Shipwrecked

It had been several days since the crimson haired man had awoken, he had been picked and prodded but the number of different scientists. Almost every detail of him had been recorded and sent off in a report while giving the man barely a few moments to himself since he awoke.

The wound on his leg had healed quickly but had unfortunately left him with a nasty scar. One benefit of the examinations conducted on him was that the ponies had become more relaxed around him. While this did assist Lex in getting comfortable with his surrounding it also caused lose even more of his time alone.

Two days after he had awoken, he was given a temporary lodging with the Star and Dancer much to his grumbling. During the nights Lex had discovered that he wake up periodically breathing hard and on edge, his body tight coated in a cold sweat while panting hard. It irked him that he had difficulty remembering what he could only guess were nightmares.

During the early hours of the fourth day, Lex had once again been awoken by unknown nightmares. The man could only give a growl of frustration as he sat up and placed his face in his hands.

"I hate this" he growled quietly as he attempted to control his breathing. The small room he was in was room decorated with a simple single bed, a small trunk that held the few clothes he had been given. The man looked up into the dark room and simply let his eyes wonder as he let his thoughts wander.

His thought train came to a sudden halt when he noticed a pair of slitted cyan eyes watching him. He watched them for a few seconds while he slowly shifted to the edge of the bed all the while the eyes never left him. As he reached the edge of the bed, a soft silvery feminine voice spoke out.

"Do you truly believe that you have a chance to escape?" The voice said in an almost mocking tone.

"No, but I reckon my chances of defending myself are better while on my feet" Lex replied as he got off the bed and faced the set of eyes. The man was dressed in a pair of navy blue boxers.

"And do you honestly believe that you have a chance against defeating me without any weapons or magic?" The voice asked with a soft chuckle.

"Well you never know until you try" Lex replied with a toothy smile as he shifted his body in preparation for an attack.

"Confident aren't we?" The voice replied as the eyes began to rise until they were about a foot and a half higher then Lex's head. "Most would be begging for mercy if presented with the possibility of fighting one of my kind" she continued.

"What can I say, I'm either really brave or really stupid" Lex replied with a chuckle, which the voice replied with a chuckle as well.

"I guess we shall find out" the voice replied as a dark shape began to materialize in the space around the now glowing eyes. "But if I wanted you to die at my hands…" a more defined form began to take shape among the dark shape. "... this conversation would not be happening…" the form took the shape of a nearly eight foot tall Cornflower blue Unicorn mare with a flowing ethereal mane resembling the night sky. Her form was coated in steel armour which had a blue hue to it. She had a long sword strapped to her hip but the most noticeable feature that she had a large set of wings. "... Lucky for you, you are far too interesting to slay just yet."

"That's interesting" Lex said somewhat ignoring her while pointing towards her wings.

"Hmmm?" She replied while raising an eyebrow. "What is so interesting?" She asked as she looked behind her.

"You have wings" Lex replied as the Mare glanced at her wings.

"Yes I do… you are quite observant" she replied sarcastically.

"Why do you have wings?" Lex replied curiously.

"Well because I'm an Alicorn" she stated as if it explained everything.

"Right… questions for later, why are you here?" Lex asked while making a mental note to ask Cherry If he survives.

"Straight to business well alright then, after imprisoning my dear sister I noticed that she was part way through reading a letter…" The mare was explaining before she produced a piece of paper from seemingly out of nowhere. "...which simply explains to her that a possibly new species has been discovered on a Pre-equestrian Ship, and how could I not investigate?" She asked with a toothy smile, revealing a pair of large fangs similar to a Thresal.

"Oh so princess Celestia is your sister?" Lex asked.

"Ahhh yes… wait don't you know who I am?" She asked a little offended.

"Not a clue sorry" Lex replied with a shrug.

"Oh… Well my name is Nightmare Moon, Queen of the Night" She stated proudly as Lex walked over to her and offered his hand which caught her off guard.

"Pleasure to meet you, my name is Alexander or Lex for short" he said politely as Nightmare hesitantly took his hand.

