//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Alex's Care Taker // by SparkStone //------------------------------// Irony Alex opened his eyes with a tired body. He looks up to see a violet alicorn looking very closely at him. He merely backs away, sliding his body to the edge of the cot. She too jumps back and smiles sheepishly. “Whoa! Sorry! I was just taking a close look.” She apologized. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to be so close to it Twilight?” Spike asked. “We don’t even know if it’s safe!” “Don’t worry Spike. I kept some restraints on it. If it tries anything vicious, the magic will hold it back.” Twilight assured him. “But something tells me it’s pretty friendly. And judging from its clothes, it may also be…” “Sapient.” Alex finished. Twilight jumps back in shock of the sudden ability to speak. Alex chuckles some as the pony and dragon look at each other in confusion. “It… Spoke.” Spike pointed out. “Ooh… This became awkward.” Twilight said with a blush on her face. “I even restrained it from moving.” “Well, you better let it go.” Spike suggested. “Right, right.” Twilight nodded, releasing Alex from her previously fore mentioned spell. “Sorry… uh, sir? Are you a sir?” “Yes, I am.” Alex nodded, getting up from his cot. “Right! Uh, hoo boy. I’m sorry, I thought you were some sort of rare, unrecorded creature. Heh, but looks like I let my imagination get the better of me.” “Don’t mention it.” Alex said with a patient smile. He turned around and headed towards the other way. “Let me make you something to eat.” Twilight and Spike raised an eyebrow at his offer. As Alex opened his eyes, he sees the place he was in was not his own. Instead, he was inside a large castle of crystal, stretching to the high ceiling and providing a lot of space. Once he took everything in, he turns to the two and asked, “Um… Tell me… where did you find me?” “Uh… we found you outside last night.” Spike answered. “Twilight treated you up. You had, like, some bruises and some scratches after falling from the sky.” “Really now?” Alex thought. “Well, this is ironic.” “Ironic?” Twilight repeated. “What do you mean?” “Well, back in my world, there would be a pony that would suddenly appear with some minor injuries time to time. I took them in and cared for them while waiting for a portal to appear.” Spike titled his head in confusion. “A portal?” “Back to Eqeustria.” Alex finished. “That sounds pretty farfetched.” Twilight stated. “Even though it sounds a bit strange, it’s true.” Alex told her. “What should we do Twilight?” Spike wondered. “Well, we can’t have him moving about. He might cause a panic to every pony.” Twilight thought. “For now, you’ll be staying here. I’m going to discuss what we should do next with my friends tomorrow. Right now, it’s pretty late.” “Sounds fair.” Alex agreed. “Is that all you have for me to do?” “You said you took care of ponies, right?” Spike asked. “How good are you… at chores?” “Spike!” Twilight scolded at the little dragon. “That’s rude! Not to mention, a bad idea. We don’t even know anything about him! Heck, we don’t even know what he is.” “Oh, sorry. I’m a human.” Alex informed them. “Well, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy.” Spike noted. “And, there’s a lot of work around here now. Even the others were talking about how you should get a guard or a butler.” “Still, that doesn’t mean-” “I don’t mind helping out.” Alex assured them. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable either. The choice is up to you.” “Come on Twi, please~?” Spike begged. Twilight roller her eyes with a groan and said, “Oh, alright. Sir, it seems we are in need of some of your services. Is it alright if you lend a… hand?” “Please.” He smiled. “Call me Alex.” Back on Earth, Charles stared at Aurabelle while pinching his eyes. Aurabelle was panicking and tearing up as if she did something naughty. A sigh passes, and Charles asked once more. “Okay… so you were practicing your magic with Alex as usual.” He repeats. “Y-Yes…” “And then opened a vortex…” “Yes…” “That lead to Equestria…” “Uh huh…” “But sucked in everything like a black hole?” “Mm-hmm…” “And this includes… Alex?” “Yes…” Charles rolls up the newspaper and swats her in the head. “Bad girl.” “Charles!” Julie scolded. “She’s not a dog! She didn’t mean to do it!” “She used a dangerous, uncontrollable force of nature.” Charles reasoned. “Back then when she had corruption, she managed to control it perfectly. Now, it seems that all the oranges turning to apples is normal.” “Now that I’m no longer being controlled by the corruption… It seems that it no longer guides me on my spells.” Aurabelle explained. “It’s troubling… I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time.” “This is why humans were never meant to have magic.” Charles lectured. “Not that it was your fault in the first place.” “So… What do we do about Alex?” Julie inquired. “We’re just gonna have to help Aurabelle practice her powers until she can reopen the portal manually.” Charles stated. “If our intention is to bring him back as soon as possible. Or maybe we can wait until a pony shows up, care for it, and then have a portal afterwards. That’ll take longer though.” “Maybe we should help Aurabelle with her magic.” Julie suggested. “If she can make a portal, we can do a lot more that way.” “Then I guess that’s settled.” Charles grinned. “We’ll be helping Aurabelle here practice until she can perfect her spells.” Aurabelle clenches her fist with new determination growing within. “I-I’ll try my best!”