudden fortune, he continued his way through the castle, only being stopped when he would venture to places being guarded where he did not have access.

He continued to quietly walk around for another hour before coming across the residential wing of the castle. Nothing struck out to him about the many doors that aligned the halls in front of him. Curious as to where the halls led he continued to venture forward and up several flights of stairs. He had finally reached the top when his curiosity was quickly dying out, seeing a large ornate door with a sun etched into it. He stopped in front of the door, seeing that it was partially open and that there were no guards around with an incredulous look upon his face.

Are you kidding me!? Not only is this part of the castle seemingly empty, there are no guards, not even on the bedroom doors to royalty? Who the hell thought that this was smart!? He continued to stand there for several seconds, staring at what he believed to be complete idiocy, until he heard a familiar voice. "Is it really that difficult to understand? How else do you think I was able to overthrow Celestia so easily the last time I was here." The way she said it was more of a statement then a question.

Choosing not to reply to Nightmare's comments, Relyks crept forward till he was next to the door, voices quietly talking on the other side. Looking in through the slight opening that was present, he saw both Celestia and one of her guards speaking at a desk.

"-to each of the humans while they are here. So far they have not proven to be overly hostile, but a couple of them have shown to be a little nasty at times, spouting threats and the like. Though they do not seem to follow through with them."

"I see, tell me what have your guards found about each of them in the short time they have been here?"

"Well your highness, other than their names there is not a whole lot we have been able to learn. Katherine seems to have stayed quiet and reserved the entire time she has been here. Both Peter and Richard had a slight run with the element of laughter during the night, Richard proving to be verbally hostile while Peter seemed somewhat indifferent."

"What exactly do you mean by verbally hostile?" Needless to say, Celestia did not exactly like what she was hearing.

"He gave idle threats, the sort of thing that shows the pony, or person in this case, is full of hot air."

Having her concerns put to rest, Celestia decided to continue. "What of the other three that are here?"

"Well ma'am, Walter has spent the last several hours in the library. From what he has been asking for, it looks like he does not understand our written language and is trying to adapt, and Craig has been lounging since breakfast."

"Hah, they have tabs on you 24 hours of the day." Without missing a beat, Relyks quietly responded "Well who's fault do you think that is?" Receiving a huff of indignation as a response, Relyks went back to listening to the report.

"The final one, Relyks, was resting under a tree in the gardens after a quiet conversation with Pinkie Pie. He was until recently still sleeping. Due to him sleeping through the day and apparently being up during the nights, we assigned him lunar guards instead for now. He has since then been wandering the castle, until he made his way here."

Eyes widening Relyks could only finish the thought of "Oh shit" before tensing and turning around to run away, only to run face first into the open leather wings of a lunar guard, two more right behind the first. Trying to fight back and run away, he fell over before making the first stride, his legs being confined within shackles. Looking up at the guard who's wing he was caught in, he saw a toothy grin before hearing the apparent mare quietly state, "Gotcha."

Hearing the scuffle outside her door, Celestia used her magic to fully open the doors, allowing the guards and the restrained human enter the room. Once he was inside, the man quit struggling and resigned to his fate.

"Hahaha, what an imbecile you are to be caught like that." With an angry grunt he yelled back at her. "Well it's not like you noticed them either you dumb horse!" His response was only silence. "Yea that is what I thought." Relyks could feel the grin that Nightmare would have if she could. "But that's the thing, you didn't think that."

A look of horror came over his face as he looked at the other ponies in the room. "That was out loud... wasn't it." With a stern gaze, Celestia had him placed in front of her. "I believe you and I should have a lengthy conversation. We are going to discuss who you are, what you plan to do here, what you know, and what the meaning of whorse is here boy." Despite being an adult man, he felt like a child in front of this being before him.

