"Alex!" Rarity yelled, getting all frazzled. "Please stand still. You're making it very difficult for me."

"I know. That's the idea of throwing a tantrum." I replied.

"Alex, darling. If you don't stay still, I'll be forced to make you." She threatened.

"You can try." I said, leaping from the platform and running to another part of Rarity's boutique.

"Don't you run away!" She called out, giving chase.

I ran into her kitchen in hopes of finding somewhere to hide.

Rarity POV

"Alex!" I shouted as I entered the kitchen. I looked around, but didn't see him. "Stop hiding." I said as my eyes hit a slightly open cupboard. "Why don't you come out so we can get this done, nice and simple, so you can wear a lovely, beautiful..." I said as I stalked up to the cupboard and slowly grabbed the handle. "Ha!" I called out as I swung open the door, only to see it was empty.

A different cupboard burst open and Alex sprang out and sprinted away. "Wrong!" He yelled as he ran up stairs. I let a sigh as I charged my magic. I felt the familiar expenditure of casting a spell before I heard a very high pitch squeal from upstairs. I regained my composure and walked back towards the platform where I could measure Alex. Shortly after, a floating Alex came down the stairs.

"You know, darling. You could make any filly jealous with that squeal of yours." I teased.

"Ahh! It was manly! Ahh!" He said in between panicked noises.

"Of course it was." I continued my teasing.

"Okay, Rarity. You've had you're fun. Please put me down now." He pleaded and, somehow, started slowly tumbling around in my grasp. I thought it would be adequate payback for running off.

"Rarity. Please. Magic has a funny affect on me, remember?" Funny affect? I don't remember such a thing... I let out a gasp in realisation. He must be talking about what happened in Canterlot.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, Alex. Are you okay?" I asked as I put him down and went to his side.

"Oh no. Step back." He said, pushing me away. Just as he did, a tremendous heat burst from him. His clothes started singeing and his hands caught fire. I watched his dim green eyes go dark and his irises turning a fiery orange. His formerly white shirt turned black and his pants cracked with glowing orange lines. Once the burning of shirt reached his neck, it turned to his flesh and started burning that too. It slowly went up his face, burning away his skin, leaving only burning skull behind.

After the transformation, he took a deep breath in. "Oh that's refreshing... and that smell." He said, his voice was like sand paper against my ears, but it was so deep and enticing. he tilted his head to the side, releasing several disgusting pops. "It smells like..." his eyes locked onto me and I froze, staring into them. There was something terrifying behind. "Well well well. What have we here?" He said as he slowly stepped to me, then circled around me while keeping his face close to mine. The fire from him was hot, but not so hot that it burned.

"A... Alex?" I stuttered

"Close." he said, as he stopped inches infront of me. " What you see is still Alex, only now he’s not in control." his breath was spicy and it bit at my senses. "He’s a little tied up, you could say." The words chilled me to the bone. His hand rose up and he placed it around the side on my neck. I moved my sight so I wasn't looking at him. "Oh, Don't be like that." He said, tilting his head to the side. "It's the skull isn't it? Let me fix that." as he finished, the fire around his head stopped and as the bottom rose, it replaced his face, but his eyes were still the same. I looked away again. He placed his other hand on my hip. I didn't like where it was going, but I was too frightened to do anything.

"This isn't you." I said quietly as I pushed his hand off my hip, then did the same with the one on my neck.

"I see how this is going to be." he said, stepping back from me. I looked back at him, but avoided eye contact. His dirty blond hair had darkened along with his normal tanned skin. He turned his back to me and held out his hands, Palms to the ground. "Rarity. Run, I can’t stop it." Alex said, his voice back to normal, but it was fully of desperation. His head shook violently from side to side, as if he was shaking something from his mind. His right hand raised infront of him, then he swiped it to his side. Suddenly, all the curtains drew shut and all the doors in the room slammed shut and locked. I jolted before running to one of the nearest doors, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

I turned back around, but Alex was gone. The lights flickered and I pushed my back against the door. "Alex, please. You're frightening me." I said on the verge of tears. The lights blew, sending sparks below them. I released an uncontrolled yelp as there was a loud bang on the door I was leaning against. I lept away and back towards the center of the room. There was a slight orange glow from the corner of my eyes and I twisted to look at it. I heard some cracking below me and I looked down to see small orange engravings around my hooves. I went to move away, but as I did, chains burst from the ground and wrapped around my ankles and wrists. "Alex!" I screamed. The chains went stiff and I couldn't move despite my struggling.

