> A Human In Equestria > by ABoyNamedAlex > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Begining > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Alex, Alex McGrath. I'm 16 years old and today was supposed to be just a normal day, or at least that's what I thought. I was going to go to a restaurant with my girlfriend and it was formal so I had to pull out an old tux. It was still good, it had been sitting in my closet for about a month and it seemed okay for the occasion. It was nothing but a white dress shirt with a black tuxedo coat with black pants. I had borrowed my fathers dress shoes and they were a little small on me but they would do for tonight. Finally it was time to go and get her. Her, by the way, is a nice young lady named Maria. She was long blonde hair that she usually lets hang down around her back. That might seem a little long to some some people but anything is better than the rats nest on my head. I have long jet black hair that makes me look like on of those goth people you see every now and then. My mother has repeatedly tried to cut it but I have never let her. For some reason after middle school it just kind of, well, stopped growing. It has bee the same length for years. Strange right? Either way. I took my dads car keys to his Lincoln sports car(he told me if he so much as finds a nick in the paint he will make me pay to get it repaired, so I have to be careful.) and drove off to Maria's house. While driving I felt this strange feeling in my stomach, like something bad was going to happen. It worried me but I carried on without a care in the world. I was going out with one of the most beautiful girls in the world and I was not going to let anything get in my way. I pulled up to Maria's two story town home and ran up to the front door and rung the doorbell. My heart felt like it was in my throat. I herd foot steps on the other side of the door and I held my breath. Maria opened the door and she looked stunning. Her hair was straight and she was wearing a red dress with red high heel shoes to match. She was one of the most beautiful things I had seen in my life. "Wow, Maria, you look beautiful." I said as my heart finally began to drop down to its normal place. "Thank you, Alex, it took me a while to find something to wear and I thought this would be good." she replied. I walked her to her car and opened the door for her. I hoped into the car and we drove off into the city. Bright lights flashed past us on every direction. Usually Maria was a lot more talkative than this but she was strangely quiet. When we got to the restaurant the waiter took us to our table. We both sat down and ordered our food and ate in silence. After we were done I paid for the meal and we both left. I drove her home and she finally spoke when we reached her front door. "Alex, I have to tell you something." she said. "Yea, what is it?" I asked her. I guess my voice sounded a little weird because that feeling I had earlier was back. " I really like you Alex and I hope you understand what I'm about to say. I think we need to brake up." she said. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. At first I could not believe what I had herd, she wanted to break up? But I thought we had something. Why is she doing this? Is it me? All of these questions raced through my head. I finally was able to get words out of my throat. "Um, yea, okay, if you think that's what needs to happen then, okay." I said. She told me that she would see me later and went inside. I stood there, dumbfounded. I looked down and expected to see my heart smashed on the ground but all I saw was my bottom half of my body. I turned and jogged to my dads car. I got in and drove off. I drove past my house to the only place I went to when I was sad or depressed, the cliff. I drove up on the grassy area and walked over to the edge. I looked over and felt a breeze blow on my face. I felt a tear fall from my cheek and slowly fall down to the river that was below. I closed my eyes and just thought of what I was going to do. I felt a strong gust pick me up and push me forward. This was not what I had in mind. The wind rushed against my face as I fell. I let out a yell of fear just before I hit the river. I landed in it and felt cold all over my body. The river's strong current pulled me down its twists and turns. My head went under and I was hit in the gut by a jutting rock. It cut my stomach and knocked the air out of me. Everything grew dark. Was I going to die? Will this be the end of me? What will happen? These were the last questions I could think of then I lost all thoughts all together. Then I saw a light. I began to move towards it. I opened to find myself in a room. The walls were colorful and I seemed to be laying in a bed. I looked around to see where I was. The only thing in the room was a wardrobe and a window. I sat up in the bed and looked at myself. My coat had been removed and my shirts was unbuttoned. There were bandages rapped around my body. My whole body ached. Then I herd a noise. The door in the far corner opened and a guard stood in the doorway, or at least I think it was a guard. It looked more like a horse with wings wearing armor. I looked at him for a moment and cocked my head to the side a little. Then he spoke. "The princess wishes to see you." he said in a low voice. I rubbed my eyes for a moment. Then only one question came to m head. "Where am I?" I asked the horse guard, thing. "All of that will be explained when you see the princess." he replied. Suddenly I had the instinct to follow him, I walked out the door and followed him down a spiral stair case. He opened the door and led me down a long hallway. We soon came up on two large double doors. He opened them and motioned me to go inside. I walked in to what I guessed was the throne room to see two more guards and a large throne where a pony I guessed was the princess sat. she had a white body with sparkly rainbow hair that seemed to move on it own. She had beautiful wings and a horn. Right behind that was a crown and around her neck she wore and jeweled necklace. I gulped and thought I was either dead or I had passed through to another dimension. I was really going for the later, because I did not want to be dead. I moved towards the throne and stopped at the foot of it. Then the princess mare spoke: "Greetings, human. What do they call you?" she asked in a voice that seemed nice enough. "My name is Alex. Where am I?" I asked. I was trying to make this a give- and- take conversation. I tell her something, she tells me something. "You are in the land of Equestria." she said. And this is where things got weird. Equestria? Where would that be? I have never seen it on a map or a globe before. Where could Equestria be located? "So tell me, why are you here?" the princess said. "I don't know why I'm here. I was standing at the cliff overlooking the river, I fell off, went into the water, passed out and the next thing I knew I was in a bed bandaged up." I explained. "Yes it is true, our patrols did find you adrift in the water. You seem to have been bleeding so we brought you here." Her words hung in my head for a little while. Could this world and the world I came from be connected? If so, how would I be able to get back? "So, tell me princess, how would I be able to find my way home?" "I am very sorry, Alex but I do not know." Oh great, that's perfect. Just lost the girl of my dreams and now I'm stuck in a world of pony's that can talk. "Since you wont be leaving for w while I assume and you seem to have gotten your strength back, why don't you go down into Ponyville and help with some of the things going on down there?" the princess said. "Uh, sure. Got nothing else better to do." I replied. The princess told me to take some clothes she had made for me and go to Ponyville. Things had turned odd to completely strange. Well, how could it get any worse? "Oh, and by the way, you will be staying with a student of mine. I'm sure you will feel at home with her." the princess told me before I left the castle. I boarded a chariot pulled by two guards with wings. We took off and headed into an unknown direction. We were above the clouds and when we descended through them, I saw a city waiting for me. The streets were filled with ponies of every shape and size. I could tell this was going to either be fun or horrible. Hopefully it would be fun. Of course anything is better than the life I left. The guards dropped me off in front of a tree that looked like a house. I walked up to the door and knocked twice. "Here we go." I told myself. Time to start my new life. > The Working Starts > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The door opened and a smaller pony compared to the guards stood in the doorway. She was purple with a matching mane and tail. She had a horn on her head and for a few minuets just stood there and looked up at me like I was an amazing thing to behold. "Uh, hi. My name is Alex, Princess Celestia sent me here to stay with you." I said to break the ice. "Oh, uh yea. The princess told me you would be arriving." she said as she snapped out of her trance. She told me to come in and I entered what I though to be a strange looking house but it was actually a library. There were books everywhere all with strange names. The pony told me her name was Twilight Sparkle and that she lived here in Ponyville with her friends. I told her that the princess had given me a list of things I was supposed to help with while I was here. "Okay, the first thing on the list is to help with the harvest at Sweet Apple Acres." I told her. "Oh yea, I know where that is. My friend Applejack lives their and I'm sure she would love the help." she replied. Hopefully this wasn't going to be a physically demanding job, there was a lot more to do on the list. So we left the house to Sweet Apple Acres. As I walked down the streets I found that I was getting some funny looks from people. Some of the pony's were whispering things behind me. Things like "that's him" and such. I didn't blame them or get mad. Who could blame them? If the people of where I came from saw one of them walking down the streets they would probably get the same response. We soon came up on a big field of trees that I assumed were apple trees. There were pony's in the valley running around kicking trees with their hind legs. The apples were falling from the trees like rain into buckets that were beneath them. Soon one of the pony's saw us and ran over towards us. She was orange with a long blondish mane and tail. She wore a cowboy hat on top of her head. "Hey, Twilight! Its nice to see ya!" the pony said as she came up to us with a prominent southern accent. "Its good to see you too Applejack, I have a worker for you to help out with the harvest." Twilight said. The pony named Applejack looked over at me and looked me over from head to toe. With no shoes on and a simple black t-shirt and pants on I guess I didn't look like much. I think the thing that stood out to her was that I was a human. I put my hands in my pockets to make myself look a little smaller and try to pull some of the attention away from me. Applejack looked over to Twilight and said: "Yep, he will do!" she said in an happy tone. "Okay, Applejack, he is all yours. Send him back when your done okay? Twilight replied. As Twilight left I felt as if that I was going to be drop dead exhausted at the end of today. I turned to Applejack and asked her what she would have me do. She told me to go around and pick up the barrels of apples and move them to the barn. That seemed easy enough, at least that is what I thought. Finding the barrels was easy, I just had to look around. Moving them was the hard part. They seemed to way at least 100 pounds of apples in each barrel, and the sun wasn't helping either. Guess it was a bad day to where black I guess. I didn't complain though. These pony's seemed tough and used to this and I didn't want to seem weak to them. A few times Applejack asked if I needed some help. I told her that I was okay and that I did this stuff all the time. She told me I was doing great and to keep up the good work. As the sun began to set Applejack told me that I had worked enough today and that she appreciated the help. I told her it was no problem. I pulled out the list and a check was already there. Strange, maybe the paper was magic and could tell when I has done with the job. Well, from where I got it from and where I was I guess it isn't strange. I left Sweet Apple Acres just as the sun dropped from the sky. I followed the path I had taken to get there and found my way back to the library where I hoped Twilight was there. I knocked on the door and I didn't see Twilight. Instead I saw a small lizard looking thing that looked up at me with the same look Twilight did the first time I met her. "Spike, who is it?" I herd a voice call from somewhere in the building, tree, thing. Twilight came up behind the lizard and saw it was me and told me to come inside. She introduced me to Spike. He was a baby dragon that lived with her. Twilight had prepared dinner for all of us. I had no idea what it was but I was to hungry to even think about it. I ate it and it tasted like chicken. When my plate was cleaned Spike told me that there was a bathroom upstairs and there was a bathtub there where I could take a bath. I told him thanks and went upstairs. I found the bathroom and quickly took off my clothes and hopped in. the bath felt amazing after moving all of those barrels all day. I out and put my only pair of clothes back on. They reeked of sweat and I thought I was going to not be able to sleep cause of the stench. I opened the door to find another pair of clothes laying on the floor next to the bathroom door. I picked them up and walked back into the bathroom and closed the door. The new outfit was a white shirt with long black pants with flames colored on them. I put them on and walked out. I went downstairs to find Twilight and spike waiting for me. "Looks like you found the new pair of clothes I laid out for you." Twilight told me. "Yea, thanks Twilight. Where are the clothes coming from?" I asked. "Rarity made them, she took measurements of you while you were passed out and was told by the princess to make clothes for you." she replied. "Tell her thanks, the clothes fit perfectly and I like them." I told Twilight. "Okay, I will. I'm sure that you are tired and that you would like to get some sleep, I laid out a sleeping bag for you next to my bed. Its upstairs down the hall from the bathroom." "Alright, thanks Twilight, for everything." I went upstairs to find a bed roll waiting for me. I laid down on it and pulled the blanket over me. I closed my eyes and automatically went to sleep. Tomorrow I would be back on the job for the next pony. > The Working Ends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awoke to find the entire bedroom empty. I cracked my knuckles like I always did in the morning and decided to grab me something to eat. I came down stairs to find the entire place void of life. On a table there were three apples and a note. I walked over and picked up and apple and bit into it. I thought I was going to have a foodgasm. That apple was one of the best apples I had ever tasted. I picked up the note and it read what it said: Alex, Your next job is to help my friend Pinkie Pie with some decorations and food. She is really nice and hyper and I think she will enjoy your help. It wont take you too long to finish with her so I suggest you get done with Rarity's job next. Come back to the library when your done. There should be some guards to pick you up. Love Twilight Sparkle I finished reading the note that seemed more like a letter and finished the apples. I went back upstairs to find a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and a white jacket waiting for me. I put on the clothes and looked near the foot of Twilight's bed. There were a pair of shoes that were their. They looked like skater shoes like you would see people riding skate boards wearing. I picked them up and wondered how a world of ponies new about human shoes. Then a thought came to mind. The shoes I was wearing that night had disappeared. Maybe this Rarity character had been able to copy them. No matter, I had things to do and I couldn't do them standing around. I put on the shoes and ran out the door. I followed some directions that were written on the back of the note and soon came up to a house that looked like it was completely made of candy. I walked up to the door and knocked twice. There was a clatter from the other side and soon a pink pony with a darker pink mane and tail opened the door. She had big eyes and a smile that looked like it stretched ear to ear(and for a pony, that was pretty big.). "Ooooooooo, you must be Alex! Twilight said that you would be coming! I was so excited to meet you! I have never met a human before. It must be fun! Either way my name is Pinkie Pie, feel free to call me Pinkie if you like. Please come in. I will be needing your help with a few things today but its nothing you cant handle." the pony said in a jumble of words that she said before I could even open my mouth to say hello. "Uh, yea. I'm here to help you out today and I'm also supposed to help Rarity. What would you have me do first?" I asked. "The first thing I need you to do is go the the market and pick up all the things on this list. That's pretty much all I have for you to do today. When you get back I will tell you where Rarity lives." Pinkie said in another jumble of words. She handed me a list and told me the market was in the center of town. I told her I would be back soon and walked out into the now crowded streets of Ponyville. I didn't get as many strange looks as I did the first time. Apparently word had spread of my presence and I became a normal part of life. Some of the ponies actually said hello to me. That's how I knew I was finally accepted somewhere for the first time in a long time. Then another thought came to mind. How was I going to get all these ingredients? I didn't have any money! Realizing this, I found the shop that Pinkie had told me to look for and walked in. I told the shop owner that I had a list from Pinkie Pie and was here to pick up the ingredients. The shop owner said he had the ingredients already loaded up on a cart and that Pinkie had paid in advance. The shop owner led me around to the back behind the shop and sure enough there was the cart. The shop owner went back inside and I had the job of hauling the entire three sacks of flour, three sacks of sugar, 12 dozen eggs, and enough milk to choke a horse(no pun intended.). Well, I got back to Pinkie's place and dropped the food off. She told me where Rarity lived. Apparently she lived in her boutique where she designed outfits for the inhabitants of Ponyville. I came up to the house and knocked on the door. All I herd was "come in!" from somewhere inside. The voice seemed to have an English accent to it and sounded like someone who was very proper. I would have to watch my step. I walked in to find the place cluttered with cloths, ribbons, shoes, blankets, and a trace amount of other items. I herd the voice call to me from the back room. I walked in to find a pony sewing the final touches to a dress. She had a white body with a purple mane and tail that seemed like it was combed with great care. She turned to me and said: "Well hello darling, you must be Alex. I have been waiting along time to meet you and hope that you can help me. I am in such a dilemma that I have no idea what to do!" she said in an upset voice. "What would you have me do, madam." I said trying to sound as sophisticated as I could. "Well first off you can try something on for me, it was the tux you arrived in this world in and, even though it was in bad condition, I was able to repair it. I wish to know if it still fits." she told me. She signaled me to come over to her and she pulled my outfit from a closet and told me to strip. Not wanting to argue or anything I pulled of my clothes(except my underwear) and pulled the suit on. "Just as I thought, it still fits." Rarity said with a triumphant tone in her voice. She then told me I could change back an I did. Then some questions poped into my head. Why was the suit needed? Why was Pinkie Pie using so many ingredients? Why did the princess want me to return to the castle after I was done with my work? All of these questions spun in my head, but they were soon snapped out by Rarity's voice: "So tell me, Alex, which dress do you think looks better? The purple one or the white one?" "Well, I think the purple one is good, the white one looks like you would be getting married. I would keep it though if you are." I said. "Alas, I am not. I have never found someone that fits me. Late at night I fantasize of having a special pony to kiss and hold close to me one day, but the right one just has not shown himself." she replied. She turned to me and looked at me with tears almost forming in her eyes. Then I saw something strange. I cant quite describe it. Its as if a little twinkle was in her eyes, if only for a second. She blushed and then looked away. "Well, I have used enough of your time, the princess is probably expecting you, cant leave her waiting. Run along then." she said. I told her bye and walked out of the boutique. I looked back and then ran back to the library shaking any strange thoughts from my head. > Aroc > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I came up to the library and just as