And I thought we were normal. How wrong I was.

   As I fall asleep, I feel the same kind of comfort from before, but it almost feels predatory. It's as if it is being forced on me rather than just being around me. The comfort then feels as though its flowing off of me and back into its source. What are these feelings? But more importantly, why do I feel them when I'm doing anything stealth related? After about ten minute of thinking, I decide to just sleep and hopefully whatever two things are making these feelings will try to induce a confrontation.

***********************************************************************************************

   After what I guess is about five hours of sleep a slightly familiar scene begins to form around me. The ground I am standing on holds all the properties of water, but yet I can stand on it as if the surface tension is invulnerable even though the water still ripples as I tap it with a hoof. A seemingly immeasurable amount of pillars rise out of the water slowly. The pillars go up about 75-100 meters before stopping as the blue tinted light from the water reflects off of them. Looking to my left I can see the same feline like silhouette about 120 meters off, but it seems more human than feline. I then turn to my right and see another silhouette resembling an alicorn but its wings almost seem to be made of a substance other than feathers because of their shape and how small pieces fall off gradually. Looks like they're back. A dual colored boulder then rises from the water with the scarlet half on the left and the sapphire half on the right. My soul; I like it here. Walking over to the boulder, I notice that it has become larger, but no more seals have been inscribed into the stone. Huh, I thought quick step might be here, it wasn't draining as much near the end of the chase. Maybe my magic reserve is growing?

"Hmmm, so now what?" I say looking around.

   The pillars around me then erupt into an explosion of scarlet and sapphire shaded sparks and fall against the pillars farther away from me; which thankfully held most of them in place, causing large ripples to go along the 'ground'. Quickly turning to my left, I see that the feline-like figure has left its pillar and turning to my right I ascertain a similar result. Damnit. What are they doing?

   I begin to hear feminine giggling around me but I cannot determine the actual direction of the sound or the distance it is from me. I quickly try to look around for some form of escape. While I could just run; they, most likely, could easily catch me. I run over to the base of one of the pillars that completely fell and climb on top of the base. I quickly bring up the seal for the light cancelation spell and I think of a circle around the circle of fallen pillars and I then wait for either of them to come for me.

   Away from me, I can see a blur going in all directions except significantly towards or away me and its going too fast for me to be able to make out it's shape. Looking down, I suddenly see ripples going past the pillar I'm on and colliding with the ones from the other figure's movements before they reach me. Then that means... Oh shit.

"Oh fuck!" I say turning quickly on my heel as a blurred scarlet figure goes past where my midsection previously was. And now time for one of my favorite spells.

   I try to push my magic into the seal, but I find it instantly repelled with massive force that I am unable to overcome. What the hell? My magic should work here. Why won't it work? Wait. Scarlet magic is the kind in that seal, half of that boulder is scarlet and that blur that went past was scarlet. So could it be that the figure that went past me has a grip on my magic?

"What? Did you think I'd let you use my own spell against me? While I'll admit it'd be a fun experience, I want to see how you work without it." I hear a familiar and mocking feminine voice say. Oh fuck; sometimes being right isn't worth it.

"Yeah, I guess it will be interesting. So, are you Hitsuki or Safaia?" I say while mentally preparing where I should run to.

"Hitsuki No Megami is my full name, but Hitsuki works fine." I hear her say from my left.

"Strange name for a strange individual, how quaint." I say respectively.

"I had strange parents. For them too simply be happy with calling me what it means would've been to easy for them". She says from behind me.

"I guess you're not going to tell me what it means." I say nonchalantly. I can't say I expected to find very much out tonight, but at least I have around five subjects to look into.

"Where would be the fun in that?"

"True. So how long have you been here?" I say;  keeping my eyes fixated on the ripples coming towards me.

"Only a few days. Before that we were just wandering around while trying to find a suitable host." I can hear her say from my right.

"Huh, it has been a strange existence for you then?"

"Quite." I hear her voice come from in front of me. Now.