~**~

The Lunar guard is more laid back personality wise than the Solar guard, at least while on duty. They are seen less as they only patrol during the night. This doesn't mean they are any less capable or less disciplined, but they do work differently than their solar brethren. That being said, Nightingale was coming to the conclusion that having this being as her charge will prove most entertaining. She and her two fellow guards had been tailing Relyks, much to his obliviousness, and she took mental note that despite his size, the being before her could walk the castle walls almost silently without trying.

They continued to track him through the halls as he wandered, slowly making their way to the solar diarch's chambers. She sent word ahead to where their charge was heading. She noticed that the guards that were supposed to be stationed there were in fact missing, presumably in the room speaking with Celestia if the voices heard were anything to go by.

She watched with rapt curiosity as Relyks came to a complete stop and began listening to the conversation taking place inside the room. Deciding to make her move she had her two fellow guards fall beside her and slowly crept up on the unsuspecting human, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The conversation in the room began speaking about Relyks directly, and once the statement ended with "Until he made his way here." and she noticed his body become alert and tense up to flee, she opened her wings fully intending on catching the human before he could go anywhere, and that is exactly what happened. With a wide grin on her face she simply stated, "Gotcha."

Now he sits in front of Celestia, with a look of alarm on his face seeing how angry she looked. With an irritated sigh Celestia spoke. "Lets just begin with exactly why you thought it smart or polite to call either me or one of the guards a whorse."

A look of confusion came across his face at this statement. "But that is what all of you are, while most of you are smaller than what I am used to, you are in fact a horse as far as I am concerned."

With this Celestia narrowed her eyes. "And what exactly do you think a whorse is?"

Becoming worried at how angry the powerful being in front of him was, Relyks began to panic, alarm filling his entire being as he could swear the room was getting hotter. "Basically a pony but larger? About as tall as you, mindless animals from where I am from? Beasts of burden? I don't know how to properly answer that!"

Through the entire exchange taking place, Relyks could hear the nightmare within him laughing, the intensity of it growing each time he opened his mouth.

A look of sudden realization came across Celestia's face, deciding to confirm her thoughts she continued to press for answers. "Tell me then human, does this "beast" as you put it sleep around with others for monetary gain?"

Like a slap to the face Relyks understood why she was getting angry at the thought of being called a horse, or more specifically a whorse. An equine pun to a completely different word for him. "I think you are speaking of a prostitute, otherwise also known as a whore. I can tell you that I was not calling anyone that type of name."

Celestia let her anger subside slightly. "Alright then, unless the word dumb means something else where you are from, want to clarify why you chose to call somepony dumb? While not as nasty of as the other word was, it is still impolite."

"Your highness, if I may?" Nightingale spoke, receiving a nod in confirmation. "He spoke as if replying to another, I don't think he was speaking to me, my fellow guards, or you your highness. I think he was speaking with the nightmare that possesses him."

With a sigh Celestia could see the logic behind the guardsmare. Before she could continue to speak Luna walked into the room. "Sister, it is late should you not be in bed at this hour?"

Looking at the clock everyone, pony and human included, saw that it was almost midnight. "My sister is right, it is indeed late and has been a long day for some of us. We will continue this at a later time when we are refreshed." Nightingale could feel the tension leave his body as he relaxed.

With the conversation over Luna looked to her guard. "Major Nightingale, if you would please, escort sir Relyks here to the rest of his kind. Also please release his restraints." Giving a slight bow, she and her two fellow guards made their way out of the room.

~**~

The walk back was silent, more than Relyks would have liked. Other than the little spat earlier Nightmare has been unusually quiet, and the guards around him were not speaking. This normally wouldn't be a problem for him, but recent events had him on alert and a little paranoid. Things stayed like this before he was left in front of a door. Entering the room the guards left him as the door shut. Looking around he saw that all six of them were together again.

Peter noticing the haunted look upon his friends face decided to attract attention to it. "Dude, you look like you just went through the ringer. What happened?"

With a look of incredulity, Relyks simply replied, "Dude... no matter what you do, never call Celestia a horse."

Author's Note

Well, out of the frying pan at least.

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this or some constructive criticism.