"Your honestly not frightened of me?" She asked confused as Lex shook her hand.

"Nope, I feel like I should be but I'm not" He stated as he noticed the Mare visibly relax.

"Oh well… that is actually a nice change of pace from normal" she said with a smile. "Normally ponies are terrified by me"

"Well I'm obviously not a pony" He replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean" she said as Lex chuckled while the Mare scoffed.

"Anyway so apart from a letter reaching Celestia in only a few days from apparently the very edge of the country. Why did you imprison your sister?" Lex asked as he leant on his right leg while crossing his arms.

"Because she imprisoned me for one thousand years and so I believed it was only fair that I do the same to her because…" Nightmare begun explaining before Lex cut in.

"That sounds fair" Alexander stated causing the Mare's exposition dump to come to a screeching halt.

"Wait what? You think that is fair?!" The Alicorn asked a bit in shock.

"Of course, look if I was imprisoned a thousand years than I would be hella angry as well" Lex replied as the Mare looked at him for a few moments.

"I… I… okay wow I honesty wasn't expecting anypony to defend my choice…" She said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Look I'm just trying to understand both sides really and I'm sure she had a good reason in her eyes to imprison you." Lex stated. "So anyway how did you find me with the site?" He asked.

"Well I sensed your nightmare and entered it… which is a thing I am capable of doing as I used to assist ponies with nightmares bit I digress… once within it I discovered that the dream belonged to a Nonpony and then put two and two together and tracked you down." She explained as Lex nodded slowly not really following. "I sensed your dream and used it as a beacon to find you because that's my thing" She explained.

"Okay fair enough, wait you can sense dreams?" He questioned.

"Well more like enter and assist in dissolving nightmares And also understanding them" Nightmare explained.

"Oh cool… would you be able to help me cause I haven't slept properly since I got here" he asked her as the mare smiled.

"Of course, though you'll have to do something for me first" She replied with a wicked smile.

"Hey I just met you, I may be in my undergarments but I have some standards" Lex replied as Nightmare blinked at him confused for a few seconds before it clicked.

"Oh my stars no I didn't mean that… I mean not that I don't need something like that after being imprisoned for a thousand years but I need help with something else first" She rambled as Lex could faintly notice a faint change of colour on her muzzle. "What I mean is… it'll be easier of I show you" she said as she grabbed Lex's wrist while her horn ignited.

"Wait what are you doing?!" Lex asked concerned.

"Be calm, I am simply teleporting us" She explained.

"Wait! Don't I'm half nak…" The man begun before the pair vanished in a flash of indigo light.

(Everfree Forest)

"... ked don't teleport… Oh come on!" Lex finished as the pair suddenly appeared in a decaying cobblestone room. The room appeared to be an entrance hall of some kind, the windows were stained glass portraits of events unknown to the man. Half rotten banners hung from the ceiling and walls of a pair of Alicorns, one white and one blue. There were several bits of destroyed furniture and fallen banners around the room. Near the back of the room was an odd sculpture with several stone orbs attached to it but Lex paid it little mind as a wave of cold area hit his body. The arid hot summer area of the desert was gone.

"Stars above it's bloody cold, where the fuck are we?" he growled as he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"Well i simply brought you to my former castle deep within the Everfree Forest." Nightmare explained.

"And you brought me here from a bloody desert… in my boxers when I have no fur to keep me warm" Lex growled at her. "I deserve an explanation" Lex growled his annoyance quickly turning to angry as the cold made several of his joints hurt.

"Well it's quite simple, I need a distraction for a small band of annoyances, and what better way to distract them then a completely unknown species." Nightmare stated smugly.

"A-and w-what of the part about you helping me?!" Lex almost snarled as his teeth began chattering from the cold.

"Well if you survive then maybe" She laughed before she vanished in a flash of light.

"Cunt" lex growled in anger as he looked around the room. "Utter Cunt" he growled as he noticed a fallen banner. "Fire… Fire is good" he muttered as he walked over, each step against the cold cobblestone made the man almost wish to be walking on glass again… almost.