   Taking advantage if their positions, I dash towards where Hitsuki had originally come from, but sadly none of the spells I try work. I dash along for awhile and I can hear Hitsuki saying something about how I interrupted her. After running for 20 or so meters, I decide that if I keep running down here they can find me from the ripples I'm emitting. I look upwards and notice that the pillars around here have a plethora of branch like structures coming off of them with the lowest ones being within my reach if I jump. I quickly jump upwards and manage to grasp one of the low hanging 'branches', which surprisingly does feel like wood. I pull myself up onto the structure and I immediately jump forwards and grab a 'branch' on the next level of them as the one I initially used to get up here snapped apart.

   I continue to climb closer to the top of the pillars as a thought crosses my mind. Shouldn't I of at least heard them by now? Considering how fast they made it to me prior to this I should've at least been confronted before I started climbing. That is unless...

"Well, hello there. I'm gonna guess you figured it out by now." I hear a familiar female voice say from behind me as I finish climbing to the top of a pillar.

"Damnit; I can't say I didn't expect this." I say standing up and turning to meet my supposed adversary.

When did my life start involving people like these? Standing across from me is a scarlet earth pony mare with a scarlet mane and body length low cut scarlet dress on; both resemble the hue of my scarlet magic perfectly. All of the fur up from her neck however is a stark white and she has a set of feline ears and a tail of the same kind. No other word but strange. Wait. Luna did mention that there were griffins in Equestria. Griffins are half lion. So could this be what a pony Griffin cross looks like?

"So what are you? Half griffin half pony?" I say evaluating my situation.

"Kind of. My mom, a changeling, didn't have many choices for a husband, so she went with my father, a griffin. Then after a few games of chess, a cheese desert and an early estrus here I am." She says with a smirk. What the hell is a changeling?

"All of that in mind. Now what?" I say and she then jumps at me and I dodge by jumping to a nearby pillar and I nearly fall back off of it.

"The game begins again." She says jumping back at me.

   I quickly jump from pillar to pillar in the same direction from when I had started running and it doesn't take long before I notice that she could easily catch to me if she wanted to. She's toying with me. I decide that the longer I keep up this chase the more exhausted I will be when she decides to get serious. I stop on the next pillar I get to and I throw a wild punch behind myself to where I think she is. Sadly my punch just goes straight through the air and I twirl around to see her on the pillar I had previously jumped onto.

"Is something wrong Still? I didn't expect you to stop so soon." She says with a grin and giggles quietly as if to herself.

"No. I but I know you're toying with me. If I had kept running there is no doubt I would become even more tired than I am and then you could simply over power me. If I stop here, however, I may be able to at least tire you enough to make my escape." I say while panting.

"He may be a loud one, but at least he knows his limits." I hear the voice of whom I remember to be Safaia say from behind me. This day just gets infinity better.

"Ah shut up Safaia; for you everypony is too loud." Hitsuki says as I turn around to meet my other potential adversary.

   The first thing to strike me is her wings. Rather than being made if feathers hers are made of a seemingly never ending fire. The insides of the wings are a stead yellow fire while the outer edges are a sickly inconsistent green with small green flames constantly falling from the wings and then disappearing steadily in the air. tearing my eyes from her wings I see that she is a sapphire coated alicorn(?) with a darker blue mane and tail combination and she is wearing a lighter blue hoodie and a pair of simple pants that hold the same color. Her mane is fairly short and strait and only serves the purpose to help frame her face. She bears a slightly annoyed expression and her yellow eyes seem to hint that she is off in some sort of daydream land.

"So; who're you?" I say meeting her uninterested gaze.

"The Corroded Sapphire Phoenix but Safaia works fine I guess." She says solemnly. Quite a strange lot these two are.

"Quite strange indeed. I'm going to guess you're a cross between a phoenix and a pony then?" I say while trying to think of a proper way out of this.

