Author's Note

Just a warning. The start of this chapter contains a splash of horror and gore. If you don't like either, skip the italicised text directly below.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim to own any of the songs throughout this story. Enjoy

4: Nightmares (Re-Write)

It was dark. Very dark. There where two walls on each side of me, with a black abyss infront. The same behind me. It was too dark to see the ceiling. The floor was a cold, hard concrete. The walls were covered with a wallpaper that had dark red from the floor to about my elbows, then changed to a dark grey from there up. I reached out and hesitantly placed my hand against the wall.

"Where am I?" My words felt like they could grind metal, but it didn't hurt to speak. My eyes felt dry, like I was about to fall asleep, but I was wide awake. My body felt stiff, but I could move with no problems. My breaths were short and course, but I didn't have trouble breathing. "What is this place?" I was speaking softly to cut the silence and give myself some comfort in this horrible place. It was making me feel cold but hot, wet but dry, asleep but awake. Something about this dark hall put me on end.

I mustered up enough willpower to move. I was slow at first, but was soon at a comfortable speed. I didn't want to rush in case something was just outside of the five foot radius in which I can actually see.

There was nothing but empty hallway for what felt like hours of walking. Just when I was starting to get tired, a door emerged along the right wall from the somber darkness. I came to a halt facing the door. I looked around me, not that it did anything. The door was wooden, in fact, it looked medieval. The door knob was an ice cold metal beneath my fingers. It twisted, and with a sharp *click* I was able to push the door open, albeit cautiously. What greeted me sent a shiver down my spine.

The room was dimly lit by the moonlight flowing through the window opposite me. I was able to see the light blue wallpaper around the small room. A light grey carpet adorned the floor. On the wall to my left was an old, hand crafted, dresser. On the wall to my right was a small trunk with an ingraving that I can't quite make out. But it was what was infront of me that was frightning. The room was giving on an infancy feel to it, setting that in stone was the crib under the window. I've read enough stories to know this can't be good, but my mind isn't registering my flashing red light warning system. I went over to the right, towards the trunk. On the floor infront of it were five toy blocks with letters on them, they were in an unorderly fashion, like what one would expect after a young child was playing with them. When standing above them I was able to see what they spelt out, from left to right were the letters: A - L - E - X... R. To confirm my suspicions I glanced to the trunk's ingravings 'Alex Regent'. A small giggle from behind me snapped my attention as I pivoted at back-breaking speed. Ignoring any sense of my mind, I stepped closer to the crib. Closer. And closer. Inside the crib was a small child. Me.

After a good five minutes of staring at the infant giggling at me, something upset him. Me. He started to cry and reach out towards the door. Not a moment later *click* the door creaked open and behind it was the last thing I ever thought I would see, my mother. She was a very beautiful woman. Long, flowing, blonde hair, she was standing at 5"8, shorter than what I remember but that was sixteen years ago, she had a thin but powerful body. She was in a white sleeping gown. I could see and recognise all her facial features, except her deep blue eyes. They were foggy. misty. blurry. A single tear fell down my cheek. Being able to see her was something amazing.

I acted out of emotion and my hand shot out to grab hers as she passed me to comfort her crying baby. My hand passed through her's like she wasn't there. I was shell shocked, I couldn't move. I could only watch as she cradled the baby. She started to sing a lullaby, the same one I remember from all those years ago. Her voice was one of an angel. It was ripping my heart to shreds listening to it again.

Something went wrong, here voice started to crack, the baby started crying again, wind started to blow around the room, music (if I can even call it that) started to play from nowhere.

As the sound was building in volume, my mother adjusted her grip on the young me. Her hair was covering any view of her face. Her hand were now wrapped around the baby's head. The baby wasn't crying, or making any noises. All I could hear was that ungodly ambience. *snap* the gruesome sound echoed as everything went quiet. My mother just broke the infants neck. She dropped the lifeless body for it to hit the ground in a sickening thud. I needed to throw up, but I wasn't doing anything. I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, I wanted to gouge out my own eyes.

