A True Person

Alexei gazed in awe at the glass vial of blood, covered with mysterious runes, in his hand. Even without Saada's clues, he could sense that this blood contained something unfathomable. If one looked closely at the blood, one could see the stars within seem to twinkle and disappear.

Saada's voice trembled as she shared with Alexei her sensations of the magical energy that pulsed through the blood. Alexei's pupils dilated, he had never encountered such a powerful and dense energy before. It was as if the man was facing a natural disaster, ready to descend upon him with unstoppable force. If it weren't for the restraining and concealing runes on the vial, half of the palace would have shown up by now.

There were two more vials in his bag, one with the blood of an alicorn and the other, tiny, with a clear liquid - the tears of a phoenix. Alexei still couldn't believe that he had managed to get them so easily.

Luna had no problem getting the phoenix tears for him, but her look when he asked for her blood was odd. There was something strange about it, something Alexei couldn't quite figure out. Anxiety? Nostalgia? Sadness? Or were all these feelings mixed together in her eyes?

The man felt that Luna had clearly guessed that he wasn't going to give up and still wanted to get his hands on the magic. But she didn't stop him.

That was why he respected Princess Luna. They were just like each other. They were willing to make sacrifices for their desires. Luna tried to kill her sister to achieve her goal, and Alexei was willing to do even worse things.

Of course, Luna was only guessing about his experiments in alchemy. If she knew what he was going to do, he wouldn't be able to leave the palace.

Alexei shook his head, pushing those thoughts away. There was no time to ponder that now.

He had all the ingredients he needed, the rune array had long since been completed, and he was ready to depart. It was time to leave Canterlot - he couldn't risk undertaking such a ritual within the city. But he would surely return. He had many other plans for this city.

Leaving the palace, Alexei headed straight to the alchemist's shop. He purchased three of the best vials protected by magical runes. True, they weren't as high quality as the ones Luna had given him, but he could fix that on his own.

When he returned home, he poured the blood and tears into the new vials, and carefully buried the old ones in a pot with some flower he had bought along the way. The pot itself he placed on the windowsill outside the house.

Alexei took out some pre-made ink and began to carefully add runes to the surface of the vials.

"Did you find anything?" the man asked without taking his eyes off his work.

"I didn't find any tracking runes," the returning zebra replied. "But a precaution wouldn't hurt."

The man nodded - he was fully agreeing with that.

After finishing his work with the runes, Alexei left his house and headed for the paddocks where a wagon awaited him.

He had purchased a covered wagon and an unusual emerald lizard beforehand. It looked like a mixture of a varan and an iguana, but Alexei wasn't too familiar with reptiles to accurately identify its species. The lizard was gigantic in size, almost comparable to a car, and its body was covered in sharp spikes.

Although these lizards did not have high speed or a large carrying capacity, they had incredible stamina and regeneration. They were usually used for traveling to dangerous or poisonous areas.

But Alexei had other plans. He was going to drug the lizard with a huge amount of stimulants. With its stamina and regeneration, it had to be able to withstand this stress. Thus, he planned to reach his hideout in the Everfree at top speed without stopping.

Previously, when Alexei had lived with a pack of diamond dogs, he had created several hideouts throughout Everfree that only he and Saada knew about.

Remembering the dogs, Alexei thought for a moment about how they were doing now. He had originally planned to get rid of all the witnesses, but later changed his plans. The dogs that had been with him all these three and a half years had become his faithful followers.

There was nothing surprising about that. The man treated them well, protected them, and generously shared the spoils. He was only interested in alchemical ingredients, test subjects, and a little bit of Equestrian gold. Everything else he gave to the dogs.

Although he didn't allow them to be present during his experiments, they still understood everything thanks to their excellent hearing and sniffing. But all this didn't bother them much.

Maybe some city dweller would have been horrified by what was happening, but in the forest, survival always came first.

It was a pity, but several diamond dogs had died in the encounter with the forest monsters and there were seven of them left. Right now they were to hide and wait for further instructions from the man. They were one of his backup plans in case of danger. Saada could contact them and they would come to the rescue. He had also left many caches of gold and potions throughout the city for both rat and dogs to use.

