It had probably been the most productive day Twilight had ever had. After waking up in the morning, she had rushed to get ready, packing everything she would need for the day. Notebooks, check. Extra notebooks, check. Backup extra notebooks, check. The entire check list went like that for every other item including ink, quills, parchment paper, and a hefty supply of colorful paper tabs.

"Twilight, please. Slow down!" Spike had said as Twilight rapidly listed off everything she anticipated for the day.

"You're right, Spike," Twilight suddenly realized. "I almost forgot to pack notecards!"

"No, no! I mean look at yourself!" Spike replied as he held up a large mirror. "You're a mess."

Spike was right. Twilight was what Rarity would have referred to as an early morning disaster and a crime against fashion. She had maple syrup and bits of pancake stuck around her mouth. Her mane was a mess, with stray strands of hair sticking out every which way physics would allow, and worst of all she didn't have on any clothes. Wait... that's completely normal. Never mind. Despite this, Spike had a valid point. Twilight was indeed a mess and not even the good kind that Pinkie Pie was usually responsible for on birthdays.

"You're getting way too far ahead of yourself," Spike explained, giving her a worried look. "I haven't seen you this frantic since you tried to cause a friendship problem."

Twilight sighed. "I'm not frantic, Spike. I'm just... excited is all. Thank you though. It's just that... this could possibly the greatest historical event since the changeling invasion and I'm getting to record it. To be completely honest, I'm nervous. What if I don't ask the right questions? What if I don't get the details I need?"

"Don't worry about, Twilight," Spike dismissed her concern. "You'll do fine."

"You think so?"

"Of course," Spike replied with absolute certainty. "Just do what you always do. Just do you."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Spike. I needed to here that."

"Anytime."

And of course, Spike was right. Twilight did just as good as she always did. A long morning of interviewing Daxx, a lunch break, and then another several hour long session, and Twilight found that she was already running out of notebooks in which to record the things she discovered. Most of it had been history, a topic that Daxx was much more willing to talk about. He had explained to her the origins of the nation he came from, the United States of America, and how it had started out as collective of colonies ruled by a monarch across an ocean. He told her of how they fought for independence and eventually grew to become a world superpower all the way up to the world wars and what he referred to as the 'Cold War' involving places like Korea, Vietnam, Berlin, and Cuba. This part of human history intrigued Twilight especially. Humans truly had a dynamic and complex background.

It was then that they hit the twenty first century. It was a time of wonders. It was the beginning of the digital age, as they called it. Even more incredible though, was the beginning of space colonization. It had all begun on a little red planet named Mars, after the Roman god of war. Somehow, to Twilight, that seemed appropriate. There was so much violence and death in human history. The fact that their first civilization away from their home world was on a planet named after a deity of war almost seemed ironic. Unfortunately, it aligned with their history after that point. Daxx had described the conflicts that followed as policing actions, but Twilight didn't see much difference.

The wars during the twenty second century had been little more than territorial disputes between colonies, but by the twenty third there were large scale conflicts between entire planets. Of course, the United Nations had to step in and establish order, which lead to the creation of the Interplanetary Security Commission or ISC.

It hadn't always been that way though. For a time, humanity enjoyed many years of peace after the discovery of a chain of habitable planets. They called it the 'Fertile Ring.' Unfortunately, old habits die hard.

And that's about as far as they got before the clock struck midnight. They had somehow covered nearly seven hundred years of history in a day. Of course, it was all very general information. Twilight couldn't wait to get into the very intricate detail. She was finally going to get to use that filing cabinet that she just couldn't seem to fill.

Spike had fallen asleep hours ago after a long day of doing a great job of helping to keep notes in order. There had been no doubt in Twilight's mind that Spike was tired. She was so grateful to have him around to help. Eventually, she too found it hard to stay awake. After yawning, yet again, Daxx suggested that she retire for the night, promising to wait for her in the morning so that they could pick up where they had left off. With a quick farewell, the day was over.