Her head slowly rose, it rose to where her hair stared to fall back from her face. Two black, souless eyes with Crimson red irises and black pupils. That's what replaced those once stunning, deep blue eyes of hers. The sounds came back, increasing in volume faster than before. My breathing increased rapidly. My blood was running cold. My skin was tightening around my body. My muscles were straining... She kept staring at me. The sounds were deafening. Neither of us did anything apart from stare at the other. I needed to get out of there. My mind was screaming at me to move. I flinched in the slightest and she released all levels of hell from her throat in a scream, her skin shot pale white and her hair jet black. I used that time to make like a tree and get the fuck out of there. I slammed the door and ran for my life, I didn't care which way, as long as it was away from that horror.

I could hear her chasing me, there was another set of feet hitting the ground only faster than my own. I quickly came to an intersection of hallways and used every muscle in my left leg to propel myself in the rightward direction. I kept running, not stopping to breath, not turning back. The other footsteps got quieter quickly and the awful sounds were gone. It was just me and my panting.

I was able to regain my ability of breathing after a short break. It was so quiet that I wanted to cut off my ears and burn them.

"Aaaaaaaaalllex" her sing-song tone reverberated through the halls, making it very hard to pinpoint how far away she was.

"oh, dear fuck." I regretted even whispering that in case she heard me. Every hair on my body was standing on edge.

"Where have you gone? It's time for us to play. You always loved to play." It's not her. It can't be. I started walking quietly and quickly, looking in every direction as fast as possible, my eyes were darting towards anything and everything. I needed to catch my breath again.

"Don't you just love what I did with the walls?" I pressed my hand against the wall beside me as I bent over with my other hand leaning on my leg so I could collect any oxygen I could find. Her words didn't even click until felt something wet under my hand on the wall. My arm shot back. I was inspecting my hand trying to identify the liquid. Then the whole hall lit up in a bright flash from lightening striking outside a window that wasn't there a second ago. But that wasn't what was worrying me. The liquid was blood, and it was leaking down every inch of the walls. "Oh, and I got the floors redone, they are so nice to walk along now." I was really frightened of what she meant. Nothing happened, so I decided to keep going to find a way out of here. I soon felt my feet treading on something squishy. All of a sudden I couldn't move, my feet were trapped. Panicking, I started thrashing about causing myself to lose balance and fall to one knee. Another bright flash went off to reveal the floor replaced by blood covered bits of mangled bodies. I threw up all over the 'floor' I couldn't hold it in. "Now that's no way act when someone gives you a gift." Her voice was right beside my left ear. I swung an arm out to fend off what ever she had become. Of course my arm hit nothing. Another few bright flashes lit up the hall for a good ten seconds, I saw faces among the bloody mess I was now trapped in. They were the faces of my new friends, colourless and terrified. Right at my toes were the faces of my brother and my sister. I managed to redirect my self before throwing up again. A putrid smell invaded my senses making my eyes water. In unison all the faces came to life and screamed my name.

"ALEX! WHY DID YOU LET US DIE, ALEX!" My brother and sister were too much for me. I started crying uncontrollably. The thought of not only letting my sister die, but my brother as well. Especially after I swore to him I would protect him with every drop of my blood... and now he's dead while I'm here... alive.

"*sob* I'm sorry."

Now it was time for my new friends to scream at me. "WHY, ALEX? WE GAVE YOU FRIENDSHIP, ONLY TO BE REPAID WITH HATE!" No, I couldn't kill them, I wouldn't kill them.

"...I'm... I didn't... I swear." I went to deny their claims but only managed to choke out some words past my crying.

"But you did, Alex." She was back, this time I could see her gawking at me like I was prey caught in her trap. "What you see before you... It's all your doing. The blood on the walls, THEIR blood on the walls... and their corpses littering the floor..." She paused for a moment, then turned around, looking for someone. "I know you're here! I knew you were here when you arrived!" Who was she talking to "you have no power here, this is not your domain anymore! Not inside Alex!" Inside me... What? She turned back to me staring at my kneeling form. "It's time for us to play now, Alex."