"This is how you wanted it. You chose this path when you pushed me back. You chose this path when you filled me with your magic." I heard Alex's voice, but I couldn't see him in the dark. I released another scream when I felt something brush against my tail. "Dont be afraid. It'll only make it worse." his voice was right beside my left ear. I pulled my head away and shut my eyes, whimpering. I felt his hand on my right hip again. I piece of me knew where this was going, but I didn't want to believe it. His other hand was placed on my left hip, I tried moving away, but the chains kept me still. I gathered my magic and went to fire a basic attack spell, but before I could one of his hands shot from my hip and gripped my horn tightly, breaking my focus as pain rocketed through my body. The spell diminished, along with any of my hopes. "Uh Uh Uhhh. None of that." He whispered to me. He released my horn, and I tried to fire again, but I couldn't.

"Alex... Please." I begged through sobs. His hands were removed from my body, but I felt them pressing against the top of my shirt. Then It got more loose. He was unbuttoning it.

"Such an amazing figure. He complimented, but It didn't make me feel any better.

"Please don't do this." I begged more while tears broke through and fell down my cheeks. "Alex! You need to fight it!" I screamed out in desperate attempts for Alex to return.

"You can cry out all you want. Alex isn't coming back for some time." He said as his hand ran down my chest to my inner thigh. Using his other hand, he pulled my shirt over my shoulders. I felt both of his arms against my sides as his hands started working on my bra, but stopped before he could unhook it.

"Alex... Please... Help." I managed to choke out as I cried. His hands started shaking and his breathing quickened. He dropped to his knees and started coughing furiously. My eyes adjusted to the dark in time to see him push himself up and stumbled away from me. The fires reignited around him and lit up the room. I watched him in horror as I saw blood leaking from his nose and mouth.

"No! I will not allow THIS!!" He shouted out as the fires exploded with life. They were burning incredibly hot and I struggle to keep watching as I felt heat on my body.

They started alternating between large and small flames as he gripped his head and started trashing about. He let out a blood curdling scream of agony as he dropped to his knees again. A large wave of energy erupted from his body, shattering the windows as his body stopped thrashing and his screaming became silenced along with his flames. He was deathly still and I starting thinking the worst. I struggled against the chains, but they still wouldn't move. "Alex? Alex!" I shouted to him. Nothing. I struggled against the chains again and I heard cracking. Suddenly they shattered into dust, releasing me. I fell to the ground, but quickly crawled over to Alex. "Alex! Alex wake up!" I shouted as I held his head on my lap, but he didn't respond. I held my head against his as tears fell from my eyes and onto his face.

There was a deep gasp of air and I pulled away. Alex shot up into a sitting position before spinning to face me. "Rarity. I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." He apologised. I wrapped around him in a hug a buried my face into his chest as I let the dam break and cried. I was more than glad he was back to normal and that it hadn't gone any further.

"I'm so sorry, Rairty." He continued to appologise as he held onto me tightly. I felt safe now, even if before was a part of him."I tried to stop it. I didn't want it to happen." He continued frantically.

My crying had reduced to light sniffling. "It didn't. You fought it and it didn't happen." I said, muffled by his now damp shirt.

"I'm so sorry." He apologised again, still holding me tightly and resting his chin on the top my head.

After a while, he started moving. I didn't let go, but he moved around it. I felt him moving my shirt as he started pulling it back around me and did the buttons up. Once he was done, he went back to having his strong arms around me.

There was thumping at the front door before it burst open and Spike fell through followed by Big Mac.

"Rairty! Are you okay?" Spike yelled as he ran over to us.

I looked up to him and saw the concern on both of their faces. "I'm fine now, Spike. Thank you." I said, noticing that all of my windows had been shattered and the curtains had been shredded. "Oh, dear. What a mess."

"I'm really sorry." Alex said again as he helped me up. Suddenly Alex was thrown away from me and slammed into a wall with Spike on top of him.

"What did you do!" He yelled at him furiously while pinning Alex to the wall.

"Spike! Stop! He didn't do anything!" I shouted trying to pull Spike away. "Mac, help him." I turned to Big Mac.

Alex whispered something to Spike before Mac wrapped his arms around Spike and picked him up. Spike didn't struggle or anything and he had a shocked expression when I saw it.

Alex POV

I let out a sigh as Spike was placed a few meters away from me. I hung my head as the thoughts that ran through my head mere moments ago were so foreign, yet they were definitely mine. I wanted to do things to Rarity, that I normally couldn't even imagine the sickest of monsters would dream of.

"It wasn't you, Alex. It's Ishrahg's influence. It seems that when you come into enough magic he can take control." I heard Nathan saying from my mind.

"Yah right there, partner?" Big Mac said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I said quietly. I looked up to meet Rarity's concern filled gaze. "... There's something I need to do." I finished before mouthing the words 'I'm sorry' to her. I left for the door, but stopped as I opened it. "I just need some time to think." With that I shut the door behind me.

Spike POV

"Rarity... What happened?" I questioned. She didn't answer, only watched the door as if Alex were to walk back in.

"What did he say to you?" She finally said after a sizeable pause.