Twilight told me, there were two guards waiting to take me away back to the princess. I went inside the library, packed up my clothes and got ready for the flight back. It didn't seem to take long, I guess my mind was too clouded by all the thoughts that rushed around in my head and seemed to be without end. When we finally arrived at the castle I didn't wait for an invitation to go inside. I pushed open the door to the throne room and walked up to the foot of Celestia's throne. "Well hello, Alex. Its good to see you again. How was your time in Ponyville?" Celestia asked. "It was fine, I completed all the tasks you asked me to do, Twilight told me to come back here after I was done, something about you wanting to see me or something. What would you have me do?" I asked. "Yes, there I somebody I would like you to meet. This is my sister Luna." she said motioning over to a door at the side of the room. I looked over to see the doors open and reveal a beautiful mare. She had a sparkling bluish mane and tail with a dark crown on her head. She had a long horn and beautiful blue wings. She looked over at me as she walked to her sister's side. It was a similar look that Rarity gave me in her boutique. It was a sparkle. If only for a second or two. "Hello, Alex. I am Princess Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you." she said in a very formal voice. Then something strange happened. My body felt heavy and my chest felt like it was in a knot. I fell down on one knee and bowed my head. "The pleasure is all mine, Princess Luna." I replied in a voice did not seem like my own. I stood back up and saw that Luna was blushing. I saw the sparkle again. Celestia looked over at her sister and I felt a strange aura around her. One of regret or something. "Um, well, now that you two have met, Alex, I have a task for you. I wish for you and my sister to return to Ponyville. There you will find the Everfree forest. In the forest you will find some ruins. Search through them and bring back anything of interest." she said. I told her to consider it done. Luna walked down from the throne and joined me in front of the castle. We both boarded the carriage driven by two guards. We took off, and in a matter of minuets we were back in Ponyville. The guards dropped us off the both of us walked towards a path that was the way to Everfree forest. The forest was dark and menacing. "Do not worry, Alex. It's just a forest, nothing to fear." Luna said in a voice that said otherwise. We both moved forward. Even though it was during the day the forest seemed dark. We walked past many fallen and broken trees and Luna seemed to jump at every little noise. A few times Luna would walk a little closer to me and blush. A few times we were almost touching each other. We came across a rope bridge that seemed very unsteady, in the distance I saw the ruined towers of the ancient castle. Luna was just about to begin to walk across the bridge when I stopped her. " I should go first princess, you fly over to the other side and wait for me." I told her. "Okay." she replied in a worry filled voice. Luna spread her wings and flew to the other side. I moved forward and began to walk across the bridge. It was actually a lot more stable then I thought. A few times it creaked and Luna seemed to flinch with every creak. I made it across and as soon as I got off the bridge, it snapped and fell down. "Well, that was interesting. Good thing I wasn't on there." I said. "Yes, it was a good thing too." Luna replied awkwardly. We both looked forward and saw the ruins. We both moved forward at the same time and entered through two old doors. I looked around and found out it was a giant ballroom. It was now in ruins but I could tell it once held a great amount of beauty. I told Luna to wait here, was going to look around. She refused to let me go on my own. I told her she could follow if she wanted. We began to walk the corridors. Everything seemed to be normal, just an old castle. Then we found something, off. It was a door. A hatch to be closer. On the door was written a word in a language I was not familiar with. "It says Aroc." Luna said. "What is Aroc?" I asked. Luna then told me the story. Apparently there had been a being named Aroc and he wished to rule the world. The celestial beings had stopped him and had defeated him. I knew this was creepy. But something was making me want to open that door. I reached down and pulled. The hatch opened with no resistance. I told Luna to stay point. She said she wouldn't. I told her I didn't care. I told her that nobody knew what was down there and that I could not risk her life. With that, I climbed down a latter into darkness, but this wasn't nighttime darkness. This was pitch darkness. The kind of dark you see in your worst dreams. The kind of dark that is as dark as it gets. I got to the bottom of the floor and looked around. I was in a tunnel. At the end a light cut through the darkness like a blade. I moved towards it. I entered a small room. In the center was a pillar. A part of the pillar had been cut out and in the center, was a ring. I mean a normal ring. Like a wedding ring. It was silver and had a strange symbol etched into it. It is hard to describe. It seemed like it was a crown like shape with flames coming out of it. I reached for the ring and grabbed it. At first nothing happened. Then the ring seemed to come alive. And it showed me things. Horrible things. Death and destruction of an unimaginable scale. Then I was zapped back into reality. Luna was calling to me. Asking me if I was okay. I told her I was fine and that I was coming up. I tried to put the ring on my ring finger but it would not fit. I tried my middle finger and it fit perfectly. Then something crawled up my arm. It was coming from the ring. Power coursed through my veins. My eyes widened and then I could see. I don't know how but I could see through the darkness. I took the ring off and it returned back to the awful black darkness. I moved back to the ladder and climbed up. Luna asked me if I found anything. I told her what I found and what I saw. She had a worried expression on her face. I showed her the ring and I said we should bring it back with us. "Are you insane? After what that thing showed you you want to keep it?!" she asked. She was getting hysterical. "Yes, I am. Our orders were to investigate and bring back anything of interest. She agreed. I put the ring in the pocket of my jeans. I stood up and before I knew it I was back on the ground. Luna was on top of me and was holding me down. "Whats wrong with you? Let me up!" I told her. "I just want you to know something, Alex. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I don't know why but it seems like if I lost you I could not live with myself. The minuet I saw you I felt a spark. I don't know what it means but all I know is that our lives are intertwined." she said. She was starting to blush again. "Its okay, Luna. Nothing is going to happen." I told her. Then something happened. She leaned forward, closed her eyes, and kissed me. It was just a small one on the lips but I could tell she wanted it to mean more than that. She backed off of me and apologized, she said her actions were not lady like. I told her it was fine. We both walked out of the castle. Luna helped me across the place where the bridge had broke. We walked out of the forest and back to where the guards had left us. Soon after they returned and picked us up. We traveled back to the castle. We both walked into the throne room and were greeted my Celestia. "Well, how did it go? Did you find anything interesting?" she asked. "Yes, we did." I told her. > Loving the Night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia seemed surprised when she found out that we had found something. I pulled the ring from my pocket and showed it to her. I told her that Luna and I believed that it was the ring of Aroc. She said that we both did a commendable job of recovering the ring. "Alright, Alex. I have a new job for you. You are the rings protector. You are to keep it with you at all times and make sure it does not fall in the wrong hands." Celestia said. "Okay, I will." I replied. Celestia looked down on us like she could tell something was wrong. She asked us if everything was fine and we said we were fine. She looked at the both of us with a distrustful and suspicious look. My heart began to beat a little faster. What would she do if she found out that me and Luna kissed? Would she banish me? Kill me? Or worse. My palms began to grow clammy and sweaty. Then the doors to the throne room opened behind us and Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Spike an two others I did not know walked in. One of the ponies I did not know had a blue body and a rainbow colored mane and tail with wings. The other had a yellow body and a light pink mane and tail and wings. "Hey, Alex! Its good to see you again. The princess told me what she sent you off to do something and I got worried, but it seems like you made it back okay." she said. Twilight walked up to me and introduced me to the two ponies I did not know. The one with rainbow hair was Rainbow Dash and the other was Flutter Shy. Rainbow Dash seemed really out there and proud of who she was. Flutter Shy seemed more reserved. They told me that they had something planned for me later tonight, but they would not say what. I wonder why. Then I looked around and found that Luna was nowhere to be seen. After talking to the girls for about an hour, I looked outside and noticed the sun had gone down and night was setting in. Then a guard walked up to me with a message. "Princess Luna requires you in the garden, go there immediately." he said. I told him that I was going there now and wondered what she could want. Maybe it was another useless apology for earlier. I told her that it was fine but she just wont let it go. I exited the castle into a garden area that was filled with bushes and flowers of every kind. The night was filled with the millions of needle point dots that I knew were stars. The quarter moon shined high in the sky. I walked around some and found Luna sitting on a stone bench looking up at the stars. "You sent for me, princess?" I said. "Come now, Alex. I'm sure it will be fine if we are on a first name basis." she replied without looking at me. She told me to sit with her so I moved next to her and sat down. The bench was cold and hard, adding to the tension in the air between us. "There is something I must tell you, Alex. I was reading my sister's diary and the only thing she seemed to be talking about was you. I fear if she finds out what I did, she would banish me back to the moon." she said looking over at me with sad eyes. "Its okay, Luna. I don't know your sister that much but I'm sure she would never do anything so drastic over me." I told her, trying to reassure her. "That would not be my diagnosis, not from what I read. She is already fantasizing about marrying you." Luna replied, her voice growing sadder with every word. "Why does this distress you so much, Luna? Your a princess, you could have your pick of any of the entire population of Equestria and yet your sister wanting to marry me disturbs you. Why?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. "Its because, I love you, Alex. The moment I saw you my heart jumped into my throat. I could barely breathe. I don't know what came over me, but I felt as if I was drawn to you." she said. Her words settled down on my mind and we both sat there for what seemed like hours. Then I spoke. "I had a similar feeling when I saw you too, Luna. I saw a sparkle in your eyes and I felt a twinge in my brain." I told her. With that she looked over to me and smiled. Her mane was beautiful in the moonlight. She leaned over and kissed my on the cheek. She then laid her head down on my legs and closed her eyes. "Never leave, Alex. Please never leave this world." she said. "I will always be here, Luna. I will protect you from your sister." I told her. Sleep began to drift into me when I herd a voice. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Having fun you two?" I herd the voice speak form behind us. Luna snapped awake. We both turned to see Celestia standing behind us with a triumphant look on her face. "I knew you would do something like this sister, you have always tried to take everything from me. I should have left you on the moon. I think another 1000 years will make you learn your lesson." she said. Luna and me both stood up. Luna had her head down in shame. Celestia began to walk towards her with a murderous look in her eye and that same smug smile on her face. Just before she reached her I stepped in front of her and blocked her path. "Stand aside, Alex. This does not concern you." she said trying to sound as nice as possible. "You will not touch her. She is innocent, she has done nothing wrong." I told Celestia, anger rising in my voice. With a quick movement, she turned and kicked me in the stomach with her hind legs. I fell to my knees. The air had been knocked out of me. I was gasping for breath. I fell over. I felt my consciousness begin to ebb away. I saw Celestia slap Luna with the back of her hoof. This sight made me pissed. My blood began to boil. I stood up and grabbed Celestia's hoof before she could land another blow. "Stop this, I think Luna has suffered enough." I said breathlessly. Celestia looked at me with a look I could not identify. She blushed and pulled away from me. She walked away, but not without giving us a warning. She said that if she caught us doing anything like this again, she would have us banished as far away from each other as possible. I looked over at Luna. She looked okay. Her face was a little red, nothing that was too noticeable. I helped her up. "I suggest you go back to Ponyville. There is a big party in your honor. You are the first human to ever be in Equestria." she said. "I am not going anywhere until I know you will be fine." I said. She told me not to fear that she would be there too. Every pony was invited and there was going to be a huge turnout. I watched her walk away, but not before she spoke again: "Thank you, Alex. If you were not here, my sister would have done a lot worse." she said. She told me to get going and that she would see me at the party. I got my breath back and ran to the front of the castle. I boarded a cart pulled by two guards. Before we left I looked up at the castle and saw Luna looking down at me from one of the towers. I looked over to the tower right across form it and saw Celestia doing the same. > Party in Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was still beautiful. The air was clear and the wind from the cart blew through my now shaggy black hair. Most people would be calm and relaxed at a time like this but I was far from it. I had witnessed one of the most strange things anybody could think of. Two pony princesses were fighting over me. Now believe me for a moment I was flattered but when is resorted to violence that's were it pulled me back to reality. The lovely princess Luna had fallen in love with me after she was hit by "love at first sight". The jealous princess Celestia was not going to have it. Once she had her sights on a male there was no getting him off her mind. The guards that were bringing me back to Ponyville dropped me off in front of Rarity's place. The lights were still on and I assumed she was still getting ready for the party. I walked up to the front door and just like last time I was told to "come in". I walked back to where Rarity made her clothes and found her finishing the final touches on her dress. The only thing she had to do was put it on and she would be ready to go. Then she looked over at me and her jaw dropped. "Dear Celestia, boy have you looked at yourself today!?" she said in a shocked voice. I looked down at myself and saw that my clothes were dirty and I already knew my hair was probably a mess. Rarity ran over to me and pushed me into a bathroom mumbling something about fashion genocide or something. We reached the bathroom and using magic to speed up the process she pulled off all my clothes and pushed me into the bath before I could know what was happening. Before I knew it brushes, sponges, bars of soap and shampoo were flying all over the place cleaning me. My head was pushed under the water multiple times and I thought I was going to drown. The bruise on my stomach hurt and I thought it was going to bring me to tears. Then something yanked me out of the bath, put me on my feat and "magic towels" flew around me drying me off at top speed. Then a bathrobe jumped onto me and wrapped itself around me. Rarity pushed me into a chair and used here magic to control a pair of shears and it began to cut my hair. It was over quickly and I looked in the mirror. My hair didn't look that different besides the fact it looked nicer. Rarity told me to stand up. I did and she gave me my clothes for the evening. The same black suit I had came into this world wearing and the same white shirt. After I had pulled my underwear and pants on Rarity gasped. "Oh my, Alex, what happened!?" she asked. I looked down and saw the bruise I got when Celestia kicked me looked a lot worse than it was supposed to. "It's nothing, I accidentally walked into a table. Nothing to worry about." I said. It was a horrible lie but Rarity seemed to believe me. A few minuets later we were walking towards where the party was to take place. Rarity looked good in her dress that she was done making. We both walked in silence. The party was under a large white tent. We both walked in and I could see ponies eating, drinking, dancing, singing, talking, throwing up in the corner. Then everybody turned and cheered at my arrival. Ponies were coming up and shaking my hand or introducing themselves. One pony tried to tell me a story about how they almost lost their tail. It was all fun I guess. I talked to Twilight and every pony there. I scanned the crowed and my eyes finally landed on the pony I definitely did not want to see, Celestia. She saw me looking and smiled at me with a very coy smile, like she was messing with my mind. I looked away from her and scanned the entire place for Luna. She was nowhere to be seen. I asked one of the guards where she was and he told me she was around somewhere. I walked all through the party looking for her but I could not find her. Then something grabbed me from outside and jerked me out of the tent. I almost fell to the ground but was able to steady myself. I looked at the pony that grabbed me and noticed was Luna, and boy did she look beautiful. She wore a dark blue dress and matching shoes. Both seemed to glow in the night sky. She looked up at me and smiled the same smile that filled my soul with joy. "I saw that you were here and was able to sneak away from the party. I wanted to talk to you. I am very sorry about what my sister did to you. She can be a little bit overbearing sometimes. I wish she could just stop sticking her nose where it does not belong. She must have given you a bruise, does it still hurt?" she asked. She moved towards me and nuzzled me where the bruise was. I felt a sharp pinch of pain and winced. She pulled her head back and asked if I was fine. I told her that I was. Then she asked me another question: "Alex, if you don't have anywhere to stay tonight, you could always sleep at the castle." she said. "Thank you, Luna. I'll definitely sleep at the castle. We can ride back together." I told her. She told me that she would love too. She then told me that we should get back to the party. We both walked back in at separate places so as not to arouse suspicion. I milled around the party for a little bit longer. Soon I herd a voice come from behind me: "Hello, Alex. May I have a word with you." I turned to see Celestia's face inches away from mine. "I know you may be mad about my actions earlier and you must be angry with me. If you would like you can come back to the castle with me and we can talk all of this over." she said. This was pulling my mind in two different directions. I was supposed to ride home with Luna. She wont like it if I go to talk to her sister. Crap. What should I do? What could I do? "Fine, I will come over and talk when I am ready. There are some things I have to take care of." I replied. Celestia had a small flash of doubt in her eyes. My hand drifted to me pocket where I was keeping the ring I found at the castle ruins. It seemed to hum in my hand, like it was trying to tell me something. I pulled my hand out and let it hang by my side. Celestia walked off and told me she would see me later tonight. I let out a sigh of relief and began to mingle with the other guests. The party ended about 11 O'clock at night. All the ponies left and I saw that Luna was waiting for me in a carriage to fly back to the castle. I jumped in and we both took off. Luna told me about the people she talked to at the party and how she enjoyed talking to the citizens of Ponyville. She asked me who I talked to and I said I talked with Twilight and her friends, some other ponies I did not know and(conveniently leaving out the conversation with Celestia.) that was about it. She smiled at me and looked up at the sky. She told me that the sky was as beautiful as ever. I looked over and the stars reflected in her eyes. We both landed at the castle and I walked Luna to her room. She asked me if I was going to be alright and I said I would probably be fine. She told me where my room was and closed the door to her room. I looked