Suddenly I was strapped to a table with a bright light hanging above me, swinging slightly. She was standing beside me with a BIG knife in her hand. "Let's begin... and you can watch!" That last part wasn't directed at me, I didn't know what to think, it was all too overwhelming.

The scene changed as soon as I blinked, I no longer had clothes on, just my boxers. She softly dragged the sharp edge of the large knife across my chest, not cutting, but toying with me. But then she proceeded with long, agonising, deep strokes drawing a lot of blood. I screamed out. It continued. More and more incisions. She started getting more excited and it showed with the way she was using the knife. each cut got deeper and faster. She started slashing and stabbing. Soon I was a bloody mess with countless stab wounds, deep gashes, and chunks of skin hanging loosely. I couldn't scream, I couldn't even breath. It was the most painful thing I could have ever imagined... I don't think I could've even imagined this sort of pain... It just wouldn't end.

I screamed and my eyes shot open as I shot up into seated position. 'Wait a minute.' I glanced around to see the cozy, little room I had fallen asleep in.

"Oh, just a nightmare... a seriously fucked up one." I whispered to myself, rubbing my eyes and wiping away some of the sweat.

"Alex! What in tarnation are yah shoutin' for?" I jumped a little from the sudden intrusion.

"Sorry, Applejack. Uh, I just had a bad dream. That's all." I threw on my best attempt at a reassuring smile.

Applejack came into the room, shutting the door behind her before she made her way over to the side of the bed and sat down.

"Sugarcube, that sure sounded a little more than just a bad dream. Yah can talk to me about it. I won't judge yah none either." All of my troubles felt like they would just melt away, her smile was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Her eyes like flawless emeralds on a sacred crown. Truly beautiful. I snapped out of my trance and had to look down, finding the back of my hand very interesting.

"I appreciate it, Applejack... It was really nothing." I said.

"If yah say so." She said with a sigh before standing and making her way back to the door. "I just want yah to know, there ain't nothing you gotta worry yerself about here. We're sure t' find yah a way back home... An' my friends call me AJ." A wink followed her words and real smile graced my lips.

"Thanks, AJ." She threw me one more of those captivating smiles before closing my door.

I groaned, realising that I was grinning like an idiot and snapping myself back to reality. 'Why is she so nice to me? Is there something she wants? They're all like this, I haven't got anything. I'll just have to be more careful until I can find out what they want from me.' I laid back and closed my eyes. That twisted version of my mother's face also plaguing my mind.

I awoke the next morning with a slither of sunlight assaulting my face through the curtains. Wow, I don't feel like I slept at all. I thought with a groan. A firm rub of my face and I was ready to get up, hoping this day would distract me from how busy my mind felt.

Making my way the bathroom was a lot harder than I was expecting. It felt like I had a serious hangover. If only that was the case, then at least it would be overshadowed by a fun night prior. I gave my face a quick splash with cold water before heading down for breakfast.

Breakfast went on like it was a normal day, at least for the Apple family. Started out by meeting Granny Smith. A lovely old lady that was very welcoming to me. I felt a little bad by not introducing myself when I arrived, but she didn't seem fazed. Now Big Mac was another story, He was polite, but I'm pretty sure my hand got fractured with that handshake. With introductions aside, we sat down at the pancake adorned table for the morning meal.

"You alright, there, Alex? you've been staring at your food for a good while?" Applebloom asked. Bleary eyed, I looked up to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I had a rough night. New world and people... just a little overwhelmed, I guess."