"Yeah, one second yah try'na kill 'em. The next yah just stop." Big Mac added. I thought about what Alex said to me. His words echoed through my mind. 'Why would he say something like that.'

"Spike, what did he say to you?" Rarity persisted.

"He said... 'Do your worst. I deserve more than death.'... What did he do to make him say that?" It almost sounded like he wanted to die. That's what got me all caught up when I was pinning him against the wall. The door opened and we all turned to look at who it was. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow walked through.

"Whowee, Rarity. What happened to yer windows?" Applejack exclaimed

"And what was that loud explosion?" Rainbow added.

"And why did we just see Alex running away?" Twilight also added.

"There was a little mishap with Alex and his new... Abilities. It's a long story, but no one was harmed." Rarity answered, obviously avoiding what truely happened.

"So what? He broke your windows and ran off?" Rainbow asked sarcastically.

"He was just a little disturbed by what happened. It wasn't his fault, but I imagine he is placing all blame on himself." She said, again, dodging what happened. She did seem a little sad saying the last part, though.

"Why don't we go tell him it wasn't his fault?" Twilight suggested.

"I very much think he just needs a little space at the moment... and you throwing him into a wall didn't help." She said, finishing with a scolding tone and glaring daggers my way.

"What? I see all your windows explode and when I bust through the locked door, your both on the floor and he's apologising like crazy. It sure seemed like he tried to hurt you at the time." I defended.

"So where did he go?" Twilight asked,

"I'm not sure, he said he needed sometime to think. I do so hope he’s okay for the Gala."

"A few days would be past the Gala, Rares. It is only two days away." Applejack said. "An' ah mean he wasn't so keen on going, neither."

A whole new feeling washed over Rarity. I could've seen it from a mile away. "Can we please go someplace else? I don't feel as comfortable here." She said. We all shared looks before Twilight said that Fluttershy was showing Night her critters and that we could join them. I don't know. She seems like a nice pony and all, but am I the only one who remembers her taking Celestia hostage to achieve eternal night? I hope I'm just being paranoid. I thought as we made our way to Fluttershy's cottage.

Alex POV

A loud rustling noise exploded from every piece of long grass I crushed as I ran through open fields towards the nearest mountains. My mind was blitzing thoughts through my head about the accident that occurred minutes ago. My destination was Canterlot and their was no way I was going to risk catching a train. I've only just come to realise the magnitude of what dwells within me, and if it comes to the surface while I'm on a crowded train, lots of ponies could get hurt.

The yellow fields stretched all the way to the foot of the massive rock spire that Canterlot is so proudly perched upon. With all these blended ideas of how I could hurt anyone who not so much as glanced at me, I was coming to conclusions of solitude, but I didn't want to lose the ponies I now hold so close. I needed advice, I needed comforting and who better to seek out than princess Celestia.

I was running as fast as I could, to put distance between myself and Ponyville. Emotions were welling up inside me and I could feel them building. I kept crushing a path through the dry grass that reached my shoulders and sometimes higher. I imagined what Rarity must be going through right now. 'She must be devastated... All because of me.' I thought as my vision became blurred and distorted from the tears threatening to fall. With a quick swipe, I brushed them onto my arm and returning my clear sight. I closed my eyes tightly, as images of what everyone must think of me now flashed by. They have to hate me, they have to think I'm a monster, a terrible friend, a terrible being. Anger slowly rose from the depths of my chest. I was furious at myself for letting something so perfect become a nightmare.

The wind cutting at my face grew in strength. It got to the point where it stung to open my eyes. all of a sudden, there was a large rush through my body and it felt like I got pushed over, my upper body went straight for the ground while my legs tried to flip me. There was hard *thud* as my face had a very rude introduction to the ground. I tumbled and rolled for what felt like ages. I eventually came to a stop and pushed myself to my knees. I shakily wiped away more tears before looking at my fall. There was several meters of upturned dirt. I must've been going pretty fast. Just past where I tripped, I saw a large patch of the grass flicker and glow. Flames shot up from the ground and enveloped the dry kindle, spreading insanely quick. I started panicking as I watched a small glow become a large fire.

A loud crack echoed through the lands. I looked up to its point of origin and saw the sky becoming very dark. A few more cracks and I felt water hit my face. Then it came down like a bucket. I looked to the fire and saw it was slowly extinguishing. I took a deep sigh of relief and stood up. I turned around and was about to continue my journey when all the feelings and weight I had before the distraction returned full force.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hours past, I wasn't sure how many, but I finally reached a narrow, twisting path that scaled the mountain towards my destination. It was obviously very unused. My guess was for smugglers or thieves looking for a quick getaway.

