> Something worth fighting for
>  by Mr Andrews Pupil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1- Lemonade and sleeping spells
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something worth fighting for 
By
T. Andrews pupil
Chapter 1



It was a hot, sunny day in canterlot. A very hot sunny day.  Even though it was only half way done already the heat was starting to become unbearable. Celestias star was unrestricted by a cloudless sky and the only source of relief came from the shaded areas inside or under trees. Most ponies had just finished lunch and were all but frying. That explained the surge in business for ice cream shoppes and lemonade stands. But why? All this heat could be caused by only one pony.......or alicorn in particular.

Princess Celestia stood on her bedroom balcony with a look of glee on her face. The day was going swimmingly, which seemed fitting given that the only habitable spots in all of equestria were the ones you could immerse yourself in. However that day was not hotter than most for any reason. That blisteringly hot day happened to be the first day of summer. Celestia had gotten into the habit of making the arrival of summer more noteworthy. She figured that because of it being the day all of the schools released their grasp on Equestrias youth, they would enjoy kick-starting summer by frolicking in the many ponds, pools, lakes, rivers and streams with their families and friends. This seemed to be the case because the only time they got out was to nap in the shade, lick at an ice cream cone or sip at a glass of ice cold lemonade. Even the princess had a glass at her side. 
Everypony was happy.

Well, almost everypony.  There was one pony that was less than pleased by her annual baking of the lands. 

And that somepony was approaching her from inside her bedchambers.

The princess of the night stopped just short of crossing into the suns reach. She pushed the curtains out of the way and made her presense known by clearing her throat.
Celestia turned and smiled.
“Luna? Whatever are you doing up at this hour? You do know you need to raise the moon in a few hours don’t you?”

Luna just glared at her blankly.

“I know, unfortunately your sun is ensuring that I get anything but sleep”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. Luna was rubbing the sleep out her eyes with a hoof. It became apparent to celestia that she had awoken recently.

“Luna”, celestia began, “what do you mean”?

“It. Is. Too. Hot." Luna replied, pausing between each word for effect.

“But this is as hot as it was last year” celestia stated.

“I was up north last year” 

Luna briefly recalled her trip to a resort which name and location escaped her. Come to think of it only thing she vividly remembered was breaking multiple ribs after careening into a tree.

She never was good as skiing.

Now the polar regions of equestria were becoming more and more appealing as the day dragged on.

“Oh yes, how could I forget, but what about the year before??? Oh yes, you were...absent” Celestia said while glancing skyward.

“Please” Luna pleaded. “Just cool it down a little bit, for my sake?”

Celestia looked over the railing into the courtyard. Various trees, shrubs and greenery outlined the deserted white gravel paths that snaked around the entire inner complex of the castle. The ones with fruit were now boasting a baked version to anypony crazy enough to venture into the sun unprotected.

“When the apple pies bake themselves without the aid of an oven, it’s gone overboard” she thought.

She turned back to Luna.

“Alright Luna, if you’re that uncomfortable then I will. 

“Thank you sister” Luna said with a slightly less pessimistic tone.

She leaned in to nuzzle the sun goddess before retreating back into celestias bedchambers then into the still stifling castle halls. 

Many of the curtains were drawn back due to the heat. Leaving the castle nearly dark on the inside.  Even so this did little to 
help. Most of the servants had left for the day and all but the essential skeleton crew of guards remained. A few 
minutes into her journey across the castle she began to wonder if anypony had remained at all. It was then she 
happened across a maid.

The young mare was sitting against a statue of a dragon which was holding a 
candelabrum suspended beneath its outstretched fist. There was at least one on every corner and in each hall. But it 
was necessary to light up the cavernous passageways at night or when all the curtains were closed. The candles 
emphasized the shadows on her face and for a second Luna was unable to identify her, however Luna could tell the servant was not being spared the summer days wrath any more than her. She sat sitting against the stone figure panting 
while fanning herself with and empty silver tray. The entire castle was that of a sauna and not one pony was to be spared. 
when she was close enough Luna saw that it was none other than Tiffany shine. 

Tiffany was one of the longest employed Servants at the castle and had tended to the princesses for decades. Yet every day it seemed as if she was able to introduce a new side of herself. 
She had a vanilla coat with a tan mane that was rumoured to smell like like an ice cap mocha.
She was an earth pony mare of many personalities, But today tiffany’s personality was bland and tasteless like a sponge cake from sugar cube corner with no icing.

“Good afternoon princess” 

She tried to get up and bow to the approaching monarch but Luna dismissed her with a lighthearted wave of her hoof.
“Please, don’t bother. You look exhausted my dear. Have you been working all day?” Luna inquired.

Tiffany swallowed and took another breath.

“I guess you could say that”

This puzzled Luna. Normally she would start relaying everything that had happened to her throughout the day or something.  She quickly dismissed it and continued.

“You’ll get heat stroke running around like that” Luna warned. “You should go home on a day like today” 

Tiffany raised her head and locked her now grateful eyes onto lunas.

“Oh thank you do much!" she replied starting to cheer up.

“Please feel free to leave as soon as you wish” Luna said.

Tiffany staggered to her feet. “I will”

Luna chose her next words carefully. “Alright then, I’ll see you tomorrow Tiffany” Luna said in a cheerful farewell. She decided not to question about the unusually “boring” mood she was in. 

The last time she had asked her to take time off during hearths warming, she had to convince her to go home. This time tiffany had accepted without a second thought. Was the heat getting to her? Luna wondered. 

“You go on ahead dear” Tiffany gently urged.

Luna was brought out of her thinking bubble by her voice.

“Oh yes, I will, have a nice day Tiffany” Luna said turning to leave.

Luna resumed her route to her bedroom. It was located on the far side of the castle from her sisters and in 
The time she was walking until encountering tiffany, she had only gotten half way. It was beginning to cool down slightly and 
Luna was able to increase her pace. Soon she reached her bedroom. The Persian blue door had a painted milky white crescent on it silhouetted by a lighter blue background. Beneath the emblem and flanking the door were two motionless guards.  

“Princess” they quipped as she neared. 

“Gentle colts” she smiled back.

She used her magic to unlock the door upon reaching it and within a matter of seconds she found herself alone with the door closed behind her. Luna’s room had a vaulted ceiling with stars painted all over that were magically enchanted to twinkle at night. It used to help her get to sleep as a filly by counting them. This and a candle on her bedside table was the only light in the darkened room. To her left was an oak dresser painted blue to match the desk and mirror beside it. Further down the same wall with navy blue curtains blocking out all the light was the door to her balcony which she often stargazed from. On the opposite Wall was a marble fireplace which was tinted blue like the dresser. It had taken months to find the perfect marble to colour in such a way that it wouldn’t fade. And after a year Luna was convinced that the sculpture ponies assigned to the job were well Chosen.  Lastly To her right was the door to her bathroom. 

She approached and flopped on the end her queen sized bed which was completely stripped of 
sheets. She wiggled her way up to the pillows and rolled onto her back, she then rotated her upper half onto its side letting her face cool of in the (As celestia called them) “overstuffed” pillows. It was only minutes before the promised reduction of celestias seemingly endless inferno of a day began to cool the 
room. 

The princess was asleep not long after.


The golden armoured guard ponies of canterlot castle were known for their ability to remain at attention for hours on end. But sleeping while on watch quickly became an issue for the bat winged watchers of Luna. They could not help but be more easily tired during the daylight hours than their waking hour comrades. After all it wasn’t normal for them to be up anytime except when there was moonlight. So until dusk when they could be vigilant without nodding off, celestias day guards pulled double duty.

Not long after Luna had fallen asleep, a figure approached the two sentinels.

It was Tiffany.

“Excuse me but I have a glass of lemonade that Princess Luna has requested for. Would it be possible for me to quickly drop it off?”

The guard answered without a second thought.

“Certainly, one moment miss” 

He approached the door and pressed his hoof against a phony carving near the handle. This caused a panel with a dozen buttons with symbols to rise from the floor next to him. This is what earth ponies/guards used to gain access to lunas chambers, however very few knew the combination of buttons which needed to be pressed. This helped ensure her safety.
He quickly entered the illustration combination, and moments later the tumbling of a locking mechanism could be heard. One of the doors slowly opened a few feet.

“Thanks” Tiffany chirped as she slunk inside the room.

The guard had only just looked away when she stuck her head out.

“And goodnight” 

Without warning the two guards suddenly collapsed to the ground, their armour clattering upon impact.

"Sleeping spells, never fail"

Tiffany chuckled as the door closed and locked with her inside.

“Now for my revenge...the only way this draconequus knows how”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile on earth.........
Somewhere outside Halifax, Nova scotia, Canada
August 14, 2012
9:26 PM

The sun was almost down on the east coast of Canada. Most places, people were just turning in for the night.
All across the Maritimes, towns slipped into a somewhat “empty” state. After all, most of the excitement in
Life occurs during the day. But while that may be true for some people, for one young man, hardly past the age of 20, 
the night combined with the emptiness of the towns, (which included the highways connecting them), was the most exciting 
part of the day by far.

Little did he know that that night’s events would change his life and lunas in ways he thought not possible.






> 2- A 70' Chevelle and a rusty Honda
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2
The eastern coast of Canada is known for its rocky terrain, good seafood and wet, misty weather. Nova Scotia in particular is susceptible to this statement. Fog is more prevalent than sunshine some times of the year and some twilight fans would compare it to forks. 

Halifax, the capital city, was settled in the early seventeen hundreds. It grew to become one of the largest cities on the east coast. With towering buildings along either side of the harbour, it’s a central hub for tourism, business and many other activities. The area outside the city however quickly thins into small communities and clusters of houses swamped by forest. Development had recently grinded to halt when the local housing market crashed, and many houses sat unoccupied, half finished or alone with the nearest neighbour far and in-between. 

However 2 houses that sat on the farthest edge of the now frozen development were occupied. 

They sat facing each other on opposite sides of a gravel paved lot. One was red while the other was yellow. The houses were almost brand new and had been expected to be occupied by large families contributing to the community the builders were planning on building around them. Now, since the crash, the only occupants of the houses were two young men.

They had acquired the houses for a ridiculously low price. This was because along with the lack of need for houses, two new ones "off the beaten path" seemed undesirable.

One chose he yellow house. The other chose the red one.

Both houses were nearly identical in design. They were square shaped with a small garage that extended under the house. These proved to be very useful to the owner of the red house. He possessed a fine piece of automotive creation to sit in his. A rather Exquisite 1970 Chevrolet chevelle. 

The owner of the yellow house...not as much. A rather sickly looking 1991 Honda coupe. 

The afternoon tiffany had subdued the guards outside lunas bedroom; the owner of the Chevelle was where he usually could be found.

Under the Chevelle, working on it.

It is here where everything begins for 22 year old Alec Dirkson.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"C'mon girl I just want to change your oil"

Alec lay on the concrete floor beneath the driver’s side fiddling with a ratchet that always seemed to change size overnight. Try as he might, the stubborn oil cap stayed put. Alec threw it aside, groaned, and laid flat on his back to consider his next option.

"Let’s see... I could go bug Raymond, I’d bet he has one that fits...Oh that’s right he’s not home from work yet"

He glanced at the pile of ratchet heads next to him. There were dozens and yet not one that fit the oil cap. In a last ditch guess he chose one that had rolled away from the group, attached it, and fitted the ratchet to the oil cap. 

"Please work" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

The ratchet slipped onto the grease covered nut and with a satisfying silence, began to loosen it. It would’ve been a victory, had he not forgotten the oil tray and the fact that he was right underneath it. Before he could react, a thick gooey stream of CASTROL GTX began to "lubricate" T- shirt he had thrown on that morning.

"OH FOR FU- ACK NO GOD DAMMIT"

He continued to spit curses and other profanity as he reached down near his waist for the misplaced oil tray. Without hesitation he slid it up onto his chest, before sliding out from under it. He then slid out from under the car and got to his feet. A good thirty percent of his shirt was covered in oil.

"Just great" he grumbled.

He then turned to the chevelle and patted its front wheel well.

"The things I do for you"

But in his heart, he knew there were few things he wouldn’t do for it. 
It was all he had left of his foster parents.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alec had been found in a basket in front of a retired couple’s house a snowy night 22 years ago.
To the couples shock, he appeared to be less than a few hours old. It was never determined who he belonged to. No DNA matching could be determined, neither had any births occurred in the hospital that night. The aging couple had then assumed all responsibility of raising him with the time they had left. He grew over the years to become an independent, self aware person. He got good grades in school, and never got into drugs or alcohol. There was just one problem. Alec couldn’t make friends for the life of him. It wasn’t that he was mean or anything, nor was any other people mean to him. 

He just wasn’t "Friendship conscious" yet.

It was only when he graduated did he understand how much friendship mattered in life. 

On the day of the ceremony, His foster father had taken him back to a shed which had remained locked for as long as he could remember. 

Inside was the Chevelle.

Receiving that car, that decaying piece of the 70's, was the last happy moment He and his father, (He had come to accept him as the closest thing he would ever have) 
would share.

A few days later they were gone.

Alec never found out how.
The firemen siad it was bad wiring coming into contact with some insulation.They were both asleep and the house didn't have a fire alarm.

He remembered that he was out looking for a job. After another fruitless day he on his way back. He had turned onto their street when he saw the fire trucks.

He remembered hoping, praying that they got out.

He tried to break through the barricade of firemen. He almost ran headlong into the inferno.
Looking back on it seemed stupid. But at the time they were all he had. 

Then nothing.
No friends.
No family.
Not even a biological relative.

Alec was truly alone.

But it was at his lowest point when he found his first true and lifelong friend.
That friend, who would prove to Alec invaluable in the future, was Raymond Callahan.

Raymond came from a small fishing village somewhere in Newfoundland and had come to Halifax shortly after Alec had given up on everything. He had met him when he saw a sad excuse for a recent graduate standing at the end of a pier looking as lively as a morgue. 

Alec was, at the time, living in a small campervan not far from the dock.
Since his "Parents" death he had little care for money... or anything at all for that matter.

Raymond loved fishing and had come to the dock for some bait. When he saw Alec he approached him and complimented him on his car.

The Chevelle.

The very reason they met in the first place. Just another reason he had to be thankful he had it.