Alexei warned Princess Luna that he would be traveling to Everfree in a few days to get the items he needed. Luna didn't object, but insisted that he be accompanied by several bodyguards. They both knew that once he left the city, he would easily become a target for nobles who wanted him dead.

Of course, that didn't suit the man. So even though he had agreed to Luna's terms, he was going to leave the city right now.

The princess had a rather busy day today, so she probably didn't have time to alert the guards and inform her thestrals yet. After gathering all the necessary items, Alexei went down to the basement of his house. It was only noon, so all the unicorns were asleep.

Alexei took out a sleepy rat from his pocket, which was an exact copy of his trusty companion named Alice. Alice herself was sleeping somewhere upstairs in his clothes, unaware of what was going on downstairs.

Setting the rat down in the middle of the room, Alexei began to wake the unicorns. As they woke up, five pairs of frightened eyes stared up at him.

He smiled at them and walked over to the rat, executing a precise strike with his dagger. Life left the small body and Alexei kicked its corpse, tucking the dagger behind his belt.

He then released each unicorn, removing the rings from their horns that restrained their magic.

Soon there were five unicorns standing before him, held back by nothing. They could very well have torn the man apart by attacking him together.

However, the man smiled nonchalantly as he looked at the unicorns, and they only looked away and didn't even try to move without orders. Alexei didn't use any magical potions or mind control spells. He didn't need to, and he couldn't use them anyway.

But the man had something better than magic and potions - intelligence and an understanding of psychology.

After going through so many realistic nightmares, the unicorns doubted reality more and more. They weren't sure if they were awake now or still asleep. They often had nightmares where they were granted freedom, only for things to end extremely sadly.

At some point, they stopped all attempts to escape. They even started attacking those who tried to rescue them or get them out of the basement.

Alexei had already freed some of them several times and walked around the city with them. They didn't try to escape, they just didn't believe in their freedom and in the reality of what was happening.

The rat killing scene was just another show for them. Why would he kill his favorite rat? Why would he want to free them?

They were definitely having a nightmare!

"Impressive," Saada said with some admiration, then snorted. "You'd make a great nightmare, you sick bastard."

The human mentally rolled his eyes at that comment. Zebra had done far worse things and, unlike him, clearly had sadistic tendencies, but it wasn't like he was judging her.

Turning to the unicorns, Alexei ordered them to clean the room and remove the chains from the walls. They complied with his instructions without hesitation.

Having finished cleaning, Alexei went up to the living room with the unicorns. Several large crates filled with straw were already standing there.

He ordered the unicorns to climb inside the crates and sit quietly. They climbed into the crates without question or hesitation. Alexei closed them and sealed them, making sure nothing would give away their presence.

He drank a potion that increased his strength and began loading the crates into the wagon. Finally, the last crate containing chains and other compromising items was in the wagon.

Leaving the envelope with the message for Princess Luna on the table, Alexei closed the house and got into his wagon.

He left the house and headed out of town, ready to head to one of the hideouts in Everfree.

"What's the rush, Valiant?" Celestia asked, looking at the panting unicorn in her office.

"We finally caught them, Your Highness!" an excited Valiant reported. His voice sounded strained from the excitement battle experienced.

"Report properly," Celestia frowned, not sure what this unicorn was babbling about.

"We captured the gang behind the attacks on caravans that began about four years ago," Valiant replied, then his voice grew somewhat sadder. "But we have suffered some casualties."

"Put them in custody," Celestia shrugged, still not sure why she had been informed of this. "What are the losses?"

"As you command Your Highness," the unicorn replied. "We lost six soldiers."

Celestia raised her eyes in surprise, looking at the white unicorn in front of her. This gang was considered small, but the squad had still lost six. It seemed she should think about tightening up training with the military.

"How many were there? Who was in the gang? Were you ambushed?" Celestia began to ask a multitude of questions.

"Seven. Seven diamond dogs," Valiant said with a gulp. "No, we stumbled upon them completely by accident."

"Did I seem to mishear?" Celestia asked perplexed. "Your squad was crushed by seven dogs?"

"They were too strong, Your Highness!" Valiant began to justify himself. "Blood magic. Runes. Potions. We did not expect such an onslaught from mere dogs."