I started my ascent. It was quite steep and the rain was making it very hard not to slip. There were several parts where rushing water, carrying mud, swept over the path. It soaked my clothes and made them very heavy and dirty. Although, it wasn't the highest on my list of things to worry about, it did make it that little more difficult to continue. In all honesty, though, I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

The path led all the way up to just behind the gate of Canterlot. I walked through and the guards lining the gate stared at me with curiosity. Everyone I passed along the way to the castle gave me similar looks, only filled with disgust.

"Excuse me." A male voice interrupted my train of thought. I stopped and looked to the source, which was a stallion with white fur, a blue mane and tail and also had a blue moustache adorning his upper lip. "Are you okay? You seem to have fallen on hard times." He said. If I wasn't so distraught right now, I would've commented on his monocle and how cool it was.

"Like you wouldn't believe." I replied.

"However, something about you gives me a strange feeling." He continued.

"I'm sure. Look, I kind of busy right now." I said, trying to cut the conversation short. The last thing I wanted to do was have idle chatter with a pompous noble.

"Ah, I understand. I hope to see you around." He said.

"Doubt it." I mumbled after turning around and continuing my walk.

I got to the gate of the castle and hesitated to walk through, but collected my courage and walked on.

"Halt!" A guard shouted, shoving his spear in my path. "What business do you have in the castle?" He questioned. It really irritated me, but he was only doing his duty.

"I'm here to see the princess." I said as calmly as possible.

"The princess has called an end on day court several hours ago. You'll have to wait for tomorrow before entering."

"Look. I know you're doing your duty, but if I don't see Celestia now I could possibly get very angry and hurt lots of ponies." I unitentionally threatened. He didn't seem too fazed, but I could tell he was cautious of what to say, if him not saying anything was a hint. "I don't have time for this." I said, pushing his spear out of my way and trudging towards the castle.

"Hey! I said you can't enter!" He shouted from behind me and grabbed my shoulder. A huge heat grew inside me. I spun around, grabbing his had tightly. I ripped it off my shoulder and tightened my grip, causing a small whimper to escape his mouth. I felt the same heat hit my eyes. His face twisted from holding in pain to terror. "Touch me again and I will break every finger on your hand before cutting it off and shoving it down your throat." I threatened quietly. He nodded quickly and I dropped his hand. He tore off his gauntlet and held his hand. The piece of armour had a very deep print of my grasp. I turned around and continued into the castle.

After I entered, a thought hit me. Man, this place is huge. How am I supposed to find Celestia? There was a guard coming down a hall towards me, so I decided to ask for directions. I walked up to him and I saw he watched me carefully. I noticed the grip on his sword tighten. "Excuse me, I'm looking for princess Celestia. Do you know where I might find her?" I asked politely.

"What business do you have with the princess?" He said back.

"Well, you see. I'm a representative for the human race. I was supposed to be meeting her this morning, but unfortunately there was a delay during my travels." To be fair, the only lie was it being this morning.

"I don't remember being notified of your arrival." His words were coated in suspicion.

"Well what do you want me to say. I've traveled a long journey to negotiate trade with this fine country... Or would you like me to turn back and tell my king that there will be no trade routes because a guard was too lazy to give me directions to the princess. Oh, I should mention that my race are warmongers. We don't want anything to come of that now do we?" I said, giving him a sly smirk. At this point I was saying the first thing that came to my head, and again there was very little lying.

"Uh, n...no we don't..." Bingo "Both princesses should be sharing dinner in the dinning hall."

"See, was that so hard? Thank you my good man. I'll make sure to say a few good words your way." I said before strolling towards the dinning hall, as to keep up the act until I was out of sight. Okay. There are so many things wrong with this guard. First off, he should be questioning how I know where to go. Second off, how can I throw in a few good words if I don't know who he is? And third off. I'm pretty sure I look like shit, so what was going through his mind about me meeting the princesses like this? I thought It was a little strange that there were very few guards after the first encounter, but then again I am in a world full of colourful, talking, two legged ponies that wield magic.

Celestia POV

"So how was day court?" Luna asked in a very casual manner, but I could tell it was hiding sadness.

"It was... There." I replied. I could see it was bothering her, that she wasn't able to deal with the problems of our subjects. "What did you do with your day?" I was interested to know how she is settling in. It has been one month since her return, but things are very different from what they were and I can only imagine what it is like.

"I started off with a nice stroll through the gardens. I still find it comforting to see Discord as a statue, but I do have a question that I can't answer." Her attitude clearly changed for the better, and she was sitting more upright.

"What's your question?" I asked with genuine curiosity. Luna leaned in closer to me after looking around to make sure nopony was within ear shot.

"If it was one thousand years for the effects of the elements to wear off on me, does that mean he could return soon aswell?" I will admit, the question had me. It's quite possible for him to be set free, but we wouldn't be sure until...

There was a set of knocks that sounded off at the door. Luna and myself looked at each other, both as confused as the other. We weren't expecting anypony to join us, guards usually just enter, and the servants use the servant's door.