It took some time but Raymond got Alec to tag along when he went fishing. A few months later the pair was the best of friends.

Funny how Throwing lines attached to poles in the water can make people bond.

All was normal until one fateful day in 2010. Raymond came over from his trailer in a nearby trailer park COMPLETELY in love with a new T.V. show.

The show, predictably, was my little pony.

At first Alec suggested psychiatric help but Raymond was persistent, and managed to get him to watch one episode.

One was all it took.

Since then the two had become avid bronies, each owning their fair share of merchandise. Thing were, once again, normal. Or at least as normal as they were ever going to be.

A few months went by. Raymond found a job on a deep sea trawler and Alec found work on an oil rig located far offshore. But the pay was mindblowing! The platform he had worked aboard struck the mother lode and Alec quickly found himself with more money than he could possibly spend.

It was at that time when the price of housing plummeted. The two noticed this and sprung with the money they had made in such a short while. They were able to locate the 2 newly built houses on the edge of the wilderness. Despite the fact that Raymond had to take out a fair size loan to acquire his, the two moved in across from each other.

Things were looking perfect for Alec finally.

Raymond however, because of the loan, had to downgrade from a ford fusion to The "Honda from hell" so to speak.

It was loud, dirty and about as reliable as a wet paper bag.

It was the sound of that certain Honda that brought Alec out of his not so distant memories.

Raymond was home.

///////////////////////////////////////////////










> 3- Paralysis and Dead batteries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Sleep is an interesting thing. While sleeping, your entire state of consciousness slips away for a few hours. You dont even remember when it happens.

Its almost like dying...Almost.

Your heart still beats.

Your lungs still draw air.

And you wake yourself in the morning.

Your body basicly sets itself to autopilot. This enables us to achieve a state of "absolute peace".

Unfortunately it also leaves one hopelessly vunerable; as Princess Luna was about to find out.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////


Luna awoke but did not open her eyes. she knew there was somepony or something in the room with her. She did'nt move either. The sound of muffled hoofsteps on the carpet implied the source was only a few feet from the foot of her bed.

"Who's there?" Luna asked trying not to sound afraid.

No answer.

Luna hesitaed briefly before opening her eyes. Upon doing so she was greeted by a tenebrious canvas.

In short, her candle had gone out.

She lifted her head and glanced towards the end of the bed. Luna had that gut feeling that something was there.

"Show yourself" she warned.

The response Turned her blood to ice.

"Whats this?, the princess of the night unable to see?, how ironic....."

This was accompanied by a sinister chuckle that washed away and doubt Luna had of who it was.

"D- D- D- Discord?" she whispered.

Suddenly the blackness beyond her bed was no longer perfect. A pair of yellow eyes revealed themselves to which Luna's heart quickned.

The candle on her bedside flickered to life once more, Illuminating the villan's true form in a pale orange glow.

"H- H- How?"

"Let's just say i had help" 

"From who?"

"That's irrelevant" he snapped sudenly.
"All that matters is that im free and am about to exact my revenge".

A lump began to form in lunas throat. She feared what was coming. Here she was alone in her room with one of the most dangerous beings in all of equestria. 

"How did you get b-"

"The guards?" He interrupted.

He began to slink closer to the bed. 

"What little there were, I put to sleep. They should awaken shortly" Discord said motioning towards the closed door.

"But they would sound the alarm on sight"

"Not with my disguise. You fell for it yourself after all".

"You mean....." Luna started.

"Tiffany was so easy to mimic" Discord chuckled. "Just act happy and blissfully unaware".

Luna mentally alapped herself. How could she be so daft? She answered her own question almost instantly.
Beacuse it's unpredictable. The most unpreditable being in equestria had been PREdictable by being UNpredictable.

"But how could you shapeshift?" luna retorted.

"As previously stated, I had help"

There was a brief moment of silence in which discord let what he said sink in and luna try to comprehend it. There was an infinite amount of possibilities on for what could happen next and not very many looked good for Luna. Panic began to build deep inside her and in a few moments she came up with the only logical thing she could come up with.

Scream for your sister.

Luna opened her mouth but Discord saw it coming. He lifted his eagles claw and quickly enveloped luna in an aura of his insideous magic. Luna felt her entire body freeze in place. Including her vocal chords. She was now voiceless and unable to move. 

Discord levitated her up out of the bundle of sheets and to the middle of the room.  

*what does he want with me? * Luna thought.

Then it hit her.

He could do anything with her. Alone in the dark paralysed by a draconeqqus hell- bent on revenge.

He could kill her.

He could torture her.

*No....No..NO!!!..*  Luna screamed in her head.

Discord, however had no such thoughts in his head. He raised his other random appendage and cast a purple ball of magic into the centre of the room near luna. It appeared to stop in mid air, flatten and become tall, wide and circular. Luna quickly recognized it as a portal once it began to spiral in the middle. She began to put the pieces together before Discord spoke again. 

"This is your one way ticket to pain, suffering, loneliness and cruelty. It took me a while to figure this spell out, but it was worth it in the end" 

Luna felt herself being lifted and moved closer to the now savagely spinning gateway. She was beyond terrified and still unable to make a sound.

"With you missing your sister will search till the end of time for you. With her distracted i'll be able to take over faster than a sonic  rainbom that that Arrogant element of loyalty makes. Soon she'll be exhausted and unable to even function. then taking care of her will be all too easy.

He held luna feet away from being sucked in to the portal to who knew where. He leaned in and whispered one final time.

"With the princesses gone equestria will be mine. First i'll break their will, Then i'll break their necks".

He paused.

"You wont last a week where you're going...you wont want to either. Goodbye Luna"

With that he released his magics grip on luna. She was instantly sucked in. the last thing she remembered was the manical laughter of Discord echoing in her skull"

Then here was nothing.


///////////////////////////////////////////////////



The blue comet streaking from lunas bedroom off into the now setting sun was met with instant fear by princess celestia. She had seen that comet only once before. When nightmare moon was sent to her confinement. 

"GUARDS" She boomed using the royal canterlot voice for the first time in over a 100 years.

"GET TO LUNA'S CHAMBERS, SHE'S IN DANGER"

A half- dozen guard ponies quickly assembled and dashed off down the dimly lit halls of canterlot castle.

Celestia followed hoping Luna would be there when they arrived. But even the guard's knew it as much as she did.

They all knew she was gone.

But the destination waasn't the moon.
//////////////////////////////////////////


Back on earth.........

Alec was able to recognize the Red Honda before he even saw it. The sound it made was that of a dying animal in a scrapyard compactor.

A place he figured the piece of crap belonged in.

He still wonderd how it was road legal. A majority of the accessories were functionless including the wipers which, given the fact that Halifax was one of the most rainy cities in canada, which completly baffled him. Then there was the body.

It was red.

Or at least he thought it was. 

Perhaps if there wasnt so much rust on it he could verify further. There was so much rust on it, the headlights, (which were a delightful piss yellow and lit up about 5 feet of road at night) were almost falling out,

But it still started. only just though.

And when it did it was a bitch to drive. 

Alec avoided the situation above to the best of his extent. But when he had to he mad sure he had a tetanous shot.
The steering had more give than the salvation army. The engine had less power than a hobo running for parliament, and finally, the stench of fish hovered and stuck to it like an anti- chick magnet. 

Raymond could care less. It go thim from point A to B. 
That's what's important right?

Right?

The stereo worked. Alec could tell from the static filled "copperhead road" being blasted from the inside.

The car pulled up outside Alec's garage. Inside was a smug, clean shaven face hidden behind a pair of aged aviators. As he got out he Alec recognized his usual wear. Above apair of worn nikes were a pair of dark navy blue jeans wih the knees torn out complimented by a graphic tee covered by a yellow element sweater.

"Right where i left him" he said cockily in a slightly noticeable british isles accent.

"Got nowheres better to be" Alec retorted in his (unfortunately) accentless voice.

"You're still working on that thing?"

"Yep, Almost done though"

"Sweet"

Raymond or "Ray" as he preffered to be called entered and approached Alec paying more attention to the car than his oil spattered shirt.

It was then he noticed the tarp.

"What exactly HAVE you been up to?" Ray quizzed him.

"You wanna see?" Alec asked with a smile beginning to form on his face.

Raymond caught wind of the surprise and gained one as well.
Alec had spent weeks inside and no one, not even Raymond had seen the chevelle. The tarp covering it only added to his curiosity.

"Man you bet i do!!!" he replied removing his sunglasses. 

Alec approached the relic and gripped the tarp with both hands.
He then turned to Raymond.

"3...2...1...TA-DA" 

With those words he ripped off the tarp as fast as he could. No sooner than he did this did Ray's jaw drop.

"Ho-ly shit" he croaked.

Originally the car was a rather sickly looking olive green. Alec had taken the body and painted it a striking blue that - once raymond thought of it, looked the exact same shade as the body of Alecs Favourite character.

Princess luna.

A pair of lighter coloured stripes went down the middle of the middle of the car which were the same shade as lunas mane.

Upon closer inspection they almost seemed to sparkle like it too.

On the left and right rear fenders was lunas cutie mark. Finally to top it off there was a chrome crescent moon hood ornament. 

Raymond took a few steps back in awe. He ran a hand through his short, black hair. All the while Alec stood there with a Satisfied grin glued to his face.

"You like it? He asked already knowing the answer.

"Um... Saying yes would be a huge understatement" Ray responded still looking over the Chevelle.

They stayed inside the garage for another half an hour talking until the sun was just sliding beneath the horizon. Alec was the first to notice.

"So you wanna come to castle way tonight?" 

"You're still into that arent you?" Raymond groaned.

Castle way was a long, vacant stretch of asphalt about 5 kilometres long that had been abandoned when the coal mine it led to had closed 5 years earlier. Since then Alec had gotten into the rather predictable habit of using it as his own personal drag strip.

"If the meatheads catch you out there both you and your car are fucked...you know that right?" Ray warned.

The meatheads, A.K.A. the cops had a nasty reputation of being mean, unfair self centered jerks.
Of course, driving like a man on the run kind of had that effect on them.
Alec never really saw things their way.

"Relax dude it's alright. They never patrol out there anyways. All thats there is a vacant lot" Alec said half- heartedly.

"You always were a risk taker"

"I aim to please"

"What, the mortician?"

"Mabye...."

The two burst into laughter for a brief moment. A laugh, no matter how grim, should never be passed up. It was one of the many rules they had devloped for their" code" of friendship ove the years.

"So are ya coming or not?" Alec repeated.

"Well about that........" Raymond started.

Alec saw the look in Rays eyes. It was the "avoiding eye contact look" . Popular among humans as a defense mechanisim when one may be hiding somehing bad.

Alec already had a fair guess in his head.

"Parents want you home for the week again? "He said emotionlessly.

Ray nodded. His parents were exremely protective over him. They had to be visited at least on week every month or they would call the cops. 

Alec had met them before...but bonding was the last thing on his to do list with them.

The garage suddenly went quiet. Both bronies knew how boring it could get out there. Unfortunately options were limited if not completely exhausted.

It was the two of them against the world.

"Alright then. When are you leaving?"

"Tonight"

"Packed already?"

"This morning"

Alec understood why Ray went away so often. Which was ironic considering Alec had nothing of the sort.
It's too easy to forget something you want to have memories of.

"Ill be going then. Watch the house as usual will ya?"

"Sure"

Raymond started to turn back towards his car. As he lef Alec Looked beyond him he noticed the sky was now clear of clouds. Stars were scattered across the ink black sky like foam on an ocean with no bottom. The moon was full tonight. 

Then alec had an idea.

He had just gotten a brand new nikon for christmas last year. Raymond had given it to him.

(Alec had stitched together a lifesize fluttershy stuffy in return which he completely lost it over. Flutershy was his absolute favourite)

He figured a few full moon snapshots would be suitable to kill the time. Alec was a night owl.

He ran inside and after digging through his closet for a few minutes, found the unused camera. 

He returned to the garage expecting raymond to be gone to the airport.

He wasn't.

"Um...dude...batteries um... dead" Raymond said in a quiet voice almost as quiet as the yellow pagasus which occupied everything from his ipod screen to his laptop.

Alec groaned and threw the camera into the Chevelles passenger seat before going to the far corner of the garage.

He soon located the booster cables and returned to the chevelle, opened the hood being and attached it to his battery. He paused to admire the polished V8 454 powerhouse he would soon be careening throught the night in.
But first he had to move the" shitmobile."

He approached Ray and held them out to him.

"Well?" 

Ray simply shrugged. Alec knew then and there he would sooner kill himself than learn how to boost a car. So he decided to do it himself.

He wentover to the Honda and pried the nearly rusted shut hood open. He then put up a rickety prop rod that look ready to snap. Alec just hoped it wouldn't be while his torso was in the crush zone. He couldn't help but crack a grin at he small 1.3 liter engine that boasted a mere 75 horsepower than his 390 horsepower chevelle. 

After attaching the jump leads He went back to the chevelle. He produced the keys and inserted them.

He leaned out the door.

"Might wanna cover your ears" he warned.

He turned the keys and listened intently as the beast less than 3 feet away rumbled and spat to life.

Raymond turned his keys and hardly heard his "hamster in a wheel" get going. 

Alec put the cables back and went to see Raymond off.

"Text me if anything happens" 

"Like what?" Alec asked raising an eyebrow.

"I dunno, suppose an angel crash lands while im gone. You'll need to tell me when you two start dating" he said desperately trying to keep a straight face.

Alec gave him an unamused look.

"You know i dont care about stuff like that"

"Oh well....can't blame a guy for trying......See ya next sunday dude"

"You too" 

Alec bro hoofed him through the window and then watched as the Honda (literally) putted off into the night. 

Alec stood in the middle of the driveway for a few minutes reflecting on what Ray had said. If he did have love in his heart, it died with his foster parents.

"Oh well" 

Alec went back and got into the still running Chevelle. He then reved the engine before pulling out and sailing off into the night, not noticing the sudden appearence of a new star in the sky above.

A star.

The colour sapphire blue.

Falling towards castle way,




//////////////////////////////////////////////


















> 4- Lunas arrival 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The clouds above the pine trees parted like a mercury veil, letting the light from earths satellite fall upon the lonley road far from any human habitation. The calmness of the night was everywhere.

Watching.

Listening.