"Y

The rest of the week was very dull for me. There were quite a few things on my mind. Every day was pretty much the same thing: wake up, say good morning to everyone, eat breakfast quietly, wander around the farm or the orchard, grab something to eat back at the house, wander some more, maybe sit under or in a tree, eat dinner in silence, go to bed, wake up, repeat. I was visited by Twilight and Spike a lot, not that they were the only ones, Fluttershy visited quite often as well just to see how I was doing. She was very gentle and didn't ask too many questions... unlike Twilight. In fact, we didn't talk all that much. Some times she would just sit down next to me and we wouldn't even speak. It was weirdly enjoyable, especially with how helpless and lost I was feeling. I wanted to go home, but I didn't know where to start... which was amplified by Twilight's visits. I get that she's curious, I would be too if I were in her shoes... but she kept asking more about my home and the more she asked the further away I felt.

Pinkie Pie would pop up every now and again too, but she would sling a whole bunch of words at me. From what I could make out, she was telling me about her day. She would also bring a different cupcake for me to try each time and I would start off by politely refusing, but she would get upset so I would eventually give in and eat them. They were good, but I felt guilty eating them. I'm no where near smart enough to understand my feelings, but I can tell when a feeling is good or bad.

I didn't see much of Rainbow Dash, but when I did she would be flying above, doing stuff with the clouds and I couldn't help but watch and wish I had wings. I had no idea clouds were touchable. Eventually she'd start doing tricks so I think she knew I was watching, but she only ever spoke to me a few times.

Rarity offered to make me some new clothes almost every time she visited, but I didn't have anything to pay her with. She tried to do it for free, but I couldn't accept that grand of a gesture, I didn't even want to think about the kind of favour that could bring down on me. She did talk about herself a lot, which would normally annoy me, but everything was far from 'normal' at this rate. Plus it was another distraction from my mind, which I was thankful for.

Sitting around, doing nothing was easy, but it sucked. That nightmare was living in my head rent free and I hated how isolated everything felt. Every time I closed my eyes I saw my mother's face with jet black hair instead of flowing gold. Pale white skin instead of a healthy tan... and those dark eyes with Crimson irises. But that was only during the day. I had no trouble sleeping. Another thought that plagued my mind was if I would be able to get back to James, my brother, or at least he could get to me. I escaped by helping pick apples as much as I could, but AJ didn't want me to. A distraction and paying off the debt I owe her for taking me in, it was two in one, but alas. I tried to tell her it was the least I could do after she gave me a place to stay but she still wouldn't let me help. At least I wasn't having any more of those nightmares... well, I wasn't dreaming at all.

A dreadful day came when I was supposed to be meeting the princesses. Twilight said I just have to answer a few questions Princess Celestia will ask me. I'd never met royalty before, I don't know how to act around them. We have a royal family in The Capital back home, but I've only ever seen them on TV. I'll just have to swallow my nerves and wing it.

"If it's any consolation, I'll be there."

"I know you mean well, Twilight, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to make a fool of myself." I have the unforgiving luck of screwing these sorts of things up, like when I first met Twilight and the others, I almost fell three storeys.

"I'm sure it's just all in your head, try to stay calm and you'll do great... and try not to jump through any windows." I gave a guilty smile while rubbing the back of my head.

"No promises." Making plans isn't really my strong suit anyway, I'm the type of person that thinks quickly on the spot... hopefully.

Our conversation was interrupted by a train pulling into Ponyville Station. Twilight was kind enough to put the illusion spell over me again so I wouldn't draw attention, but there was almost no one on the train, at the station, or through town. We got onto the train and took one of the many empty booths. "You know what's not in my head? The fact that we're catching a train this early in the morning." It was about five when Twilight knocked on the front door. During the twenty minute walk to the station and the twenty minute wait for the train, she filled me in on the plan she and Celestia had made. We were going to catch a train leaving Ponyville at six so we could arrive at Canterlot just before one, we would meet with the princesses in their castle, me and Twilight would meet up with the others at the train station, go back to the castle for dinner with the princesses, spend the night at the castle, and hit a train back to Ponyville the next day. That's what I was told anyway.

