Luna's POV

I scavenged the entire house that I was held hostage in until night fell. It seems that this world has a cycle without the need of interference, unlike our world. It was quite confusing at first, but I find myself a little jealous. If I didn't have to use my magic every night to put the moon up, and back down, I'd sometimes be in much better moods.

Everything I've found proved Celestia wrong.

It seems that dear Twilight and Starlight are friends with this 'Rex.' They talk quite fond of him in multiple letters, letters that I suspect were kept secret from Rex. It seems that they wrote their daily experiences in it, and it seems that time has moved much slower here than in our own world. Months of daily letters are stacked up. I could only imagine what they've had to go through.

I must go find them before Celestia and her new friend get there. She'll blast him without second thought.

Celestia wasn't one to be manipulated easily. Yet with how things have been going the past few days, she's shown an inability to hold her emotions. My own emotions have gotten in the way, I must admit, but I have tried to fix that. Something is wrong, and I can feel it. Yet, I don't know who to blame. Celestia is no longer the sister I once knew.

Taking a step outside the house, I could feel the cold wind press against my coat. It was odd, unlike anything that I've felt in Equestria. It almost felt... dead. It was refreshing, but the environment and the feel of it all felt depressing. I don't quite know how to explain it. The air feels impure, the opposite of what I'm used to.

The moon in the sky was bright, and was shaped differently than the one I had gotten accustomed to. It was rigid, with holes all over it, much bigger than the ones on our moon. It was also considerably larger, with what seemed to be floating rubble surrounding it.

I've definitely found myself in a place of mystery.

I spread my wings out, before flapping them and sending myself into the air. It was harder to control though, with the unfiltered wind. It felt as if the world was pushing against me, not gliding with me. Were all other worlds like this one? Is Equestria just... lucky?

I didn't have time to find out. With a flap of my wings, I sent myself in the same direction Celestia went.

Waking up wasn't nice. In fact, it felt more like I had been hit with a baseball bat right to my forehead. I groaned as I sat up, my vision flashing with bright pulsing light. I definitely had a headache, but I didn't really know why. Once I felt like I wasn't going to puke at every turn of my head, I scanned the cave.

Twilight and Starlight were already up, sitting together at the edge of the cave. They seemed to be talking.

I'm glad they're talking.

I'm not glad that Twilight think's i'm insane now. I can understand her questioning, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I hate being treated like a victim, or treated like there's something wrong with me. I'm just like everyone else, aren't I? I.. would like to think so. Of course, I don't have all the answers.

I got up shakily, steadying myself on the wall of the cave.

I slowly made my way to them, to which their ears perked up to the sound of my footsteps, and they turned. They both smiled at me, but it seemed strained. They didn't seem happy, they seemed concerned. And, I couldn't fault them. I'm concerned about myself. I took a seat next to Twilight, sitting with my legs crossed.

"How are you feeling?" Starlight asked.

I glanced over at her for a second. "My head hurts, and my body aches. I feel like I'm dying.."

Oh, wait... I am dying. I keep forgetting that piece of information. I suppose that information hasn't sunk in yet. I mean, how is someone going to tell you that you have a week to live, and you're just supposed to accept it? Even if the smartest man told me that, I'd still question it. It's just... so hard to believe.

"I've got bad news then.. We've got to keep moving forward." Twilight said with a sigh, shaking her head. "I wish we could stop and rest for longer, but-"

"But-" I cut her off. "-we're on the run. From a very dangerous man, with very dangerous people. I'm not going to be the downfall of you two. If I've got to feel like death for a couple of days because we're staying away from trouble, then fuck it, I'll do it. Just... bear with me, okay?" I asked with a shaky voice. I was a little afraid, actually.

"We aren't going to leave you behind, if that's what you're worried about." Twilight said, placing a hoof on my shoulder.

"It might be better if you did that. I'm obviously not feeling well. And, that's the opposite effect of taking Luciferium. Which means something is majorly wrong with me... and I'd rather not have my problems weigh on you both."

"Rex, this-"

"Stop." I said, putting my hand in her face. "This is survival. Sometimes you have to do things you don't agree with in order to stay alive. And your priority is yourself. You've got something to live for, don't you? Friends to go home to, family to see again, and a school to run, right? Make sure you see to it that you get to do all that."

Twilight gave a frown, along with Starlight. Yet, the both of them ultimately stared forward and said nothing. It seems they've finally accepted it. That I'm pretty much a lost cause. They've got to keep going, even in my passing. They'll survive, I'm sure of it. The silence was peaceful almost, until-

"I don't think you're crazy..."

I looked at Twilight.