It was three in the morning and Spike couldn't sleep. He had never been able to sleep in beds that were not his own. Sure, he had easily taken naps on Twilight's back or on train seats during long trips to the Crystal Empire. If one was tired enough, they could sleep anywhere, but consciously trying to go to sleep just didn't work for him. On top of it all, he was hungry.

That is how he found himself in the commissary tent. It was mostly empty. On one of the far sides, there was a royal guard eating a sandwich while watching two others play cards. They were all outfitted in the blue lunar armor. Other than that, he was alone.

"Sandwich," Spike thought to himself. That sounded really good right now. He didn't make anything too big though, just something that would be considered more of a snack than a meal. He didn't want to stay up too late after all. There was no doubt that the day would be just as busy as the last. As a result, he spent little time getting and eating something. When he had finished he returned the way he had come.

He was nearly back to the sleeping quarters when he noticed something moving just outside the camp. It was a tall, shadowy figure. Bipedal, no doubt about it. The strangest part was that it had appeared out of nowhere, as if materializing from thin air. The first thought to go through Spike's mind was that he was just jumping at shadows. It was late; it was dark and he was tired. Then he remembered where he was and all that was happening. It had to be Daxx.

Reluctantly, Spike called out into the dark. "Hello?" He advanced forward, fiddling with his claws as he did so. Looking around, there was nothing. No Daxx, no nothing. Despite this, he was certain that he had seen something. At this point, he would have normally dismissed it as his imagination, but he had this gut feeling like something was wrong. In his mind, he was obligated to at least make sure. There was only one way to do that. He checked the tent in which Daxx had set up for the night.

Upon arriving, he noticed that the guards were still out front. "Hey, fellas," Spike greeted as he approached. "Um, Twilight needed a book she left in here. Do you mind if I grab it real quick?"

The guards knew Spike. He was a hero in the Crystal Empire after all. One of them simply nodded and opened the tent flap for him, allowing him access without further thought.

"Thanks," Spike said as he entered.

Once in, he looked around. The large table in the middle was still there with the electronic beacon that hummed softly. In the back right corner there was a large stack of notebooks sitting on a much smaller table. There were also a few chairs. The only thing that wasn't there was Daxx. He was missing. He wasn't standing in the corner or working on his beacon. He wasn't even folded up in power save mode on the ground somewhere. He was just gone.

As fast as he could, Spike grabbed the closest notebook and walked out trying to look as normal as possible. After turning a corner, he ran the rest of the way until he was at Twilight's bedside. "Twilight!" he said in a hushed yell. "Twilight, wake up." He began to push on her until she finally rolled over to look at him.

"Uh, Spiiiiike," she groaned. "Cant it wait until morning?"

"No, Twilight," Spike said, as he grabbed at her anxiously. "Something's wrong. Daxx isn't in his tent. I think I saw him leaving the camp."

Twilight's eyes suddenly shot open. "What?" she questioned. "He cant just do that!"

"I was hungry, so I went to get a sandwich and on my way back I thought I saw him headed towards the crash site. I checked his tent and he was gone. Honest."

"Don't worry, Spike. I believe you," Twilight said. She rubbed her chin to take a second to think.

"Should we tell Princess Luna," Spike asked.

"I don't know," Twilight answered. "Luna seems to think Daxx is hiding something, and not just dangerous technologies or government secrets. She thinks Daxx is hiding something that directly relates to the current situation."

"Do you think it has something to do with his ship?" Spike asked.

"Maybe. Anytime anypony's been in there to study it, it's been under his supervision," Twilight pointed out. "He could be trying to protect us, but I get the feeling that there's more to it than that."

"So what should we do?"

That was the real kicker. What should they do? Twilight had been focused this entire time on getting Daxx to trust her. She wanted to get him to open up to her, but for the first time Twilight was now beginning to ask herself if she trusted him. Trust was one of those things that, once broken, was hard to repair. It had taken time and effort to gain his trust to begin with and the last thing she wanted to do was rat him out to the princess and lose it all. Of course though, she couldn't just go behind Luna's back.

"I think I have an idea," Twilight finally said. "Come on, Spike. There's someone we need to talk to."

Luna walked through the camp at such a fast rate that Spike had to practically jog in order to keep up with her.