The first hour of the trip was spent in relative silence. I had my phone out was listening to music, I noticed Twilight was interested because every time I went to change song I'd watch her eyes flick over to my hands. I decided to have a little fun. I lifted my phone up to my eye level. Sure enough Twilight was watching. I could see her through the screen but she could only see silver. *click* her ear twitched at the sound and she had a very confused look. *click* I took another photo of her. I put the phone back on the table in between the seats and threw her a small smile, which turned into a grin. Her confused look grew and she tilted her head a little. Pulling up the photo, I slid my phone across to her. Her confusion only grew until she realised what I'd done and started giggling at her expression.

"Your phone can take photos?"

"Yup. It can also play music... I saw you watching me every time I went to change song." Her cheeks grew a small blush, knowing I knew she was watching me. "Here, put these in your ears." I handed her my earphones as I went to find a song that would be good for her to listen to. She was inspecting them thoroughly before cautiously doing as I said. I don't really know which song I should play. I kept flicking through songs until I came across one she might like and hit play.

There wasn't much of a reaction, she was just looking at me with a straight face. She slowly started bobbing her head to the beat which made me smile, but when it hit the chorus she really got into it. She started dancing in the booth, well, more of throwing limbs around erratically.

"THIS IS REALLY COOL!" I'm glad we were the only ones in this part of the train because right now everyone would be staring at us. After a quick facepalm I started to laugh. "WHAT!?" I reached across the table and pulled out one of the earphones.

"You're shouting." She was a little confused at first, but put two and two together and realised she was trying to talk over music that only she could hear. A bright red hue spread across her cheeks again, and a shy smile across her lips. "Don't worry, everyone does it now and again."

She put the earphones on the table to avoid unnecessarily shouting a second time "So what other music does you phone have?"

"Uh. I have an app that allows me to listen to almost any song I want." She seemed quite impressed.

"What else can it do? Other than take photos and play songs. You said something about watching movies a while ago."

"Yeah, I've got a couple movies, but I can only watch them in low res." If only I had the plus instead of the HD Everything would be in much higher quality. Ironic, I know.

"What's res?"

"Resolution, It's basically the quality of videos and such."

There was a bit of silence after the conversation. Twilight went deep into thought while staring out the window and I felt the need for a couple Z's. I put my earphones in and rested my head on the table. It wasn't long before the realm of sleep cradled me gently.

I was having a lovely dream where I was on a huge, empty beach. With golden sand and crystal blue water, bellow a shimmering starry night. The air was warm and fresh. The sand was also warm from the sun that passed by and soft to the touch. For the first time I wasn't bothered by the solitude. I started walking in a direction parallel to the water, allowing my mind to go blank so I could enjoy myself in the moment. I saw something way out in front of me and curiosity got the better of me, so I wandered over towards it. As I got closer I could see that it wasn't so much as something, but someone. They were at the point where I could start making out features, from their shape and the way they were walking I could guess they were female, she had long hair that seemed to be blowing in a wind I couldn't feel. We were getting closer now, maybe fifty metres, and just before I could make out anything else, everything faded to a scene where I was in a train, sitting across from a quite attractive... "Twilight?"

"Alex." She was shaking my shoulder gently trying to wake me, I groaned in response, pulled out my earphones and raised my body to sit up right. "The train has stopped, something about something on the tracks."

"And you woke me to tell me that?" She just gave me an innocent smile and a simple nod.

Rubbing my face, yawning and deciding on what to do, I got up from my seat and stretched out my limbs. There were a few satisfying pops and cracks. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go see what's happening." She walked in the direction of the front of the train. As she reached the door to the next passenger cart, I glanced around the cart and felt very uncomfortable being alone. Quickly getting up I rushed after Twilight. There were a few ponies staring at me and whispering to one another. It did make me uncomfortable, but I had the spell on me. Although, that did make me wonder why they were staring.

Twilight must've noticed everyone staring as well because she leaned close to me and whispered "do you want me to put that illusion spell on you?"

I froze as her words bounced around in my head. "What do you mean? I thought you put it on me earlier!" I whispered back at her, panic dripping from every rushed word.

"I did, but I stopped casting it because we were the only ponies in the cart." With that said, I spun on my heel and practically sprinted back to my seat.