"I-I.. I know I questioned you at first. B-But I just didn't know what to say. You've been through a lot and-and the only explanation that I had for it was PTSD. Or, something similar to it.. I'm sorry. I want to know more of what's going on. I want to help. Will you.. tell me?"

Well, I wasn't expecting this. "About the thing in my head?"

She nodded.

I sighed, staring forward. "It's an outline of myself, with my own voice. It talks to me, and tells me things that I wouldn't normally know. It claims to know the future events, and past events, and what happened to some of my.. friends. It may have my voice, but it doesn't really act like me in the slightest. It can project itself at any given moment, and just... start talking."

Twilight kept silent.

"It claims that when Tarbo electrified me, that it 'woke me up.' I denied that it was real, and tried to go about my day but it obviously had other plans. Last night, I went to go talk to it, and that's what you heard."

Twilight nodded, before placing a hoof onto my knee. "There was something I saw."

"What?"

"When you got angry, your eye.. Flashed. Multicolored. I've never seen anything like it."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I don't know what it means.. Or if it means anything at all, but it is definitely not normal."

I shrugged. "Nothing is normal anymore, so I'm not exactly surprised." I said, getting up with a groan, steadying myself against the cave wall once again as I went to pick up my stuff. Once I had everything I needed, I went back out to the entrance and leaned against the wall once again.

"We've got limited time.." I said. "A couple more days. Then, I'm out."

"Don't talk like that, please." Twilight said, standing up and shaking her head. "I'd rather not think about it.."

"Same here." Starlight said, staring off into the distance. With everyone fully up, we were ready to head out.

Tarbo's POV

Delicate.

That's what Celestia is. Delicate, like a flower. She tries to be intimidating, to be large and royal-like, but deep down she is as delicate as any flower on this planet. Her world, as she has told me time and time again, is 'much nicer' than this one here. It's as if she's tempting me to come with her. Perhaps that'd be an avenue that would be worthy travelling.

To say that I've lied my way to get her trust is an understatement. I've made so many allegations towards dear Rex that he's practically the worst human alive on this planet. That dear Twilight and Starlight both have a case of Stockholm syndrome, and to not believe their views. That Rex is gas-lighting them into compliance. No matter what her dear student and friend say, she'll trust my word.

It's quite hilarious, in all honesty.

Though I'd rather hurry this up. With Rex, Twilight and Starlight on the run, it's forcing me to focus on them instead of the Empire. It's giving them time to prepare for whatever I plan to do, and that's going to turn the tide very easily in their favor. However, once I get them, it'll be over.

Perhaps I should keep Celestia around. She's shown to be gullible, more so than any other creature on this planet. I could convince her to make herself free of charge to the guards, and I'm sure with enough explanation she'd give in, to say that it's for the better good. Or...

I could convince her to open that portal of hers, permanently.

Wouldn't that be a treat, hm? A portal to another world. One that I could make into my own personal plaything. A true, royal empire, underneath my control. If their noble leader here will believe in anything that I say, her people would be the same, surely. I know it to be true.

"Dear Celestia-" I asked.

"Yes?" She responded, turning her head to look at me. We were currently in a convoy, so there was no need for walking. Which meant spare time was spent simply talking or asking questions. Simple enough, really.

"Just what are you planning to do once we meet your student and friend? Rex surely won't be someone to go down with ease. He's just as cunning, if not more, than some of the worst villains this universe has ever seen. What will you do?"

"I've said before that I will take care of him immediately upon contact. Everypony deserves a second chance, but not when you do something as heinous as what he's done."

I nodded, simply going along with her words. "Perhaps, after this is all over, we could perhaps establish a friendship."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't we friends?"

"I... Yes, we are."

"Then-" I continued. "-perhaps you could keep a portal open. I'd love to travel to another world, and to see the beauties you talk about. Or perhaps I'd even like to make a permanent home there. As you could imagine, this world isn't exactly friendly. I'd much rather spend the rest of my days in a world that is."

She seemed to stare off into space as she considered it. "That'd be a big diplomatic matter, Tar. There'd be no way to present that to the court under the matters of friendship-"

"Perhaps trade."

"What?"

"Trade." I repeated. "We have valuable resources here, resources that your own world doesn't have, as you've already seen. Plenty of valuable technology and other things that could benefit your world. Perhaps if we could keep a portal open for trade reasons, that'd be much easier to present to the court. All I want in return, is to be able to live there myself, or atleast visit. Wouldn't that be enough to sate the court?"

Celestia grew a smile.

"Why... That might just work."

Author's Note

Do you know how much I hate essays? A whole lot.