"So, you're not angry right?" Spike asked. "I mean, we did come to you instead of investigating on our own, but you're not angry that we had second thoughts or anything?"

Luna stopped and looked down at the small dragon. It was then that she suddenly realized that she knew remarkably little about him. She couldn't recall a time that she had ever even talked to him. This was the first time that she had ever even been alone with him. She sighed. "You are perfectly justified in your actions," she answered. "Twilight's doubts are understandable. The fact that she recognizes the importance of mutual trust in her relationship with Daxx is good. I just never thought that it might drive a wedge between us."

"So you're not angry then?"

"Of course not," Luna answered.

Spike sighed in relief. "Great. Now... um... what's the plan?"

"Simple," Luna answered quite confidently. "We are going to go talk to him."

Spike yawned. "Assuming we can stay awake that is," he muttered to himself.

Luna just smiled.

When they finally arrived at the crash site, nothing seemed to be out of place. The shuttle still laid in the scar it had engraved in the ground and the metal bits that had been strewn around had all been moved to the campsite. Even the guards, who stood like statues, were still at their posts.

"Guard, report," Luna said to the nearest guard.

"All has been quiet, your Highness," the guard said. "Nothing to report."

This struck Luna as very odd and she could see the genuine confusion on Spike's face.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked. "No killer robots skulking around anything? Nothing appearing out of thin air?"

The guard just shook his head in response.

Luna thought for a moment. She wanted to take her guard's word that nothing had happened and despite knowing that he wasn't lying to her, something did feel out of place. The thought scared her, but she couldn't dismiss the idea that Daxx had a way of sneaking passed any guards and roaming freely at his own leisure. "We will be inside the ship," she informed her guard. "Report to me if you see anything."

"Yes, you Highness." The guard saluted.

Luna and Spike entered the shuttle. It was pitch black. Despite having been inside multiple times before, it never stopped being creepy to Spike. He always felt like there was something inside that was watching him. Luna lit her horn before finding the switch to turn on the lights that had been set up. With the lights on, the two were able to walk around the cramped space much more easily.

"Are we looking for anything specific?" Spike asked.

Luna didn't answer initially. She just eyed the interior curiously for a moment, trying to find anything unusual. "I'm not sure," she finally answered. "I was hoping we would know once we were inside, but now I'm not so certain."

She opened the door to the cargo hold. Just like the cockpit, it was pitch black. She reached to turn on the lights, but just as she did something caught her eye. It was small, but it was enough for her to notice. In the dark, not to far off, was a light of some kind. The little orange light blinked on and off slowly. "Aha," Luna thought to herself.

"What's that?" Spike asked, having also taken notice to the little light.

Luna looked at the source for a moment. It was what Daxx had referred to as a laptop earlier on. This one was open, but the screen was black. There was one notable difference between this one and the other that Daxx had used on his beacon. Something was plugged into this one.

"Is that a flash stick?" Spike asked, pointing to the small object in the side of the computer.

"I believe it is a flash drive," Luna corrected, "and yes. Daxx had many like it on his necklace. Without even thinking she pulled it out with her magic.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the computer suddenly said as the screen came to life. "Was I taking too long?"

Luna and Spike both jumped back in surprise at hearing a female voice from the machine.

"Oh, hello," the computer said, displaying a pixelated smiley face on the screen. "I did not realize that you were not Daxx. He has told me much about you. I did not believe him when he told me that this planet was inhabited by ponies and dragons, but here you are. Your people have very interesting history."

Luna just looked at the computer screen in complete shock.

"Hi, I'm Spike," Spike said, not being able to resist introducing himself to the kind voice.

"Hello, Spike," the computer greeted. "It is very nice to meet you. My name is Alexandria. I am the librarian and analytical AI of the Great Oniyah Library."

"Oniyah? AI? Wait, how do you know anything of our history?" Luna asked.

"You must be Princess Luna," Alexandria said, presenting the smiley face again. The expression would adjust slightly to fit the mood of the words being spoken, but never actually opened its mouth. "Daxx has told me many things about you. He likes you. He says you are somewhat hard to work with, because you are stubborn, but thinks that it makes you a good leader."