"Nopony was joining us, we're they?" Luna asked me.

"Not that I'm aware of." I said. "Enter!" I called out. A few seconds later, the door moved. It opened slowly, but then was pushed aside and a very dirty stallion stepped in before closing the door behind him. I really wasn't sure how to handle this situation. In all my years, I've never been faced with this kind of problem. "How can we help you?" I asked warily.

"I'm sure there's many ways, but a simple chat would be nice." The stallion answered. I felt like I knew the voice, but it was difficult to put it to a face seeing that it was covered in mud.

"And might I ask who you are?"

"I don't think I've changed since we last saw each other. Although, there is a small smudge on my shirt. That might be putting you off." The stallion said, wiping a small part of his soaking, muddy shirt and not helping at all. lets see, we've met this stallion before and he has a very poor taste in humour.

"Alex? You look horrible. What happened?" Luna asked, standing from her seat.

of course, It's Alex. "Indeed, why are you so dirty?" I added.

"It's a long story, but basically I had an accident and ran here." He said.

"Did you say that you ran here? From Ponyville?" Luna asked. He nodded in reply.

"Why did you not just take the train? It would have saved you hours and the tremendous effort you would have put into climbing to Canterlot." I said.

"That's why I'm here... Is there someplace quiet we can talk?" Something was wrong. There was a very strong since of distress behind his words.

"Of course." I replied.

"Although, I would advise a serious bath first." Luna said, poking her tongue at him as he made a mock laugh in her direction.

"I don't need to be here long. I just... I did something bad, very bad, and I feel like you're the only one I can talk to about it." He said, turning his gaze back to me. The sence of distress only grew as I looked him in the eyes. The dull green was hiding something terrible.

"I understand this must be urgent, but perhaps we could talk after you clean yourself up and have something to eat." I suggested. He gave a sigh before agreeing. "Luna, can you please lead Alex to someplace he can wash up while I sort something out with the chef?" She nodded and walked out of the dinning hall with Alex in tow. Was she swaying her hips more? I thought, as I watched them leave.

Luna POV

"I'm not sure what rooms have spare bathrooms right now, and the only one I know for certain is free would be mine." I stated.

"Honestly, you could give me a bucket of water and I would be happy." He replied and so many erotic thoughts buzzed through my mind, most of them involving him slowly washing his muscular...

"I don't see the harm in you using my bathroom. Just don't go around telling everypony."

"You don't have to, really." He said, trying to decline my offer, but we were already so close to my quarters.

"It can't be that bad... In addition, I do have better soap than what is in the guest rooms." I teased.

"Are you saying I smell?" He asked, pretending to be offended.

"I said no such thing... I merely implied it." I teased more.

"Oh really?" He said before I felt two very cold, wet and dirty arms wrap around me.

I gasped as he let go. I could feel the freezing mud still on me. "Did you just? Ew Ew Ew Ew Ewww!" I exclaimed, holding my arms close to me and shaking them around. "How dare you!? Alex, that is... That's disgusting!" He just smiled innocently.

"You kind of asked for it." I looked myself over and saw that the mud was only on my dress.

"You will pay for this." I threatened while pointing my finger at him. Honestly, I didn't care much for this dress anyway, and it was a little bit funny. It was definitely more amusing than sitting around, alone all day.

"How about you show me to this bathroom that has the so called 'magnificent' soap before I give you another big hug." He said. It was very refreshing having somepony like Alex around. I led him into my room and through to the bathroom where I left him to wash himself in privacy. I closed the bathroom door behind myself and heard him lock it. I walked over to my wardrobe and selected another dress. I knew Alex wouldn't be finished for a while, so I slid off my dress in the middle of my room. It felt energising to have somepony only a door away while I was changing. I slipped into the other dress and glanced at myself in the mirror for any imperfections. There was a large one in my mane. A patch of mud had found itself mixed in and it looked disastrous. A quick enchantment on my brush and a few strokes later, my mane was back to its glorious self.

I sat on the end of my bed, waiting for Alex to finish up. My mind started wandering and it slowly found itself in a bad place. It would be so easy. All I would need to do is to take off this dress and lay on my bed. Then when he walked out of the bathroom, he would see me and wouldn't resist. I needed to stop thinking this way... But I couldn't help it. He would show me all these amazing positions from his world. It would be a night remember. It was so tempting, but the thought of what would happen if he did resist was what stopped me. That and that it wasn't right. I looked to the door that Alex was supposed to walk through, but it had been a while... Or it felt like a while and he was still in there. Maybe a quick peek wouldn't hurt. He wouldn't know. What if he was hurt? What if he opened the door... No, he still wouldn't know there was a spell. I clenched my jaw in determination. I got up and quietly walked over to the door. I closed my eyes and with a quick charge of my horn, the door became transparent. Okay, Luna. This is the point of no return. Just do it. I mentally encouraged myself.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked into my bathroom. I saw the familiar midnight blue tiles and black, sparkly ceiling, the large hand basin and wall-length mirror along the left side. I also saw the bath on the right with Alex in it. He definitely wasn't hurt, but he did have his back towards me and I couldn't see anything. He was a lot cleaner, though. A small sigh of relief mixed with disapointment escaped my lips.