Princess Celestia's face grew darker and darker with every word Valiant said.

Blood magic and dark magic had always been the most troublesome. These two types of magic could be used by absolutely anyone.

These mages had always been outcasts and persecuted in most countries. It wasn't about the cruelty of such practices at all - many countries were secretly researching such types of magic.

The problem was their high efficiency. Blood magic was one of the most powerful types of magic, and its spells had low requirements for the caster's magical energy.

For example, to gain access to powerful spells in Equestria, ponies had three options.

If they were lucky enough to be born into a noble family, they could easily gain the necessary knowledge. Everyone else had to either do their own research or join one of the government agencies. Many unicorns only joined the royal guard for access to high-level spells.

Blood magic and dark magic broke such a balance. Seven unicorn dogs were able to resist a perfectly equipped capture squad and killed six of them.

Every time there was turmoil in any country - these mages would come out like mushrooms after the rain.

"How many did you capture alive?" Princess Celestia finally asked. "What about the leader?"

"We were only able to capture three alive," Valiant replied. "The leader doesn't seem to be with them. We have tried to access their memories, but they are resisting skillfully."

"Bring them here," the princess replied glumly. "I will personally interrogate them."

"Take away the front shield!" the man shouted, overlapping the crackle of lightning and the rolls of thunder.

The unicorn standing nearby nodded in understanding and easily opened the passage for the man. The man instantly jumped out of the wagon, landing on the back of the injured lizard. In his hands were several syringes, which he quickly stuck into the lizard's exposed flesh, injecting the local analog of adrenaline directly into its bloodstream.

The lizard roared, its eyes glistening and it sped up even more. Even with all the chaos and noise surrounding them, the human could hear her heart pounding furiously.

The man then took out some potions from his pocket and began to deal with the lizard's wounds. Even the lizard's amazing regeneration ability couldn't handle the hailstorm of attacks that were raining down on it.

Hearing Saada's warning, the man ripped off a fingernail and fired it behind him. The exploding nail stopped the ball of lightning, creating an even more powerful explosion accompanied by energy fluctuations.

The lizard continued running towards the forest, dodging multiple lightning bolts and razor-sharp wind gusts.

"There's a blood mage among them!" one of the griffins flying above them shouted.

At this time, several pegasi were already working as a team, creating a huge tornado, about to tear down their shield in one fell swoop.

The man frowned as he looked at the flying griffins and pegasi. Shortly after leaving Canterlot, his wagon had been ambushed by some bandits. He didn't believe in such coincidences, realizing that nobles were clearly involved.

Looking into the wagon, the man ordered the unicorns to clench their teeth and remove their shield. He then jumped out onto the roof of the wagon, pulled a rib out of his pocket, and stuck it into his leg. Waves of pain began to spread around, and the groans of the unicorns being hit echoed from the wagon.

This spell was supposed to be extremely effective against flying opponents. But it wasn't this time. The man's pupils widened in surprise when he saw that the spell had no effect on the opponents. Only the amulets on their necks began to flicker.

The man instantly retracted his rib, stopping the spell, and went back inside. A few moments later, the shield surrounded the wagon again.

"Did they take into account my connection to Luna and protect themselves from mental attacks?" a thought flashed through the man's mind.

He was now fully convinced that these were no ordinary bandits. The situation was getting more and more dire.

The unicorns in the wagon were not fighters, they could only maintain a shield, barely holding back the barrage of attacks. The man realized he had to go out against fifteen griffins and pegasi alone.

"The wheels can't take the pressure!" one of the unicorns shouted, interrupting his musings.

"Cover them with a shield and reinforce them with telekinesis," the man immediately replied.

At other times he would have shaken his head - all these unicorns could do incredible things with magic, but they lacked imagination and ingenuity.

Suddenly, the man laughed wildly, attracting the unicorns' attention. Aside from the battle with the griffins, he had to keep an eye on the psychological state of the unicorns, supporting their belief that this was all just a dream with a certain scenario.

But the man really did have a plan.

He hurriedly rummaged through the crates, pulling out a bag filled with magic crystals and handed it to the unicorns. Into his pockets went several potions, ready to be used.