Luna was actually quite surprised by this. "Really?"

"Yes," Alexandria confirmed. "I'd like to add that you are quite beautiful in person. I especially enjoy the way that your mane flows. It reminds me of the night sky on my home planet of Oniyah."

"Oh, well... thank you. That's very kind of you to say." Luna was very much beginning to like Alexandria. She couldn't imagine why Daxx had hidden her from them. Of course, given the great lengths that he had gone to, she was still sure there was something not being disclosed.

"You're very welcome," Alexandria replied. "To answer your question, I know of your history because Daxx has been bringing me small excerpts of history during the night. He should be back soon though."

"I see," Luna replied. "Where exactly is he getting this information?"

"From Twilight Sparkle, of course," Alexandria answered. "She sounds like a very nice person, and I would very much like to meet her. The local library is also a great source of information. Many of the books he has obtained came directly from there. It was very kind of Twilight to bring some books for him to copy. I have found the analyzing process quite pleasant as well."

Luna smiled. So that's how Twilight had gotten Daxx to talk. Information for information. She would have to remember that for later. "I'll be sure to let Twilight know how much you appreciate her."

"Oh, but I'd love to meet her as well and possibly even see her library," Alexandria replied. "It has been far too long since I have enjoyed organizing large quantities of literature."

Luna's smiled grew every time Alexandria said something. "Oh, Twilight is going to love you."

"I do hope so," Alexandria said. "Daxx has been my only companion for the last week. It would be nice to make some new friends."

"Speaking of whom," Luna began, "where is Daxx at the moment? I had expected him to be here."

"By now, he is probably back at his tent," Alexandria answered. "He has been using a cloaking device to move about the camp undetected. I hope he has not been causing you any trouble."

"Cloaking?" Spike questioned.

"It is a device that infracts light from a background around a user," Alexandria explained. "This creates the illusion of invisibility. It is actually quite a simple trick. I have an entire section dedicated to the science behind it if you are interested."

Daxx had an invisibility cloak. Well, this was just perfect.

"I see he has tried quite hard to keep you a secret then," Luna said. "Surely there is a reason for this."

"You will have to forgive Daxx," Alexandria explained. "He is very protective of me, especially after the incident on Oniyah. Of course, he has promised to take me to Paris after all of this is over and I am loaded into a proper mobile platform."

Luna wasn't entirely sure what Alexandria was referring to, but she got the feeling that this entire time Daxx had been simply deflecting for Alexandria's sake. The question was why.

"What happened on Oniyah?" Spike asked, practically taking the words out of Luna's mouth.

"That is actually a very complicated story and I'm afraid I can not tell you everything," Alexandria began. "I will try my best though. It all started with an encrypted data package and a very large enemy fleet."

Everything that Daxx had told them was a lie, most of it at least. Luna was sure that the historical accounts given to Twilight was all genuine, but most of the info related to the current situation was either purposely kept incomplete or was a complete falsity all together. It seemed that Daxx had taken all this as some kind of game, one of deception and miss direction. Despite this, Luna could not bring herself to be angry. Somehow, she just understood.

Her talk with Alexandria had been very enlightening and many things that she did not understand at the beginning were now starting to make sense. Alexandria had graciously agreed to not tell Daxx anything about their conversation until Luna could do it herself. The one thing that Luna couldn't get out of her head though, was that familiar number. Twenty billion. Twenty billion lives lost. She couldn't even fathom a number that large.

At the moment, all Luna could feel towards Daxx was pity. It was time she had a truly sincere talk with him, just as she had earlier that night. This time it would not be as a political figure though. This time it would just be as a mare who wanted to know the truth, someone she hoped could be called 'friend.'

Author's Note

I'm so glad to have this chapter done with. I've had this new character in my head since the beginning and I'm so happy to have her finally written into the story. Hopefully Daxx's character arc hasnt been too confusing or irradic for people to follow along with. I'm really terrible with these kinds of things, but I think it works good in this instance. Also, not sure if that chapter title works, but whatever. Hope you enjoyed.