Sirius returned to the apartment deep in the evening. Iclyn wasn't yet sleeping and greeted him as he entered the room.

"Hey, Sirius," she said. "Um, if you don't mind me asking... Where've you been?"

"Just getting something for myself." he replied, setting down his saddlebag near the bed. Iclyn glanced at it, and then looked back at Sirius. Without another word, he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind himself.

Iclyn stood up and walked to his bed. What was so special about the item that Sirius had gotten? He seemed to be obsessed with something for a few recent days. The filly noticed how much time he had spent with the books, going over them swiftly as if he was searching for something very specific. What was it? Iclyn didn't have a clue.

However, she could take a peek at it. She cautiously opened the saddlebag and looked inside. What she saw surprised her. It was the amulet unlike any other she's seen before. It made her feel strange as fear crawled up her spine just by looking at it. Something about the amulet was off, also making her very nervous.

She closed the saddlebag and took a few steps away from it. She didn't like what she saw and she feared it. She couldn't understand the reason behind her sudden spike of emotions. What was so unnerving about the amulet?

Then it hit her — the amulet represented an alicorn! Though, not a specific one. The amulet was made... to store the power that could rival alicorn's.

Iclyn couldn't believe it. Was Sirius interested in Black Magic? She could feel something forbidden inside the strange item he had gotten. There was a certain feel to it when she saw it.

Her eyes widened. What if he planned on killing someone? He was violent, aggressive, and had gone through terrible events that made his previous life a wreck. Those events hardened him and made him cold. She knew little of it, but she suspected Sirius had gotten the item because he needed power. Why he needed power? She didn't know.

She failed to hear the door opening behind her. Sirius stepped out of the bathroom and immediately noticed her staring at his saddlebag. It didn't take half a brain to figure out what was going on.

Sirius frowned. He realized her curiosity led to discovery of the Alicorn Amulet, and she could definitely feel its power and possible curse.

"Iclyn." he called her calmly. She jumped in place and turned around. Her eyes shrunk in fear. "You saw it."

She knew it wasn't a question but a statement. All she could do was nod.

"S-Sirius..." she said nervously. His expression was blank, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Why do you need it?"

The former human sighed. He went around her and to the saddlebag. He opened it and fully revealed the amulet.

"So, you know what it is?" he asked the filly, showing her the amulet.

"I... I think it, um, stores the power to be l-like an alicorn." she explained, stuttering. Sirius noticed how much she feared him, and it brought sadness to him. Was he hurting his friend? "There's s-something darker to it... Why do you need it?"

"There were times I was defenseless." Sirius explained, looking at the artifact. "I was... hurt very much. Because of what was done to me, I am here." he turned to Iclyn. She understood his words — he couldn't bear living in that world anymore because someone had pushed him into committing suicide. "Because of my defenselessness, I could do nothing but... do 'the unthinkable', Iclyn." he sighed again. "Now... I won't repeat mistakes. I will not be defenseless." he looked at his longsword. It was placed near the corner of his bed, right next to his pillow.

"I... I don't know what you've been through, but..." Iclyn said, calming down a little. It seemed to her that Sirius wouldn't hurt her. "I don't think you'll need, uh, this here."

"I was attacked." Sirius cut her off. "For an item. You are wrong, I need everything. This..." he levitated the necklace closer to himself. "Can help me. My magic is weak, and this thing gives me magic. I can be equal to alicorn." he clicked the amulet, securing it around his neck. His eyes briefly flashed red as it imbued him with untold power. "I can feel it now. I will not be defenseless." he said, and then breathed in deeply.

He could feel the power cracking inside him, begging to be released. He could be like a god — making a place for himself, stomping everyone in his path, never letting anyone even think about hurting him. It was a feeling unlike any other — the feeling of being completely invulnerable, omnipotent. He could create and destroy, give life or kill, anything was within his grasp at that moment.

He levitated the longsword to himself. A weapon of his choice, it was no match for his new powers. However, he still needed it. It was his display of power and control. Who would disobey someone who had a weapon? No one. Sirius could make anyone do what he wanted, bend their wills to do his own. He could make everyone pay for what they did to him. He could search for a way back to Earth and wreck it until no one remained. Oppressive, uncaring governments, no more. Rapists, murderers, slavers, they would be erased from existence. He could make humans bow to him as if he were a god. He could control them, and nothing would happen without him.