over at the second tower and new what I had to do. I walked down and up to the second tower. I looked and the light was still on in the crack under the door. My whole body was shivering. I stood there for a minuet to calm myself and rid my mind of irreverent thoughts. I braced myself and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" I herd Celestia's voice say from the other side. "It's Alex, open the door." I replied. I herd steps behind the door and within a second the door was open. Celestia stood there in a night gown. She invited me in. In her room there were two chairs, a bed, a closet, a bedside table, and a chandelier hanging from the roof. We both sat down and for a minuet there was silence. "So, you wanted to talk to me?" I asked. Celestia looked at me with a look of both good and bad intentions. "Yes, I must apologize for earlier. That kick I gave you must have hurt." she said, I felt me stomach and the bruise was definitely still there. Celestia saw the twang of pain in my eyes and got up. She laid down on her bed and asked for me to join her. I got up and laid down with her. I rested my head on her mid-section like it was a pillow. I felt her breathe. I could hear the sound of her heart beat. She leaned her head around and nuzzled me where my bruise was, like a mother comforting her child. Laying down on her felt comfortable. My eyes grew heavy. Before I knew it I was asleep. Before I drifted off I herd Celestia giggle. > Changeling > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awoke in Celestia's room. I was laying on her bed, my neck and back hurt and my shirt was unbuttoned. Most people would find this weird but the only thing that I thought was weird was the fact that the enormous bruise that was on my midsection was gone. I felt my chest and there was no pain. What had happened while I was asleep? I stood up to find my white jacket, jeans, black t-shirt and shoes on a chair off to the side. I quickly undressed and redressed. As soon as I got my clothes on my stomach growled. I hadn't had anything to eat since last night and it felt like my stomach was digesting itself. I put forth all of my remaining strength and walked out of the door into a spiral staircase that led down to the main part of the castle. I almost fell a few times but was able to catch myself before I had a chance to get hurt, again. I felt around my pockets and realized I had left the Ring of Aroc(that is what I am now calling it.) upstairs in my other pants pocket. I quickly ran back up stairs, got the ring and was about to walk down the stairs again when I thought of something. If I was going to keep this ring in my pocket I had the risk of loosing it. I looked around Celestia's room for a bit and eventually found some string. I tied the string into a necklace and tied the ring on it. I slipped the necklace over my head with slight difficulty, which was good because then it would not slip off. I made sure the knot was tight and ran down the stairs. I opened the doors to a giant eating hall and found Luna and Celestia waiting for me. I smelled scrambled eggs and toast. My mouth began to water until I almost thought I was going to start drooling. "Good morning, Alex. How did you sleep last night?" Luna asked. "I slept fairly well. Had the strangest dream though. I will have to tell you about it later." I replied. "Well, Alex I have another task for you. My sister wants to have a day in Ponyville to relax and I told her I would send a guard with her for protection but she insisted I send you along with her. I hope that wont be a problem." Celestia said with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice. "I'm fine with it, its been a while since I had a lot of free time." I said. "Oh, and by the way. There is a strange pony in Ponyville. She is always seeming to be wearing a hood so we don't know who she is. If you see her, talk to her and see who she is." Celestia added. "How do you know it's a girl?" I asked. "Because the voice was said to be that of a mare." she said. I agreed to take on the task. Me and Luna left and flew to Ponyville. When we landed, Luna was first to get off. She told me that she wanted to go shopping for dresses. This was the first time ever that I saw her acting like a human teenage girl. It came to a surprise to me at first but I got adjusted quickly. We walked around Ponyville for a long time and stopped at lots of stores and bought more things than I could count. We bought dresses, shoes, normal clothes, some strange items I could not identify, and a bunch of other random items. We were done just around noon. We were walking back to the cart when something pulled me into a dark alleyway. It was the mare in the hood. "You don't have to live under them, Alex. You have the power to topple their entire empire. The power of Aroc's Ring. Join me, and we can free this world and rule it under our names." she said. "Who are you?" I asked. But before I knew it, she was gone. Luna appeared out of nowhere asking where I ran off to. I told her nowhere that I had just stumbled over in here and fell. She looked around seeing if anybody was there. She moved towards me. I backed up. My back was soon pressed up against the wall. Luna closed her eyes and leaned forward. My heart was thumping in my ears and I could barely breathe. Soon the distance between our lips was only a step away. Then for a second she opened her eyes. I shoved her away from me. She hit the ground and looked up at me. "Ow, what was that for, Alex?" she asked. "Who are you, and what have you done with Luna?" I asked in return. "What the devil are you talking about, I am Luna!" she said. "Luna doesn't have green eyes!" I said. There was a pause. Then the thing I thought was Luna changed. And there stood a strange pony, thing. She had a black body with bug like wings. She had a strange teal blue mane and tail. Her horn was crooked and she had a twisted crown on her head. Her eyes were green and were like those of a cat. My heart rate increased. I began to sweat. She didn't look very strong, why was I so freaked out? She turned away from me and spoke: "Remember what I told you, Alex." she said, then in a flash, she was gone. I rejoined Luna(the real one.) at the cart. She asked where I ran off to and I said I just wondered off and got lost. All of the stuff Luna had bought was already being transferred to the castle. Man did I feel sorry for those guards who had to do that. On the way home, my mind wondered. Who was that pony I met in that alleyway, what did she mean by I had the power to topple their empire? What could the Ring of Aroc do? Luna sensed that I was troubled and leaned in close to me and laid her head on my shoulder. I looked over to her and smiled. We road back to the castle without a word. The minuet I got back to the castle I told Luna I wanted to talk to her about something, but I had to confirm my suspicions first. She told me to be safe. I walked off to the giant library in the lower parts of the castle. I found the doors to be locked. I looked around and thought for a moment. Then I knew who would have a key. I walked up the tower to Celestia's room. I knocked on the door. I got a reply of "who is it?". I told her it was me but she refused to open the door. I told her all I needed was the key to the library. She asked why and I told her I did not have time for a game of 20 questions. She told me that the only way she would give me the key was if I promised to marry her. That's when I got frustrated. I told her I was coming in. She said I would never be able to because it was locked from the inside. That's when I had had enough. Aroc's ring hummed around my neck. I lifted my foot and kicked the door as hard as I could. It swung open with a pronounced bang. I walked in to find Celestia laying on her bed. She looked over at me with surprise in her face. "Well aren't you a persistent one." she said. "Just give me the key." I told her. She said fine and using magic, extracted the ring from a box under her bed. She handed me the key, it was gold and seemed to be about as normal as it got. It was big and had three prongs at the end. Looked like a key from time of the colonies in America. I thanked her and started to walk out when she said: "Hold on a minuet, you. Is that all the thanks I get for helping you?" "What do you want then?" I asked getting a little impatient. "A kiss, on the lips." she said plainly. I stood there for a second, thinking it over. One kiss couldn't hurt, after all she did for me it was the least I could do. "Fine, but make it quick." I told her. She screamed a girly scream and jumped from her bed. She tackled me and and shoved me to the ground. Standing over me she leaned forward and our lips met. She then laid down on top of me and refused to move. She had her eyes closed and was holding this kiss as long as possible. Her lips tasted like candy for some reason. She pulled back from me and opened her eyes. A small string of spit connected our mouths but then broke. "Well, that was fun, Alex. We should do it more often." she said. "Just get off." I told her. She stood up and let me get up. I thanked her again for the key and walked out. I walked down to the library and unlocked the door and walked in. there were rows and rows of books. I ran all over the library and then I found the book I was looking for. The cover said History of Equestria. I opened the book and started scanning through it. Then I found what I was looking for. The text said: Chrysalis, the changeling queen, can change into any pony she wants to. The same may go for the changelings that follow her. It is said to be a bad omen if you meet her. She is an evil being that will do anything possible to gain power. I closed the book and put it back. There was no doubt in my mind who that pony was in the alleyway. It was Chrysalis. I walked out of the library and locked the door behind me. I put the key in my pocket not wanting to have another meeting with Celestia's lips. I walked to the garden balcony and looked at the sky. The sun was going down and some of the flowers were closing up for the night. I should have told Celestia about Chrysalis but something was keeping me from doing it. I stood there and watched the sun go down. I pulled the string over my head and held Aroc's Ring in my hand. I untied it from the string and put the ring on my middle finger on my right hand. At first nothing happened. Then I soon felt a rush of power. Flame designs that glowed red spread across my body. The light faded from them and they all turned black. I felt like I had enough power to move mountains. Was this the power of Aroc, and what other powers did this ring hold? I did not trouble myself with those questions. I took the ring off and the flames disappeared. I put it back on the string and put it in its place around my neck. I knew what I was going to do. > Confrontation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I moved towards the castle. The night air was still fresh and the sent of fresh air met my lungs like a breeze on a hot day. I walked into the castle and opened the door to the tower that led up to Celestia's room. My only resolve was to tell her about Chrysalis. This could pose a threat and could get many innocent ponies killed. I stepped up the steps two at a time to get there quick. I came up to the door and it had been fixed from the last time I kicked it in. I knocked twice on the door. I did not get a response. I knocked again but still got no response. I looked under the door to find a small flickering light and I herd the quiet snore of Celestia. Apparently she had already gone to sleep. I slipped the key to the library under the door and turned and walked down the stairs. I went to Luna's room and found here asleep as well. I knew I could only do one thing. I left a note for her explaining myself and what I was going to do. Then I went to the armory in the dungeon of the castle. I picked out a knife, sword, crossbow and bolts, throwing knives and then I found a mask. It was the mouth part of a skull but the teeth seemed to go around the entire front of the mask. I grabbed it and fit it over my mouth. It muffled my breath so that I could not be herd. I grabbed all my weapons and fit them on. Soon I was ready to go. I walked out of the front of the castle to find the sun slowly beginning to rise. I would have to move quick before all of Equestria awoke from their sleep. I put my jackets hood up to hide my face. Only the mask I wore was visible. I looked quiet frightening. I slowly made my way down the mountain, this mission required only me knowing so taking a short cut to Ponyville was not an option. When I reached the bottom of the mountain the sun was almost up and I could tell morning was beginning. I quickly ran on a path towards the direction of Ponyville. I came up on the outskirts of the city. Here the library where I first met Twilight stood. I walked to the front door and was just about to knock when something stopped me. I thought for a minuet and knew I could not walk in normally. I climbed the tree/library and got in through Twilight's bedroom window. Spike and Twilight were still asleep. I crept past them downstairs. I flipped through a few books to try to find out where Chrysalis lived. I eventually found it. The last place where her and her changeling army had a strong hold was deep in the Everfree forest. I closed the book and crawled out the way I came. I looked up at the dark trees of the wood. I walked forward with only one thing in mind. I was going to stop Chrysalis from hurting the ones I cared about. All of my friends that helped me in my adventures here. I was going to kill her. I walked forward. I seemed to walk for hours. Soon I came up on some things which told me I was getting close. Things that seemed out of place. Green puddles on the ground and bogs of green bile. I continued onward. I came up past some trees and saw my target. Chrysalis. She and her followers were dwelling in an open clearing surrounded by caves. Changelings were zipping in and out of the caverns like bees in a hive. There were two ways I could do this. I could try stealth or try to hit her head on. Stealth did not seem like much of an option. I walked out of the bushes and was automatically swarmed by the things. They formed a circle around me hissing and bearing jagged teeth at me. I lowered my head a little so that none of them could tell I was human. Then there was a part in the group. Their queen walked forward walking straight up to me. If there was a chance to dispatch her, now would be it, but I hesitated. "Oh look, children, look who has arrived. The one that will help us in our goal. But something seems different, out of place. Oh yes, I know." she said. Chrysalis flicked one of her legs up hitting me in the jaw sending me to the ground while knocking my hood off in the process. I looked up at her. She seemed to be surprised to see me like this. I had to admit, the mask was a little bit much. "Its good to see you again, Alex. What is with the mask? It makes you look mean and evil. That doesn't suit you. Take it off." she said in a tone that sounded like and order. I stood up and removed the mask revealing a small trickle of blood from my lip where she hit me. Fear began to fill me when I looked into her green eyes. I thought of Luna, my friends and what I came here to do. Anger and hate filled my mind and I stared her down. "Why do you look so angry, child? You have freed yourself from the Equestrian hold. You should be happy." she said "I did not come here to join you, I came here to kill you." I said pulling out my sword. Most of the changelings in the circle backed up a step and hissed loudly, but Chrysalis stood her ground showing no fear. "Come to kill me, how comical. You could never bring yourself to do it." she said. My body froze. I had never taken another life before. I had never even killed a mouse. I had killed bugs though. That was easy. But killing something with a personality was a lot harder. Chrysalis saw the weakness in me and knew she hit the nail on the head. I dropped the sword to the ground with a clang. "What will you do, Alex? If you attack, my darlings will be on you before you can blink. But I will give you one last chance. Join me." she said. My brain was reeling. I could not think straight. The ring of Aroc was vibrating under my shirt. Then I gave in. She had me beat. "Fine, I will join you." I said. Chrysalis looked pleased with herself. She walked up to me and nuzzled me in the stomach. "You will not regret this decision, Alex. We will rule this land as queen and king." she whispered in my ear. That's when I reacted. I pulled the knife out as fast as I could and dug it into her shoulder. I moved faster than I thought I could. Prolonged exposure to the ring must heighten your strength or something. Chrysalis screamed out in pain. I quickly pulled the knife from her shoulder. The wound was not fatal but she was injured none the less. I sheathed the knife and sprinted for the trees. I busted through the bushes running from the hoard of changelings behind me. I ran faster than I had ever thought possible. I jumped over logs like it was nothing and dodging trees was almost second nature. I ripped through a wall of bushes into an open field between the Everfree forest and Ponyville. I did not stop running till I had reached the city. I jumped into an ally way and looked in the direction of the forest. Apparently the changelings did not follow me out of the forest. That was good. I stood there for a while trying to catch my breath, I looked around and saw a poster. I walked over to see what it said and saw it was a missing persons poster. It was for me. It said: Alex McGrath has been missing since last night. If you see him, tell him the princesses wish for him to return. There will be a cash reward for any information on his whereabouts. I backed away from the poster. I had only been missing for a few hours and Luna was already worried about me. A pang of guilt hit my body. I was probably worrying her to the point of desperation. I walked through the back ally ways of Ponyville trying not to catch that much attention. I saw a cart leaving for Canterlot(where the castle is by the way.) and hid among the goods and other things. When the cart landed I got out and walked to the front of the castle. I opened the doors and saw ponies running back and forth carrying more copies of the poster of me. I walked through them and none of them seemed to notice me. I went into the hall to find Luna screaming at a guard. "What!? What do you mean you still have not found him!? I send you and your team to look for him and all you give me is CRAP!" she screamed. "I'm sorry your majesty, my men are looking for him everywhere but there is no sign of him." the guard said with his head bowed in a submissive way. "Quit giving me CRAP!" Luna screamed at him again. "Quit yelling at the poor guard. You should only be angry with me, not him." I said from a distance. Luna looked at me from her spot with surprise. She jumped at me from her spot while yelling "ALEX" over and over again. She barreled into me almost knocking the breath out of me. She was laying on my chest(just like Celestia did) and refused to move an inch. She buried her face into my chest crying tears of joy. "I-I-I thought I would n-n-never see you a-a-again A-A-Alex!" she said between sobs, the guard ran off to spread the news that I had returned. Luna asked where I had gone and I told her the story of the last few hours. I told her that I went hunting for Chrysalis and that I had planned on killing her. I told her I had wounded her and then ran. I told her I was sorry for worrying her so much. She stared at me, her eyes peering at me behind the tears. Looking at them made me feel more guilt. "Its okay, Alex, I forgive you. You tried to do what was right. I am just happy that you are home safe and sound." she said. I herd the bang of doors opening behind me. Luna stood up quickly and I was attacked by the vicious grip of yet another princess barreling into me at top speed. Celestia was talking a little more quicker than Luna did but she wasn't crying her eyes out. "ALEX! I missed you so much! I thought you had left me forever and you were never going to return! As soon as I found out you were missing I had the printers make missing posters of you while Luna sent the guards to search for you! PLEASE PROMISS ME YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE AGAIN!" she said. Celestia was crushing my lungs. Luna tried to get her off of me but could not make her budge. I eventually told her to get off and that she was hurting me and she bolted off like something had static shocked her. I got back up, Celestia saw the weapons I was carrying and asked why I had them. I then informed her of my story of the past few hours telling her everything I had done. "I see. So Chrysalis has come to try and take the city from us to reach her goal." Celestia said. "Yea, she has an entire army of minions at her disposal. I was lucky to get out alive." I told her. "But not without a price." Celestia said. I asked her what was wrong. She nuzzled my chest and it was covered in dried blood. I pulled my jacket and shirt off and found that I had three deep cuts on my chest that were almost fully healed. "The wounds are most definitely fresh. How did they heal so quickly? And where did you get them from?" Luna asked. "I must have gotten it when I ran out of the clearing where the changelings are. One of them must have got me as I was running away. I wonder why I did not feel it though?" I asked. Then a thought came to mind. I looked down and the ring was still on the string around my neck. "I have a theory. Maybe long time exposure to this ring may increase your strength, speed, agility and healing." I told them. "That is possible, maybe you have absorbed some of Aroc's powers from the ring. When the original beings destroyed him he sealed up all of his powers and sealed them into that ring. Maybe what you say is true. Maybe you will be able to use black magic like Aroc did." Luna said. I looked down at my hands. They had some blood stains on them, both my blood and Chrysalis's. I had no idea what was going to happen next. All I knew was that something big was going to happen, and it was going to be on a massive scale. I had attacked Chrysalis and she was probably not going to let this go unanswered. I may had just kick-started a war. > Remnants of Home > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I told Luna and Celestia that I was going to my room and that I did not want to be disturbed. I walked over to the room I had never used that Luna had prepared for me a few nights ago. I walked in to find a desk, a bed, a closet, and a bathroom with a shower and sink. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either. It was just the right size. I looked around, I walked over to a mirror that hung above the desk and sat down at it. I looked at myself. My jacket was ripped and it was covered in blood. I would have to get it dropped off at Rarity's place to get fixed. I pulled off my jacket and shirt and inspected the wound. It was three long claw marks running across my chest. They were almost fully healed and was not bleeding at all. I stood up from the desk and walked to the bathroom. I walked in and closed the door behind me. I stripped down a turned the shower on. I stepped in and let all the pain and suffering from the day wash away down the drain. I got a shower and stepped back out. I opened the door and froze when I saw Celestia sitting on my bed waiting for me. Good thing I had a towel around my waist. "Oh my, deeply sorry, Alex. I did not know you were in the shower." she said not looking away from my scars. "Its fine. You just kind of surprised me." I replied. "Well, I was worried about you. The wound looked serious and I wanted to make sure you didn't die on us. I would have been devastated if you did." she said tears forming in her eyes with the thought of me dead. "Is the genuine concern or is this some twisted way for you to convince me to marry you." I said. "I can't believe you, Alex! If I was going to try and marry you I would do it head on, no tricks." she said, offended. "Sorry, back when I lived with the other humans, not a lot of people gave me genuine concern. I was the youngest of six brothers and sisters, my mother and father were always focusing on them. If I wanted anything, I had to get it myself. I pretty much taught myself all of the things I needed to know. I made my own meals when I got old enough and went to school by riding the bus or walking. I lived with very little love in my life. I would have to get it where I could." I told her with all the painful memories started coming back. "I never new, Alex." she said. I told her to turn around for a minuet and grabbed a pair of pants and shirt from a drawer(more from Rarity I suppose.). I put them on and told her it was fine to look. She opened her eyes and told me to lay down with her. I moved over to her laying down next to her. The bed was big enough for the both of us and we still had plenty of leg room. She scooted over next to me and laid her head on my lap. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed down. She was asleep within a minuet. I did not want to disturb her so I laid back and stared up at the ceiling. After all the things I went through my eyes refused to close and let me sleep. I just laid there, blinking up at the ceiling. Most people would be so tired they would be knocked out but I was fine. I herd Celestia whisper in her sleep. I looked down at her. Her eyes slowly opened. She looked up at me. She lifted her head up and leaned in close to me. I was not surprised when our lips met, it wasn't the first time. But something was different. Something strange was happening. I felt true love in her, not just lust. I could feel her hair in my hands. It was soft and sparkly. She moved over on top of me and the kiss continued. I felt something slip down my throat. I pushed her off of me for a second. She asked what was wrong. All of a sudden my vision got blurry. "Oh yes, I know what happened. You swallowed the pill I gave you. You will finally be mine, and Equestria can finally have a king." she said. I tried to get up but could not move. Celestia moved in and began to lick my neck. I was a fool. I was a fool for trusting her. I was a fool for believing she would ever be genuinely in love with me. Then I stopped. She did love me. That's why she was doing all of this. She was determined to love me and when she knew I was in love with Luna she was jealous. My mind began to slip away. I was passing out. I fought back the medicine with all my strength. I finally got enough consciousness to pull her off of me. I stood up and told her one thing that I would absolutely regret later: "If your trying to get me to love you, do it the normal way." I said. I walked over to the door and walked out. I stumbled around for a minuet but finally the drugs wore off. I got my balance and began to walk to Luna's room. One of the guards stopped me and told me Luna wanted to see me. I told him that's where I was going and I sent him on his way. I walked up the tower stairs and arrived at her room. I knocked twice and it quietly opened. It was dark inside. The curtains were pulled shut and the room was completely dark. I slowly stepped in. I herd the door close behind me. I looked around. I could not see a thing, my eyes were still not adjusted to the darkness. I squinted through the black. I looked over where the bed was and was able to make out a figure laying there. "Luna?" I asked the figure. It got up and disappeared into the darkness. I looked around for it but saw nothing. I felt something brush against me from behind. I spun around and tried to grab what touched me but there was nothing there. Something brushed up against my leg, I spun around again and still had no luck. I moved over to a corner. Now the only way this thing could get me was from head on. My heart was pounding in my ears. Beads of sweat formed on my cheeks. I focused in front of me and saw the form again. There was no way it could sneak up on me now. It moved towards me. My heart picked up the pace. I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. Soon the figure was right in front of me. Then it spoke, it was Luna's voice: "I always herd a male kissed better when his heart was thumping." she said "What?" I asked. "Its okay, Alex. Just be still, you don't have to worry about a thing." Luna replied. She leaned forward, our lips met and my lips burned. I pushed her away and jumped behind her to get away from her. "What is wrong with you, Luna?" I asked. "Nothing is wrong, Alex. I just wanted to see how you would react. I herd words around the castle that my sister it trying even harder to take you from me. I'm upping my game a step or two." she replied. "Is this all this is? Is this just some giant competition to see who gets me?" I asked. "No, Alex. You see, unlike my sister, I actually love you. She just wants you so that this country has a king and she can finally get married." she said. She moved towards me again. I backed up. This was escalating quickly and I had no idea what to do. I had two pony princesses bent over backwards in love with me and I could not live with myself knowing I broke one of their hearts. My brain was trying to process all it was taking in. My eyes were finally adjusting to the dark. I could see Luna's face now. She was determined to let me know that she loved me in one way or another. "Luna, you don't have to do what you are doing. I know how much you care about me and I do not need a demonstration to know that." I told her. She stopped, her facial expression changed. She told me okay. I told her she had scared me with the whole brushing up against me idea. She told me she had read that it was creepy in a book and wanted to try it out. We both laughed and walked back out into the sun. I found myself with some free time so I decided to walk around the castle. I explored many places and met lots of ponies while I was exploring. While I was walking I was stopped by two of the guards. "Alex, I am going to have to ask you to come with us. Something very important has happened and the princess requires your assistance." he said. "What happened?" I asked. "You will have to see for yourself." the other said. I ran down to the throne room. I opened the door and found a horrible sight. Celestia was standing over a bloody, beaten and bruised man. She looked over at me and said that she found him snooping close to where they found me. I walked over to him and made Celestia back off of him. "Hey, Alex. Its good to see that you are unharmed." he said. My eyes grew wide. I took a step back, I could have known that voice anywhere. It was my eldest brother, Dalton McGrath. "How did you get here?" I asked him. "I followed the river at the base off the cliff near our house it led into a cave, I followed the cave and came out here. I was looking around for you and was jumped by these, things." he said sitting up and motioning to Celestia. "Do you know this human, Alex?" she asked. "Yea, he is my older brother." I said. "I have been looking for you, Alex. Mother and father were devastated when they found out you had gone missing. Mother called all of us to tell us. I came as soon as I could. The rest did not want to show themselves." he said. "You lie! All of you never cared about me. I was just the extra. The last of your horrible bloodline. I wish I would have never been born to mom and dad." I said, anger beginning to rise in my voice. "That's not true. Mom and Dad cared for you out of their children. You were their favorite." he said. "They had a funny way of showing it though." I said. "I came here to bring you back, Alex. We can live together and be a real family for once." he proposed. "No, I wont go back. I have built a life here. I have friends that care for me here, not a bunch of lying siblings and two parents who don't even care about me." I said. "But brother-" "As far as I am concerned you are no longer my brother. As far as I am concerned I have no brothers or sisters." I told him. "I see. You obviously do not want to go home, and I respect your decision." he said. I told him to go back home and never to return. He got up and began to walk away. Then he spoke one more time: "She hates herself you know." he said. "Who?" I asked. "Maria, after she found out what happened she fell into depression. She refuses to eat anything and is slowly dieing. I thought you would want to know." Dalton said before he left. "Oh yea? GOOD! She deserves to die. All of you! Feeding me your lies for so long. None of you cared about me. You never have and you never will!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "You have changed, Alex, or should I call you that, you are not the Alex I once knew." he said, looking at me with sad eyes. I turned away from him, tears forming in my eyes. I told him to just leave. And he did. I thought that would be the last time I ever saw him, or any of my family. I was wrong... > Black Magic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia looked at me. Tears had begun to fall from my eyes and were running down my cheeks and fell to the floor. "Alex, I never knew what happened." she said. "It's okay, I would just like to get this behind us. I actually have a favor to ask you." I replied. I told her I wanted to learn black magic. She seemed startled at this, she cracked a smile but it faded quickly when she discovered that I wasn't joking. She told me she did not know how to teach me dark magic but she would help me as much as she could. We both went to the library and pulled every book on magic of all kinds. We finally found a few books that spoke of black magic. I read over them all and found nothing but what seemed to be nonsense. Nothing seemed straight. It would talk about one thing and then lead you off into a completely new direction. I was up for hours, Celestia left once to get us both something to eat. I munched on the food she brought and finally found out what to do. "Okay, I have finally found what I need to do. Dark magic is fueled by the darkness in ones soul. How much pain and suffering one has seen. I have seen a ton of that when I lived with the other humans so finding fuel for it should not be a problem." I said. "What else are you supposed to do to make something happen?" Celestia asked. I flipped through the books a little bit more and found my answer. "Okay, right here it says that for black magic to be born and used one must mix the dark feelings he has with the action he wishes to occur. There are three main types of dark magic. Restoration, Destruction, and Movement." I replied. I thought of something I would try first. I told Celestia to get a guard to bring a giant boulder out into the courtyard and set it in the middle. I came out to find a jagged rock waiting for me. I tried what the book said. I thought of my last night in the human world and what happened that night. I pictured myself destroying the rock. I opened my hand and pointed it at the rock. I felt a rush of power and saw a bolt of black lightning jump from my hand and hit the boulder, shattering it to pieces. I pulled my hand back and looked at it. Steam was rising from my fingers but I was not burned at all. I looked over at Celestia and saw a look of astonishment. "Alex, I think you have just learned black magic!" she exclaimed. "Oh yea, this is going to definitely going to come in handy." I said. Me and Celestia practiced on things for hours, things such as destroying more rocks, lifting things without touching them, and even healing small cuts and bruises quickly. The day was almost over and I was exhausted. My mind was at its wits end and my body was as tired as it gets. Celestia helped me get to my room. I closed the door behind me and locked it so I would not have another excursion with her. I quickly took a shower and put some clothes on. I brushed my teeth with a toothbrush I found in the bathroom and got into bed. I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep. I had dreams of Luna. We were living together in a beautiful field and having no problems at all. It was a pleasant dream. But soon it turned dark. I saw a figure that looked like it was made of many different animal parts. I saw visions of war and suffering. Then on a wall, written in blood, were the words 'abandoned by our hero'. I jerked awake. My heart was pounding and my throat was dry. Was this short term effects of using black magic? I did not know and I did not care. I looked out the window and noticed it was morning. What truly surprised me was the fact that the changelings had not attacked yet. Why were they taking so long? Then there was a knock at the door. "Alex? Are you awake?" someone asked. "Yea, I am." I replied. The door opened quickly and in walked in Luna and Celestia. "Alex, we have a proposition for you!" Luna said. "We want to see your family in the human world."Celestia added. "What?" I asked. "We think it would be fun!" Luna answered. "Are both of you crazy?! The changelings could attack at any moment and you want to take a sudden trip to the human world? And besides, who will rule over Equestria while BOTH the princesses are gone?" I asked. "Well, we have some replacements for us and they are royalty so you don't need to worry about that." Celestia said. That was not what I was worried about. It seemed like I could not get my point across to these two so the only thing I could think of was just going for the day and coming back after a short visit. I agreed, they both were ecstatic and told me to get dressed that we were leaving immediately. I groaned. They told me to hurry up. I pulled on my black shirt and white jacket and put on my shoes and pants. I met them in front of the castle. I told them to lead the way because I had no idea where to go. They led me down to a stream that opened up into a river. We found a cave in the face of a cliff and entered. I led the way through. We came out in another stream. "Okay you guys lets make this qui-." I began to say but stopped. Luna and Celestia had transformed into humans. Their hair seemed the same but their clothes had changed. Celestia was wearing white jeans and a tank top with a symbol of the sun on it. Luna was wearing blue skinny jeans and a t-shirt with a symbol of the moon on the back. They looked almost normal(and yes they had boobs.). "Wow, you guys changed." I said. They looked down at themselves and was awestruck. "Do we look okay, Alex? It seems we are not wearing much." Luna asked. "Yea, you look fine, if I didn't know you I would say you were just a couple of old humans. "So where do we go to find your home?" Celestia asked ready to get this show on the road. I told them to follow me. They knew how to walk surprisingly enough even though they were born ponies and walked on all fours. I led them up a hill and found ourselves in my old neighborhood. There were cars going by and kids playing in the streets. Just like always. I led them up onto the sidewalk and up the steps of a three story house that I called my home for 15 years. I told them to stay behind me. I put up my hood to hide my face. I knocked on the door a few times. I herd steps behind the door. It opened and there was my brother Jeff(The kids of the household were me, Sarah, Amanda, Shelby, Jeff, Samuel and Dalton.) "Can I help you?" he asked. "Hey, Jeff. I guess I could say its good to see you." I said. "Who are you?" he asked. "Its me, Alex you imbecile." I retorted. I took the hood off and looked up at my older brother. His face was both surprised and happy. He rushed forward and hugged me. "Its been so long, little bro, we all have missed you so much." he said. "Mom, Dad, everybody! Alex is back!" he yelled into the house. There was a stampede of foot steps and suddenly my entire family was in view, even Dalton. Everybody was happy to see me. They all hugged me and kissed me and gave me noogies. Then my dad spoke: "Um, Alex, who are your friends?" he asked. I peeked behind me and saw Luna and Celestia. They were both standing awkwardly in the door way since my family had dragged me inside. "Oh, this is uh, Luna and Celestia, they helped me get back home." I said. Dalton flinched at those names and looked at Celestia with a trickle of fear in his eyes, his face was still a little bit bruised from the beating she gave him. My family welcomed them in with open hearts and arms. Thanking them repeatedly for helping me get home. "Alex?" a small voiced asked from the corner. I looked over and saw Maria standing there. She had bags under her eyes like she had not been sleeping well. She had definitely lost a few pounds. She ran up and kissed me on the neck, a little but to passionate if you asked the princesses since I felt sudden blood lust form behind me. I finally got her off and asked what the devil she was doing. She said she was giving me her love and told her that we were over according to what happened that night. She backed away and said she was sorry and that she would never have done it if she thought this was going to happen. Her sadness calmed Luna and Celestia down a bit. My parents invited us all to sit in the living room. Me, Luna and Celestia sat on the couch while everybody else found a spot either on the floor or in a chair. Celestia offered Dalton a spot next to her which he hesitantly took. There was obvious tension in the air. "Why did you leave, Alex?" Sarah asked. "I did not leave, I fell from the cliff into the river. Luna and her sister found me and took me into their care. They helped me get my strength back and helped me get home." I said giving them only part of the truth. My entire family nodded. They all believed it, well, except for Dalton who knew what actually happened but obviously did not tell them the full truth. We then all played a game of twenty questions asking both me and the girls questions. Then a though popped into me head. How was I going to tell them I could not stay? Then my dad spoke again: "So, Luna is it?" he motioned to Luna, she nodded in return. "You and Alex are about the same age, are you two going out?" he asked. Me, Luna, Celestia, Dalton and Maria flinched at his words. "Um, well, I guess so." Luna replied. I flinched then quickly looked over at her. She returned the look that said 'what was I supposed to say'. I shot a quick glance at Celestia who was wearing a smile but under that was pure anger. "Well, its good to see that my son still has a social life, he was always the shy one of the family." he said. My parents asked if we would like to stay for dinner, I agreed thinking what was the worst that could happen. Then I thought for a moment, dinner? I looked over at the clock and saw that it was six. The time must be different here than it is back in Equestria. We all sat down at a large table in the back porch. We ate fried chicken, beans, corn, cheese toast, salad and cake for desert. Maria ate every thing she got, poor thing was probably starving. After dinner we sent Maria home to her parents. With a regretful look at me and Luna she walked off. "Why don't you stay the night?" my Mom asked. "We would love to!" Celestia said before I could get a word out. My mother said that she would got to the store and get some sleep clothes for the girls and that they would be sleeping in my room with me. That struck me as strange but I did not complain. I showed them up to my room and it had not changed a bit. The walls were gray and the bed was in the center with a gray, blue and black striped pattern on it. It told the girls that the bathroom was down the hall and it might be a good idea to go and get a quick shower. They both walked down and took a shower together. My mom got back just in time to give them their clothes. I went to get my shower and was confronted by Dalton. "What are you doing, Alex?" he asked. "Going to get a shower, why do you ask?" I replied. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was what are you doing bringing those things here!" he asked. "I have no idea what your talking about." I said plainly. "Don't try to pull that crap with me, now tell me why you are really here." he said. "Fine, the girls wanted to see what the human world was like and wanted to meet you guys. I brought them here, but I do not plan to stay. I'm going back." I told him. "I see. I understand. You must love them and they must love you. What I cant believe is that you would betray your own family." he said. I tried to walk past him but he blocked my way. He pushed me up against a wall to keep me from going anywhere. I raised my hand and it began to spark with black lightning. Dalton jumped back. The lightning disappeared. "So you really have changed." he said. "Yea, now if you don't mind I would like to go and take a shower. Oh and by the way, if you tell what you know to anyone, I will make your life so horrible you will have wished Celestia beat you to death when you went there. Understand." I told him. He nodded his head and walked off. I went and got my shower. I pulled some clothes on while I was still in the bathroom and brushed my teeth as well. I went back to the room and Celestia and Luna were laying down on cots my mother had prepared and were just about ready to sleep, how they could be tired was far beyond me. I turned off the lights and closed the door and locked it. I wanted no disturbances from the rest of the peanut gallery. I jumped into my bed and turned over on my side. After listening for a while. I herd Celestia's loud snores and Luna's quiet breathing. After about ten minuets, I herd someone get up. Luna crawled into the same bed with me. "Are you awake, Alex?" she whispered. "Yea, I am." I replied. "What did your father mean when he asked if we were going out?" she asked. "Well, when two humans find each other and they like each other, they go out on dates. If they love each other very much, then they get married." I replied. "Oh, are we going out?" she asked. I thought about this for a while, what should I say? What could I say? "I guess so." I replied in a quiet whisper. "Good, that means its okay if I sleep in here with you, right?" she asked. "Yea, I guess." I said. She scooted closer to me. "And its okay if I nuzzle you?" she asked. "Yea." I replied. She nuzzled my chest with her nose. She scooted in and cuddled up next to me. She then looked up and kissed me. "I love you, Alex." she said. "I love you too Luna." I replied. Me and Luna slept in the same bed together. As I drifted off into dream land I could have swore I herd Celestia growl from her cot. I dismissed the thought. I could also swear I herd a scream off in the distance. It was small, but I could have swore that I heard it. Hmm... > Alex's Sacrifice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I opened my eyes. I looked over at my alarm clock and it read 12 o'clock midnight. I tried to move my arm but(conveniently enough.) Luna was using it as a pillow. My arm was completely numb and I could barely move my fingers. "Luna, Luna wake up." I whispered. Luna's eyes slowly opened. She saw my face and gave a cute little smile to me. "Hi, Alex, what can I do for you?" she asked quietly. "I need you to get your things, we are leaving and heading back to Equestria." I whispered to her. She said okay and we silently got up. I grabbed a bag and put some fresh clothes in it. I grabbed a flash light from my closet and got another pair of shoes. I stuffed it all in a bag. I closed my closet door and saw that Luna was waking Celestia up, but she wasn't getting very far with her. I moved Luna aside and pushed Celestia off the cot. She fell to the floor with a quiet groan and sat up. "Get your things, we are leaving." I told her. She sleepily got up and pulled her shoes on. Apparently she was not going to change like Luna did. I unlocked the door and told the girls to wait for me by the stairs. I was about to close the door and lock it when I saw the Ring of Aroc on the bed side table. I quickly walked in and grabbed it, put the string around my neck and made sure the knot holding the ring was tight. I closed and locked the bedroom door. The three of us crept down the stairs. Leaving through the front door would have been too noisy so I pointed to a window over to the side. I opened the window and helped Luna and Celestia out. I pulled myself through the window and closed it from the other side. I said a quiet goodbye to my old house and pulled the flash light form my pocket. I turned it on and led the way down the hill to the banks of the river. We came up on the cave and crept through it. Soon Celestia and Luna's footsteps turned into clops from hoofs. They had turned back into their original form. I thought that kind of sucked because I liked their human forms. All three of us exited the door and saw that the sky had turned dark red. The clouds were black. Something was most definitely wrong. We ran towards the castle and saw that there were changelings swarming everywhere. "Great, I told you that this would happen." I said. Luna and Celestia had their heads down as we entered through the back entrance of the castle. We were immediately attacked by changelings. They took us captive and led us through the throne room. We entered and saw that Chrysalis was sitting on Celestia's throne. "Well, well, well. Look at what we have here my children. Three lost birds, that never learned to fly." she said smugly. "Well, I somehow knew I would be seeing your ugly face again, Chrysalis. I must say I am impressed that you thought of this. With your bug brain I thought that something like this would be a little too hard for you to comprehend." I said trying to sound as menacing as possible. "You give me too much credit, Alex. I did not do this without help." she replied, keeping as cool as ever. Suddenly, a beast appeared next to her. He had the head of a goat, one goat horn, a deer horn, one sharp tooth in his mouth that stuck out, a eagle's body and a eagle arm, the other was a lion arm. His tail was that of a dragon and so was his right foot. His other foot was a goat's foot. He looked just like the beast from my dream. "So this is the infamous Alex that I have herd so much about, it is a great pleasure to meet you. I am the god of chaos, Discord." the beast said as he took a bow. "The pleasure is all mine." I said. I tried to look at Discord in the eyes but I could not escape Chrysalis's gaze. Her eyes were filled with both affection and hate. Both were a deadly combination. "Okay, I have a question for you. Why are you doing this?" I asked. "It goes back a long time, Alex and I am afraid that I do not have time to explain it all. I will tell you this though. I wish to plunge this world into chaos while Chrysalis wants to find a permanent food source for her children. I believe she also wants revenge for when you stabbed her." Discord replied. "Okay, I have a proposition for you." I said. "And what would that be?" Chrysalis asked. "You can claim my life. Kill me, torture me or rip the soul from my body. You can do what ever you want. Just don't hurt the princesses. They do not have a hand(or hoof) in this. They are innocent." I said. "No, Alex, don't do it!" I heard the girls yell behind me. I looked back at them. My eyes were filled with sadness. I told them this was the only way and that I have caused them enough trouble. I told them that I was sorry. "I think that's fair." Chrysalis said. Discord pulled out a knife. I recognized it as the one I tried to assassinate Chrysalis with. He walked forward, and with one sympathetic look, plunged the knife into my chest. Pain rang through my body. I fell to the ground. My mind became foggy. I couldn't breathe. My vision was fading. I was going to die. The last thing I saw was changelings dragging Celestia and Luna away, their eyes filled with tears and screaming for something to save me. Chrysalis and Discord had lied. They were probably going to kill them as well. I did not have time to feel anger. My eyes began to close. With my last breath I uttered "I'm sorry." then everything went black. > Luna's Love > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "No, you will not die today." I herd a voice say. I opened my eyes to see what was going on. I looked around and I could have sworn I was floating in darkness. I looked around. It felt like I was in water but I could breathe like it was air. "Whoa, whats going on?" I asked. "You are Alex McGrath, my last living descendent. Your destiny has not been fulfilled." the darkness said. I looked forward and a being formed from the darkness. It was freaky. It was like looking in a mirror. We had the same hair, same height, even the same clothes. But something was different. His hair was white and his skin was gray. The whites of his eyes were black and where there should be a color like blue or green was yellow. He had two big bone like wings protruding from his back. He smiled a smile at me and barred a crap load of razor sharp teeth. "Who the hell are you?" I asked. "I am Aroc. You found my ring a while ago." he replied in a deep rumbling voice that seemed two big for his body." "What do you want with me?" I asked. "Even though I hate those insolent ponies with a passion you could never understand, I could not see the land I help build fall to Discord and Chrysalis. I will not allow it." Aroc said. "You still have not answered my question. What do you want with me?" I asked again. "I want you to wake up and fight. I want you to take Equestria back." he said. All of a sudden there was a bright light beaming down onto me. All of a sudden I was dragged up towards it. I opened my eyes to see Luna and Celestia being pulled from the room, changelings coming to eat my body. I grabbed the knife in my chest and yanked it out. I turned and stabbed one of the changelings in the skull. It uttered a gurgle and died. Discord whirled around in surprise. I may have been weak but if I could put the ring on my finger I could get my strength back. I pulled the ring off of the string and put it on. Automatically I felt better. The wound in my chest closed up. The black flame tattoos spread across my body again, but this time something was different. The flames connected and my skin turned gray. My vision changed. I could see everything that was going on. Both my main and peripheral vision were clear as day. I felt a burning pain in my back. I fell to the ground and howled in pain. Then I felt a sudden relief in my back. I turned around to see two bone wings coming out of my back. I was turning into what I saw when I was dead. I felt good. But I did not have time to ponder on my looks. Changelings were coming at me from every angle. I reached for the knife that now lay on the ground. I picked it up and it grew into a sword. The entire thing was black. I cut into changeling after changeling. None of them could even touch me. Chrysalis was next. I leaped towards here and plunged the blade into her stomach. She coughed up blood. Discord only stood there. Watching in horror. She pushed herself from the blade and fell before me. For some reason the wound was beginning to close. She flew away before I could finish her. I looked out the window and saw that the changelings were following their queen. I turned to Discord. "Okay, lets not get to hasty here, Alex, buddy? We don't have to do this. I had almost no part in this! Chrysalis put me under her spell! I had no control over myself!" he pleaded. "Some how I doubt that." I said. I moved towards him. I shoved the blade forward and nicked him in the chest. His skin began to turn to stone. I heard him scream out before his entire body was placed in stone. I walked away. I looked for the girls, which I found cowering in the corner. "Are you guys okay?" I asked when I found them. They both looked up at me. I knew what I had to do. I took the ring off and my body went back to normal. I told them that everything was going to be fine. Luna jumped on me and dug her head into my chest. She began to bawl for no reason. I smiled at her. Celestia joined us. We had a good group hug. For a while I thought was nothing but Celestia's job boy. But I was the man who saved their world, even for only a little bit. I don't think Chrysalis would try this again for a while. This would be good. It would give me enough time to fix what the changeling's did. I looked out the window and saw that Ponyville was smoking. I looked over at Luna. "I will be sending guards to help them. For now I want you to stay here with me." she said. This kind of freaked me out because she said it so possessively. She told me to follow her. We walked up to her bedroom. She opened the door, pushed me inside and slammed the door in Celestia's face. "Hey! What the heck!?" I heard her say. "You cant come in Celestia, there is something I must tell Alex personally. BACK OFF!" I heard Luna yell back. She walked over to me and told me to sit. When I tried to protest she pushed me back into a chair. "What is wrong with you?" I asked. "Why were you learning black magic?" She answered my question with another question. "I learned it to protect this place." I said. "And look at what it did to you! What I saw a few minuets ago was not Alex. That was something different." she said. I bowed my head. I had made her mad and she was probably never going to forgive me. She sighed and asked me to lay down on the bed. I didn't move. She gave me an angry look and that made me move. I laid down on the bed and she joined me. She rested her head on my chest. "I will forgive you, but you have to repay me." she said. "What do you want me to do?" I asked. "I want you to not object." she said. She stood up. She laid down on top of me and forced me to kiss her. The she went a little farther. She slipped me the tongue. Her eyes were closed. She pulled up my shirt and licked my chest. "Luna please, your taking this too far." I said. She didn't stop. She just continued on what she was doing. She kissed me on the lips again and eventually(after about and hour of this I guess.) she backed off, panting and blushing. She laid down next to me and spoke. "I love you, Alex. I want you. Do you know that?" she asked. "With that display, yea, definitely." I replied. "Good." she said. She laid her head down on my stomach and fell asleep. I was surprised about what she did. Luna was always passive about things, she was always kind of shy. But then she comes out with this and freaks me out to no end. I thought about what I was going to do next. My mind was blank. I just closed my eyes and laid my head back. My mind drifted into my dreams. I dreamed of Aroc, of Luna. And what I was going to do next. Then my dreams turned into darkness, and stayed that way. > Celestia's Decision > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I opened my eyes. I was alone in the room. I sat up and my mind began to wonder. I saw the the drapes and shutters had been pulled shut. I opened them and the cool night air filled the room. I breathed in the fresh air and was rejuvenated. I walked over to the door and walked out. I almost fell down the stairs. Then I remembered what was going on. I remembered what me and Luna had done. I remembered what the changelings had done. I remembered everything. I stepped down the stairs and walked out of the castle. I stepped down into the trail leading to Ponyville. It took me what seemed like an hour to get there. Most of the city was asleep and done for the day. I walked through its empty streets and remembered my past. Why I was here. What I had done. And what I was going to do. I walked towards the edge of the city and found what I was looking for. It was the library inhabited by Twilight Sparkle and Spike the baby dragon. I walked up to the door and knocked twice. I herd steps from behind the door and Twilight answered. "Oh, hi Alex. What do I owe the pleasure of your company?" she asked formally like I was a king or something. "I just came by to chat, I haven't seen you or Spike or Rarity or anybody else for that matter. Jut thought I would drop by and see how everything was going." I told her. "Well, I just put Spike to bed, would you like to come in and have some tea?" she asked. "Thanks, that would be great." I said as a smile crept onto my face. Twilight invited me into the house and we both sat down on the couch. I told her of all my adventures back in Canterlot and what had happened in the human world. I filled her in about the princesses and told her just about everything. "Wow, I always thought Celestia acted a little weird when she talked about you. Now I know why. So tell me Alex, what do you plan to do?" she asked. "Do about what?" I asked. "Do about the princesses silly! Both of them obviously have the hots for you, which do you plan to marry?" she asked. I thought about it for a minuet. That question had come across my mind a lot and I had never really given it much thought. I had always been busy either being Celestia's errand boy or Luna's wildest dreams(which I hope weren't too wild.). "I don't know, Twilight. What do you think? I have no idea what to do. My heart is the one that usually gets broken by somebody, not the other way around." I said. Twilight gave me a gentle nudge in the arm. "It's okay, Alex. I'm sure that decision will come to you soon enough." she said. We both had tea and Twilight filled me in with everything going on in Ponyville. Apparently my deeds at the castle had spread far and people were already calling me a hero. The mayor of Ponyville even wanted to give me a medal of honor or something. I told Twilight that it was nonsense, all I did was stop their plans. If I had truly stopped them, they would both be dead. Twilight flinched at that word. Death. I wonder why? I finished my tea and told her I should probably be going. I left the library and began to wonder the streets of the city. I herd some rustling from and ally way and saw something I was not in the mood to see. It was a changeling. It had gotten an arrow in its leg and it could not fly. It was having trouble walking and looked like it had lost a lot of blood. I walked up to it. It saw me and tried to run, but fell before it could escape. "Its okay, I have no bone to pick with you or your kind. I will just help you so you can be on your way." I told it. The thing stopped trying to run and let me get closer, but kept its green eyes on me, ready to strike if I tried to hurt it. I broke the arrow in half and pulled it out. The changeling whined in pain. Once I got the arrow out I pulled some cloth from the garbage and wrapped it around its leg so that it could walk and the bleeding would stop. It looked up at me with eyes that said thank you and walked off towards the forest. Sure, I killed lots of changelings in the past, but I was not going to let anything die a slow and painful death, I may be a little bit heartless, but I will save a innocent life if I can. I walked out of the ally way and began to walk around the city. The city looked dead for some reason. Nobody was around and nothing was up and running. It was still the middle of the night so it would not be up for a while. I leaned up against a wall and leaned my head back against the hard surface. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my white hoodie,(which I put on before I left) then I felt something in it. I pulled out what seemed to be a blue lollipop. I found a note that went with it: May your love always be sweet. Luna I smiled. I pulled the wrapping paper of of it and stuck it in my mouth. I could not tell what the taste was but I can tell you it sure was sweet. The taste calmed me down. It almost tasted like Luna's kiss. I scratched my head and sort of combed my unnaturally messed up hair with my fingers. I stood up and began to walk back towards the Everfree forest. I don't know why but something was pulling me there. I walked the path that me and Luna first took when I first got here. I moved through the forest and finally got to where the bridge had fallen. I looked around and saw that a tree had fallen over the crevice in the ground. I stood on it and made my way across. When I got over to the other side, I looked up into the creepiness of the old castle. I walked forward through the old oak doors. I looked around and had to rack my brain for where we found the Ring of Aroc. I could not remember. Then the ring began to vibrate and a path glowed to where I needed to go. "Thanks." I said to the ring. I followed the path and came up on the trap door. It was just as I had left it. I opened it a climbed down. The room was just as dark as before. I felt the wall and found my way into the chamber where the ring once slept. There was a beam of moonlight coming through a hole in the roof that illuminated the room and destroyed the darkness. I moved forward and saw two skeletons. One was that of a man and the other was that of a pony. They both laid against each other, like they were lovers holding each other. It gave me a warm feeling. I guess love really does survive through death. I looked over at the remains of the man and found a blade. I remember it as the one I used in the fight with Chrysalis and Discord. I picked it up and even though it looked heavy it seemed to feel just right in my hand. I found its sheath and wrapped it around my waist, putting the sword into the scabbard. I found my way out of the castle and heard buzzing off in the distance. I walked towards it and discovered the changeling hoard again. I kept myself in the bushes hidden from view. I saw Chrysalis sitting in a bed on the ground. There was a changeling in front of her. I recognized it as the one I had helped back in Ponyville. It wasn't speaking but the queen could obviously understand. "So that's what happened. I must find a way to thank Alex for his kindness. Maybe if I arranged a meeting with him. Maybe I could show him I am not all bad." she said. I thought about this for a moment. What should I do? My mother always told me that everybody deserved a second chance, but how many second chances had she been given? I set the question out of my mind and walked away. I exited the forest but was stopped by a changeling. It was the one I had helped before. It had a letter in its mouth and was sitting and wagging a small tail back and fourth like a dog. He was giving me a cute look with its solid green eyes. It dropped the letter and looked up at me, expecting something. I reached down and did the first thing that came to mind. I patted it on the head. It gave me a smile and ran off. I opened the letter and this is what it read: Hello, Alex, It is me, Chrysalis. One of my younger children told me of the deed you did and I just wanted to say thank you. I have many children and I value each and every one of them. I would like you to meet with me and have a chat. Do not worry, I will come alone and I hope you will leave your sword and other weapons at home too. Chrysalis I read the letter a few times to make sure I was reading it right. I found a pen in my pocket(amazing what you can find in those.) and scribbled a response: Okay, meet me in the abandoned castle in the Everfree forest at 8 pm tomorrow night. I rolled up the letter and tried something new with my magic. I sent it using magic. I held the letter in my hand, thought of the recipient, and suddenly the letter burst into black flames and flew off towards the forest. I turned around and headed back to the castle. I made it back around 9 am. Celestia was just waking up and Luna was wondering around the castle. I said good morning to them both and went into the dining hall to eat breakfast. After I was done a horrible thought came to mind. What was I going to do? I had no important jobs to do and my meeting with Chrysalis was not till 8. I went back to my room and sat down. I had some time to kill so I might as well sit and watch the sun come up. Once it had risen I walked back into the innards of the castle and wondered around. I talked to a few of the guards and met Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armor. The three of us talked for a while, they filled me in on world events and I told them some of the things that recently happened in the human world. They seemed very interested in what I had to say and listened with great intent. After I was done talking with them I ran off to find something else to do. After about and hour I got board and went to find Celestia, never a dull moment for me when shes around. I found her up in her room looking out the window. "Why hello, Alex. How can I help you?" she asked. "Yea, I'm board and I need something to do. Got any jobs for me?" I asked. "Actually, I do. My back has been hurting lately and I could really use a back rub. Would you mind?" she asked. I really did not want to do this(knowing Celestia, she was probably up to something.) but I did it anyway. I told her to lay down flat and she did. I rubbed her back and she did seem tense. I guess with all the stuff going on and having the basic duty's of a princess and on top of that me and Luna, it is understandable that she would be almost ready to snap. I rubbed her back and she closed her eyes and moaned as all of her stress was released. She flipped over on her back and asked for a belly rub. "Uh, no. that's where I draw the line." I said. "Oh come on, please?" she asked giving me a puppy dog face. "Urgh, fine, but only a quick one." I said I put my hand on her stomach and massaged her belly. She leaned her head back and let out a slow moan. Apparently in felt good, I don't know. The only reason why I did this was because I had nothing to do. When I was done, Celestia was panting and sweating,(freaking perv.) I stood up and was about to leave when she called me back. I came back and she said she had to tell me something, she told me to lean in close. I did. She said closer. I did. She said even closer and once again, I did. I was millimeters away from her mouth now, and without warning she leaned forward and licked my mouth. I fell back wiping her spit from my mouth. She could not breathe she was laughing so hard. "My god you are so gullible. You will do just about everything I tell you to do!" she said in a real childish voice. I didn't say anything. I starred at her. I felt my eyes change. They were just like before. I peered into her soul and showed her all the things that humans have done. I showed her enough evil to destroy the mind of any lesser pony. When I was done, the only thing she could do was stare at me, her mind frozen by all she had seen. "Don't screw with me like that, I actually thought you had something important to say. I was actually going to ask you out, guess not." I said and turned and walked away before she could give me a response. I ran from the castle and down into Ponyville. I would kill some time there and then I would meet up with Chrysalis. I don't know why but something about Equestria was starting to make me hate it more and more. I put my hands in my jeans and put my hood up. I wondered around and did some jobs for ponies that needed it. Then the time finally came. It was time for me to see Chrysalis and find out what she wanted. I walked into the Everfree forest. I looked around to see if I was being followed. There was nothing around but trees and plants. I kept moving forward. I eventually walked to the crevice and went over it using the tree. I opened the doors to find the place unnaturally still and dark. I moved forward and sat in the old chair on the throne and waited for her. Not five seconds after I sat down, she walked in. I stood up and greeted her. "It's good to see that you came, Alex. After what I have done most ponies would never want to see me." she said. "Well, I believe everybody needs a second chance." I said. She smiled at me, happy to find out that that was my philosophy about people. She walked up in front of me and we started talking. She told me about all of her children and how they were doing. She also thanked me again for helping one of them. She really is like a mother. She cares for her children no matter how insignificant they may seem. I wish she was my mother. Even if she was a changeling she would have at least raised me better than the one I had. "So, what did you really come here to tell me?" I asked. "Well, this may come as a surprise to you and you may be disgusted by what you hear, but, I like you. I don't know why but when I see you every single evil thought I had is blown away. Your ability to accept people for who they really are is making me regret all the bad things I did in the past. I just wanted to tell you this so I could get it off my chest." she said. I was completely surprised. I thought she would hate me. I almost killed her twice and now she says she likes me? What kind of twisted world is under all of this happy pony crap, and why am I so good at attracting ponies so well? "Wow, that comes as a surprise, I mean, I almost killed you twice. I expected you to hate me and want to gut me or something." I said. "Well I must admit your wounds you gave me were a bit daunting but I have a secret that I must tell you. I am a masochist." she replied. I stood there for a second. My mind was completely blown. A world of ponies who enjoy learning the "magic" of friendship and love and there is one who gets pleasure from getting hurt. Wow, that was one of the things I never thought I would see. "I guess that explains a lot." I said. She looked up at me. The eyes that used to terrify me looked like all they needed was a little love and companionship. Her eyes reminded me of mine. Eyes that have seen true pain and suffering. Eyes that have seen all the pain that has hit them over the years, it almost brought a tear to my eye. I really felt sorry for her. "Alex, would you do me a favor, would you cut me?" she asked. "Whoa, okay, lets back this up an inch or two. I can't do that. I said. "Why not?" she asked, insisting I tell her. "I just can't. I would if I could but I can't so I wont." I said. "It's that princess, isn't it. Luna I believe?" she asked. I told her yea, that it was Luna. She said that she understood. She understood that when you love someone, you will do anything for them, even trust them with your life. She had a sad look in her eyes. I began to walk off, she just sat down and stayed there. I turned around. "Hey, Chrysalis," I said as I pulled a small throwing knife from my pocket(I had to have at least one.). She turned around, I threw the knife and I cut her across the arm. She flinched but made a face that said the pain felt good. "Thanks for listening." I said as I walked out. I made my way out of the forest and made sure to take my time. It was around 10 so it was probably past my bed time with Luna's standards. That was probably the first thing I would hear when I got back. I exited the forest and then turned around. I gave it one last look and walked off. I ran through Ponyville and ran up the mountain to the castle. I walked in through its giant wooden doors and was met by Celestia's gaze, she had been waiting for me. "Hello, Alex. There is something I must tell you. It regards you and Luna." she said. My first thoughts were that she was going to chew me out or something. "What is it?" I asked. "I see that you care for Luna a lot and she feels the same way. I have accepted this fact and have seen that I will probably never be able to marry you. I have made a decision. You and Luna will be married." > Preparation and Revealing > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was shocked. I thought I was going to die. Did I just hear her right? Did Celestia, the princess who chased after me to try to win my heart for so long, just say that me and her sister are going to get married? I haven't even thought about it! How do you propose in this world? Do I give her a ring? I have no idea. "I have already made the arrangements. I told Luna that you have something important to ask her. You will meet her in the garden in five minuets. Go on now, go ahead, she might already be there, you don't want to keep her waiting." she said, pushing me towards the garden. I walked out into the open area and felt the night air blow in my face. I moved and sat down on the bench we first sat on together. I waited for what seemed like hours. Then I herd the clop of hoofs behind me. I turned and saw Luna walking up to me. "Hey, Luna, its good to see you. I have something I want to ask you." I said. "Of course, anything." she said as she sat down next to me. "Do you love me?" I asked. "Yes, I always have, do you need another demonstration?" she asked looking excited. "No, that's fine. That was not the only question I wanted to ask you tonight." I said. "Okay, what else do you want to ask me?" she asked. "Um, this may come as a surprise to you and what ever your answer is, I will be perfectly fine-" "Alex just spit it out!" she replied cutting me off. "Okay, Luna?" I said taking her hoof in my hand "Will you marry me?" I asked. "Oh my gosh, yes, Alex YES! I will marry you!" she said with tears of joy in her eyes. She leaped on top of me and laid a enormous kiss on me. I looked over without moving my head and saw Celestia looking at us with the mixed emotion of slight jealously and happiness. I turned my eyes back to Luna who was still on top of me. "I can't believe it. I'm finally getting married! This is amazing!" she said squealing in joy. "I know, we will have the ceremony soon. Next week perhaps?" I asked. "It will take a while to plan, and next week is to much of a wait for me, but it will have to do." she said. We both went to bed, when I tried to go back to my room, Luna bit the hood of my hoodie and dragged me towards her room saying "Oh no you don't, your sleeping with me tonight!" she said. "Why?" I asked. "Because I don't want Celestia getting any ideas." she said with me mouth full of my hood. I thought for a minuet and got a horrible thought of what Luna meant. I shoved that thought out of my head and told Luna to let go that I could walk on my own. We both went up to her room. She handed me some clothes to wear to bed and told me we were both needing a shower. I volunteered to go back to my room and take a shower but she refused to let it happen. She said she would get hers first and then she would let me use her shower. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door. As soon as I herd the shower come on, I left. I went down to my room and got a shower. I did it quick and made sure to get my clothes back on as soon as I was done. I put the clothes I was wearing on my chair to be washed later and was just about to leave when Luna walked in. My first thought was "crap". "I told you to wait. I guess we could just sleep in here though, but I am not leaving you unguarded at night, not with Celestia prowling around." she said. I thought for a minuet. With that last statement, she made Celestia sound like a rapist or something. I did not think about it much. We both crawled into bed. My bed was not as big as her's so it was a bit of a tight space. I was tired from all of the events of the day so I went straight to sleep. But before I drifted off I herd Luna's quiet and cute little snores. I felt a smile creep across my face and I fell asleep. I woke up and felt the sun from the window warm my face. I just love mornings like these. Waking up to the sun on your face, feeling rested, and hearing dirty moaning in your ear. Wait, dirty moaning? My eyes flew open and I looked beside me. "Oh, ah, its good to see you (pant) are awake (pant), Alex." was what I heard as Celestia's eyes met mine. I looked down at where my hand was and I found it resting on Celestia's butt. I guess that explains the moaning. I quickly removed my hand and asked her why she was in my room. She told me Luna was already up and starting the plans for the wedding. She told me she came in here to wake me up but apparently I was sleeping so soundly that she did not want to disturb me. She said seeing me asleep made her sleepy and she joined me. "Well, its good to know I can trust you to wake me up." I told her. I got up and looked around for my clothes. Celestia told me my clothes were being washed so I would have to wear something different. I was just about to slip my shirt off when I stopped. I grabbed a white t-shirt and a pair a jeans that I had brought with me from the last time I was in the human world. I walked into the bathroom and her Celestia yell "Awww, your no fun!" as I closed the door to the bathroom. I changed clothes and walked back out. Celestia was out of my bed and was just about to leave. I asked her where Luna was and she said that she was in Ponyville making preparations for the cake, decorations, dresses for her brides maids, and for her. "Oh, and I suggest you find your best man soon, and the rest of your guys." she said. This was a problem. I did not know many people in Equestria and the only guy I really knew was Spike. I decided to drop into Ponyville and ask him if he would be my best man. I asked some guards to fly me there and they happily obliged. I guess I have authority over them now that I am marrying Luna. They quickly flew me to Ponyville and dropped me off in front of Twilight and Spikes house. I walked up and was immediately rushed by Twilight and her friends. They all were asking my questions like was it true I was marrying Luna. I got them all off my back and told them yea, that it was true. I asked them if Spike was in and they said he was upstairs. I told them I had something personal to ask him. I walked up the stairs and found him drawing pictures in a book which he quickly closed and hid when I walked in the room. "Oh, hey, Alex. Long time no see. I herd you were marrying Luna. Congrats! Can I help you with anything?" he asked "Yea, I need a best man and I was wondering if you wanted to be it?" I asked. "Yea, of course. Us guys got to stick together, watch each others backs. I would love to be your best man." he said. I thanked him and asked if he wished to go back to the castle. He said he would later. I told him I would see him later. I left him and the girls behind( but not after they all said "bye Alex" in a unison of girly voices and strange looks in their eyes, hmm.). I walked around Ponyville and talked to some ponies. After about an hour I found Luna with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor looking at dresses. I hid from them knowing I would be dragged into hours of endless dress shopping and questions I could not answer( if my dad's information is true.). I heard them come out of the shop. The girls were talking and Shining Armor looked like he would rather die then take another minuet of this. "Shining Armor, over here." I whispered from my hiding place. He turned saw me from beside the shop and automatically looked better. He walked over to me and sat down. "How was it?" I asked. "It was horrible, the only thing they could talk about was dresses. The kept asking me for my opinion but I knew they wouldn't take it." he replied. "I'm so sorry dude. I wish I could have been there. We could have ran off and done something different. I'm sure what you went through was hell." I told him "Yea, it's all right. I like spending time with my wife, even if it is doing useless crap." he said. "Armor!? Where did you go!?" we heard Cadence call from a few yards up the road. "Aw, crap." I mumbled under my breath. "Oh, hey Alex. Its good to see you again. Me and Luna were just about to go to a cake tasting. You should come along!" she said. Shining Armor gave me a look that said you better go, that wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. "Uh, yea. Sounds like fun." I said. The girls led us off in one direction to a cake shop in town. I knew I was probably not going to enjoy this, and it would not be over quickly. We sat in some room trying more cakes then I could count. We finally chose one that was four layers and and was vanilla flavored. The icing was blue and black with a floral design. I was happy to get out of there. Lucky for me that was the last thing on the to do list. We all went back to the castle and relaxed. After about an hour, Cadence pulled me aside. "Alex, can I speak with you?" she asked. "Yea, what do you need?" I replied. "There is something wrong. It's Armor. He seems to be more distant than usual. He is always away doing something and I don't get to see him very much. I think he may be seeing somepony behind my back. While you two were talking today. Did he mention anything of that nature?" she told me. "Not really, he just told me what you guys did and caught me up on what I missed. Other than that, nothing at all." I replied. "Are you sure?" she asked. "About as sure as it gets." I told her. "It's just that something does not feel right." she said again. "Why are you telling me this? If you think Armor I cheating on you, confront him about it." I told her. "I would, its just, if I did he may turn violent. He is a lot bigger than me, and I'm afraid." she said. I knew this is something I should just walk away from. What goes on between these two is between them and them alone. If I got dragged into this, it could seriously screw things up for me. "You don't need to be afraid. Just sit him down some time and talk to him about it, but have a normal tone with him, don't accuse him of it over and over again, that's just going to piss him off." I told her. "Okay, Alex. I will try. It's good to know I have somebody like you who can help me in my time of weakness." she said. She walked off. I had just done something I know I will regret later. I went and found Luna, she was sitting on a couch. I sat down on the other end of it and we sat in silence. Occasionally she would scoot a little bit closer. Soon she was right next to me. When I was least expecting it she leaned over and hugged me. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was scared. I asked her what she was scared of and she said she was scared that my mother did not give me enough hugs as a child and that it would turn me evil. I told her I would never do that and I was fine, but she refused to let go. She told me she was going to hold me forever and never let go. I brushed her hair with my hand and gave her a reassuring look, I told her that I was fine. She let me go and told me to never leave her side. I told her that I was never going to leave. I got up and told her there was something I had to do. I told her to go and talk to her sister, that there was a lot of tension between them. She told me she would. I walked back to my room and my brain began to burn. I fall to the ground and my eyes began to close. I'm taken back to the darkness I saw before. The creature is standing there. He looks just like me. I wonder why. Is this what I will become? "You are such an idiot. You have lost sight of my goal." he said. "And what would that be?" I asked. "I wanted you to destroy them, destroy them all. They are the reason why I am the way I am. They killed me. All I wanted was for humans to live in safety, all I wanted was to be sure that nothing would happen to them. Do you really think they love you? If you think they do, your stupider than you look." he said. "Well, you look like me moron, and another thing. Don't you ever tell me I'm doing something wrong. My life is my life and you have no place in it. My decisions are my decisions. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. No go back to sleep." I told him. He just looks at me. Then he began to laugh. Laughing a laugh that would have dug fear into most men, but I stood my ground. I would not show him fear. "You've got balls kid, I'll admit that. I guess I will let you make your own mistakes, then let you suffer for them later. Just like I did." he said. He disappeared. I woke up and I'm on the floor. I sat up and saw that it is around 6 pm. I left my room and walk down to dinner. I walked by Armor and Cadence's room and hear yelling from the other side. The argument was getting intense. Armor was yelling, Cadence is screaming like she's in tears. I guess she was right. I walk off down to the dining hall. Nobody is there. I got some food and sat and ate. My mind was on Cadence and the pain she must be feeling. She never wanted this. I don't know why I feel the way I do about this. This almost has nothing to do with me. I sat back in my chair. I pushed my plate out of the way. I ran back to Cadence and Armor's yelling. I stand at the door, one hand in my pocket, the other on the door. I know I should just leave this be, but my body moved before my mind could tell it to walk away. I pushed the door open. I saw Armor over Cadence. She had her face in her hoofs and was sobbing. Armor looked pissed. "Fine, since now that I know the truth, I will take my leave." he said. He walked out, bumping past me like I wasn't there. Cadence was still sobbing. I walked up to her and asked her what happened. She told me what had happened, and what I heard blew my mind. Armor did not cheat on Cadence, Cadence cheated on Armor. "What? That can't be true! You would never do anything like that!" I said. "It was in a time of weakness, Armor had not touched me in forever. I feared that he was falling out of love with me. I got so mad a decided to cheat on him to get revenge. I, I never knew this is what would happen." she said. All I could do was look at her. I could not believe what I had just heard. In a relationship if you are having problems, you talk about them. You don't go off and cheat on your partner. "Alex, I have to tell you something." she said. "What?" I said in a plain voice. "When you marry Luna, never fall out of love with her. I could not bear to see her go through the pain I am going through now. She could not take it. Promise me that you will love her." she said. "I will. I will never do anything that will hurt her in any way. You can take that to the bank." I said. I turned and walked off. I had to fix this. Shining Armor would never trust Cadence again, but I would make sure that everything was going to be fine. I found Armor in the courtyard. I walked up next to him. "I heard what happened. Cadence told me everything." I said. He did not answer, he didn't even look at me. "Look, she really loves you. She is in pieces right now and she feels really bad about it. Just go to her. The kind of love you two have is special. Its the kind of love that not even the powerful changeling queen could break. Just think it over. It may be hard to forgive someone, but it is even harder on the one you refuse to forgive." I said. Armor just stood there, ignoring me. I walked off, I had to let this unfold on its own, I had to let these two work it out. I had other problems I had to take care of... > Wedding > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a few days since the argument. Cadence and Shining Armor were not talking and Cadence spent most of her time in her room while Armor spent most of his time in the garden or in the courtyard. Soon the week of the wedding was upon us. Monday came and the wedding of me and Luna was set for Wednesday. I had a strange feeling in my stomach for some reason. Maybe it was regret for getting into things with Cadence. I don't know. Those two are not my problem at the moment. Right now I had to wonder what Aroc meant by I was not following his plan. Why did he want to kill all the ponies in Equestria? Something must have really messed him up. I was outside in the garden. Armor was not there. That was good for me. Right now all I wanted was myself. I needed time to think this over. I could tell that the next moves in my life were going to be crucial for me. I tried to think, but every time I close my eyes I would see Aroc's face looking at me. I felt the burning in my brain again. I grab my head and screamed out in pain. My eyes began to close. I felt my body hit the hard granite floor of the garden. My entire body felt like it was burning but my skin was ice cold. I fell of the edge of the map. I was gone. The darkness was calling me. It was pulling me back. I think I'm going insane. I was back in the darkness now. I was looking at Aroc again. "It seems your back." he said. "You keep bringing me here. Why?" I asked. "I am giving you one last chance. Kill them. Kill them all and return to the life you once lived." he said. "I told you I will ask for your opinion if I want it." I told him. "Your making a mistake, Alex. Keep following this path and you will become a monster, more than the one you already are." he said. "I am not a monster." I said. "YOU ARE NOTHING!" he yelled at me. I just stared at him. "Your right, maybe I am nothing. But soon I will mean something to someone. Soon." I said. "Ha, why do you blind yourself, Alex?" "Because sometimes ignorance is better than knowledge." I replied. "I guess your right." he said. "I am happy we have come to an understanding, and by the way. Some notice before you pull me into this again. This time it was really painful." I said. "Ha, weak human. Go, leave this place and return to the place you were before." he said. He was gone. I was alone in the darkness. I opened my eyes and I was in a bed. I looked around and a pony in a nurse outfit was looking through some papers. "What is going on?" I asked. She turned to me and looked with astonishment. "Well, it seems your awake. I'm not sure what happened to you, but one of the guards found you collapsed in the garden. It is good that you are awake but I would just prescribe a day in bed. Just rest for today and you should feel better tomorrow." she said. "Okay, your orders." I said. Then the door opened. Cadence was standing there dressed in a similar nurse outfit. "Ah, it seems my assistant is here. Princess Cadence is here to take care of you. She will be your bedside maid. If you need anything just tell her." the nurse said. I new what this was. This was nothing but an excuse to repay me for helping her when I probably ruined her life. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. Maybe if I just slept through this I would not have to deal with her wrath. I herd the clop of hoofs and opened my eyes again. Cadence was looking down at me, with a look that would have killed me if it could. "What? You got something to say? If you do, say it." I told her. She just looked at me. Her eyes bearing down into me. Then she smiled. It was and angry smile, at least I think it was. Then something happened. I had a feeling in my mind. It was a small tugging. I felt a smile creep onto my face. I felt my eyes go wide and I stared her straight in the face. "Well?" I asked. She just turned and walked away. But before she did she said one thing: "Don't worry about anything, Alex. I will always be there for you. I will always be there when you need it the most. Just like you were with me." she said and walked and sat down in the corner, not letting me out of her sight. The smile faded from my face. The tugging was gone now, faded back into the depths of my mind. I sat up and looked at Cadence. I asked her whats wrong and her mood seemed to change. She just smiled and said that she's fine. I didn't believe her, not in the slightest. I pulled the cover farther over me and pulled them over my head to escape her gaze. I laid under the covers until Cadence pulled them off of me and told me I would suffocate if I kept them over my face. I knew that she meant well but she was really starting to freak me out. Even though I had the covers over my body I was cold. I shivered. Cadence walked up next to me and asked if I was fine. I told her that everything was okay and that I was fine, but she just stood there. Then she crawled under the covers with me. "You seem cold, let me warm you up." she said as she poped her head from under the covers. "Um, that's fine, I'm okay." I said even though I wasn't. I wish I could have gotten up and left, but Cadence seemed insistent and wouldn't move an inch. I told her to get off and that Armor would be pissed if he saw what she was doing. "Armor is nothing to me now. We have both agreed on it. We are getting the divorce papers filled out as we speak and will be signing them tomorrow." she said. "You cant do that! Armor loves you, Cadence and you love him! Why must you blind yourself?" I asked, anger filling my voice. "Oh come now, Alex, quit being so stupid! If he really loved me don't you think he would have asked if we could put this behind us and move on?" she said. She was standing over me on the bed now, her face filled with anger and hate. "I think its your fault, Alex. You are the reason why this has happened. This entire world would be better if you never showed up in it! Even Luna and Celestia admit it!" she said. My mind froze. What did she mean? Did Luna and Celestia really think that? Was I turning this world inside out? Then I remembered who I was talking to. This mare cheated on her husband, I cant trust her. With a quick movement of my leg I knocked her off of me. She fell over on the floor with a loud bump. I sat up in the bed, got up and walked towards the door. She bit the hood of my hoodie and said in a muffled voice: "Oh no you don't, your not going anywhere." she said. I turned around and jerked the hood from her mouth. I ran towards the door and busted out of it. I was still in the castle but it must have been a hospital wing. There were doctors and nurses walking around, taking care of patients and filling out papers. I walked through the halls and finally found my way back into the main part of the castle. The halls were dressed up for the wedding. There were blue and black flowers everywhere and ponies with wings flying around putting them into place. I wondered around and helped some of them get the decorations straight. I walked into the main hall where the actual wedding would be taking place. The entire room was top to bottom decorated with so many things. The alter was properly prepared for the wedding. There was still two days left and yet everything looked done. I guess they were trying to get it all done today so they would not have to worry about it later. I walked past all the hustle and bustle and decided to take that day off the nurse had prescribed me in the privacy of my own room. I finally found it and walked in. the room looked normal but on a manikin was the suit I would be wearing for the wedding. It was the same one I wore to the party the held for me and the one I came into this world in. There were still a few rips and tears in it that had been sewed up and were almost impossible to see. I stepped away from the suit and laid down on my bed. My eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep. I awoke to something poking me in the ribs. I woke up and Spike was next to me, telling me to wake up. "Come on, Alex wake up! Today is your last day of being single and we have to celebrate!" he said. "Why, why cant I just stay in bed?" "Because today is your bachelor party! And since I'm your best man, I already picked out your groomsmen. Some of the best guys I know. Come on, they are all waiting for you at the library. We have to go!" Spike said pulling me out of bed and onto the floor. I told him to chill, that I was going. I asked him why today was my last day of being single. He told me I slept through yesterday and last night. I must have been tired. Either way, Spike led the way out of the castle and we both boarded a cart heading for Ponyville. I stared off into the distance while Spike kept telling me about all of the stuff we were going to do together. Then we reached Ponyville. The cart dropped us off in front of the library and a bunch of stallions were out front waiting for us. One of them I recognized. I had seen him when I was working at Sweet Apple Acres. His name was Big Mac. I later found out that the others were some pony named Blue Blood and another called Flack Jacket. Apparently Blue Blood was a prince and Flack Jacket was a soldier. I had no idea who these ponies were so I just went along with the day. We went all over Ponyville, eating, drinking, getting into fights, and for some reason, I now have a black lightning bolt tattooed on my back. After a while I lost track of what was going on. All I know is that I woke up that night in the library with a murderous headache and sore spots all over my body. I saw Spike dead asleep on the floor and everybody else doing the same. I stood up and stumbled out of the library. Some guards found me and took me back to the castle. I moved back to my room(or at least I think it was.) and passed out. I woke up standing up with ponies around me putting pants on me. Apparently I had overslept a little and the wedding was in half an hour. Crap. I told them that I could get dressed by myself and to go and help somebody else. I finished putting on my clothes and made my hair look somewhat presentable. As soon as I was done I pulled on my fathers dress shoes(Hey! I was wondering where those went!) and walked down to the main hall. My groomsmen were waiting for me. I joined them at the alter. I stood there for what seemed like forever. Then music that everybody new started playing. The grand doors opened and and Luna's bridesmaids walked in in a line. There was Celestia, Twilight, Cadence(surprise, surprise.) and another mare who was unrecognizable. Then Luna came. She looked beautiful. She had a blue wedding gown on and I could not even describe how beautiful she looked. The dress seemed to have matching gems in it as well. Then everybody took their positions. Celestia moved from the other bridesmaids and stood where the priest would normally stand. I guess the ruler of Equestria had to do this sort of thing. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this mare and this human I holey Matrimony, in front of both the ruler of this land and this company. Do you, Alex McGrath, take this mare as your lawfully wedded wife? Will you lover her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep only her, as long as you both shall live?" she asked. "I will." I said. "And do you, Luna, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep only him, as long as you both shall live?" she asked Luna. "I will." she replied. "Good, you may now reveal your vows to each other." Celestia said. CRAP! I had forgotten to right my vows! Crap, how could I be so stupid! "Luna, the minuet I saw you, I felt something. It was like I had found the one for me. I saw a flash in your eyes and I knew I would someday marry you. Now the time has come, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you." I said, improvising. "Alex, the first time I heard there was a human in Equestria, I thought my sister was pulling my leg. Then, when I walked in and saw you standing there, I felt a spark in my heart. I was hit by love at first sight. That is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. I look froward to loving you till the end of time." she said. "Now, if anybody has any reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace." Celestia continued. The air became hot. I could barely breathe. This was the time that lovers feared the most. The time that when the entire room had a chance to speak. I held my breath. Then the worst thing happened. I herd the doors open. The entire crowed looked over and saw the one thing nobody wanted to see. Chrysalis was standing there. She was also wearing a dress that looked like something she would wear. It looked like a wedding dress of some sort, but it looked ripped, but I looked like it was supposed to look like that. She had made herself look good. The entire crowd gasped. "Oh please, don't stop because of me. I'm just here to take my husband home with me." > Honeymoon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh please, don't stop because of me. I'm just here to take my husband home with me." she said. "What are you talking about?" Luna asked. "Well, as of last night, and according to these papers, me and one 'Alex McGrath' are legally married." she said, producing some papers using her magic. "What the hell are you talking about, Chrysalis? I never married you!" I said in my defense. "Well, obviously you did. If you have anymore questions, please ask my lawyer." she said. "Alex, what is the meaning of this?" Luna asked, looking at me. "I have no idea. This document must be fake." I said taking the papers from her. I looked at them. They seemed official enough. Celestia took them from me and looked them over. "Well, according to this, Chrysalis and Alex are married." Celestia said. "This might not be the best time for this, but, polygamy is legal in Equestria." Spike said from behind me. I was shocked. I had no idea what was going on. I turned to my groomsmen and asked what had happened last night. "Well, it did take a while, but apparently alcohol effects humans, and you found Chrysalis in an ally way, you both went to the town hall of Ponyville, had a quick ceremony, and you both signed the papers." Spike said. "And you didn't think of stopping him?" Twilight said, marching across the room and getting in Spike's face. "Well, in our defense, we were all pretty drunk that night." Blue Blood said. "SHUT THE HELL UP BLUE BLOOD!" the entire hall yelled, Blue Blood backed up and had his head down. "Well, now that everything is out in the open, come Alex, we have lots of children to make together." Chrysalis said, putting her face inches from mine. Luna sprung from her spot and knocked Chrysalis on her side. "Oh hell no! I love Alex and I am not going to let some swap-dwelling bug take him away from me! Celestia! Quick! Finish the ceremony!" Luna yelled. "Okay, if anybody has any further objections, I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride!" Celestia yelled quickly. Luna whipped around and kissed me. The ceremony was done. The kiss had been sealed. Me and Luna were officially married. "HAHA! Take that, Chrysalis! You can never take Alex from me now!" she said. "Why you, low down, man stealing, family breaking, filly-fooling, WITCH!" Chrysalis screamed and leaped at Luna. They both rolled around on the floor, kicking, biting and pulling hair. I jumped in and was able to separate them. They were both still clawing at each other, trying to kill on another. "Okay you two. Break it up! I think I have come with a compromise." Celestia said pushing past me. "And that would be?" Luna asked. "Why don't we flip a coin?" she said. I literally wanted to jump up and strangle her. You cant leave something like that to chance. Either way, Celestia produced a coin and flipped it in the air. It flew up. I raised my hand and black lightning shot out and destroyed it before it could hit the ground. "This is not the correct way of doing this." I said standing up. "Fine then. I have a different compromise. Lets cut you in half. Chrysalis can get the bottom half and I can get the top half." Luna said. "Okay, let me think about this for a minuet. NO!" I said. The entire room was on edge. Most of the people had no idea what was going on and were still shocked that Chrysalis had showed up. "Fine then! I have an idea! All three of us will go on a honeymoon. We will go over everything and see which one Alex chooses to stay with and which he decides to divorce." Chrysalis said. "Okay then. I don't see how it matters. Alex will still chose me." Luna said. "LUNA! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" I yelled. "Alex, your wives have made a decision. Now go and pack your things, we leave in an hour." They both said at the same time. "Way ahead of you, we already packed Alex's bags before the ceremony took place." Flack Jacket said. That is one of the first times I had heard him speak and already I wanted to kill him. Well, just to appease my wives, I went up stairs, grabbed my stuff while they grabbed theirs and we boarded a carriage to head off to a honeymoon I would probably not enjoy. Everybody was waving as the cart flew off. I was looking out the window wishing that I was not here. I turned from the window and both Luna and Chrysalis were looking at me. "I'm guessing this compromise starts now?" I asked. "Well, I guess it does, and by the way, Luna, Alex will never chose you over me. You see, I can do things you would never dream of doing with him. You have a lot of shame and I have very little." Chrysalis said switching seats to be next to me. "Okay, I'm going to ignore that statement and scoot over a little." I said scooting away from her. "Oh don't be so shy, Alex. Were married now so it should be fine." she said. "Okay, I think that's enough of that!" Luna said sitting between us. The ride was horrible, Chrysalis kept trying to get with me and Luna kept getting in her way. There was enough tension in the cart to tear it in half. I tried to stay silent but I kept getting asked questions that I was forced to answer. Because we had left too quick, Luna was still in her wedding gown and I was still in my suit. She looked as beautiful as ever in it. Just seeing her kept my spirits up. If only Chrysalis wasn't here, then I guess the ride could have been more enjoyable. "So, Alex. Is it true? Did you and Chrysalis get married?" Luna asked. "I'm not sure, the papers are legitimate but I have no memory of it. Man I must have been drunk." I said, trying to play it cool. "Oh, that's sad. I cant believe you don't remember it, Alex. That night was also the night we had our first kiss together. I must admit it was a bit of a surprise but it blew my mind. We will have to do it again some time. How's about now?" Chrysalis told me, crawling over Luna. Luna grabbed a chunk of her hair and yanked her back into her place. I bet Chrysalis would do the same if Luna tried something like that. Just to try to see how much longer my suffering was going to last, I asked the girls where we would be going to be staying for our honeymoon. They told me we would be staying in a city not far from Canterlot called Manehatten. We would be staying at a romantic, five star resort near the sea. I asked how mush longer it would be until we got there and Luna told me we should be landing shortly. Finally! About f-ing time! We landed in Manehatten at the resort. It was big and beautiful. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the smell of the sea felt good in my lungs. I needed a vacation, too bad I would probably never be able to enjoy it to the fullest. Either way, I was here and I was going to make the most of it. The three of us left the carriage and walked into the resort. We found our room quickly and thankfully nobody here had really ever heard of Chrysalis and her deeds, so thankfully not a lot of weird looks. We walked into the room. It was on the top floor, had a balcony overlooking the ocean, and had two bedrooms. Luna told Chrysalis to sleep in one room while I would sleep with her. She refused. I told them to both shut up and just sleep in the same room and I would take the extra. They regretfully agreed and went to unload their stuff. I picked up my suitcase and pack and went into my room. Even though I though it was small the inside seemed huge. There was more than enough room for me and probably the girls too. But there was only one bed and that may pose a problem for me at night. I dropped my stuff and laid down on the bed. The clock on the wall read three pm. This day was slowly ending and I was glad for it. I made sure the door was closed and began to unpack my stuff. In my bag I found a card. I opened it up and saw a picture. It had a picture of me, Spike, Blue Blood and Flack Jacket and Big Mac all in front of the camera with huge grins on our faces. Down in the corner was writing that said "best night ever". I laid the picture on my bed side table and unpacked my things. After I was done, Chrysalis walked in. "Hello, darling, do you need any help unpacking?" she asked. "No, I got it under control but thanks for asking." I replied. "Okay, Luna and I were thinking of going down and grabbing a bight to eat after we got settled in, would you like to come with us?" she said. My stomach rumbled. I had had nothing to eat all day and I was starving. I wish I could have grabbed something while I was at the wedding but Chrysalis just had to show up. "Yes, definitely. I'm starving." I said. "That's good, and for desert, I have something very sweet for you to have once were alone." she said giving me a seductive look. I turned away from her and finished unpacking. She left laughing about how shy I was. Normally I wasn't but under the circumstances, I was justified. I quickly changed into a black hoodie and jeans. The girls changed out of their dresses as well. I made sure I had the Ring of Aroc just in case that was the real reason why Chrysalis was here. About ten minuets later, we left the room and went down to the lobby and into the dining hall for a sort of half lunch half dinner kind of thing. It was good that they had meat here. It seemed strange, a world of ponies having meat on the menu. I was excited that they had meat because I had not had a good steak since I was in the human world. Luna ate a salad and pot pie( not the drug I mean.). Chrysalis had the same. Things seemed tense between them so to loosen things up a bit, I ordered a bottle of their finest cider. Everything was all expenses paid so money was no problem. They brought the cider and three glasses. The waiter poured the glasses and left. We held up our glasses. The three of us drank. The cider was warm and tasted delicious. It felt good running down my throat. We finished the bottle and left. It was late in the afternoon and we didn't have a specific schedule so we decided to go to the beach. I grabbed a pair of swim trunks and a white t-shirt from my bag. When the three of us were ready, we exited the hotel and walked to the beach. Luna was wearing a blue one-piece bathing suit and had her mane tied back into a long ponytail while Chrysalis was wearing a green one that seemed to be a little tight on her, I think. We found a spot on the beach. There were not a lot of ponies out there this late in the afternoon so there was plenty of room for us all. Luna disappeared for a bit, so I went looking for her, Chrysalis told me to hurry back, she was already in the water. I was walking near a shed when I was jerked inside of it. It was hot in there and there were boxes stacked up in it. There was barely any room to move around and on top of that, it was dark. I looked around and found out Luna had pulled me in here. "So, this is where you ran off to. Not exactly the best place to be at the beach, but who am I to judge." I said. "I need you, Alex. We haven't had a minuet alone with Chrysalis around to I thought this would be the best way." she said. It was really getting hot in this shed and I was beginning to sweat, Luna was already sweating. Luna looked sad and depressed. "What wrong? What can I do to make it better?" I asked. "Show me that you love me." she said, she said it kind of straight forward and it sounded like she had practiced it a few times. I did the first thing that came to mind, I leaned forward and kissed her. She sat down, looked up, and closed her eyes. At first it was a normal kiss, nothing really special about it. Then our tongues touched. I felt a spark between us. Suddenly she stood up and pushed me against the wall. She stood on her back legs and used her front legs and the wall of the shed for support to kind of seem a little bit taller than she normally was. Feeling her lips touch mine was like a release. Finally being able to express my feelings for her without interruption. I rapped my arms around her body and pulled her close. Things were just starting to get good, then the door opened and, surprise surprise, Chrysalis was standing behind us, a disappointed look on her face. She was wet like she had just gotten out of the ocean. "Well, well, look at what we have before us. Really Luna, I expected more from a princess. If your going to kiss somebodies man behind their back, find a place a little less obvious." she said splitting us up. Luna looked ashamed. Chrysalis left us, I guess expecting us to follow her, I actually expected more from her. As soon as she was out I slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside, now the only way she could get back in was with a key. I turned back to Luna, she was already ready to continue. I held her close and kissed her again. She told me she wanted me love her and never stop. I told her I would never leave her. "Alright, that's enough!" I heard a voice say coming from the other side of the door. Chrysalis kicked it down, breaking both the lock and the door. She grabbed me by the neck of my shirt and dragged me out of the shed. Even though it was hot it still felt good to be out. Luna trailed behind me, giving me a sad look. I winked at her and gave her a smile that said that would not be the last time we kissed. > The New Threat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chrysalis was dragging me through the sand by the collar of my shirt. Luna was behind us with her head down in shame. I yanked my shirt from her mouth and stood up. I asked both of them what they wanted to do. They told me they wanted to play in the ocean. Seemed easy enough. Five minuets later we were all in the water, running, splashing, tackling( it was me who was getting tackled mostly.) and just all around having fun. I totally forgot who I was playing with, Chrysalis, who was supposedly a evil pony but seems to have turned a new leaf, and Luna, the love of my life and the one pony I want to spend the rest of my life with. We played for hours. Soon it was time to be heading back to the resort. We were still full from our last meal so dinner was not a big priority. We all got back to the room, took showers and laid down on the couch in the living room area and switched a movie on. I had no freaking clue what was going on, all I know is that both the girls seemed pretty distracted by it. This gave me some time to go over my thoughts. Then Aroc began to call me again. There was no pain this time. I just closed my eyes and let the darkness overtake me. I was just as it was before. Floating in an endless sea of darkness. But something was different. There seemed to be form to it. Like it was slowly becoming something. I saw and enormous gate with Aroc sitting behind it. I moved towards it and sat just in front of it. "Okay, what do you need?" I said. "We have a problem, Alex. It effects both of us." he said in a saddened tone. "For the love of god please tell me this does not have something to do with me marrying Luna." I said agitated. "No you moron, this is something serious!" he said getting angry. "Fine then, what is it?" I asked. "My soul is beginning to exit the ring. My soul and your soul are beginning to become one. This is a problem. My soul could overtake yours and destroy it completely. Or our souls could sink and you could access my power when ever you wanted it." he said. "Okay then, what do I need to do to make our souls sink." I said. "That's just it, I will not know till its too late. Our souls not being able to sink would kill you. I am not sure when it would happen, and I will not know what will happen when it does. Just be careful. If my soul overtakes yours, both our souls would die." he said. I had no idea how we were going to do this. But I had an idea on how I could save both of us. "Stand up, Aroc. Were going to have a little experiment." I said. Aroc stood up and walked towards the gates. There was a lock on the door that kept it closed. I used some of my dark magic to remove it. The gates opened. Me and Aroc looked at each other face to face. I held out my fist, and he did the same. Our knuckles touched and I accepted his soul into my own. At first it was stable. Then things began to fall apart. I felt weak. I almost crumpled to the ground. I tried my best to keep myself steady, but I could not hold on. Then a light formed. It was Luna. She was the reason why I had to do this. If I died, there would be nothing for her. I pushed the darkness away. I felt a rush of power like I did when I would put on the ring. I opened my eyes and Aroc was fading. "I have no idea how you did it boy, but our souls are sinking. We will both live through this. Thank you, Alex." he said as his voice faded. Aroc's body turned into a mass of dark energy. It flowed towards me and I absorbed it. I felt another rush of energy. Is felt good. I reopened my eyes to hear screaming. Luna was in the corner staring at me and Chrysalis was just looking on in amazement. "What's wrong?" I asked them. None of them spoke. I looked around for a mirror, I found one, looked in it, and saw I had transformed again. My wings were not bone anymore. They were looking a lot like webbed hands with spikes coming out of them. I saw that my skin was once again gray. My hair was long and white. My eyes were black and the pupils were yellow. It was just like when I put the ring on to defeat Chrysalis and Discord. I turned around and walked towards Luna. She backed up as far as she could from me. I told her it was okay, that I would not hurt her. She squealed and backed up more until it looked like she was going to turn flat. Seeing her made me depressed. We had just gotten married and I had probably scared her for life. I felt the power flow out of me. I felt my wings fold back into my back. I felt my hair grow back to its normal length. Luna had her hoofs over her eyes. I looked down at my hand. It looked normal, nothing different, I had changed back. I felt mad with myself. I turned and walked out of the room, down to the lobby, and to the bar. I had no idea why but in movies, when the main character had problems, he went down to the bar and talked to the bartender. Apparently they always had good advice that could help you with your problems. I sat down and a young pony walked up and asked what he could get me. I told him just a water. He brought me my water in a tall glass. I took a long gulp from it and set it back down. "You don't look so good human, is everything okay?" he asked. "Not really, I just recently got married and I think I just scared the crap out of my wife. She will probably never want to see me again." I replied. "Well, that's bad. I know who you are, I would never have thought a human would move here and get married to another human. It just don't seem natural." he said. "That's just it, I didn't marry a human. I married Princess Luna." I said. The bartender almost dropped the glass he was cleaning. He looked at me with surprise. "You married the princess? I heard word that she was getting married but never knew who it would be. What is she like? Is she snooty like most royalty?" he asked "You know, when I first met her, I thought she would be. But she seemed nice enough once we got to know each other." I said. "Did you hit on her?" he asked. "Nope, she made the first move. It was a complete surprise to me though. I was just sitting in the human world, minding my own business, then I fell of a cliff, tumbled through a river, and woke up in a bed in the castle Canterlot. I met the princesses and both of them fell in love with me and I married Luna. Weird right" "I have been a bartender for about a year and I have heard some strange stories in my time, but never one like this." he said. "So about Luna, what do you think I should do?" I asked. "Well, I've never been married before, and I have never had a lot of experience with a mare before either, but I guess a good apology could get you where you need to go. Try that." he suggested. I thanked him and got up. I asked him how much I owed for the drink and advice and he said free of charge and that he had never been so entertained with his job in months. I thanked him for everything and walked back to the room. I was about to walk in when I heard Luna crying from the other side. My heart fell to my knees at hearing her sobs. I walked away from the door. I could tell this kind of thing was not something that could be repaid with just an apology. I wondered around and discovered a large public balcony attached to the top floor. I walked out to find myself alone. The sun had gone down and there was just a small sliver of light coming from the horizon. I walked over to the edge and leaned on it. I looked over at the city. It was enormous and looked like it stretched on forever. I saw lights flashing and music booming from below. I looked up and saw stars beginning to form from the darkness. There were not a lot of them because of the city below. The wind began to pick up, it was beginning to blow kind of hard. Clouds began to form around and it looked like it was going to rain. Then they seemed to open up, but rain didn't come out. Instead, a carriage made of pure gold came down, it was pulled my two huge stallions. It was coming right for me. I ducked down at the last minuet and I was one nut hair away from getting my head knocked off. The carriage landed more gracefully then I thought it would. The carriage doors opened and a pink pony with wings and a horn came out. Her hair was dark and seemed to change in the light. She looked like major royalty, like more than Celestia royalty. She walked straight up to me and looked down at me. Her eyes stared at me, like she was analyzing me. Then she motioned and two guards came out of nowhere. "This is the one, take him away." she ordered them. The guards grabbed me and lifted me up. "Hey! What the hell is going on here?! Let me go!" I yelled trying to break free of their hold. Then one of them pulled out a straight jacket and put me in it. I couldn't move my arms. They threw me in the carriage and the pony joined me. They closed the door and the carriage lurched and drove drove off. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" I asked. "I'm deeply sorry my love, but I cannot allow you to harm Equestria anymore." she said. "What the devil are you talking about?" I asked. "Don't try messing with me, Aroc, I'm going to lock your spirit up with mine so that you can never harm anybody." she replied. I felt the carriage lurch as it hit solid ground. The doors opened again and the guards pulled me out. I looked around and saw a city made entirely of gold. They pulled me into a building. There was nothing but hallways and cells. They found one and threw me into it. They slammed the door and locked it, along with the pony who joined me inside. "How does it feel, Aroc? How does it feel knowing that there is no escaping this fate?" she asked. "I have no idea what the bloody hell you are talking about! My name is not Aroc by the way, its Alex, Alex McGrath. Now let me go!" I said starting to get angry with this crap. "HA! Your insolence makes me laugh, that was why I married you, you were always so care free and wild." she said. This is when I had had enough. So now I'm married to three ponies huh? Well, I'm not going to have this. The anger began to well up inside me. I had the feeling again. The tugging this time was more of a pulling this time, almost a yanking. I felt a smile creep onto my face and my eyes grew wide. "Hehe." I laughed. "What are you doing?" she asked. I stood up. I was angry and wanted to get out of here. I stared her in the face. The transformation was beginning. "RELEASE ME!" I ripped the straight jacket in half. My demonic wings spread and my skin turned gray and my hair grew long and white. I leaped forward, bashing through the pony and busting down the door like a trapped animal. I ran through the hallways at enormous speeds. "THE DEMON HAS ESCAPED!" I heard a voice yell from behind me. Then the chase was on. I smashed my way through door after door and had to avoid hundreds of guards. Then, after what seemed like hours of running finally ended. I found the exit and burst out. I ran into the streets and was immediately surrounded by guards. I was surrounded, no hope of escape was in sight. The guards parted and the pony that was in charge of them all came fourth. She looked down at me with a disappointed look. "Come now, Aroc. Why must you run? There is no hope of escape, so why do you fight?" she asked. I had heard this line before, in a video game. It was Assassins' Creed 3 if I'm not mistaken. So I said the first thing that came to mind: "Because no one else will!" I yelled. I leaped for my life. I spread my wings and flew over the guards. The city seemed to be floating so I flew over it and down. I saw the lights of Manehatten below me. I saw the balcony where I was once standing and landed, or tumbled more or less. It was my first time flying so I guess I had done well. As soon as I knew I was safe I transformed back into my normal self. I decided that it was about time I ask Luna for forgiveness. After I looked normal again, I walked into the room to find Luna waiting for me. "Alex! Thank goodness you are fine! Where ever did you go?" she asked. I sighed because I hate long stories( ironic right?) but I told her everything that had happened. She was surprised. After I had spilled my guts to her, I asked her if she would forgive me for scaring her. "Oh, Alex. If every couple broke up because they scared one another, nopony would ever get married!" she said. She walked up a nuzzled me. It was good to know that I was back in her good graces. Then there was a knock at the door.