The only sound to be heard was the slow *TINK* of the Chevelles cooling engine and the intermittent *SNAP* of Alecs Nikon. The camera was performing quite well at the task. The solem ball of rock that had bore witness to every single night since the dawn of the planet itself was captured digitally by the camera over and over again. But he didn't care. The moon was, in his opinion, more beautiful than the sun. Not only because you could actualy look at it, but because it had certain qualities the sun did not.  

It was mysterious. It was the small ball in the night sky that everyone knew the name of. Moon. Or in latin terms Luna.

Luna.

Alec lowered the camera and turned to the Chevelle sitting on the side of the road. The moonlight falling upon it turned it into a piece of the night itself. There it sat just like the moon.......Just like luna. 

Calm.

Silent.

Lonley.

All of those things were silent watchers of the suns absence. The had all seen many things and not questioned any of it. 

The moon forced into the sky every night.

The Chevelle handed around for decades.

Luna herself being confined to her own special orb for ten centuries.

It seemed time had a bone to pick with them more than anything else. And it picked it slowly.

Alec bagan taking pictures of the midnight blue muscle car. He was reviewing one he had just took when he saw it.

The reflection in the screen. Alec turned to see if it was just a typo.

But it wasnt. There, hardly skimming the tops of the trees, was the projectile that had just seconds before been in the night sky. Alec stared in wonder at it. He couldn't tell what it was. The vibrant aura surrounding it seemed so familliar to him. It almost felt calming.

At least until he realized it was heading straight for him... and his car.

"OHMYGOSHHHIIIIIIITTTT" was all he managed to get out as he leapt across the hood of the Chevelle "Dukes of Hazzard style" and curled into a ball beside the front tire. He closed his eyes and waited to die as the ball came across the highway only 15 feet above him still doing a good fifty kilometres an hour. Alec heared a chorus of branches snapping on the other side and then a splash. Whatever it was must have wound up in a pond or something.

Alec layed balled up beside he car for a few more seconds. He then opened an eye.

Yep. still alive.

He then got to his feet and set the camera, that miraculously wasn't broken, on the hood.
He looked off into the woods. A trail of sheared branches let to the crash site. It looked to be nomore than 50 metres away in woods. 
Alec looked as himself. He was still wearing his DC's, Skinny jeans and West 49 hoodie complete with oil stained T- shirt. 

Rarity would flip.

The woods was uneven, filled with mossy rocks, branches and water hazards of every type. Then there was the chance of a run in with a coyote or a bear. But what was that thing?
Alec thought for a minute, his entire life experience compiling into an answer he knew would suit the risky situation perfectly.

"Yolo" he shrugged as he started off into the woods. 

The darkness was even more intense as he went in. The trail of broken branches was as much of a benifit as it was a danger. One wrong step and he'd be stuck out there with a broken foot. Thats the last thing he needed. Especially if there were aliens nearby......

Soon the soggy ground turned to bog. Alec grumbled to himself as his shoes filled with swamp water.

"This better be worth it"

In his head he knew it probably wouldn't. But he pushed deeper still. The path of branches ended in the middle of s deep puddle. By then the water was up to his knees.

Alec looked around. The grimy tree trunks surrounded him like a maze. He took another sweep and almost turned back. The sudden *SPLASH* stopped him dead in his tracks.

He surned back to the audience of timber.

"Hello?"

When he heard an answer he nearly jumped out of his skin.

The sound came from a trunk directly in front of him. 

Whatever it was was hiding from him and doing a rather poor job at it.

He disregarded the last part and chuckled to himself. He just figured it was someones dog lost in the woods. 

"C'mon out. I wont hurt you"

The glimpse of a blue sweater blowing in the wind was the first thing he saw. But there was two problems he noticed immediately.

One.

There was no wind.

Two.

The sweater was a mane.

And as if that wasnt enough, the mane was attached to a head. The head was attached to a body. 

And that body was a mud covered Luna. Half hiding behind a tree trunk less than five feet away with a look of pure fear on her face. 

He stood there as his mind processed the scene that most certainly not a dog.

He then realized what was actually occuring.

Alecs face then became identical to her's.

The once silent night was then interrupted by two screams from two worlds echoing through the swamp.

Alec continued screaming as he splashed behind another trunk nearby. Luna retreated behind her initial location. "Wh- Wh- What the FUCK" He stammerd while peeking around he tree to take another glance. Luna did the same. They made eye contact for the second time in their lives. They both fought the urge to run for some reason and stared for a few moments until Luna spoke first.

"Considering the fact that you spoke equestrian, i thought that you would be a pony or at least something i had seen before. I can now quite safely say that you have indeed not lived up to that expectation" 

Alec, in a state of shock temporarily forgot who he was in the woods with and the entire fact that he was a brony, replied to the best his mind could function at the moment.

"Ya well... i was kinda expecting something from earth myself"

"What is this "Earth" you speak of?" Luna asked with a hint of realization in her voice.

"Where we are right now Luna" Alec said.

*wait* He thought,

*Luna*......

It was then he gained full comprehension of what was happening. He immedieatly retreated behind his tree and put his hand over his mouth inhaling so much it almost got wedged in his throat.

"What do you mean earth?"

Then it dawned on luna.

The spell.

Discord.

The place he was speaking of.

Luna chose her next words carefully.

"Are...are you going to hurt me?" she asked dreading he answer with a quivering tone.

"Um...no" Alec replied blankly.

Alec had by then gained some control over his inner fanboy and had began to approach the shaking princess slowly.

"I promise i won't hurt you"

Luna could've fled.

But she didn't.

This bipedal being on a foreign planet was the first thing she had encounered since arriving less than a few minutes ago. To be honest she was rather glad it wasn't going to maim her and/or eat her.

"Promise?" she said, her voice less shaky.

"Promise"

Luna slowly rose from the chest high swamp water and came out from behind her tree. The two then approached each other until they were less than two feet from each other.

Luna looked this "stallion" as she guessed by his voice up and down.

Clothed.

4 legs.

2 used for walking.

2 used for manipulating objects.

Alec did the same. To be honest she looked much like she appeared in the show. Her mane still flowed without wind. Her eyes glistned in the night. Her coat was filthy and there were many cuts of varying sized on it. She stood with the surface of the swamp just inches below her belly and rose to a total height just below his chest.

Alec decided to end the awkwardness then and there. He held out his hand and preended he knew nohing about her. 

"Alec Dirkson, pleased to meet you" 

" Princess luna......But for the time being you may acknowledge me as Luna" she replied gingerly holding her hoof out.

Time slowed down for alec as his hand inched closer to lunas soaked hoof.

*Moment of truth, please don't be a dream* he hoped.

Luna set her hoof into his palm. Alec closed his fingers around it and did his best not to squeal.

The hoof/hand shake lasted for a moment. But the two would remember it for a long ime to come. A cold gust of wind sent through he now almost pitch black forest caused them both to shiver.

"It's getting cold out" Luna began.

Alec knew what came next was inevitable. He jumped at the chance.

"I wouldn't mind you accompanying me back to my abode for the night" 

Luna weighed her options. This stallion seemed innocent enough. The planet also looked not all that diffrent from equestria. Luna needed someone who could understand her and perhaps explain her situation to in the morning.
And another thing, was this the planet of cruelty and corruption she was informed of. Becase if it was then she had definently seen worse.

Of course, first impressions can be misleading.

But after a multi dimmensional journey she was dead tired.

Sleep first, questions later.

"Thank you Alec. I would appreciate that"

" I imagine we both have a lot of questions for each other,but that can wait until tomorrow" Alec said.

"Indeed"

"I live a good ways away from here. My car is up by the road. Follow me."

Alec turned and began to wade out of the swampy part of the woods. Luna followed but thought to herself:
*Whats a car?*

Alec was squealing inside his head.......still. He wasn't thinking about the car with HER cutie mark on it.

The Chevelle would force some questions to be asked there and then.

For what is tonight but last night's tomorrow.





////////////////////////////////////////////////////////






 


> 5-  Somepony else was crying that night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna's reaction to the Chevelle was predictable. She had no idea what it was. Alec decided to make it as simple as possible. 

"That's our way home?"

"Sure is"

"What exactly is it?.....And why does it have my cutiemark on it?"

Luna's brain then had a system error. Nothing could be presened in front of her that would make what she was witnessing make sense. All she could do is look up at Alec who had the look of somepony who had just had their mother find their secret stash of playcolt magazines. 

"Well?"

Alec sighed and sat down against the same wheel he had taken cover behind not so long ago. Luna sat down across from him. 

"Do you know what motion pictures are?" 

"You mean the ones shown on projectors?"

"Kind of, except these are shown on screens composed of pixels that display many diffrent types of shows and movies"

"What are you saying?"

"Im say-"......."Im saying that in this world you don't exist"

Luna took a minute to register what she had just heard, She doesent exist? But she had just been forsaken to this planet from one which she had spent centuries on. She has to be real. Why would Alec have her cutiemark on his "car"?


"Basiclally, you're one of those tv shows called My little pony" 


Luna started to feel tears form in her eyes. Nothing was making sense and now she's on show she didn't know existed. 

Great.

Bucking great.

"But how?" she said through a sob.

Alec immedieatly regretted informing her and tried to reah out for her. She simply moved away and continued to cry.

*Wonderful job, already go her to cry" alec spat to himself.

Finally he got close enough to rest a hand on her shoulder. Luna slightly jumped but relaxed at the sensation of the humans touch. It felt calming. It felt warm. She looked back up after he aueezed it gently.

"Dont worry, you exist Luna. It's just that somehow someone was able to bridge the gap between our worlds"

Alec thought of the situation before continuing.

"Im sure celestia and the others won't stop till you're home"

....

"Annnnnnd you'r cutie mark is on my car because you're my favourite" he said blushing.

Luna had stopped crying and looked into his eyes. The only light was that of the moon. This caused something to happen deep in a recess of lunas mind. Upon meeting Alec's Olive green eyes, she felt tired to the point of where she feared she might fall over. No sooner that she thought this did her prediction come true. Dizzyness overcame her almost instantly. The night then got darker as her eyes fell shut.


The next thing she saw was a void.

Black and silent.

But Luna felt herself floating in it.

She felt physically there.

She felt lost like she was at the bottom of a well with noppony to save her.

But then a shaft of light broke the endless shadow. It began to snake around the darkness until it formed the shape of a sword. 

The image then began to radiate more light until luna could harldy look at it. She tried to close her eyes but then the realized.

*I can't, because they're already closed*

Luna opened her eyes.

She was on the ground. Alec was laying there too passed out. Luna slowly got to her hooves and approached the motionless human.

"Alec?"

"Ohhhhhh.......what was that?"

Alec sat up slowly but winced in pain and clutched his chest .

Luna became concerned (predictably) and went up to him.

"What's wrong?"

Alec put a hand down his shirt and felt they affected area. 

"What the hell?"

Alec proceded to remove his oil stained shirt and sweater. Luna took little notice of this new perspective and focoused on what was new. For him and her both. For right about where his heart was,  was he solid black shape of a sword. Luna put two and two together before confronting the clueless Alec.

"That wasn't there a minute ago was it?"

"No... no it was not.......wait, how did you know?"

"I saw something when i blacked out"

"It happened to you too?"

luna nodded. she then motioned towards the chevelle.

"When morning comes, We'll discuss it then"

Alec figured that was enough for one night. He got to his feet and put his shirt back on.

"You dont have any fur on your body?" Luna asked.

"Apart from my "mane"" alec responded tousiling his hair. 

"Interesting" Luna mused.

Alec walked her around to the passenger side.

"Hop in"

Luna briefly hesitated before setting her forelegs on the leather seat and jumping into the Chevelle.

She turned in place a few times before sitting and leting herslf rest into the back in a somewhat comforable poisition.

Alec got into the drivers side and turned to her.

"Is thy majesty comfy?"

Luna cracked a grin before replying.

"Yes"

Alec produced the keys from his pocket and inserted them into the ignition.

"Might wanna cover your ears"

The Chevelle roared to life. Luna's ears flattened momentarily before curiosity got the best of her.

"How does this work exactly?"

Alec checked his mirrors before easing out onto the road.

"Let's see, about 100 years ago we began to create carriges that had engines in them. The engines were a lot like the ones used in your locomotives back home"

"How do yo-" Luna stopped herself mid- sentence as she remembered that there probably wasn't very many things that he didn't know about equestria by then.

"Anyways, the engines run on fossil fuels that we extract from the ground. It's been like that since the start. However the shape of cars has chenged over the years. This ones an "antique" so to speak. It was designed to be fast, loud and generally for young vigourous people"

"Interesting. So is your species the dominating species here?"

"Yep"

"How many are on this planet?"

"Just over 7 billion"

Lunas eyes widened. The population of equestria was just past the 4 billion mark. 

"What about your rulers?, do you have royalty?"

"Its hard to explain, but i'll tell you what. I have a bunch of books on our planet, culture and government plus tons of other stuff. You're welcome to look at them when we get to my house"

"Really?", Luna chirped. "I'd love to!!!" 

But then Luna noticed what appeared to be a manual. Try as she might however the symbols on the cover remained an enigma.

"Wait."

"Hm?" Alec grunted as he turned onto another road.

"I fear your language may be a bit foreign to me"

"But we're both speaking english"

"You mean equestrian"

"No, i mean english"

"So....The same verbal language but diffrent text methods and names ...tell me, how many letters are in your alphabet?"

"26"

"You're kidding right?" Luna said half hoping he was.

"Nope"

"Funny, so do we. If that's the case then i can't imagine having too much difficulty learning your's" She concluded with a confident tone.

"Only if you teach me equestrian" Alec reasoned.

Luna weighed the outcomes of teaching her new friend the language of her home planet. If she was going to learn their's then it was only fair. Besides, how dangerous could "Humans" be?

"Here we are" Alec announced pulling up the gravel drive. The Chevelle eased up to he closed garage door before he shut it off. 

Luna surveyed the surrounding area to the best of her ability.  The night hid most of the lot from view unfortunately.

"I'll show you around tomorrow" Alec said as he walked around and got the door for luna.

She giggled, got out and waited for Alec. The door opened as Alec said "I bid thee welcome to casa de Alec"

The porch was small with your typical closet and boot rack. Ahead lay a set of stairs which led to the kitchen and living room. Beside it was another that lead down to the basement. Luna raised an eyebrow as alec was staring at her. It was only after another few moments that Alec noticed. He blushed and tried to make it seem as if he never was, but failed miserably.