He would be able to do anything to make sure that the humanity wouldn't able to reach the stars and new worlds, he would keep their filthy hands away from the beauty of undiscovered and the unknown. They would no longer taint the universe.

Something made Sirius look at Iclyn. She was in the corner of the room, cowering in fear, her hooves covering her eyes. She was shaking from fear, and the former human could swear he saw tears of terror. A brief look of sadness passed over Sirius' face.

He stopped to think. Was he hurting Iclyn? Why was she afraid of him? Friends shouldn't be afraid of each-other. They were friends, right? He wouldn't hurt her — she had done nothing wrong. He would just make sure that no one worse than him would ever discover Equestria. If there were no more humans, then everything would be safe. He didn't mean to scare his only friend, he just wanted to explain that he simply didn't want to be vulnerable, he didn't want the humanity to reach and taint Equestria or any other beautiful world. Maybe she just couldn't understand it. He didn't blame her — she had never seen his world, its dangers and cruelties, and especially its inhabitants. They were vile monsters, comprised of the worst, made to inflict pain upon others, forcibly reproduce, and then repeat the cycle over and over again.

But... something was wrong with it. Not with it but with him. If they were monsters, so was he. Or was he? He believed he could change. Maybe. Probably. He could at least try.

What he did to Iclyn was like showing an armed nuclear bomb. A device to erase everything from existence, leave nothing but ashes. He had what he thought was its magical counterpart. An artifact so powerful it would be able to bend entire nations, bring them on their knees.

And yet, Sirius hesitated. Was what he was doing right? No one supported him. No one even remotely liked him. He was just like those he hated so much. In the new world, was there a place for him? He was just a hateful beast that wanted to see his birthplace burn and turn into pale ashes.

His ears drooped, he hung his head. He was practically threatening the only one who was close to him. The only one he wanted and could be friends with, someone that might understand him and help him become better. And yet, he pushed her away.

No wonder he didn't have any friends.

He took off the amulet, levitated the mattress and put the artifact near the revolver. Unbeknownst to him, the intense red glow and his angered expression faded into regret and sadness.

"Iclyn..." he stepped towards the filly, making her look at him. "I... I didn't mean to scare. I will use the amulet only when absolutely needed. I promise." seeing no reaction, he sat down and looked at the floor. "I... I just want... safety." he said. Another few words were almost uttered by him, but he held them back. He didn't think he could let her know his deep desires. Though, the unspoken words resonated inside his head: "I want affection, sympathy, understanding, comfort..."

Iclyn lowered her hooves. Instead of someone scary and alien, she saw someone broken, someone who was too damaged to ever think of peace, and yet he wanted it like nothing else. In his eyes, she saw someone longing for friendship and affection, not someone willing to hurt others. The anger, the hatred inside him, it wasn't directed at her. It was all he knew, it was the only way he knew how to survive in any world. Keeping others away was what he knowingly and unknowingly did. He just wanted to be safe but couldn't.

He wasn't a monster, Iclyn realized. As alien as he was, as hard as it was to understand him, in the end he had emotions just like any other being. Regret, sadness, happiness, love, hate, fear, longing, nothing was foreign to him. He was just another being searching for his happiness and place in life. Like anyone else, he didn't want to be harmed. Unlike others, he had to go through what Iclyn probably couldn't even imagine. However, she could understand why he did what he did and why he went to such extreme measures to be safe.

She went up to him and hugged him gently, the sudden contact sending electricity down his spine, making him shudder and almost gasp. Tears started streaming down his face as he gave into the warm comfort of another being.

He might've been filled with hate, but affection wasn't foreign to him. He clung to this feeling, and he felt safe with Iclyn.

Maybe he wouldn't need that artifact.

Author's Note

I hope you all understand that it was the amulet that made Sirius think about total domination and absolute destruction. Though, he still holds a lot of resentment and hate towards Earth's most intelligent inhabitants. Some of them are not so intelligent, after all.

And yes, a powerful artifact that can also corrupt and a mentally unstable person isn't the best combination out there. Thankfully, Sirius managed to suppress the newfound desire for destruction and domination.

So, what do you all think about this? Theories, thoughts, anything is welcome.

P.S. New chapters will be bigger. I was working on my other stories, and that's why the two most recent chapters are shorter in comparison to others.
P.P.S. Iclyn could sense the Alicorn Amulet only when she was very close to it. A unicorn would probably sense it at the doorway.

To top it all, I wrote this chapter in one go during a few hours at night. I really should change my sleeping pattern.