It wasn't long before I felt the train lurch forward. Twilight obviously sorted things out. I was broken away from the mess of panic swirling around me when the cart door opened. I popped up from my seat in a panic but let out a sigh on relief when I noticed it was Twilight and I sat back down.

"Turns out there was herd of goats that wouldn't move. Good thing the conductor, Emerald Sky was able to stop in time, that could've been messy." She explained with slight, nervous giggle at the end. "Are you okay?" She asked after noticing how on edge I was.

"Twilight, why did you uncast the spell?" I asked, accusingly.

"Well, we're alone in here and it's hard work keeping such a complex illusion going."

"Wait, what?"

"I may be gifted with strong magic, but it's hard work making you look like a stallion, let alone keeping the spell going for as long as I have."

"Oh, I didn't realise you had to keep it up... sorry." I did feel bad, but it didn't stop me from being so panicked.

"It's okay, you didn't know. Look, I know those ponies were a little worried, but I don't think they will care much." Her words didn't easy my concerns at all. "What are you so worried about? It's not like it's a big deal."

"It's a huge deal... I mean, I don't know, what if they start a witch hunt or something? I could get dissected. Don't aliens get dissected? Twilight, I'm an alien!" I spurted out. Twilight gave me a well founded funny look.

"You're starting to sound like Spike and his obsession with zombies. Alex, no pony's going to dissect you. I mean, yes they were giving you funny looks, but wouldn't it be the same if one of us were on your world?" This time her words started to calm me.

"Uh, you don't want me to answer that." This time it was Twilight's turn to be concerned. "Well, yes and no. There's a lot of people back home that do some pretty crazy things in the name of science."

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The rest of the train ride wasn't too bad, although, Twilight managed to get me to agree to allowing her to run some tests on me when we have free time in Canterlot. I'm a little concerned about it, a little voice in the back of my head saying she was one of those people that do crazy things in the name of science. Other than that Twilight told me the story of how the gang defeated Nightmare Moon the day before they found me, and that they were in the forest to make sure there was no way she could return, but they didn't get to search because on their way there, I jumped out of the bushes fighting timberwolves. It sounded way cooler than it felt.

We were about five minutes away from Canterlot now and Twilight had my phone doing gods know what while listening to music. she did make sure she only had one earphone in so if I needed to say something, she would hear.

"So how come Spike isn't coming 'til later?" I asked.

"He said he would stay to keep the library open. But I think he just wanted to stay behind so he could lock up and head over to Rarity's"

"Why's that?"

"You didn't hear this from me because he's trying to keep it a secret, but he sort of has a huge crush on her, has ever since we moved to Ponyville."

"He's not doing a very good job, I barely know him and I can tell." I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, everypony can, but he's young and it's cute."

"Does Rarity like him too?"

Twilight sighed before answering. "No, not really. We've talked about it at length, she cares about him a lot and doesn't want to break his heart. We're kind of hoping he'll eventually grow out of it."

"I guess that's understandable." I agreed solemnly. "what about you? Have you met 'the dream boat' yet?" Maybe this is going a little too personal.

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Twlilight POV

I pulled out the earphone and set it on the table "*sigh* I haven't really been... interested, in finding that special somepony yet." It wasn't the first question I wish Alex asked, but I feel like I can talk about it with him.

"Oh, I didn't mean to impose or anything. If you don't want to talk about it we can change the subject." 'That's what I mean, he's so understanding. Every time I've talked to him or when I've been around while he's talking to one of my friends, he's so cautious about how we feel. He never says anything harsh, or when he thinks he's overdone a joke or crossed some line, he apologises. He's like no stallion I've ever met. Am I falling for him? No I can't be... Can I?... It's not unheard of for a relationship to spark between different species, there are plenty of ponies with gryphons... But he isn't a gryphon or a pony... I'm sure it's just a school filly crush that will pass soon.