"Are you ok?" Luna asked.

"Oh.....Uh ya i was just uh" Alec mumbled as he looked at the wall.

Alec understandably couldn't control himself. After all Luna was now visible in the light of the porch and Alec was still geting over the fact that this was real... at least he hoped it was.

"It's ok" Luna said with a smile. "Im sure I look rather pitiful at the moment"

It was true, Luna was covered in mud and cuts. It could've been far worse however.

Alec glanced at a nearby clock. 2:30. He was out longer than expected. He looked at luna who (surprisingly) yawned.

"Let me show you to your room" He said as he motioned her to follow him a he acended the stairs. Alec led her to a bedroom with a clean, well kept bed. 

Luna went ahead inside before turning to him.

"I really can't thank you eno-"

"Say no more" Alec interrupted raising his hand.

*Such a gentlecolt*  Luna thought.

Alec stood in the doorway before realizing he was staring again. Luna laughed as he failed again at covering it. She then approached the bed and lifted the sheets with her magic. Alec watched in awe as the blue aura encased the sheets before covering the sleepy alicorn as she jumped in.

Alec turned out the lights.

"Goodnight luna"

"Goodnight Alec"

He then walked across the hall to his room. He didn't even bother geting into his pajamas. He hit the matress and was out in seconds. 

Luna turned in the bed across the hall and looked out of the window. Stars twinkled above this entire new world she had been sent to die in. She felt like there was more to this planet. Something Celestia had not told her. There had to be more to all of this. There had to be. But all she wanted right then was to be wih her.

"Goodnight sister" she whispered as a single tear rolled down her eye.

Dimensions away somepony else was crying too.

/////////////////////////////////////////////





> 6- Portal salvage 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think we have greatly underestimated the power of frozen water" twilight sighed as she wrung a towel out over a wooden pail.

"It seemed like a good idea at first" Her purple assistant grumbled as he began hauling the almost overflowing bucket towards the door.

"I figured that some blocks of ice could help keep things cool around here"

Twilight questioned why she herself agreed to it. The blocks of ice had worked perfectly, for about 3 minutes. The water logged lower book cases that had been submerged could attest to everything after.

"It proably didn't help that they were the size of carriges spike" 

"Look on the bright side, nopony reads anything from the bottom shelf anyway's" Spike said trying to cheer twilight up.

Twilight gave spike the "unamused" look.

"I do"

"Oh" Spike said with crimson appearing in his cheeks.

They had removed almost all of the water from the flooded library. Apart from cooling their feet off the water had been a complete disaster for the books. Spike was about to ask how to dry them all when a sudden knock silenced him.

"I got it" Twilight said as she trotted across the water logged floor to the door. Despite the fact that it was dark out  the light from inside the library  told Twilight that it was royal guards that stood solemly before her. Both had a look of despondency on their muzzles. They tried to maintain the stature of pride and stoicness. But Twilight saw something was wrong almost at once.

"Miss Sparkle" one of them said flatly.

"Yes, what's wrong"  Twilight replied trying not to let her cheery demeanour faulter.

"You're wanted at the castle at once" the other added.

"What's going on?"

...

"It's princess luna"

Twilights mind began to imagine worst case scenario. 

Deathly ill.

Foalnapped.

...

Dead.

"She's missing"

"She's what?"

"Missing" a guard said stepping forward. "You must come quickly"

Twilight decided that time was of the essence. She turned inside and called to spike who was standing across the room with a blowdryer to a book. 

"I have to go to canterlot, it's an emergency" 

Spike was about to start spewing questions but he silenced himself that time. The air in the library suddenly took on an air of uncertanty. 

"Ok, i'll watch over till you get back" he said waving towards the door.

"Please hurry Miss. We may not have much time."

Twilight nodded and turned out the door into the still hot, sticky night. She got onto a carriage not that diffrent from the one that had brought her to Ponyville in the first place. The guards attached themselves and wasted no time in turning and seting off into the muggy air. 

The trip to canterlot took almost half and hour. During that twilight had gone through almost every spell she had in her head in case it was needed. Despite her preparation, Twilight still felt terrible. She had that icky sensation radiating throughout her body. It was the type of feeling you would get after being told you had to get a root canal.

You want to believe everythings okay, but you know it's not.

As the carriage appeared through the top of the clouds the lights of the castle greeted them. Twilight immedieatly noticed the amount of guards had been doubled since thelast time she had been there. Not only were there guards standing guard at practically every potted plant. There were also guards checking every nook and cranny there was. They were searching for something obviously.

*No* Twilight thought.

*Somepony*

The view was inerrupted by one of the chateaus massive turrets as they banked around it for the final approach to the moonlit courtyard. Twilight was already over the side seconds after it touched down. She was then approached by a group of guards. However one of them had a familliar face.

"Twily!!!" Shining armour shouted as soon as he made eye contact. He was then nearly suffocated by Twilights hug, although he didn't mind the slightest. The embrace lasted a few more seconds until the reality of the situation crept back into their minds.

"Im so glad you're here!!!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Same for you"

"What's going on?"

"Heck if i know"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked cocking her head.

"I was told to put the castle on lockdown a few hours ago. I never got a reason why..."

"Wheres celestia?"

"In lunas bedroom. Come with me"

Shining turned and headed out of the courtyard and into the castle halls. The castle halls were still stuffy from the day's heat wave and just as dark. The sibling's broke into a rapid trot to close the distance faster. 

"Where's Princess Cadance?" Twilight asked.

"Sleeping, she was up for most of the night comforting Celestia, not that it did much Shining spoke gloomily. 

The duo soon reached the hall to Lunas bedchambers. There were at least 10 guards at the door, but once they saw Shining and twilight they were allowed in. They came in to a sorrowful sight. Guards stood and sat random places with tears staining their cheeks and making *tap* sounds as a drop occasionally hit a leg guard. The room was cast in an amber glow from candles that had been hastily lit. Twilight and Shining approached the now empty bed and stopped at it's foot.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" Twilight said with concern growing higher each second.

"Might as well ask The princess" Shining spoke pointing a hoof towards the open balcony doors. There, silhouetted by the moon, was what twilight hoped would be the answer to her questions. They approached and once they were close, Twilight cleared her throat.

Celestia turned to reveal an expression that could only be described as "dead". But upon seeing her pupil and most trusted guard some life sparked inside the sun goddess once more. 

"Twilight"

"Princess.....what's going on?"

Celestia decided not to sugar coat it. She replied almost instantly.

"She's missing"

Twilight half -thanked the heavens that Luna wasn't dead half - became more concerned. 

"Where is she?"

"And that my student is the million bit question" She said walking by them into the bedroom. Once inside she nodded at the squad of woebegone guards. They immediately cleared the room leaving only the two unicorn's and herself. She approached lunas bed and rested a hoof on it. seconds later her hind lags have out and she let herself hang off the edge.

"I truly do not know Twilight" she said with a somber tone. "All i saw was a comet that looked like... that looked like the one that separated us the first time".

Shining and Twilight flanked Celestia and offered what comfort they could, but like Princess Cadance, they were less than successful.

"I'll send my stallions all over Equestria if i have to your majesty" Shining spoke encouragingly.

"Shes not on the moon but she went into the sky......where could she B-B- BE!!!" Celestia cried out as she began to wail and bury her head in the now cold sheets of her sister's last location. 

Twilight and Shining armour looked at each other.  This wasn't working. 

"Celestia please, we need to work together" Twilight said laying a hoof on Celestias shoulder.

The Princess knew it too. But the amount of emotional pain she was in made even raising the moon for the first time almost unbearable.

"Twilight" Celesia began trying not to burst into tears again. "I called you here for you to use that spell I taught you a few months ago. It's the one that can locate any anomilies in the area it is cast in. I would use it myself, but until I can calm down enough I fear I am in no shape to cast it ".

"Of course!"

Celestia smiled. The strength and support her prized pupil gave off when needed could move mountains. 

"Thank you" She spoke gently. "I have the utmost faith in you"

"We need to look for clues. Do you mind if we look around?"

"Of course not"

"Alright then. Let's get too it." Twilight announced.

"Actualy, i have to go check on Cadance. I'll be back in a few minutes ok?" Shining said motioning towards the door.

"Sure thing" Twilight chirped skipping off towards the centre of the room. As shining left Twilight pulled the spell from her mental archive and as soon as she brought it forth, she noticed a diffrence in the air itself. She felt as if the air was "charged" with magical residue. The princess walked over to the same location. Sure enough, there was the unmistakable aura of a massive spell in the air. Both of them felt it. It gave each of them a tingling sensation in their horns, as if they had both cast a rather potent spell. 

"Can you feel it?" The Princess asked.

"I think so....what does it mean?"

"It is as I feared. Somepony has used a spell to send Luna away from here"

"What kind of spell?"

Celestia closed her eyes. She had managed to stifle her mental turmoil just enough to focus as she tilted her head forward. The tingling sensation in twilights horn increased briefly before ending abruptly. Twilight turned her head to celestia who's horn had stopped glowing and now had a puzzled look on her face. 

"What did you do?"

"I added some of my own magic to amplify the reminants of the previous spell" 

Twilight was once agian reminded that she still had a lot to learn.

"Which did?"

"It allows me to decipher which exact spell it was" She responded going to a far corner and motioning for her student to follow. 

When they were at what Twilight thought was a safe distance,Shining armour had returned from Cadance and raised an eyebrow at the sight he saw.

"Any particular reason you guys are in a corner" he asked from the doorway. 

"Im going to salvage the spell that was used here" Celestia replied.

Shining obviously knew what was coming. He quickly trotted to where the other two were hugging the wall the entire way. Once there he nodded to The Princess who did the same thing as before only this time the ground began to shake. The three had to steady themselves slightly to keep upright as the ground seemed to be in tremors beneath them.

"Will this work!?!?!?!?!" Twilight shouted over the racket.

"Almost got it!!!!!!" Celestia responded sternly.

A ball of purple began to form at the centre of the room. It was an exact replay of a few hours ago. The ball turned into a portal which deformed slightly and pulsed intermittently. Celestia opened her eyes once more as she tried to catch her breath. 

"That....whew......never gets....oh my.........easier"

She looked down at an amazed twilight who had to nearly pinch herself (a feat quite difficult for a pony) before the three cautiously approached the portal. 

"It definently leads to another galaxy" Twilight noted out loud. Sure enough in the portal was the clear image of what appeared to be a  spiraling group of stars just inside the portal. 

"What galaxy do you think it is?" Shining wondered aloud.

"Lets see" Celestia said levitating a book containing all galaxies known to equestrian astronomy from one of lunas shelves. She opened it and began flipping pages. She was motionless until she stopped and compared the two.

"I looks like" she started.

The suspense increased ten-fold with those two words. Shining and his BBBFF looked at each other, the portal and Celestia with anxiousness dominating their faces. 

"It looks like....the Milky way galaxy" She whispered.

"The what?" Both sibling's asked.

Celestia did not her them though. She was trying to figure out where she heard the name before. She knew she did, but it was a very, very, VERY long time ago.

Then she remembered.

And part of ther wished she hadn't.

"Please" She whimpered with tears threatening to return. "Not there, anywhere but there" 

Twilight leaned over to her brother and whispered in his ear. "I dont like this" 

"When did you start?" He asked back.

They both jumped as the astronomy book Celestia was holding in her aura impacted the ground. They turned to see a shaking celestia staring at the vacant space where the book was moments before.

"Princess?" Twilight asked approaching her slowly.

"This is bad" Celestia blurted.

"Why?" Shining asked joining the conversation.

"Thats where- " she cut herself off. 

*No* she thought. *They can't know yet*

"Where what?" Twilight reminded.

"Never mind" Celestia insisted. 

"O- ok then". Twilight decided that being persistant would yield nothing.

"So what now" she said trying to transition the subject as seamlessly as possible.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiii knooooowww" a mockingly sing- song voice echoed through the room without warning. 

Everypony knew who it was.

That sick feeling was back in twilights stomach again.

"Well if it isn't the monster of the hour" Celestia growled through gritted teeth.

"Flattery will get you no where" Discord said as he began to take shape in a cloud of smokea few feet beside the portal.

"Neither will being submissive"

"You know me well Tia"

"..."

"Unfortunately"
> 7- Dream of betrayal 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                      


////////////////////////////////////

Less than an hour ago Twilight was mopping up the meltwater of an air conditioning attempt gone wrong. She thought at the time that that was the worst possible thing ( As a certain fashionista would say ). Now she was standing less than 6 feet from the most mentaly unstable being she had ever encountered back with no intentions of taking prisoners.That made a flooded library look like a splinter compared to a telephone pole.

"I see you found the remains of my portal" Discord noticed.

"Were you trying to hide it" Celestia said with a smirk.

"No. After all its not like you'll find her" 

The smirk was instantly wiped off her muzzle.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know where she is?" Discord asked .

"No. And you better tell me" The princess responed adopting a much darker tone.

"Easy now" Discord said raising his mismatched forelimbs. "I'll tell you"

"Really now" Celestia said half expecting him to lying.

"Yes, she's on earth" 

"Well that much we already know" She replied.

"And thats all you're going to get" 

At that Discord turned his back. Celestia had little idea of where he was going but at that point all she wanted was to make sure he didn't leave. An aura of magic suddenly enveloped the draconequus and he immediately froze in place. 

"You don't get it do you?"

"I have a fairly broad idea" 

Twilight up to this moment had remained at her brothers side, afraid to move. But the fear was now overwhelmed by anger. Anger at Discord and only Discord. She left Shining armours side and went up beside Celestia.

"Enough is enough, how do we get her back?" Twilight barked.

Discord was momentarily taken aback by this new side of the purple mare. But his cockyness returned within seconds.

"Well well well, I was expecting a "hello" or something more polite" he said sarcasticly.

"Not from me. Where is she?" Twilight repeated.

"To be honest, I don't know much more than i've already said" He said with a surprising amount of truth in his voice.

Twilight noticed this and became suspicious.

"How so" she said cautiously.

"I only directed the portals exit to be as accurate as the planet. After that it's anypony's guess"

"So she could be anywhere?" Shining armour said accompanying Twilight beside the princess.