"Yes, but my mother, a pony, had a pony for a mother and a hydra for a father so sadly the conflicting blood lines of my father, a pure phoenix, and my grandfather caused my wings to be less beutiful and stable as a normal phoenix's would be."

"Wait. A hydra and a pony!? Isn't there a big size difference between those!?" I say: dumbfounded by the images flowing through my over active mind.

If you were to consider where Hitsuki and I are living and our family history, I think you could figure out that the regular laws of nature aren't going to apply." She says condescendingly while shifting her gaze upwards. And please be more quiet, you're annoying when you're loud.

"Yes, you've said that before. So; shall we get on with this game?" I say taking a half step backwards and turning so that I can see at least some of both of them.

"A fool running headstrong into his death; oh well, let's indulge him." Hitsuki says and I can see her move forwards and out of my peripheral vision.

   I jump onto the pillar in front of me and I then proceed to jump to a pillar on my left as Safaia lunges at me with the same unchanging expression. After regaining my footing, I leap towards her with one fist ready to punch her. My fist, however, never connects as she punches me on the chest with her own longer arm and I fall back down though the first layer of 'branches' and one of the near top 'branches' catches me. I've got a few options now; I could try to get back up there, I could try losing them through here or I can get back down on the ground. If I get back up there they'll just knock me back down of I try to fight, but running will be easier up there than in here.

   I quickly grab onto a branch above me and I vault up onto the edge of a pillar and I then slowly pull myself on to it. After standing up I look around and notice that neither of them are here. There's no way they went down after me. Where did they go?

"That is enough for now. This time was just to give you an idea of who we are. The next time won't be so sudden. It's not our intention to scare you, but that it was inevitable that we would this time. Just remember that this won't be the last time we meet." I can hear the voice of Hitsuki say from a direction I cannot seem to determine.

   My vision then fades into a soft white blur. This is much nicer than that violent black void.

***********************************************************************************************

   I open my eyes to find that I am still in my room and I slowly wipe my face off in a futile effort to calm myself. Deciding that I cannot make sense out of what just happened, I get up and check my watch after putting my necklace on but I find that the watches hands aren't moving at all and small dark purple sparks are coming off of the hands periodically. I quickly put my watch in the designated left vest pocket and clip the other end of the chain onto my left pants pocket. Forming an idea of what Is happening, I quickly run into the main room to see if my theory is correct. The wall clock is in the same state as my watch is with the times being froze in the exact same place. It seems Luna is coming. I know she's coming here because of those two but this time; so it can't be guaranteed she'll be happy or nice. I shouldn't take anymore than I already have on me, I'd rather not lose that book and if she's angry she'll most likely only worry about whether or not I have it so I doubt she'll look for it anywhere besides on my person.

   Deciding that running of any sort would be useless for the time being, I sit down on the davenport that runs along the wall and try to calm myself before a potentially bitchy ruler of the night comes for me. Yup; definitely fucked. Not even a minute after I sit down a torrent of dark purple air flows down from the ladder and small pieces of rock and plant fall down afterwards. Soon after a pony with a similar hue to the air that come prior to it falls down from the ladder wearing the same dress she had worn when we first met. This Princess Luna, both my beginning and my end, shall be the one to end it all for me.

"Luna." I say solemnly adverting my gaze from her.

"Quentin; or do you prefer your new name? StillSonata was it?" She says looking down upon me with a gaze of disgust and regret. I had no idea I was this much trouble.

"I'll keep the new name, thinking back it is the first one I ever actually lived with." I say truthfully while staring back at her gaze, but trying to break it with my own is impossible under these circumstances.

"So be it, it's not as if anypony will remember it in a few days." She replies while her left arm shifts slightly.

"And why would that be?" I respond evenly.

"You'll be gone. They'll think about you for a day or two but in the end they'll just give up and accept that you must've gone on somewhere else with your life." She says with a smirk.

"I hate it when I'm right. It's just not worth it sometimes," I say leaning back and scratching my shoulder, "but how do you plan to take me?" I say bringing up the escape teleportation seal in my head and hoping that my magic will work this time.