"Charge them until they start to crackle," the man ordered with confidence in his voice. "Don't worry about the shield. Just charge the crystals, okay?"

The unicorns nodded, immersing themselves in the process of charging the crystals with their magical energy. Their horns glowed with a bright radiance, sparks flying around, giving the impression of a magical dance.

The man quickly climbed to the roof of the wagon. The unicorns were busy charging, so he would have to become a shield protecting them all.

One by one, his fingernails collided with the ball lightning bolts, blocking them in advance.

At one point his hand moved towards his left eye, but he stopped. There was one interesting spell from the gryphon's book that could help him in this situation, but he couldn't afford to lose his binocular vision right now.

Soon, the man pulled out his pliers and skillfully began pulling out his toenails. In between spells, he tossed explosive potions, blocking the constant gunfire.

"Done!" came a voice from inside the wagon.

The man quickly jumped off the roof and stepped inside the wagon. Soon a shield reappeared around it, protecting it from enemy attacks.

"When I say so, you will remove the shield and then begin to push the entire wagon forward with telekinesis," the man began to explain. "I need full power, even if only for a few seconds. Is that clear?"

The unicorns nodded, their horns continuing to glow, filling the surrounding air with magical energy.

While they prepared themselves, the man took a bag of sparkling crystals that also contained several potions, tied it tightly, and looked out of the wagon.

The pegasi were pushing their tornado, coming closer and closer.

The man's lips stretched into a mad grin as he signaled the unicorns to remove their shield.

With all his might, he swung the bag straight into the tornado. A powerful explosion followed a moment later, but the tornado was not about to dissipate. The released energy began to flow into the vortex, increasing its size and creating a strong pulling field that drew everything around it to its center.

The gryphons and pegasi instantly sensed the danger and tried to fly away, but the man was ready for them. He cut off several fingers and threw them in front of the feathered creatures, blocking their escape route. A wave of powerful explosions threw them back.

It was another spell from the gryphon's book that he had learned. The effect was the same as the nail sacrifice, but the power was multiplied.

At this time, the tornado absorbed all the energy around it, reaching impressive sizes.

The pegasi and griffins were still trying to fly away or use their spells, but the man bombarded them with potions, cutting off all escape routes. Soon several were pulled inside by the tornado, tearing them apart.

The wagon rattled as it began to be pulled towards the tornado. The lizard roared exhaustedly, digging its claws into the ground and trying to keep going.

The man beckoned to the unicorns, and soon a telekinetic field enveloped the entire wagon. The lizard roared happily, accelerating quickly and rushing to leave this dangerous area.

The man watched the tornado pull in all the remaining mercenaries as his, rather beaten up, wagon rapidly approached the forest.

His eyes shone with a gleam of mad joy as he laughed happily. He was exhausted, bleeding and in pain, but he was still savoring this moment.

He felt so alive in this moment!

"This world is really interesting," the man muttered smiling as he returned to the wagon.

Inside the cave was completely silent, only the faint whisper of echoes echoing off the stone walls. Its walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with thousands of runes, twisting into complex patterns like living creatures holding ancient secrets of magic. Several magical lamps hung along the ceiling, creating a play of light and shadow, giving the cave a special atmosphere.

Alexei and Saada, for the third day, had been working on a complex rune array. Thousands of runes were carefully inscribed on the walls of the cave, each of them carried a piece of magic and power.

Finally, the work was complete.

The hiding place they were in was known only to the two of them. Alexei had never allowed the thought of performing the ritual with the help of a pack of diamond dogs. He would be extremely vulnerable and defenseless during the ritual. Even though the dogs were loyal to him - he truly trusted no one.

In the center of the array, on the floor, was a black crystal, the size of an orange. This crystal was the quintessence of nightmares, and it was to be the basis of the ritual.

Alexei, warming up his muscles, checked the accuracy of the runes for the tenth time. He was sure he hadn't made a single mistake.

Tired from the hard work, Alexei sat down on the floor and leaned against the cool wall of the cave. The night was warm, though autumn was already taking hold. He tried to relax and calm his mind to be ready for the upcoming ritual.

Many scenes that he had experienced in this world flashed before his mind's eye.