Discord nodded.

"Don't worry though, she won't be alive long enough for you to find her"

That statement drew three horrified gasps from his audience. The only one to reply was Princess Celestia.

"W- what do you meanby that?" She stuttered.

"The dominant species of that planet is... curious" Discord stated vaugely.

"What will they do?"

"Nothing much. Once they find her, and don't worry they will, they will most likely want to study this strange new creature"

"By means of...."

A sense of dread closed in on the trio of ponies. They held their breath collectivly.

"Disection"

The princess collapsed the moment Discord finished the sentence. Twilight went to her side, trying to ignore Discord laughing as he faded away once more. 
He vanished with one parting line.

"I have things to do in the meantime. I'll be back soon Tia"  

Twilight paid no mind to his departure. Her princess was unconcious from shock and thats all that was important. Her brother joined her.

"Princess please, we need you back here" Twilight said trying to avoid having a mental breakdownafter hearing of Luna's possible demise.

"C'mon princess" Shining encouraged. "Wake up"

"Mmmmmmm......where's Discord?" Celestia said groggily.

Shining had a hunch. A glance upwards confirmed his fears.

"Gone"

"We have to get him" She replied.

"We will. For now we need to figure out how to get to luna"

"I can't loose her forever...... We have to save her" Celestia said with tears forming one more in her eyes.

Twilight and shining looked at each other. 

"We will" Twilight ensured.

"I'll send my most capable stallions after him" Shining added. "We won't rest till we get him" 

Shining then helped the Princess back on to her hooves.

"Discord's done playing games" Twilight said facing the Blue planet viewable inside the portal. The other's joined her and stared at the planet of untold danger. 

Twilight donned a determined look.

"But so are we"


////////////////////////////////////////////////

Earth
4:54 A.M.

Luna awoke to the humming of a flourescent light which was suspended over the cage. She was jolted awake by the sound of the door slamming shut. She attempted to stand but discovered the cage was quite small. The culprit to her confinement was still a mystery as was many other things. Luna looked towards the now locked door (trying to solve at least one) and gasped at the sight.

There stood Alec and another human. The other appeared to be a scientist of some sort juding from the lab coat.

"Alec what's going on?" Luna asked timidly.

"CAN IT" He shouted slamming his fist on the top of the cage. Luna responded by scrambling to a corner.

Alec turned back to the scientist. What was this? Why was Alec suddenly so diffrent?

"1 million was it?" 

"Yep. She is after all quite the find"

"You can have her...but.....make sure she suffers"

The scientist kneeled down to the cage where Luna was cowering in.

"She will know suffering beyond her darkest fears"

Luna went wide eyed aand forced herself harder against the bars.

"I have plans for you Luna"

//////////////////////////////////////

Luna awoke in a cold sweat with her chest heaving. The sounds of crickets helped her convince herself it was over.

"Just a dream....no.....a nightmare"

This was odd. Luna ironicaly hardly ever had nightmares. She tried to roll over and fall asleep again, but her thirst said no.
*Thirsty* she thought. *Of all the times*

She slid out ofthe bed and went into the hall. Alec's snoring came from the other room. Luna tried to walk toward's the kitchen, but Instead she crept towards Alec's room. She was driven by something more powerfull than thirst. She was driven by curiosity. The mark on his chest. She had to see it again.

Luna found the door opened a crack. She tip-hooved inside and up to Alec. The sleeping human was facing her on his side. Luna remembered where the mark had appeared and began to pull at the still oil stained tee. She kept glancing at his face, fearing what would happen if she was caught. Soon the mark came into view. It sood out despite that dark on his less than tanned skin. It looked like a tattoo to be honest. The image of a broadsword was plainly recognizableand looked to be normal. That was until she touched it. It was ice cold. Despite the warmth from Alec's body this one part remained as cold as the Equestrian north. 

Then Luna realized.

That mark located at that particular spot. She had never seen it and yet it was as if she had known of its existance for centuires.

But why?

Why that mark and why did it appear on Alec just now.

Luna's thought proess was shattered as he broke the silence, almost sending Luna through the roof.

"It's impolite to spy on people you know" he said smugly.

Luna looked up to see Alec resing his head on his arm.

"Oh my I don't know what i was thinking. Im so sorry Alec" Luna said hiding her face in her hooves.

Alec chuckled. "I know it's weird and all but it can wait till tomorrow"
"It's ok. How about you? are you ok?"

Luna almost told him about the nightmare, but decided that a dream about him betraying her to a psyco would probably be best discussed at the breakfast table....Maybe not even then.

"Yes, i was just curious" She said blushing.

"No worries" He replied.

"Ok. Goodnight" Luna whispered returning to her room.

Alec turned over and closed eyes once more shortly after.









> 8- Purple portals and revelations.....
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drool on Alec's pillow is what usually got him out of bed. No clock on earth could match the effectiveness of bodily fluids smearing your cheek. Alec sometimes wanted to tape his mouth closed. He could watch The entire saw series only to loose his lunch over a wet spot on a pillow. 

Typical morning.

Apart from Luna. 

Alec remembered so much with such detail that he dismissed any notion of it being a dream. Still, he went into the hall and peeked into The guest room. There was Luna, sleeping soundlessly. He retreated from the doorway and went to the kitchen.
He reached into the cupboard under the island and retrieved a stainless steel toaster with the words "YEAH TOAST!!!" scribbled on the side with a sharpie. Alec shook his head in amusement.

*Raymond needs to stop watching G- mod on youtube... and tagging my appliances everytime he comes over for breakfast*

He plugged the toaster in and set two slices to just hardly brown. Alec for one hated burnt toast. He then went and poured a tall glass of OJ to accompany it. He was waiting for the toast to pop when Luna walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Alec" Luna said wih a yawn.

"Good morning your majesty" Alec replied.

"Please no formalities Alec, Luna is quite alright"

"If you say so"

A moment of awkward silence ensued. Luna stood at the entrance to the hall and Alec  (Being the genious)  failed to notice for a few seconds. 

"Oh uhm.....I'd imagine you're famished. Would you like something to eat?" Alec said slapping himself mentally again for zoning out.

*Quit losing it dude* 

"If you don't mind" Luna responded walking up to the island and resting her forehooves on the edge.

"No worries" Alec assured as he strode over to the pantry.

He opened it and scanned the shelves.

*Pasta.......nah I'll save that for dinner..........no wait, CAKE!!!!!!*

Alec looked over his shoulder to see Luna distracted by a blueberry scented candle sitting in a small dish beside her.

*This isn't Pinkie Pie you idiot* he mumbled delving deeper into the cupboard.

Finally he found something.

*Apples* he smirked at himself. *Perfect*

He went over to the island and cut the apple into slices. Taking his sweet time, however to make sure they were all even and properly portioned. Normally he could care less about accuracy but he had royalty over. Perfection became top priority.

"It looks delightful" Luna said happily.

"Yep, these apples are as juicy as they come from nova scotia" Alec slightly bragged.

"Nova what?" Luna asked levitating a piece from the pile of slices.

"Nova scotia" Alec repeated. "It's the province we're in" 

"Oh" 

"I'll explain more later but first, I'd like you to eat up" 

"Ok"

The sound of popping toast drew Alec to the toaster. Two golden pieces of morning chow protruded from the two slots on top. Because they were not too hot, Alec grabbed them and procedded to jam them up. He then went and pulled up a chair beside Luna.

"These are quite delectable" Luna said ingesting another juicy piece of apple.

"They aint no S.W.A. apples, but I try my best" Alec said nibbling on his toast.

"You really are too generous Alec" 

His name. Alec wanted to pull out his I- pod and record her indefectable voice saying his name then and there. But he managed to get ahold of himself. The last thing she needed was a creepy fanboy rcording her voice at breakfast.

Alec and Luna finished their meals in silence. Once they were done Alec took his plate and the knife and threw them in the dishwasher.

He then led Luna into his library.

It was really nothing special. A few rows of books occupied the shelf on the left of a large flatscreen. Most of Alec's book collection consisted of historical novels on stuff such as WWII. There was however a copy of breaking dawn that had found it's way into the mix recently. 

"Raymond" Alec grumbled. "Biggest. Troll. Ever."

Luna was looking over the spines of the books. It wasn't doing her very much good obviously considering that english was still an enigma to her.

"Would you mind translating?" She asked.

"No not at all" Alec replied gesturing for her to select one. 

"How about this one?" She asked.

"This book's about world war two" Alec explained.

"World war?"

*Oh no*

Alec realized that he just brought forth one of mankinds greatest screwups. And Luna, the completely sensitized alicorn, want's to know about it.Too late to turn her away now.

"Luna? Do you know what war is?"

Luna's face became sombre. War in equestria was almost non - existant. The element's of harmony were in part to thank for the reign of peace, but the princes's ways of love and compassion over fear and violence proved to be invaluable in keeping things together.

"Yes" She responded slowly. "Is it common here?"

Alec decided to lie about the current conflicts overseas as to not concern her further.

"No. Our most recent one was over sixty year's ago."

"That's not very long ago" Luna noted.

Alec knew it too. But he couldn't go and enlighten her just yet. 

Some other time would be more appropriate.

"Was anypony hurt?" she continued.

"Yes" Alec  said breaking eye contact with her.

Luna noticed this and became more fearful of the answers she was about to recieve.

"How many?"

The number was in Alec's head. He wanted to do anything to prevent himself from having to say it, but in his heart he knew there was no escape.

"60 million" he whispered.

"Hurt?" 

"Dead"

Luna looked down at the books cover. The image of a tiger tank with its 88 mm gun raised to the heavens in the name of violence adorned the cover.

"Your use of technology appears to know no limits" She said emptily.

Alec felt filthy inside. The first thing Luna knew about humanity's history was how it almost brought on it's demise.

Alec couldn't have been more humiliated right then.

"We were an unstable world back then. Human's would fight over anything. The world wasn't big enough and we were too smart when it came to weapons"

Luna just stared. She just found out that the dominant species on the planet was capable of mass murder.

Alec decided to try and salvage the situation to the best he could.

"Wanna hear some music?"

Luna didn't respond.

"Luna....I'm sorry i told you that. It wasn't appropriate of me" Alec said looking away.

"It's ok" Luna responded with a smile. "All these book's say something"

"What's that?"

"That your species remembers your mistakes and learns from them"

Alec chuckled. The goodness inside the Princess trounced any bad reputation mankind could conjure.Cat

The human the took a C.D. from the shelf and inserted it into a stereo underneath the T.V. The sound of "Starlight" by Muse began to pour from the speakers on either side.


Far away
This ship has taken me far away
Far away from the memories 
Of the people who care if i live or die....

////////////////////////////////////////



CANTERLOT CASTLE

Twilights ears perked at the bass that began to come through the portal. She didn't know what to think of it. Especially because it was coming through a portal to who knew where.

"Princess, come quick!!!!!" She shouted out the door.

Twilight's brother and Celestia came bounding through the door and stopped cold as the chorus reached their ears. They had been in the archives looking for anything that would be of aid in their situation. The 3 approached and sat by the portal almost entranced by the alien song coming from it.

Our hopes and expectations

Black holes and revelations.....

"Have you ever heard anything like this princess?" Shining asked.

"Not in all my existence" She responded in an amazed tone.

Twilight suddenly got up and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Shining called.

"We don't understand this right?" She answered with a question.

The princess and Twilights brother looked at each other and back at the purple mare.

"Right" They said at once.

"Then we need to change that" She said exiting the bedroom.

Shining armour and Celestia followed close behind. They knew the more eyes in the library there were the faster they could search.....for whatever it was that were searching for. The "MUSEic" continued as the room became empty.

Hold you in my arms

I just wanted to hold you in my arms

I just wanted to hold....













> 9- Wash the pain away
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The song did wonders for luna. She felt calm inside for the first time in a long time. She then did something that surprised Alec and her both. She turned and hugged him.


It was brief, but the emotion expressed by how hard she wrapped her forehoove's around Alec's neck made up by far. She buried her head into his chest and exhaled all of the fear and anxiety that had been consuming her ever since she had gotten to Halifax. Perhaps even before that. 

Alec (Shockingly) did not have a "Fanboy- gasm" and instead sat there and felt her body shake as the emotions passed from her to him. It was strange though because Alec then felt something he had never felt before.

The urge to protect. The urge to defend this alicorn to his last breath. Alec had never felt this way before. Not about Raymond. Not about his Chevelle. Not even about his..... parents. The intensity was almost supernatural. Every fibre of his being wanted to make sure that nopony/no one would ever bring her harm. This and the mark on his chest had to mean something.

It had to.

Luna pulled away and blushed ashamedly.

"I'm so sorry" she blurted. 

Alec wasn't hearing any of it.

"It's ok. You're under a huge amount of stress and sometimes we need to let it out"

Luna smiled.

"You're a good friend Alec"

"Thanks"

He reached out and put his hand under her chin. Alec then noticed something. The mud.

Dried mud.

All over her (once) clean coat.

Luna then noticed it too. She had landed in a swamp and hadn't bathed since. They both then blushed as they realized how much they had been blinded by each other. Alec looked himself over as well. He was still in the same getup and just as equally filthy. 

"Um, Luna"

"Yes" 

.....

"I think you need a shower"

"You mean a bath?"

"Nope, all i have is a shower stall"

Luna had a stall as well as a tub back in Equestria. She rarely used the stall however. Bathtubs were there first after all.

"Oh, that will do just fine then"

Alec led Luna to the bathroom. It was mostly white with some tan trim on the sink and mirror. The shower stall sat in a corner with blurred glass doors. Alec approached and opened the door. Luna couldn't help but notice the wide variety of Shampoo's and conditioner's there were. After all Alec was only one person. 

Alec turned a handle and pulled his arm out as water bagan to emerge from the head. Luna wasn't unfamiliar with the process and couldn't help but interrupt.

"I can take it from here"

"Ok" Alec acknowledged. 

Luna then stepped inside the shower. The water around her hooves turned brown for a second but then turned back to clear. Her mane flattened out around her shoulders as she stuck her head under the stream of steamy water. 

"Use the blue bottle ok?" Alec said leaving the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna put my car in the garage"

"Is that's whats behind that big door i saw last night?"

"Ya" Alec confirmed closing the door behind him.