A thought crossed my mind as I looked at his dirty clothes in a small pile beside the bath: With his clothes so dirty, he won't be able to put them back on... And he hasn't got any spare. More lewd thoughts buzzed around before they were cut off by movement. Alex was standing up from the bath. My eyes went wide as I watched his naked body step out of the bath. My eyes continued to stay wide as they slowly slid down from his head to his chest, then to his abdomen, then to his waist and finally... A mixture of emotions ran through me. I felt my hand subconsciously slither down. My other hand lifted the hem of my dress above my waist as the former dived beneath my panties. It felt so good, yet so bad. I didn't want to stop, Alex drying himself off was just too enticing. My eyes shut as my fingers moved in. I moaned, but was able to keep it quiet. Out of fear, I reopened my eyes and saw Alex looking between his towel and his clothes. I used this time and kept going. My knees started to buckle and I felt that if I didn't stop now, I wouldn't stop... Yet I kept going. My eyes closed again as the picture of Alex became imbedded. My breathing became fast and my face became heated. I opened my eyes again to see Alex, about to open the door.

With quick thinking, I teleported to my bed and sat on the end, straightening out my dress and mane. The door opened and Alex poked his head through. "Uh, Luna?"

"Hmm? Yes?" I pretended like I didn't do anything, but it only made him grow a suspicious look.

"Uh... My clothes are dirty and I don't have any spares... Do have a solution?"

"I'm sure you would look very pretty in one of my dresses." I said quickly. I will admit that I surprised myself with how well that turned out. It was just meant to be more diversion from what I was just doing.

Alex didn't answer. "Are you considering it?" I asked with disbelief.

"I don't know. All I have at the moment is this towel." He said and looked at the one wrapped around his waist. Oh no. The spell is still active. With a quick flash from my horn, the spell disapated and this side of the door returned opaque.

"What was that?" Alex quizzed.

"What was what?" I asked innocently.

"Uh... Nothing. Oh you were right by the way."

"About what?" I asked, this time genuinely confused.

"Your soap is much better." I laughed, he does have a way with jokes.

"I spoke to the chef, Alex's meal should be ready soon." Tia said, walking into my room. "What's happening here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. That would've been very awkward if I had gone with my original plan.

"I don't have any spare clothes." Alex explained.

"I'm sure Luna could lend you a dress."

"Welcome to five minutes ago, Celestia. Luna already used that joke."

"Really? But it was so good." Tia complained.

"Which is why I used it." I said.

"I can talk to Shining Armour, maybe he can lend you some clothes." Tia offered.

"I guess." Alex said, defeated.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I don't think he likes me very much and I doubt he's going to give me clothes, even for a few hours."

"What if it was by order of the crown?" Tia said with an evil grin.

"That would be so unfair... I love it."

Tia left my room to find Shining. Alex started getting fidgety while still standing behind the door and I just sat here, on the end of my bed. I watched him as he looked between me and a chair at my desk. It wasn't any special type of desk. I just wanted one Incase I ever started drawing, which I didn't. Alex continued to look between me and the chair before stopping on me. I tilted my head to the side, not knowing what he was doing. Then he just walked over to the chair and sat down.

"You made that look like it was a lot harder than it actually was." I stated.

"Well. I'm a little self conscious, but I really wanted to sit down." There was a long silence after that, and we kept avoiding eye contact, even though our eyes would meet often.

After a while, Tia walked in again. This time, carrying some clothes. "I think they might be a little small for you, but they were the biggest he had." She said, giving them to Alex.

"Better than nothing. Thank you." He said as he got up and went back into the bathroom. A few moments later, he came back out and to say that they were small... Well. The black shirt was very tight, but the dark blue shorts weren't too bad. However, it was like he wasn't wearing a shirt at all.

Alex POV

Celestia said she knew a spot we could talk and started leading me that way. Before I left Luna's room, I did thank her for letting me use her bathroom.

"Hey, Celestia. We could have been anywhere in the castle. How did you know we were in Luna's room?" I asked.

"It was just a hunch." She replied with a smirk.

We went back to the dinning room where I was given the most delicious and juicy piece of meat in all my life. I didn't even ask what it was, I just ate it. I'm pretty sure I was like a kid on christmas that just opened their most desired present.

Afterwards, we walked through the halls, I had no idea where we were, but I was too busy getting bombarded by the thoughts that had been so graciously swept away over the past hour.