After the seeming eternal walk over to the fallen Banner, Lex knelt down to inspect it. While the material had some signs of decay, but mostly it was in good condition. The material was thick that tearing it seemed out of the question from the half awake freezing man.

"O-okay that is just great" He grumbled as he looked around the dimly lit room from something to cut. After a few minutes of strained searching a sudden thud was heard in front of Lex, causing him to jump.

Looking forward, Lex noticed that on top of the banner was a large rucksack that had an emblem identical to the seasonal ring on his body. Caution filled his head but also a great feeling of relief flooded his mind as well.

The caution quickly vanished from the man as he pulled the heavy bag towards him and began unbuckling it. Within the bag wear what appeared to be a large jacket made of an unknown grey fabric, a pair of boots, socks, pants, a shirt, a small box and a eight inch dagger. "Okay ahh thanks?" Lex called out as he looked around himself looking for anything out of the ordinary. The room was identical as before causing Lex to frown before he pulled the clothes out of the bag.

"Let's hope these fit" he muttered as he quickly got dressed. It didn't surprise him that the gear seemed to fit him, it surprised him that it fit perfectly. "Not complaining" he chuckled as he felt his body slowly begin to warm up. He glanced around as he pulled on the socks and boots now that he could focus more. "Oh right I'm about to have a possibly hostile group of people rocking up… fucking fantasic" he grumbled as he checked the bag again. Now that he removed the larger objects, he noticed several small vials of crimson liquid. "Not the best selection of weapons but it'll do" he said as he grabbed the dagger and placed it by his side. "I must have really pissed off someone upstairs to get such bad luck." Lex said as he inspected the box and opened it to reveal several matches. He nodded with a smile as he pocketed them in his heavy jacket before he pulled out a vial.

"Now what are you?" He asked, curious as he gave the vial a quick twirl only to notice it's viscosity was similar to that of blood. "I hope this isn't blood" he said cringing slightly as he popped the cork and smelt it. Instead of the copper smell he was expecting, he received a more earthy floral scent. "Okay so not blood… maybe" he muttered as he recorded the vial.

Lex placed the 4 vials next to the dagger as he gave the bag a once over. Upon finding nothing in any of the other pockets, he returned the vials to the bag and strapped the dagger to his side. "Alright now just have to wait until trouble arrives." He said as he rolled his eyes. "If the sister of a being who can move a fucking celestial body is worried about this band of individuals then they must be powerful… fuck me I feel like this isn't a new occurrence for me" he grumbled as he got to his feet and slung the bag around his shoulders. "Diplomacy it is than" he added.

"Because honestly who would be stupid enough to fight someone who is capable of imprisoning someone who can move a star… they guys must be utter unstoppable" he muttered to himself as he drew his dagger, inspected it quickly before he knelt down and began slicing up the banner into rags. "Best get a fire going, some light would be good" he muttered as he made a decent pile of rags.

After several minutes of stripping the banner and breaking down the furniture, Lex carried his fuel over to a corner of the room next to what appeared to be an exit to the forest. The man quickly built up a small stack from the wood and dumped the remaining sticks and rags a few feet away from it. Even though Lex was expecting trouble to come his way, he was strangely calm. He dumped his bag next to the wall before he knelt down and used the matches he had to ignite the stack. Once lit, Lex moved the pile of sticks and rags near the wall opposite to his bag.

After igniting the fire, Lex sat down against the corner, between his bag and the stack of fuel. He watched the fire burn for several minutes while occasionally adding sticks and rags to it.

Nearly an hour passed without much happening, making Lex wonder if nothing would happen. As if on cue, a large cloud of indigo smoke flowed through forest entrance before it ascended towards the ceiling.

"Well that was ominous as fuck" Lex stated as he continued to tend to the fire. Several minutes passed with not much changing, Lex could make out the swirling smoke sweeping through the rafters. Lex was about to stand up and get a better look when suddenly a Violet unicorn mare with a dark sapphire mane which had a raspberry and purple streak through it. Said mane was tied back in a bun as the mare entered. She was dressed in a knee length indigo skirt and a light grey vest over the top of a white dress shirt. She was quite petite in comparison to the mares Lex had met and the mares that followed her into the room.