Luna then went back to soaking herself in the hot water. Her muscles were aching, ( wether because of the inter - galactic voyage or the crash landing she did not know) but the shower was washing the pain along with the mud and grime away.

Alec went downstairs and opened the front door. The weather was strange. Sunny. The rays were blinding at first but there were plenty of clouds that gave the eyes a break every few minutes. He got into the Chevelle and flipped the driver's side visor down. He wasn't facing the sun but that wasn't why he had lowered it. There was a button clipped to the inside of it. Alec pushed it and the garage door in front of him began to retract. He then slowly pulled inside and hit the button again to close it behind him. 

Alec got out just in time to hear Luna's panicked voice from upstairs.

"ALEC, COME QUICK!!!!! SOMETHING'S TERRIBLY WRONG!!!!!"

Alec scaled the stairs back upstairs two at a time. He didm't know what to expect until he burst through the door to find Luna standing in the shower stall with a look of confusion on her face. 

"Luna" Alec panted. "Are- are you ok?

"No, Theres something wrong with my magic" She replied sorrowfully.

"What do you mean?"

"Look"

Luna looked at the bottle of shampoo that Alec had shown her. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. The aura of magic slithered up towards the bottle only to fade as it began to float hardly an inch off the shelf. Luna's eyes reopened and saw a stunned Alec trying to process what just happened.

"What do you think caused that?" He asked cluelessly.

"I don't know. All i can think of is that because of my distance from equestria, I am suffering in terms of my magical strength - wise"

Alec nodded as he kneeled in front of the open stall. He put a hand on Luna's shoulder, despite soaking his arm in the still running shower. 

"Don't worry. We'll find out how to solve this"

Luna looked deep into his eyes for the second time since they met.

"Promise?"

"Promise"

Luna felt better at this reassurance. She was still muddy however.

"Alec?"

"Yes?"

"Could you help me finish up please?"

There was a small detonation in Alec's heart.

"Of course"


> 10- Hidden keys and REALLY awkward shower moment's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The archives in canterlot held stories and and facts from as early as anypony could remember. Topics ranging from botany to home improvement could be found in the labyrinth of shelves. 

And even then, secrets eluded discovery.

Princess Celestia, Twilight and her brother were tearing apart the shelves looking for something, anything that could help them decipher the strange music they had heard from the portal just minutes ago. So far their efforts were yielding little profit.

"With the amount of dust coming off these books, we may need to start looking for a book on bronchitis" Shining armour said to his little sister who was several shelves below him. 

"Hah, just try not to sneeze yourself off that ladder" she tossed back up.

Shining chuckled and continued searching the top shelf. 

Arts

Chemistry

Equestrian lore

Universal portals.....

Shining repeated the last title in head a few times to make sure the dust wasn't clouding his judgement. Fortunately for him, it wasn't.

"Princess, Twily I think i've got something!!!!!!!" he said as he slowly began to descend the ladder with the book in his aura.

Celestia who was in another part of the library, came gliding around a corner of shelves with a look of curiosity on her face. She had, after all, read the content's of the shelve's many times in her endless life. She kept optimistic as she and her pupil met Shining at the bottom of the ladder.

The book was dusty as the others were. But the dust only covered all that made it different. Twilight brought forth a duster and gently removed the coating of age. The book was dark blue, much like luna's coat but more faded. The spine showed various gems cut into the shapes of planet's. The cover was blank, apart from a black piece of paper thin obsidian in the centre which read:

Universal portals and all about them

There was no author named so the book must have been tossed up into a shelf once it became unpopular. 

Twilight looked at Celestia who had an anxious look on her face. She figured that making her wait wouldn't help Luna faster and opened it.

Their jaws dropped.

There was nothing. The 600 pages thick book were actually hollowed out into a chamber.  But here was a bigger surprise still, the contents.

Inside the hollowed chamber there was a small sword about he size of a chess piece. There was a small hole in the handle which had a piece of string through it which hinted it to be a necklace of sorts.

But why would it be hidden in the hollow book that could solve all their problems?

Twilight slowly lifted strange object out. It was the shape of a broadsword, almost like the ones used by the Equestrain knights that protected the Princess many years ago.

The sword was small enough to fit into the centre of one's hoof. It was made of dark brown wood that was smooth and polished as could be. 

"That's it?" Twilight blurted in disbelief. "I've got no idea what this could possibly be for"

Shining armour and Celestia had to agree. The simple piece of jewlery had no significant features or apparent relevance whatsoever. 

But then Twilight had a thought.

"Shining, could you go back up and check behind where you found this?"

Her brother nodded and began to ascend the ladder once more. The princess accompanied him along the way. Should he fall, the impact would be severe if not fatal. 

"Who's idea was it to build these things 50 feet up?" Shining armour complained as he grasped another rung.

"Once we ran out of floor space, there was only one direction we could go" the Princess responded.

"Up"

Shining groaned and continued his mountainous task. Upon reaching the top he looked at the shelf behind the books former location. Sure enough there was something he missed. There was a shape carved into the shelf similar to the necklace. 

Too similar.

"Twily, could you pass up the sword thingy?" He called down below. 

Twilight levitated it up 30 feet to where He could grab it in his own magic. He then carefully inserted it with the blade facing up into the slot. 

There was a then thump  down beside Twilight. 

She jumped out of the way as the floor beside her began to retract downward. A space only a few feet in each direction began to sink into the floor leaving a square hole.

Within seconds the floor returned with a payload. 

A book, Identical to the phoney, sat dust - free on the trap door. The Princess and Shining armour had seen the event from above and couldn't descent fast enough. 

They were careful not to move the book from it's mysterious elevator. The trio instead formed a half circle around the (hopefully) not hollow codex.

"See" Twilight said beaming. "There's alway's something else"

"I see" the Princess mused. Celestia took the book in her magic and brought it to a table in the centre of the room. The 3 gathered around it once more as she opened it.

Text.

The greatest find of the day.

The group collectively released their breath they hadn't noticed they'd been holding. 

Twilight and her brother, however found themselves holding it as Celestia began to read the first page.

In plight of loving them

They bleed

And willingly surrender themselves to death

For with death

Comes emancipation

....

The silence that ensued was one screaming with mental questions. Twilight was the first to go vocal.

"Useless? or usefull?"

She looked to her brother beside her who looked to the Princess beside him.

"It's revived something almost impossible to forget, yet unable to remember" She whispered. 

She turned to the sparkle siblings.

"Return to the portal and wait for my arrival"

She then spun in place before taking off with the book clenched in her teeth. Where to neither of them knew. But they had their orders.

They returned to Luna's bedroom to find the portal still churning. They sat in front of it ready for something else.

But nothing came.

////////////////////////////////// 

Princess celestia paced in front of her desk in her study. The word's from the book were pulling at something. However that something wouldn't catch. She was almost fed up when she went through the strange scripture once more in her head.

They willingly surrender themselves to death.....

Why?

Who?

The only thing's that ever did that were the........

Her tongue turned to cement in her mouth. She suddenly knew who and what, but it still did not make sense.

We grew apart eons ago....... how could this be happening now......and why?

Answers led to questions and more questions as she paced into the night.

///////////////////////////////////////////////

"Luna you really need to stay still" Alec mumbled as he applied a THIRD rinse to her now drenched mane. She just giggled and tried to abide. 

The mud had almost vanished from her silky mane. The shine was prominent even in the brightly lit bathroom.

"Almost done"

The shower door had been left open in order for Alec to reach Luna more easily. The advantage had it's drawbacks though. Alec's knees were soaked in the water that had escaped and his floor would need just as many towels as Luna.

Still, In his mind it was worth it.

Alec applied more blueberry scented shampoo to the pouf. Luna felt it go under her belly, up her side, across her back, back down under and toward's her......

"Wait a minute" she thought. "Is he?"

"Freeze mister!!!!" a voice interrupted Alec's "auto pilot washing mode"

Alec followed his shoulder down to his elbow, which was attached to his forearm, which was attached to his hand, which was damn near in between the alicorn moon goddesses legs. 

"NO NO ZONE!!!!!!! NO NO ZONE YOU FOREVER ALONE TWIT!!!!!!"  

Alec stopped dead. His eyes drifted towards towards luna's head. She was still too, staring blankly ahead and not turning her head in in suspiciousness. 

In short, she knew.

Alec slowly removed his arm from the "danger zone" and resumed washing her cutie mark like nothing happened. The following minutes were spent in silence, until Alec decided to get something out of the way once and for all.

Alec stopped in the middle of the final rinse and pointed the shower head away and looked at Luna for the first time since the "Incident".

"Sorry about that" he said quickly.

"That's all right. I can't imagine that you've had much experience washing living things, other than yourself of course" she added with a smirk.

"Um... yea It's been mostly cars and there really isn't any way that can get awkward " he replied blushing.

"On the bright side, you've done quite well for an ameteur pony washer"

Alec (finally) finished and got a towel from the closet in the hall. Luna got out and he proceeded to dry her. She giggled as he roughed her up. Just like washing, Alec had only dried two things before Luna. Him and his car.

This was a little different.

Once dry Luna and Alec went into the kitchen. They sat on opposite sides of the island. The afternoon rays cast rays of dust filled air across the counter. It was just past noon. Alec was facing the window so he settled for staring at the table.

"So Alec" Luna began."What do you do for entertainment around here?"

Alec looked up.

"I guess we could start with the basics. Plus I can show you something while I'm at it"

Luna cocked her head. Alec noticed her mane was starting to flow without influence again.

"Wanna go for a drive?"
> 11- A place to hide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rumble of the Chevelle disturbed the peaceful evening as it glided down the single lane road. Alec had turned left instead of right when he'd left his house. Luna was asking questions but Alec assured her it was something important. When she persisted Alec tuned her out and the radio in. Billy talent's "Fallen leaves" filled the interior with an ambience that forced Luna to staring at the blur of pines out the passenger window. The sun was just beginning to set, turning everything a pale orange. Luna wasn't very comfortable either. The hoddie she was wearing was, of course, not designed with her proportions in mind. But she wore it after Alec had told her that she could not be seen. And after learning about WWII, she decided she'd rather be safe than sorry. Alec had taken no chances as well. His Chevelle had a louvre protecting the back window and the right side seat was more than enough to discourage peering eyes. For the sides, Alec had taken the inside door panels off and replaced the clear windows with ones that were tinted a dark oxford blue. At day, it would be very difficult for anyone to see inside without pressing their nose against it.

The last person who did that wound up with a broken jaw and a busted nose.

Alec was returning from an automotive part's store and had walked up to find a thief trying to pick the lock with a clothes hanger. Needless to say, one of Alec's purchases that day happened to be a tire iron. In a panic, the carjacker had tackled him  and, in self defence, Alec christened the tool with human blood. 

Napa wouldn't let him return it after that. 

For the front, he had placed an old tackle box on the passengers console. it was just high enough to obscure a majority or Luna's figure while allowing her a fairly decent view. At night the inside of the car would be pitch black to someone approach ing from the front as well. Anything else was covered by the grey sweater that made Alec's "Daaaaaaaaawwwwww" levels quadruple. 

"Is all of this really necessary?" Luna groaned fidgeting in the hoodie.

"Quite" Alec responded with a grin.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, you look cute that's all" He replied innocently.

Luna blushed and resumed looking out the window. There was nothing but trees and trees not unlike the ones she had landed among last night. 

"Not another road for miles" she noted. 

There had also been no other motorist's since they had left. Luna could not help but wonder where their destination could be.

Alec suddenly slowed and turned off into what used to be a gas station. The pumps and convienence store had been demolished and all that remained were the raised concrete bases of the pumps and the various piles of debris left in the far corners of the lot. 

The Chevelle stopped in with a squeak from the brakes and as Alec got out, Luna followed. Her magic could still manipulate small objects and fortunately, the Chevelles door handle's posed no difficulty. They walked to the pump bases and sat. Luna looked behind her and stared at the protruding wires and rebar that had been carelessly cut high from their point of emergence, leaving sharp hazards for anyone who were to trip and fall there of all places. 

"That's where the pumps were"

"Pardon?"

"The pumps. That's what pumped the gas from the underground tanks to the car's"

"You mean this was a refuelling station?" Luna asked looking more carefully at the surroundings.

Piles of concrete and steel posts laid in varying piles laid around the edges of what used to be the small parking lot. Beyond them lay only the same dense forest that had embedded itself in Lunas memory from staring at it on their way there.

"They really could've done a better job at cleaning up" Luna said shaking her head.

"Maybe, but that's not why we're here" Alec said turning to her.

"Then why are we?" she replied.

Alec took a deep breath. 

"In the event that something happens to me, i need you to, no matter where you are, come here"

Luna looked around at the growing shadows of the gas station.

"Here" she said surprisedly pointing a hoof at the cracked concrete.

"Remember my friend I told you about?" Alec said.

She nodded.

"I have it arranged for him to come here after you arrive. He'll keep you safe if things go south" Truthfully Raymond was yet to even be notified of Luna's existence. But Alec would have to wait. A text or a picture message could be seen by the wrong person and that's no small problem.

Luna suddenly felt concerned. She did not want anything to happen to Alec much less something happen to him because of her.

"Why are you saying this?" she asked.

"The world i live in is filled with bad people. They would do a lot of bad things to you if they ever got ahold of you. It may be in the middle of nowhere but that's only because i know that no one ever comes out here"

Luna believed him. Partly because he was the only person she had met so far on that planet. But partly because of something else. 

Luna didn't know how to describe it then. It was the feeling of not wanting to leave his side. The feeling of not wanting to see anything bad happen to him. The feeling of being near somepony who mad you laugh or cry even after a bad argument. 

Luna had only felt this close to someone before. Her sister.

Celestia.

Luna suddenly felt longing for her voice. She longed for he wings to wrap around her much like they did when she was a filly afraid of a thunderstorm. To hear her say: 

"Everything will be alright, I promise"

Luna whirled around, almost swiping Alec with her tail.

"TIA?" She called into the woods.

No answer. Luna turned to see Alec standing and looking into the woods as well. 

"What is it?" he asked with tension in his voice.

Luna gave Alec a puzzled look.

"Did you not hear that Alec?" 

"Um... no?"