Memories of the portal, meeting Imani, dueling, killing, and wild life in the forest. He remembered Canterlot and Luna, and now he was here in this cave. This could be his last day in this world, but Alexei wasn't going to back down. He couldn't betray himself and give up on his dream. All he had to do was keep moving forward.

Sighing, Alexei stood up and his eyes shone with determination.

"Ready?" Saada asked as she flew up to him.

The man only nodded in response and went to wake the unicorns. He slipped into their dreams several times, convincing them that they were still dreaming.

Soon this charade would be over.

After waking the unicorns, Alexei ordered them to take certain positions and start filling the runes with energy. The unicorns obeyed his order without hesitation. Slowly but surely, the runes began to absorb the magical energy emitted by the unicorns.

Suddenly, the unicorns' faces contorted in pain. They tried to break the connection, but to no avail. Their hooves stuck to the runes on the floor, and the array continued to absorb their life energy, flesh and blood. They twitched and screamed furiously, but nothing could free them from the array's deadly embrace.

Soon the five mummified bodies fell to the floor of the cave.

The runes of the array flashed for a moment and extinguished, as if taking a breath before finally awakening. Then the runes slowly began to light up one by one, approaching the black crystal in the center.

Alexei and Saada had set up the ritual so that it would only activate after a while.

He still had to break the contract and complete all the preparations. He couldn't go through the ritual while having a mental link to Saada. It could lead to unpredictable consequences for both of them.

"I, Alexei, offer the rest of my lifespan, according to the terms of the contract, and propose to complete it," Alexei said, looking at the zebra in front of him.

"I, Saada, agree to these terms," the zebra nodded, touching the man's chest with her hoof.

Two streams of ash burst from their bodies and intertwined in the air, disappearing into nothingness.

"Good, now it's done," Alexei muttered, looking at the zebra in front of him. He could still see her, even though the contract was over. The long bond had given him the ability to see Saada, but only her.

Suddenly the zebra disappeared from his sight and appeared already at another point in the array. Her hoof touched certain runes and they flashed, adding dozens more new symbols to the array.

Transparent chains burst from the runes and bound Alexei securely, depriving him of the ability to move. The man's pupils widened in surprise and he tried to break the chains, but they proved to be extremely strong and immovable.

In the silence of the cave, echoing off the walls was the joyous zebra's laughter.

"Heh heh heh, you don't even need to try," Saada grinned. "They're very strong, and you don't have any magic now."

The man looked up and stared fiercely at the zebra hovering in front of him. The man's teeth were clenched in anger and the muscles of his face twitched slightly, hiding the rage raging inside.

Saada had betrayed him!

"You're finally losing it!" the zebra chuckled, moving in close and watching the human's reaction. "First time I've seen such a storm of emotion on your blank face."

Alexei could barely contain his rage, but he would not allow himself to show weakness in front of this zebra who seemed to be enjoying his suffering. A glint flashed in his eyes as he asked the question that burned on his lips.

"Why?" the man asked in a low voice.

Saada couldn't hide her pleasure at the situation. Her smile grew even wider and her gaze became sharp and mocking.

"Oh, nothing personal," she replied, emphasizing each word. "It's been nice to spend time with you, but I need something from you."

"What do you want? More lifespan?" the excited man asked. "We can make a deal."

"No, no, I want your body," the zebra smiled, savoring the flash of fear in the human's eyes.

"I can get you the body of any unicorn you wish," the human began to bargain. "Why would you want my useless body?"

"You see, it's very difficult for ghosts to possess someone permanently because of the rejection of different energies," the zebra muttered thoughtfully, peering at the flaring runes approaching the crystal. "You, however, are a different story. You have nothing. All that's left is to destroy your mind and the perfect vessel is ready.

"I have to thank you. You did a great job gathering all the ingredients. All I have to do is make a few changes to the ritual."

The zebra's words pierced Alexei's heart. He felt the doom and hopelessness of his situation. A sad smile slipped across his lips, and he looked away, trying to hide his weakness.

But in the next moment, again seized by rage, he rushed forward, trying to break the chains that bound him. No matter how hard Alexei tried, however, nothing happened. The chains remained unshakable.

Saada's triumphant laughter echoed throughout the cave.