"Look girls the elements of Harmony!" The unicorn exclaimed excitedly as a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane followed. The pegasus was dressed in a kind of jersey and skin tight leggings. Following her was an orange earth pony mare with a golden mane that was tied up in a ponytail. She wore a scene in, a red flannel top with sleeves rolled up and jeans.

"Twilight wait!" The orange mare called out in an odd accent as a three more mares entered after. The first was an alabaster mare with a stylized deep purple mane and tail, though the tail was cut incredibly short. She was dressed way too fabulously to be running around in a forest, and the state of her opal coloured dress proved it. It was covered in scratches, bits of mud and the bottom was visibly dripping. The next mare was another a bright pink earth pony mare with a darker pink mane. She was wearing floral top and jeans. Lex couldn't focus much on her as she was literally bouncing along which made Lex unconsciously cringe and rub the scar on his leg.

The last mare was a butter pegasus mare who timidly hurried after the group. She had a pale rose mane which she seemed to let free hang. She was wearing a light green turtleneck sweater that seemed a little too big for her and a a Violet skirt that went down to her calves. Said skirt appeared to be ripped slightly and covered in dirt. Thanks to what appeared to be how nervous she was, the pegasus was the only one to notice Lex sitting in the corner still looking after his fire.

"Aaaah girls?" She asked quietly but her friends didn't notice as the Violet unicorn ran towards the strange orbs while the Blue pegasus and Cowgirl followed behind. "Girls?" She asked louder as she didn't take her eyes off Lex, who smiled warmly and waved at her. This caused her to suddenly run to the alabaster Unicorn.

"Fluttershy Darling what's wrong?" The Alabaster mare asked as the pegasus pointed to Lex. The unicorn followed her friend's finger until she noticed Lex. "Oh" She stated.

"Hello" Lex called out, causing the remaining mares look at the man. The room quickly fell silent save for the crackle of the fire in front of Lex. "Nice night?" He asked while giving a nervous chuckle. Quickly the group seemed to shift, the alabaster Unicorn and Fluttershy moved away from Lex while both the Blue pegasus and orange earth pony moved in between the group and Lex.

"Don't come any closer" the Blue mare growled as she got into a fighting stance.

"I literally haven't moved from this spot for maybe an hour" He replied sarcastically.

"Don't ya get smart with us" the Orange mare retorted.

"Hey easy there, I am not here to cause harm" he replied as he used the wall to push himself to his feet and grunting in the process. "In just waiting for some group of individuals to rock up that are after a Nightmare Moon" Lex explained.

"And what are you gonna do to them when they rock up?" The Blue mare asked as Lex noticed Twilight creeping towards the sculpture.

"Well i just want to talk, because if they have Nightmare Moon running scared then I have no chance against them" Lex said with a nervous chuckle that caused the Blue and Orange mares to relax slightly.

"Yea and we'd have no trouble kicking your flank!" The Blue pegasus retorted as Lex raised an eyebrow.

"Wait so you girls are the group that are here to defeat Nightmare Moon?" Lex asked curious as he noticed the Violet mare inching closer and closer to the step up onto the raised platform next to the sculpture.

"Yes we are, gotta problem with that?" The Orange mare replied as her eyes seemed to scan Lex.

"Not at all, I'm kind of relieved actually" Lex said with a toothy smile.

"And why is that?" the Alabaster Unicorn called out causing Lex to lean to his left to look at her. As he did, he noticed the large curvy butter pegasus hiding behind the mare.

"Well you see my dear…" Lex started as he began slowly walking around the group. The two defensive mares kept pace with him, keeping themselves between Lex and the rest of the group. " … an individual that you probably know as Nightmare Moon rocked up in the room I was staying in, said she would help me with an issue I was having with my sleep and then proceeded to teleport me here to be a distraction for you lot" Lex explained as he stopped thirty feet from the Alabaster Mare.

"Not another step!" Shouted the sky blue Mare.