Celestia led me through a small set of doors which came out to a small balcony. It had an amazing view over the bright city with a dark background of the land beyond. There were a few potted plants in the corners and a small white table with matching chairs.

"Okay, so what did you need to talk to me about." She asked, sitting on one of the chairs.

I followed suit before releasing the mother of all sighs. Then I explained everything: from arriving at Rarity's boutique, to running away after the incident and every thought I had during.

When I finished, I looked up at her and saw a straight face. It worried me more than if she was hysteric. "Is Rarity okay?" She finally asked.

"I hope so. I left before I could talk to her about it. She did seem okay, though."

"She does know that it wasn't... you, per se. So I think the only action you need to take is to talk with her and gain common ground."

"I know, but that's what I'm afraid of... I couldn't hurt her that way, but it was so close to happening. I can't even think about showing my face to her." I said, my head falling into my hands.

Celestia tried to say something, but I could tell words were eluding her. "Alex. The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up soon and I know all the girls are attending. Stay here in Canterlot so we can talk about this more and hopefully come to resolve the problem. Then make an effort towards Rarity during the Gala and talk about eachother's understanding of the situation and work on the problems." It was great advice. I knew instantly how I could go about this, but so little as thinking of her makes me feel ashamed.

"It's a start. Thank you, Celestia." I said, lifting my head to look at her.

"It's quite alright, and we're friends so call me Tia." I grew a large smile as she stood up.

"The room you previously stayed in currently unoccupied so you can sleep there. Do you know the way back?"

"I'm sure I can find it. Thanks again." She walked away and I continued to sit on the balcony.

I wasn't doing anything, just sitting there. I wasn't even going over what was said or what had happened. I just stared off into the night sky. I felt my eyelids getting heavy and closed them briefly. Suddenly, several images flashed through my mind. There were too quick for me to see anything, but they were there.

I opened my eyes to be greeted by a completely different surrounding. I was in the center of a large throne room.

"What the hell?" I thought out loud.

It was similar to Canterlot's but still very different. The floors were a white marble, the walls were a white concrete-looking material and the many columns lining the walls, and framing the stained glass windows, were a pearl stone. There was a royal blue carpet running from two large wooden doors all the way to two tall thrones upon a small set of stairs. It was magnificent to say the least.

The large door creaked, gaining my attention. They opened and guards flooded into the room. Their armour was silver with blue highlights. Except for a select few, they had white with gold armour and my guess was that they held rank.

Among the guards were two significant ponies that stood out. One being a stallion and the other being a mare, they were taller and had a seperate attire. The stallion was wearing black armour and had a long blue cape draped from his right shoulder. The mare was wearing white armour with a blue and white tabard over top. The stallion's fur was a very dark blue, his mane and tail were quite long and black, but also looked like a window to the ever expanding universe. There were several galaxies and stars littering through it. The mare had pristine white fur and her mane and tail went from light orange to crimson red and the tip. They both were wearing crowns as well, the mare was wearing a polished silver crown with blue jewels, and the stallion was wearing a gold crown with large red jewels atop.

I stepped back slightly and watched as the guards lined the walls. The two ponies rushed along the blue carpet, the mare was slightly behind the stallion and grabbed his arm, stopping both of them just before me.

"Noctis, please. We aren't safe here." The mare begged, her voice showed urgency.

"We will not run from this." The stallion, Noctis, replied.

"And what of our foals. We have been overrun thus far, what's to stop them from gaining here aswell."

"Solis..." Noctis said, placing his hands on the mare's, Solis, shoulders. "Sombra may be strong, but he is not strong enough to get through these walls..."

"And if he does?" Solis interrupted.

"Then we can banish him and his rule over The Crystal Empire." Another voice said. I looked over and saw a young stallion with blue robes and a stereotypical wizard's hat.

"Star Swirl. Are you saying..." Noctis began.

"I cracked it, I was able to decipher the ancient text and it spoke of spell strong enough to banish Sombra." Star Swirl explained.

"Ha Haa! I knew you could do you, my friend!" Noctis exclaimed, hugging the young stallion.

"However, I would recommend it as a last resort only. This spell holds enormous strain on the casters, you should know that this spell was cast by several alicorns at one time, and with there only being two of you here... If the spell is used, it will need to be used by both of you and will kill you... I'm sorry." The mood became very still for a moment.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that, then." Noctis said after a small silence.

"Uh... Excuse me, but could someone please tell me what's going on." I said, but didn't get a response. "Hello?" Still nothing. "Someone please say something to me, I'm starting to freak out." My words were cut short by two children's cries for their mother. We all looked in the direction and saw two young alicorns. One was white with a light pink mane and tail, the other was dark blue with a light azure mane and tail. The white one looked to be about four while the dark one looked to be about two. They ran to Solis and buried themselves into her crouching form.