"But how? I heard it clear as day and there's no other way I co- "

Luna stopped as she remembered something that dashed her hopes. It was no secret that alicorns were capable of telepathy. But Luna's confusion quickly returned. How could she hear her sister if she was at least a few universes away?

Luna sat in thought as Alec continued scanning the woods. He walked off and returned a few minutes later to find that the princess had not moved. 

"I looked but there's nothing there" He said shrugging.

Luna got up and started toward's the Chevelle. Alec caught up to her by the the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Luna opened the door and got in. She then rolled the window down and rested her chin on the sill. 

"Let's go home first. I don't want anypony to hear what i need to say"

"But we-"

Luna gave Alec a pleading look through the rolled down window. He rolled his eyes and fished the keys from his jeans.

"Ok, but promise you tell me everything O.K?"

"Of course" Luna said smiling.

Alec got in and started the car. Seconds later it was off in the opposite direction, leaving the gas station in the rearview mirror, which hopefully, Luna would not have to return to again.


///////////////////////////////////////////////////


Shining armour pulled the sheets over his little sisters sleeping form. They had both been up the entire previous night. Celestia was still in her study. Not a word had been spoken of her doings but Shining imagined it could only be important. 
He pecked Twilight on the forehead. She responded with a mumble that sounded like "Nighty - night Shiny" before rolling over. 

She may be older. But she would always be his "L.S.B.F.F" 

Shining made his way back over to the portal. He sat and yawned while trying to put the pieces together.

"Portals, secret books, symbols and a mysterious poem? This isn't going to be easy figuring out"  he thought to himself.

Before he could think further. The door to Luna's room opened to reveal Celestia and and two of Shining armours guards flanking her.

"Princess!!!" he said excitedly as he went to meet her.

"Has anything occurred in my absence?" she began hoping that something did.

Shining shook his head.

"No, same as it's been all day. Twilight almost fell over so i put her in Luna's bed... if that's ok"

The princess smiled. "Of course. She has been up for many hours.... as have you captain" 

Shining yawned again.

"Im alright. Somepony needs to keep watch for That maniac after all" 

"I think i can handle it from here, Shining" the princess said assuringly. "Go and rest. I'm sure Cadance misses you quite much"

Shining couldn't argue. He slowly trotted off to his and Cadance's room. 

Celestia approached the bed where her pupil lay. She nuzzled her as a thought came into her head. 

"You're lucky to have such a caring brother, do you know that?"

Twilight snored in response.

The princess chuckled quietly. She then turned and went out onto the balcony overlooking Canterlot. Many ponies had already went to bed, the candles in the windows slowly extinguishing across the city.

Celestia looked up at the moon. Tonight was the second time she had had to raise it since her sisters return. Inside the princess wanted to not have to.

"You always made better, sister" she whispered. 

She then went back inside and laid at the end of Luna's bed. She rested her head in her hooves and watched the portal, the last bit of hope for her only sibling's return, spin on through the night.


//////////////////////////////////////////


Luna began to yawn more frequently as they got closer to home. Alec couldn't help but enjoy seeing the sleepy alicorn nod off only to be jolted awake by a bump in the road. When they pulled into the drive the garage door was already open, waiting for the Chevelle to occupy it's interior for another night. The engine's rumble got louder for a few seconds once inside, but Alec was quick to silence it as soon as the rear bumper was clear of the doors path. They sat in the dark for a few minutes, reflecting on how important of a day they'd had, at least until Alec looked over to see that Luna had fallen asleep. He laughed quietly as he got out, went over and proceeded to lift the dead tired princess out and cradle her in his arms. He immedieatly noticed how heavy she was. Alec guessed she must have weighed at least 100 pounds. Carefully, with Luna's gently exhaling in his face, he made his way up the dark stairs, being careful not to step on any creaky boards. Once they arrived at the guest room, Alec gently laid her on her side. He then noticed that she was grinning in her sleep. 

"Sweet dreams your majesty" he whispered as he tiptoed out and closed the door.

Alec looked back down the hall leading towards the stairs. A digital clock on the stove could be seen from the kitchen. 

"12:22, might as well clock out myself" 

He went into the bedroom, stripped down and donned a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms, leaving his still dirty yesterday's wear to bathe in the moon light that was now streaming through the window.

Alec then got into bed and closed his eyes.

"I'll get her back to you Celestia, I promise.

The dream that came would make his promise all the more important.
> 12- Shouldn't have played Amnesia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord hovered lazily above the cliffs of Canterlot, reclining as if he were on a couch. I front of him levitated a quill and piece of parchment. He would dab the quill in the ink bottle (also floating) next to him, scribble briefly, then proceed to rip the script in half before conjuring a new one. 

"Here I was thinking a list of demands would be easy to think of" he grumbled inertly. "One billion bits, the immediate cessation of the use of the elements of harmony, the throne, what else?" he thought tapping the quill on his chin.

Now that he actually had somewhat of a list, the fiendish hybrid decided for ANOTHER break. 

"Two is good, I'll get back to it later" he announced to himself. "I'll just check on the "heroes" in the meantime. After all, how much progress could they have made in recovering that confounded brat"

His confident demeanour slowly faded as he realized how much he had jinxed himself.

"Great, now they'll find her before breakfast" He grumbled to the air in front of him. 

The draconequus proceded to glide down the face of the cliff until he found himself atop one of the turrets roof's. He eyed the area with caution, despite his confidence he wasn't about to draw attention from the guard's just because. The sight of Luna's room lured him over to the far part of the castle. Snaking along the shingles, he dropped down to the balcony in a matter of seconds. 

"Hello?" Discord called quietly in a sing- song voice.

No answer.

"Brilliant"

His magic overcame the rather simplistic lock and allowed him to enter the room without waking Twilight or the princess. He went over to the bed where Celestia lay snoring lightly. The way they lay, both oblivious of the midnight intruder, made Discord question why he didn't simply finish them in their sleep. 

"It would be a snap" he laughed in his head. "But I'll deal with these weakling's later. Once Luna is dead, she may as well surrender the crown out of despair."Discord smiled as he ran a talon through Celestias mane. As he looked up something else caught his eye. Once he noticed the portal he wasn't sure to be infuriated of surprised to see it, alive and functioning, swirling in the same spot he had summoned in originally. 

"Buck" 

He approached the entrance and inspected it with his magic. The aura connected with the portal and upon closing his eyes, he felt two presences. One which was completely unfamilliar to him, the other was the exact opposite.

"What? Luna's alive?"

Discord glared at an unresponsive Celestia.

"It was you wasn't it?" He sneered through the dark. 

Another thought then popped into his head. Luna lasting that long on that planet could only mean one thing. That the second presence coming through the portal was possibly helping her.

"Making friends are we?" he whispered almost silently. He was actualy surprised that he hadn't woken them up yet. Still, he looked behind him to be sure.

Once confident that they were out still, he turned back and closed his eyes once more, lifted an arm and held it up to the portal. the magic coming from his claw merged with the purple concoction of matter, space and goodness knew what else. He smiled as he found the unknown companion to Luna. It's consciousness and thought process indcated that it was sleeping. 

"Oh goody" Discord giggled. He quickly decided to give the stranger a warning. Aiding the condemned was treason in his book, but the warning he had in mind was based of something found deep within the mind of his victim. 

"Let's see" Discord mumbled. "What do you fear?"

He received an answer from Alec's memory almost instantly.

"Hmmmmmmmmm, interesting" The draconequus ruminated. 

"Let's see how your friend likes it when his game comes to life, Luna"


///////////////////////////////////

The dusty wood floor was warm and rough. Alec awoke almost instantly. He rubbed his eyes and wondered why the air suddenly felt so damp and sticky. 

Then he opened his eyes.

He was immediately dumbfounded by multiple things.

1- He was pretty sure he had fallen asleep in his bed. If that was the case then there was no reason for him to be at the end of a dark hallway sitting up against an old iron door. The torchlight prevented him from seeing much else.

2- The lantern in his lap was familiar to the point where it was excruciating.

3- He had removed his dirty clothes before going to bed, and yet he awakes fully clothed once more.

"Wait" Alec said aloud in realization.

Lantern.

Torches.

He felt beside him. His fears were confirmed by the feeling of a sack filled with small cylinders. Some could speculate what they could possibly be, but Alec knew without even seeing them.

They were tinderboxes.

He was in the storage room.

"I'm dreaming about Amnesia........" He said flatly.

.......

"Well fuck"

Alec's next course of actions were as predictable as any amnesia player in the same situation. He leaped up, grabbed the door handle, and began hauling on it to the point where his shoulders began to beg for mercy.

"The storage, of all the places I dream up the entrance to the freaking storage!!!. Don't you know how many monsters are in the storage???" He yelled at his conscience.

After what seemed like hours of pulling at the passage Alec gave up. He slumped against the door and buried his face in his hands.

"This sucks. It wasn't locked in the game!!!!! Why should this be any different???"

He lowered his hands and looked off down the hall. A candle on a table flickered where the room widened out. Slowly, Alec got to his feet. A board creaked making him jump. He then fumbled with the lantern that he was all too familiar using "F" to turn on.

Once lit, it made little difference. Alec was still terrified, but sitting in one place never worked out in the game, so he had to get the door opened. 

And the only way to open it was (hopefully the same as the real game) gather the magic coloured sticks.

He knew there was another name for them but he could really care less at the moment.

Alec began shuffling down the hallway. His progress was agonizingly slow, but running off trying to be brave would only get him a shredded face and (possibly) soiled trousers.

He figured he could do without either of them.

Once he reached the large middle room, there were 3 ways to go.

Ahead, into more darkness.

To the left, into more darkness.

Or to the right, into the door and (possibly) darkness all the same.

Alec weighed his options carefully, but in the end there was no contest.

"Door, I choose you" Alec whispered as he scampered across the musky centre room. He threw himself up against it, eyeing the other doors which, to be honest, were looking about as comforting as a death sentence on your birthday.

Alec grabbed the handle from behind and pulled. The door opened to reveal a room filled with barrels, shelves and various other bits of junk.

Alec closed the door behind him once he walked in. The lantern was shaking to the point where he had to set it down. Alec wasn't about to let some anxiety ruin his already slim chances of survival.

The room appeared to be nice for hiding, but not good for anything else. He was just about to go leave but a sound outside made him stop and pee a little.

The unmistakable sound of steps on the dirt floor. 

And of course, it wasn't him.

Alec screamed in his head. Screaming out loud would only announce his presence further.

"Gotta hide!!!" 

Alec extinguished the lantern. The unwelcome sense of darkness returned once more. Alec knew it was necessary however. The monsters weren't dumb. If they see light, they investigate.

Alec dove behind a stack of boxes in a corner. crouching, he could just make out the silhouette of the door in the dark.
But then it opened.
And it wasn't a monster.

Luna jumped when Alec lit the lamp and sprang from behind the boxes but let out a sigh of relief once she realized who it was.

"Luna!!! Alec shouted running up to her. She hesitated and tapped his shoe with a hoof before smiling upon realizing it was him. but seemed to have other things on her mind.


"Alec?"

"Yeah?"

"..."

"Where are we?"

Alec's thought process was more or less useless at that very second, so in the spirit of being clueless, Alec conjured a simple reply.

"A pickle"

Luna looked at him like he was crazy, of course Alec still hadn't figured out how to "mentally" open his inventory yet, so he had trouble disagreeing with her reaction.

"Ok......I'll be honest, we're in a dream.....I think..."

"Your'e correct with that statement" Luna confirmed.

"Wait" Alec interrupted. "Can't you get us out somehow?" Alec asked with more than enough pleading in his voice.

Luna lowered her head.

"Unfortunately not, Alec. You see, my influence on dreams is rather brittle, so upon leaving Equestria, it all but ceased entirely"

"I see" Alec said with a sudden drop in his voice. He set the lantern on the ground put a hand to his chin in thought about how to escape. Any options or ideas were now plausible. Luna simply sat next to the lantern and began digging a small hole in the dirt. 

Alec's train of thought was out of steam. He turned to ask Luna if she had any thoughts on the predicament.

"Luna, could you possi- "

"GROARARAAAAARR"

Luna was still staring at the ground when she felt Alec's arms wrap around her mid section and pull her behind some bags of wheat. She was about to ask Alec what was the matter but a finger to the lips silenced her. 

"Don't. Move." Alec whispered.

Alec extinguished the lamp and drew Luna close to his chest. Any doubt that the situation wasn't dire was dissolved when she felt his heart pounding through his shirt against her back. In response her heart accelerated to the same tempo.

"What's out there Alec" Luna whispered.

She looked around the medieval storage room in realization before looking back at him.

"And have you been here before?"

"Yes...no" Alec replied.

"That doesn't make any sense at all" 

"Ok ok.....it's off of a computer game"

"I beg your pardon?" Luna said in confusion.

"It's like a movie you can interact with!!!" Alec replied hurriedly while peeking over the Bags of wheat.

"Oh" 

"I'll let you see when we wake up"

There was a pause.

"If we wake up" Alec rephrased.

A shuffling sound approached the door, followed by the sound of ragged breathing on the other side. Luna took this to be the threat and asked Alec another question.

"What's that outside the door?"

Alec hesitated briefly before convincing himself that it was better for her to find out ahead of time.

"It's a hideous monster that's goal is to kill us"

Luna took this like any My little pony character would in that situation.

"So... we're defenceless aren't we?" she stated already knowing the answer. Alec was about to agree when a sudden "WHAM" on the door made them both jump this time.

"How strong do you believe that door is?" Luna asked with a good bit of fear to her voice.

"Not very" Alec replied with the same tone.

They sat there while another "WHAM" tore through the room.

"What do we do?" Luna whispered even more fearful.

"Well..." Alec said glancing around the room. His gaze fell upon a wooden chair beside them. Alec got up, grabbed it and wound up over by the door that was beginning to splinter. Luna followed up behind him.

"When the door breaks, don't look at his face, Just fucking run!!!"

"WHAM!!!"

"I will" Luna shouted over the sounds of the gurgling beast outside.

"WHAM!!!" 

"Get ready!!!" Alec said tightening his grip on the chair.

The door then shattered into several pieces that fell in the doorway.

Luna saw a pair of legs that failed to match any being she had seen before, but she remembered Alec's command and ran for the door at the end of the hall. Sounds of a struggle were heard from behind her as she ran.