"Easy there, I'm only talking" Lex said as he drew his knife and flung it away towards his campfire. "See? I'm unarmed " Lex said with a kind smile.

"Ah don't care! Stay away from Fluttershy and Rarity!" the Orange Mare growled as she clenched her fists.

"Easy there, again I have no intention to hurt any of you… I'm not here by my own volition, I got snatched from my incredibly warm bed and dumped into a freezing cold forest." Lex explained in a calm tone that unfortunately seemed to unnerved the mares slightly.

"Ah have no idea what Volition means but ah don't care, ya workin' for Nightmare Moon" the Orange Mare replied.

"It means he didn't come here by any choice of his" a voice said as a sudden wave of pink filled Lex's view and a heavy weight suddenly connected with his body and hung on. It took a second for Lex to process what happened as he suddenly locked eyes on an uncomfortably close pair of baby blue eyes. By the time his brain caught up, the man quickly backed up a few steps but the pink and weight followed him. "Wowie your strong" the voice repeated with a giggle.

"Pinkie what are ya doin' !" Lex heard the Orange mare call out as Lex felt around for this 'Pinkie'. His hands quickly found what he guessed was a waist so he wrapped his hands around it and began to try and push the Pink away from him.

"I'm making friends!" 'Pinkie' replied as Lex felt felt a sudden tightness around his waist and neck while he pushed.

"Let… go…" Lex grunted as he tried his best to free himself.

"Not until we are friends silly" Pinkie replied as her grip on Lex tightened to the point that it was becoming increasingly difficult to breath.

"Pinkie! Stop it could be like super evil!" Lex heard the Blue mare shout out.

"I think he is good" Pinkie replied.

"How do ya even know that?" the Cowgirl called out as Lex continued to try and free himself.

"We it's really simple, you see…" Pinkie started only to be cut off by a deafening explosion that knocked Lex onto his back. He gave a grunt of pain as the wind was knocked out him.

A piercing ringing sound filled the man's senses as he felt the mare attached to him loosen up enough for him to shove her off of him.

After a few moments, Lex sat up and glanced around before his eyes locked on Nightmare Moon.

The mare in question was standing on the pedestal with the five orbs floating around her while she seemed to monologue. It would have been sinister but Lex couldn't even hear his own thoughts. By the time his hearing began to comeback, he could only watch as Twilight charged the Alicorn. Shortly before the pair vanished in a flash of light.

"Oh no! Where did they go?!" Lex heard a course of voices ask as his hearing return.

"There! A flash in that tower" the Blue pegasus stated as she pointed out one of the windows. "Let's go!"

"What about him?" The Alabaster mare asked as Lex looked to them as the group all looked at him.

"Well I have no intention to get in your way or work for someone evil" Lex said as he pushed himself to his feet with a groan. "And I am getting a feeling that Nightmare Moon is evil." He explained as the Orange mare walked right up in front of him.

"So ya gonna make a promise ta help us then?" The mare asked as her eyes watched his with her sap green eyes.

"I didn't say th… " Lex started as he looked into her eyes and sighed. "Sure fine but I'm not doing this for free" Lex grumbled as he crossed his arms and leant back on his left leg.

"That can be arranged" She stated as she offered her hand. "Do we have ah deal?" She asked.

"Yea sure" Lex said begrudgingly as he took her hand and shook it. "My name is Alexander or Lex or Alex for short." He introduced himself.

"The names Applejack" she said with a smile while giving him a firm handshake. After releasing his hand she pointed to the Rainbow maned Pegasus. "That's Rainbow Dash" She stated as the mare in question cracked her knuckles in an attempt to threaten him.

"Don't try anything." Dash threatened.

"That's Rarity" Applejack stated ad she pointed to the alabaster Unicorn who walked over and looked the man up and down.

"Pleasure to meet you" she said with a coy smile.

"Pleasure is mine" The man replied with a nod.

"Fluttershy was here a second ago…" Rarity stated as she looked around before noticing the mare hiding behind a pillar. " Oh there she is… don't mind her she is quite shy"

"Never would have guessed" Lex muttered to himself sarcastically. "And I take it you are Pinkie" Lex asked as he pointed to the pink mare.