"No it's fine. It's just... When I was younger I was dedicated to my studies, I still am. I didn't grow up with a lot of friends, and all the other ponies were too afraid to talk 'Celestia's personal student'. Except a few, but I wasn't the best of friends to them."

"Wait, so you're like the princess's protègè. Doesn't that make you super important?" He seemed a little nervous, like all the other ponies from school.

"It just means that Celestia saw potential in me and my magic, so she became my mentor and has been teaching me about magic. It's even my special talent."

"What kind of things does the princess teach you?" I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that he's showing interest in what I've learnt. He is from a place with no magic, though, so I guess it makes sense.

"Well, at first it was about how to access my mana pool and how to channel my magic through my horn to interact with the world around me, including myself. That process is what we call using a spell. Attempting different interactions becomes a different spell, such as a levitation spell is different from an illusion spell, the first makes an object float to your will and the other can change an object's appereance as you please. However, heavier and larger objects require a stronger magical force and the same goes for more complex illusions or other spells. This is where a unicorn's talent comes into play. For example: my special talent is magic in general, so I can perform almost all spells with ease and have a substantially larger mana pool than say, Rarity. Because her talent is only a certain spell, she can only perform that spell easily, but for her to learn a new spell, it can take a long time and a lot of focus until she can perform it on thought and with little concentration..." damn it, Twilight. You've done it again I could feel myself blushing a little, realising I was rambling on. "...Um. I'm sorry, I can get a little carried away."

"No, no. It's perfectly fine. I was actually enjoying listening. It's always good to have something you clearly love." There it is again. Understanding and kind. I wonder if any of the girls have stumbled onto this as well.

A whistle sounded, signalling our arrival at Canterlot. The train started to slow as I could hear the squealing of the breaks. I looked out of the window to the platform where I saw many ponies, only they were all being evacuated by the Royal Guard. What is the Royal Guard doing here? I thought we were going to meet at the castle so there wouldn't be a big fuss.

I went over the door of the carriage and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. I tried again, but got the same result. I looked out the window and saw a guard holding the door closed. I tried the door between carriages to see the same thing. "Alex, the guards holding the doors closed."

"What? I thought you said they wouldn't care!"

"I thought they wouldn't."

Alex got up from the booth and was looking nervous, Not that I could blame him. I heard one of the guards shout at me to step away from the door. I complied and quickly stepped back Before they burst in.

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Alex POV

Standing next to Twilight surrounded by guards with spears and swords, all sharp bits pointed at us, isn't what I'd call a good day... But it's definitely the most exciting since I arrived here. There was five guards in the cart with us and there must be twenty more on the platform. All with shiny gold armour. I put my hands in the air and tried not to provoke any violence. That's when a white stallion with a two-toned blue mane walked in, his sword in his hand. He was wearing different armour. It was purple with gold highlights. He must be a high ranking officer or something. He took one look at the scene and recoiled a bit.

"Twilight? What are you doing here? You need to step away from that. Thing." Ouch. I don't get offended easily, but that hurt. I stayed silent even though I wanted to give this guy a piece of my mind, and maybe some of my fist too.

"Thing! Shining Armour, how dare you call Alex a thing!" Not the full name. Oh, he's in trouble now.

"We got a message saying there was a weird changeling on the train from Ponyville." He pulled one of the guards close to him and whispered into his ear. What he said became very clear as one guard walked over to Twilight and another walked behind me. The one with Twilight started shoving her towards the exit. "I'm going to take it to the castle to see what the princess has to say." I really didn't like how this guard was treating Twilight. As quick as lightning, I reach out, grabbed his shoulder and spun him around while I drew back my right and threw it straight into his muzzle. There was a loud crack then clang as he fell to the ground. The guard behind me was quick to kick out the back of my knees, dropping me to the ground. Not wanting to get poked with his sword, I raised my hands back up to surrender. I looked up and saw Twilight struggling against another guard as he aggressively guided her out onto the platform. Shining Armour walked up to me and paused, just looking into my eyes before he raised his sword and drove the pommel into the side of my head.