"Simple; like this." She says and her left arm comes forwards quickly with a metal clamp.

   The moment the clamp is attached to my horn I am filled with excruciating pain and the seal breaks apart in my mind and I scream out in pain. Using what little coordination I am left with I grasp the strange thing affixed to my horn but I find it unmoving.

"I must say I really hate using these old things, but we don't have any known material that can absorb magic and I can't use to inhibition field and time stop at the same time. So I'm afraid we'll have to use this old machine. This device will periodically send amounts electricity into you. The amount isn't lethal but it will hurt immensely and disrupt any magical current you're trying to summon." She says with a devious smirk. Damn her.

"S-so now what? You kill me and bury it all away as a failed experiment." I say as she binds my hands with thick cloth that I cannot break or wiggle free of.

"Not quite. You're going to tell me exactly what happened."

"And then?" I say as another jolt of pain goes throughout my body.

"You'll see, but first tell me what happened." She says and sits down on the couch opposite of me.

"I fell asleep feeling weird, woke up in my soul, a set of the pillars exploded, I was attacked by the two entities, I ran, climbed up the pillars, ran and fought for awhile, they said they were done for now and I woke up to find you stopped time." I say bluntly and rolling my eyes.

"That's all? Nothing else? Nothing about purpose or anything?" She says scanning my eyes.

"Besides tripping a few times and falling on my ass, that's it." I say as the clamp on my horn racks my body with another upset of electricity.

"Don't be an ass. You may not have chosen the situation you're in right now, but the consequences still fall on you."

"And what would those be?" I say meeting her icy glare.

"If what you said is true, and I know it is, I'm going to have you privately executed in the castle under the guise that you're a terrorist with information that could destroy the peace of Equestria. You'll be killed privately and nopony will know you're dead except for my sister, 12 guards that will execute you and me." She says smiling with outright glee. What a bitch.

"And what does your sister think of this?" I say trying to find a weak link in the plan.

"She doesn't think anything of it. She doesn't know that it's you. The only thing she'll know is that some random terrorist will be executed." She responds and gaze is lifted from me.

"You bitch." I say and she slaps me across the face.

"I told you not to use profanity. I don't care what you think. Those two inside of you; they make you an abomination. You're a disgrace to all existence. You're death will put a smile wider than Equestria on my face. You. Need. To. Die." She says staring at me in pure disgust.

***********************************************************************************************

   I awaken to find that I am now in a cell, or rather a cage, with my bonds and horn clamp still on. I immediately scan the room to see if I can figure out where I am. Two golden armoured pony's stand at the other end of the room next to a door and both of them are holding a golden spear in either if their hands. The rest of the room is barren save for a few barrels and candles.

"Hey, where am I?" I say shifting myself as well as I can to face them.

"The canterlot execution cell you cretin. I thought you would at least know that." One of the barks at me filled with anger. It seems that Luna has weaved her lies already.

"Really? I'll have to keep that in mind." I say and the guard who spoke to me leaves the room. "Where's he going?" I say, doing what I can to point at the door.

"He's going to tell the princesses you're up. It's time for an execution." He says walking over to my cell and unlocking it. Ah fuck.

***********************************************************************************************

   While I am about to be executed for simply existing under the guise of being a threat to peace, I cannot say that the throne room didn't impress me in the slightest. The room was needless to say huge; the walls were lined with stained glass windows that seemed to portray events of history. While white and gold isn't my thing, if the colors were to change to something darker I would probably love the rooms design. However it's still the room I'll die in; so I can't love it.

   In the center of the room stands a tall white alicorn mare whose attire seems to scream the word 'sun' from each of the suns depicted in the fabric, 11 earth pony guards  stand around her with spears in hand and Luna is standing beside the other alicorn, whom I'm going to guess is Celestia. Really feels welcoming; welcoming to my death that is.