"Yep" she said as she darted forward towards the man but Applejack quickly grabbed her.

"Easy there sugarcube" Applejack grunted as she did her best to hold the squirming Mare.

"But…" Pinkie started before Lex cut her off.

"Look this is nice and all but your friend is in danger, if that Alicorn is as dangerous as what I'm thinking… even though it would appear I have been wrong once today… they that Unicorn won't stand much of a chance" Lex said as he walked over to his fire, which had been extinguished by the explosion of energy earlier. "We need to get to her fast" Lex said as he knelt down and collected his Dagger.

"Why the buck are you grabbing that!" Shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Because I doubt the Alicorn has left this place undefended" Lex replied as he sheathed the dagger and stood up.

"Well you weren't much of a threat so why should we worry about anything else?" The blue mare replied with a cocky smile.

"Because my dear, I wasn't expecting a bunch of unarmed, unequip individuals to rock up… and besides, I wanted to try diplomacy rather than brutality" Lex explained.

"We are equip to deal with anything" Dash replied in a headstrong tone as she leant against a stone pillar. Lex had a sudden idea came to his mind as he placed his hand on his dagger. "Especially pushovers like yo…" Rainbow boasted until Lex drew his dagger and threw it at the pillar beside her head. Lex was expecting the weapon to ping off the solid stone but much to the surprise of himself and the mares, the dagger hit the stone and pierced the full length of the blade deep into the pillar. "WHAT THE BUCK!" Dash shouted in shock as she darted sway from the pillar.

Without missing a beat, Lex walked over to the pillar. "Never judge a book by its cover" he replied as he reached the pillar, drew the dagger free and sheathed it. He noted the subtle blue flashes light as the blade made contact with the stone while he pulled the blade free.

"Lex we 'ad a deal!" Applejack shouted.

"I promised to help you, and that is what I am doing. Your friend needs a wake up call! Being headstrong only leads to you being unprepared so stop your whining and let's go save your friend's life" Lex growled as he gestured towards a hallway.

It took a few moments for the mares to agree but to the surprise of everyone in the room it was Fluttershy who spoke up first.

"H-he's right, we can't waste time in such a dangerous place" she said barely loud enough for Lex to hear.

"Alright but no more funny business" Applejack said as she pointed towards the man.

"Alright" he said as he rolled his eyes. The group then began to move towards the hall with Lex staying near the front of the group. Rainbow Dash moved close next to Lex with a stern look on her face.

"You try that again and I swear to Celestia…" she began before Lex turned to look at her.

"Darling are you honestly threatening the guy you just made a dagger pierce 6 inches into a stone pillar that was next to your head from about fourth feet away?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I could easily do that!" She replied in her cocky tone of voice as they entered a long hallway lined with suits of armour. Surprisingly each of the suits of armour seemed to be untouched by time and each wielded a different weapon. There was no dust on the suits and a faint red hue on their weapons.

"Stop!" Lex called out as the group stopped and looked at him confused.

"What's wrong?" Applejack asked as Lex drew his dagger.

"I have a bad feeling about those suits" he stated as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and moved forward.

"They are just suits of armour, a design choice" She said in a belittling way as she stepped in front of one with a great mace and banged on it's chestplate. "See nothing to worry abo…" She started as the suit's visor flashed with and began burning with green energy. "Oh buck" she said almost wincing as the suit of armour changed its grip on it's weapon. Rainbow Dash was watching shock as it raised its made above it's head before she was pulled aside as it attacked. As the made slammed into the cobblestone and shattered the stone, Rainbow looked to see who pulled her aside only to see Lex.

"Oh my stars, how can you be so headstrong?" He growled as he let go of her. "Find a way around if you can" Lex ordered as Dash nodded before flying away from the animated armour as it stepped off its pedestal and turned to face the group. "Alright you lot let's lure this hunk of junk into that room so we can attempt to get around it" Lex shouted only to watch as the other seven suits of armour stepped down from their pedestals and raised their weapons.

"Well Shit"