"Mother! Why is there fire everywhere?" The white one asked and the dark one broke into tears of fright.

"It's alright my fillies. We're leaving soon." Solis comforted them before standing to Noctis. "We need to leave. We can't risk everything for pride, Noctis. I'm taking Celestia and Luna to the escape tunnels..." A massive bang went off at the door guards swarmed it, many pushing it closed and many readying their weapons.

"Celestia and Luna? Have I gone back in time?" I asked with only me hearing it.

Noctis! We're going now!" Solis shouted, but it was too late. A huge explosion went off at the door. Smoke shrouded everyone's vision as we were thrown off balance from the force. Poor Luna fell over.

The smoke started clearing and I saw some of the guards had died in the explosion. Those that weren't were fighting against other ponies, ponies that had crystal-looking armour and weapons.

A lone stallion stepped through the fighting, towards the royal family. Noctis gripped his sheathed sword and stood infront of solis and his children. The stallion stopped and glared at Noctis, and Noctis returned in kind.

A guard charged the stallion with a loud battle cry, but with a swift move, the stallion's blade was drawn. The guard stopped with a straight face before slowly falling forwards. Once his body hit the floor, his head rolled off his shoulders.

"That's nice." I said with a grimace.

"Sombra. You don't have to do this. We were brothers once." Noctis said, completly ignoring his decapitated guard.

"We were never brothers." Sombra said quietly. The two stallions stood stoic for what felt like ages. Finally Noctis made a move, he ran straight at Sombra with his sword still in it's sheath. Sombra copied. The air got really tense and when the two were in striking distance, both swords drew and clanged together with a deafening sound, as it did everything went dark.

I opened my eyes, I was in a dark room. I looked around and took in my surroundings. They were oddly familiar, but I wasn't on the balcony any more. My eyes fell upon the object infront of me, it was a bed... Luna's bed.

"What the... I whispered, not to disturb the sleeping princess that's not even a meter from me. Something was in my right hand and I rose it into my view. "What the fuck..." I was holding a very sharp kitchen knife.

Bypassing the effects of being shocked, I moved as quickly and quietly as I could out the door. Once I was out, I made my way towards my room. All I could think was: What the fuck! First I have this weird vision of the past, then when I'm back I'm in Luna's room with a knife... What the fuck! I got to my room and rushed inside. I took a few deep breaths and tried to comprehend what happened, but to no avail.

"Oh, man... Where's Nathan? He always knows stuff." I thought out loud as I started pacing around the room. I looked at my hand and grimaced before throwing it away... Maybe a little too hard. The knife spun through the air and embedded itself right into the wall. "Whoops."

"I'm so done with today." I said as I went straight for the bed and collapsed over it. I didn't even have time to realise how exausted I was before falling asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I awoke from the sound of a bird singing it's lovely songs. I got out of bed and went over to the open balcony door. On the railing was a red bird with a white belly. It stopped its chirping and stared at me, I just blinked a few times back. After a few seconds, the bird started chirping again.

"Fuck off! I'm trying to sleep!" I yelled at the bird who became startled and flew off.

"I'm sorry, I'll come back later." I heard from behind me. I spun around and saw Feather Duster leaving.

"Wait, I was talking to the bird." I called out and chased after her. I opened the bedroom door and saw her standing on the other side with her back to me. "It wasn't you. The bird woke me up... So I yelled at him." I explained. I noticed she was looking at something off to the side. I followed her gaze and saw the knife in the wall.

"If I may ask, why is there a knife in the wall?" She asked.

I gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of my neck before speaking. "It's uh, a long story..." I started. "Basically I was jumped by like... twenty kitchen knife-wielding... ninjas... Yeah, and I fought them of with my bare hands. Thats from when I was pinned up against the wall by five of them and another threw his knife at me, but I dodged it and threw them all out of the castle." I finished with a big grin.

Feather just shook her head. "If that's your cover story, I really don't want to know the truth."

That was easy "So, how come you're in here?" I asked. Her face flushed a light shade of pink.

"Um. I was sent to inform you, that princess Celestia wishes to see you at breakfast." Her words seemed a little rushed, almost like she was making it up. I, however at the time, was none the wiser.

"Okay, thanks. I guess I should get going then." I said before walking out the door and heading for the dinning hall. On my way, a loud scream bolted through the air. Instinctively, I ran straight for the source. It didn't take long, but when I got close, I saw a mare on floor. She was covering her mouth and staring at an open door. I ran up to her and crouched down. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked, frantically. She replied by pointing past me and at the door. I turned around and saw the door was a closet for cleaning tools. Upon seeing what was in it, though... My stomach twisted and my heart stopped beating. "Oh shit..."

Author's Note

CLIFF HANGER!!!

Man, don't you just hate it when that happens.