The guard behind me walks me over to Celestia who then addresses me, "Hello my little pony. I'm trusting you know why you're here."

"Well that's a very dependent question." I reply as the guard behind me falls into formation with the other eleven.

"How so?"

"I could tell you the extremely unbelievable truth that I'm here for simply existing in a way that is apparently unacceptable or I could tell the the much more believable lie that I'm some sort of terrorist out for blood, blood and maybe a donut afterwards. Which would you prefer?" I say in an effort I know is futile to slip some doubt into Celestia's mind. I've made the resolution that I can't convince her in the position and I'm happy with that.

"I know which one of those is the truth. I have to raise the sun soon so I don't have time for this. Guards form your positions." She says flaunting an arm in an annoyed manner and the guards proceed to form a circle around me with each of their spears strait up towards the ceiling. "Anything you want to say before you die a traitor's death?"

"Yes; two things. What is a changeling?" I say remembering what Hitsuki had said.

"None important. What's the other thing?" She says without missing a beat, but her eyes betray her uneasiness with my question.

"Alright then. Could you please take these bindings off of my hands? They're chafing me." I say rubbing my hands against the restrictive bonds.

"Absolutely not. You're considered extremely dangerous and you're going to die anyway." She says replacing the anxiety in herself with anger.

"Cannot a man die with his hands free to his bidding?" I whisper under my breath. This seems to be it. Everything I've ever done; gone by my own breath. Uefi, you were my only friend and I respect who you are. The Uefi who left me was not the one that you were. I hope you would accept this if the chance arose.

Uefi, if you could see me now, would you be happy with my death?

"Ready you spears." Celestia barks at the guards who proceed to lower their spear points to about 6 centimeters from their faces.

Uefi, if you could see me now, would you be proud of whom I am?

"Raise your spears." I hear Luna's voice say and the the spear tips then rise up to my throat.

Uefi, if you could see me now, would you save me?

"Kill him."

   I instinctively crouch down in an attempt to avoid the spears before they are pushed back towards and though me. The effort thankfully worked to keep them away from my neck; however they hit my forehead and induce excruciating pain due to their proximity to my horn. Thankfully though a natural armor seems to have strangely formed around and on my horn. I, however, do not have anytime to revel in my extreme luck as the guards have already reformed their formation around me. As I see the spear in front of me move closer, I do what has become natural and immediately use my escape teleport to leave the circle of guards.

   I appear outside of the circle of guards entirely surprised that my spell wasn't block by the collar. What? I immediately throw my hand up to my still sore horn to realize that the impact of the spears must've shattered the clamp on my horn. I cannot bask in my luck however as the royal guards live up to their status and immediately charge me head on. I haphazardly turn around and run past a still slightly dazed Celestia and an obviously pissed off Luna, both of whom then take up the chase after me as I run towards the end of the room.

   Somehow manage to outrun the guards, I make it to the end of the room which is just a glass window meant to allow sunlight on the throne. Shit.

"Form a circle around him." I hear one of the random guards say.

Uefi, if you could see me now, I know you would be happy with who I am.

"Arm you spears idiots; we have to kill him."

Uefi, if you could see me now, I know you would be proud of my actions.

"On my count; 3. 2. 1!"

Uefi, if you could see me now, I know you would help me, but you cannot see me and thus I will do it myself!

I jump head first through the window and turn around to see the confused guards and a yelling Luna to whom I reply, "In the words of my friend, 'Damned be the royal'," and with that I begin to plummet.

OH SHIT! NOPONY MENTIONED THIS FUCKING PLACE WAS HANGING OVER A CLIFF! I gain speed from my falling quickly and my mind is in to big if a panic to conjure a spell to help me.  Oh well... I died by my hands not theirs; that will have to suffice. I watch as the ground becomes closer and closer to me and I have to close my eyes from the speed at which I'm moving downward. I am content to die, but I wish to live another day. Please grant me it. With my final thoughts stored away I wait for the grounds hard embrace and I scream at the night.