"HOLY!!!! YOU'RE UGLIER IN MY DREAMS AREN'T YA?" Alec said brining the chair down on the malformed creatures head. It stumbled briefly before catching it's balance and setting it's sight's on him.

Now chairless, a quick look at the monsters face helped the reality of the situation sink in pretty quick. As it turns out, a fish eyed, jawless C.G.I model was no less detailed in a dream than the indie horror game it originated from.

Alec could smell it's breath too. Colgate would be ashamed.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT"

Luna got to the door and turned to see Alec, lantern flailing, scrambling up to the door beside her. He looked at the door, then back to see the monster hobbling towards him and Luna who at that point had tuned as well and lost her amnesia virginity. 

She turned back to Alec.

"Your'e kidding right?"

"You won't be saying that without a face!!!" Alec retorted.

Luna quickly decided not call Alec's bluff. She decided if she was going to call anything, it would be outside the walls of this little chamber of horrors.

"On three as they say?"

Alec nodded and put his shoulder against the door. Luna got into a bucking position and had a clear view of the rapidly approaching abomination.

"1...." Alec started.

Closer.

"2..." Luna joined in.

Closer.

"3!!!" they both exclaimed throwing all they had against the iron door. Alec's shoulder did next to nothing. Luna however seemed to have a bit more effect, seeing as the door practically flew off of it's hinges. Alec looked at Luna in amazement, but she was already bolting through the door and into the white void beyond.

"I guess that's out ticket to the real world" Alec said following, leaving the monstrosity and the dream itself to disappear just as fast as Alec's mind had conjured it. 

There was white. And then there was nothing.


////////////////////////////////////

Upon awaking, Alec recalled a majority of the dream, if one would call it that. He threw off the covers and went into Lunas room. The first thing he noticed was the absence of her quiet breathing. Turning on a light, Alec nearly, no, pretty much did have a heart attack. 

The reason was simple yet no less startling. 

Luna was gone.

Alec ran back to his room and was about to head out into the night in his nightwear before he heard Luna.

In his bed.

On the empty side.

With a blush comparable to a tomato. 

Alec deadpanned. How Luna managed to slip past him in the dark hall was beyond him. 

"Forgive me Alec..... I thought you would be less aware of my presence while asleep"

"Well you did manage to escape detection in the hall" Alec said with laugh.

The issue at hand dragged itself back into focus. Alec knew there was a reason Luna was in his bed. The dream that had happened but a few minutes ago was still fresh in Alec's mind. He imagined that it would only be more present in Luna's.

"Did the dream scare you" Alec asked softly.

A cricket supplied adequate ambience before Luna responded.

"In all honesty.... Very much so. Though I hate to admit it"

"Why?" Alec asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

Luna sat up and crawled down to him. She rested her head in is lap and he began to run a hand through her mane.

"As you can imagine, one of my duties as the soul supervisor of all dreams in equestria is to ensure that nopony endures unnecessary fear during their rest. Facing fears for their own improvement is one thing, being scared no matter what you do is another. I eliminate all bad dreams with no relevancy in the mind most times before they can occur. I guess you can say I was not only scared because of what I saw. I was also scared of what i could not do. I feel like i have failed myself and you Alec, even thought your dreams are technically not under my jurisdiction"

Alec understood. He knew what it felt like to be powerless. Suddenly the thought's of his parent's house came to his attention.

The melting siding.

The heat.

The screaming that came from him and him only.

He dismissed the images to a far corner to his mind. Luna had closed her eyes awaiting an answer.

"Do you want to stay here for the rest of the night?"

Luna's ears perking should have been an answer in itself, but Luna knew human's were less noticing of these small movements.

She raised her head and smiled sheepishly.

"If it would not trouble you Alec, yes please"

Alec then pulled the covers back for Luna. She slid down into the comfort of the sheets. Alec returned to his spot and turned to see Luna still with a sheepish smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't help but feel invasive" Luna began.

"Think nothing of it"

Luna smiled once more before turning over, letting the moonlight from the window highlight the cosmos in her mane.

Alec found himself staring at it before forcing himself to turn away as well.

"Goodnight Alec" came a voice from behind him. A voice which had never sounded so wonderful.

A voice which almost covered the hole in Alec's heart.

He intercepted a tear and wiped it off in his pillow.

"Goodnight prin-"

"Alec" she playfully reminded him.

"Sorry..... Good night Luna" 

One last tear came, but Alec let it fall free.

> 13- Homecoming
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few day's were, simply put, interesting. Alec and Luna had stayed inside almost entirely. They had decided to do their best to teach each other the written variant's of their respectful languages for the remainder of Raymonds absence. Alec had butchered equestrian at first. The waste bin had long ago overflown with crumpled paper.

Luna on the other hand had caught on to english almost instantly. Within 3 days she was writing paragraphs on par with your average high school student. 

By a week Alec was able to remember the 26 equestrian versions of his native alphabet. It wasn't really that useful though. Anyone would be quick to label him crazy if he demonstrated it for any reason. 

With the only real issue out of the way, Luna had spent most of the final day putting her newfound skills to use. Alec's living room floor was hidden by all sorts of books he'd had on his shelf.

Geography.

History.

Nothing was safe from english reading Luna.

Alec was, not surprisingly, was sitting on the front steps as the sun went down, waiting for Raymond.

"You said you'd be on time" he growled impatiently.

A few minutes later, the Honda could be heard as it turned into the drive. 

Alec called into the house.

"Luna, Raymond's here. I'm gonna introduce him slowly so stay put ok?

"Mhm Hm" she responded faintly.

....

"And put the book down please"

"Fine" Luna pouted leaving the "History of flight" for another time.

"Jeez, she's getting worse than Twilight"

Alec tried to remain calm as Raymond pulled up in front of the steps.

"Miss me?" he said getting out.

Alec rolled his eyes as he got up and opened Hondas trunk.

"Oh for fuck sakes"

Inside the trunk was a box. That alone gave Alec the chills. Every time Raymond got back from any outing whatsoever, he would always bring him back a souvenir of some sort.

"What could it be this time?" Alec sarcastically mused as he handed raymond his bags, keeping the box for himself.

"Trust me, you'll love it" Raymond said heading over to his own house.

The box was only big enough to hold something along the lines of a baseball.

Alec shook it. Nothing.

Raymond had finished at his house and had returned to see Alec still guessing.

"Just open it" He finally said.

Alec opened it, and wasn't too surprised by the contents.

"Seeds" Alec said bluntly.

Raymond then exploded into laughter. In-between gasps for air he was able to explain what Alec failed to get.

"YOU......AHAHAHAH.........DON'T GARDEN......(GASP)...... THAT'S WHY I GOT (SNORT) YOU SEEDS AHAHAHAHAHAH"

Alec stared at the pile of plant eggs completely dumbfounded. Raymond's jokes were sometimes good.

Sometimes.

"Ok, just to make sure you never do this again, I'm going to plant these" Alec said flatly walking over to the side of the house.

He turned the box over letting the seeds fall on the closest thing Alec had to a patch of dirt.

One thing about Nova scotia. Theres no dirt underneath it. Only rocks.

Alec came around the side of the house to find Raymond gone. 

"Oh no"

Alec dashed inside as fast as he could. Raymond had only one reason for going inside his house at this point.

"RAYMOND I CAN EXPLAIN" 

Alec burst into the living room to find a startled Luna laying on the floor reading "Muscle cars of the 70's"

Not seeing Raymond, Alec pulled a 180 but stuck his head back in a few seconds after.

"Running out of books?"

Luna shook her head.

"I find this one quite interesting"

Alec smiled to himself as he went to the second most likely place for Raymond to be. 

Kitchen.

He stopped just outside the door. The squeaking of a chip bag being opened confirmed his suspicions.

"You know i think those are 6 months old" he said casually walking over to the culprit stuffing his face with Lays.

"Really? oh well" Raymond shrugged stuffing another handful into the maw that raided Alec's pantry almost too frequently.

Alec admired his ignorance, it was sometimes all he had.

Alec took a seat on a barstool until he finished.

"Ray, can i tell you something" 

The seriousness in Alec's voice affected him greatly as he took a seat beside him.

"Is it bad?"

"No"

"Than why don't you tell me?"

"Well... why don't i just show you"

Raymond grew confused at that moment. What could Alec possibly have to show him that required him to see rather than hear about.

They walked down the hall towards the living room. Raymond pestered Alec with random guesses during the trip.

"Terrorist"?

"No"

"Mini bar?"

"Would be nice, but still no"

"Call of Halo Gears- Modern black splinter cry 8?"

Alec stopped and looked at Raymond. He shrugged with a cheesy grin.

"C'mon, wouldn't that be sweet?"

Alec grabbed him by his collar and hauled him the rest of the way to avoid and more guesses. Stopping just short of the living room Alec once again turned to Raymond.

"Now, what you're about to see, you cannot tell a single goddamn soul, understand?"

Raymond nodded in excitement.

"Oh and one more thing..... try not to faint"

They entered at the same time. Luna hardly looked up from the book she was clearly absorbed in. A quick cough from Alec made her look over the top and greet Raymond rather curtly.

"You must be Raymond. Hello I'm Luna"

Her head was behind the cover less than a second later.

Alec focused more on Luna's reaction than Raymonds. So when Luna failed to even acknowledge him and not hearing a sound beside him, Alec assumed all had gone well. 

"Well that went we-"

*THUD*

Both Alec and Luna looked to see Raymond out cold in the door way.

"Was it something i said?" Luna asked worriedly.

"No Luna, he's just a fanboy who hasn't practiced this scenario enough"

"And you have?"

"..."

"Maybe" 

Luna giggled setting the book down. She went over to Raymond and whispered in his ear.

"You know, it is considered rude to faint in the presence of royalty" She said trying to sound as if she were addressing a summit.

Alec just shook his head and kneeled beside her.

"Raymond, c'mon dude don't make me put you on the couch for the night"

Minutes passed. Raymond continued his impression of a Snorlax with amazing commitment. 

Pretty soon, Alec realized his only option.

Eventually, after much lifting and more physical contact with his neighbour than he was comfortable with, Alec had Raymond on the couch like a drunk... at least as far as he could tell. Whenever the two of them drank they always crash and burn hangover- wise.

Over time any alcoholic beverage became on par with water. Just something else to drink.

Luna had read the entire transfer of Raymond to couch. She looked up periodically to chuckle at Alec, who (at this point regrettably) insisted that she not help. Luna agreed, partially because she hardly knew Raymond, partially because she was almost done the epilogue.

"Isn't that like your 3rd one tonight?" A winded Alec said plopping down on the floor beside her.

"Indeed. Your variety of books on the human species is still mind boggling"

The final page flipped to reveal sources and credits. With the book finished, Alec watched as she closed the book on auto history and proceeded to her room. Alec followed as she levitated the sheets back with what little magic remained, and crawled under the covers. 

"Alec" Luna said as he was about to go across the hall. 

"Hm?" he turned resting an arm on the doorframe.

"I hate myself for asking this but... it's just that I feel safer when we're together so... could I..."

"Say no more" Alec cut her off. "I understand thing's are kinda messed lately, and until your sister finds a way to get you back, i have no problem with that"

Luna almost tripped as she zipped across the hall into Alec's bed. 

Alec remade her bed and joined her on the opposite side. In his nightwear, Luna couldn't help but stare and blush.

"What?" Alec asked noticing the red spread throughout her face.

"I just can't believe you agreed so quickly" She said still staring.

"Wer'e friends Luna, it's not like we're doing anything"

"True" She said quietly.

Alec turned out the light.

In the dark, Alec's words echoed through Luna head.

"It's not like we're doing anything"

"We're doing anything"

"Anything"

Luna quickly shook her head as thoughts of "anything" began to creep in. 

"What's wrong with you?" She asked herself aloud accidentally.

"Who? me?" Alec said turning over to face her and propping his head on his elbow.

"Oh, no Alec I was just hum..."

Alec raised an eyebrow at her.

"Im just cold" Luna suddenly blurted.

She knew it was a bad excuse, she had fur after all, but the heat of the moment had gotten the best of her.

"Really?" Alec asked. He had turned the heat on a few hours before, but Luna may not be used to this type of weather. It was already september and the nights were becoming colder.

Alec knew not of what would happen if he tried what he was about to try. But when you have a magical princess from another world that's cold, you damn well keep her warm.

"Luna, come closer"

"Excuse me?" she turned over to face him.

"Put your body against mine. It'll keep you warm a bit"

Luna's brain told her no, but her heart told her yes.

Guess which one she listened to?

She faced away from him and scootched up against his chest. The initial feeling was foreign. She had seen him with his shirt off only once before, and to be this close against his smooth skin felt cold at first, but she quickly found herself questioning wether that was a lie she had said before.

Perhaps she really was cold.

Alec almost gasped when he felt ulnas back press against him. Her coat was satiny and cool, giving Alec goosebumps from the initial chill.

Alec slowly felt Luna press herself further against him. Her spine, her heartbeat, her slightly expanding chest, Alec felt it all.

"Holy shit, this is awesome" Alec thought to himself.

He finally draped a hand over her chest. The resulting increase in her heart rate meant she was still awake. She nuzzled her  cheek against his hand.

"What happened to not doing anything?" she asked sleepily with a faint smile forming.

Alec was lost in the warmth of her fur and took a moment to sleepily respond.

"Mmmmmmm nighty - night to you too Luna"

Luna sighed and giggled as Alec buried his face in her withers.

She also felt one other thing, something that she had needed to feel since she had arrived, and no where was this more present than where she was right now. 

She felt safe. 


///////////////////////////////








> 14- That
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna awoke to the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She sleepily lifted her head to see Raymond with a bad case of couch hair staring at her with the same expression as the night before.

"Please refrain from fainting" she said plainly as he stood there like a deer in headlights.

Raymond then inched into the room and timidly tapped the tip of her horn. Luna deadpanned the entire time.

"Happy?" she asked as he inspected his hand for goodness knows what.

"This can't be happening" he said breathlessly.

"If you need more evidence just ask Alec" Luna said rolling over to find the other side neatly made up.

"Oh, that's odd" 

"What, the absent human or the present alicorn?" Raymond said with a snort.

"Regardless, one seems more important at the moment" Luna said throwing the sheets off and starting for the door.

Raymond cut her off. He had decided then and there that questions needed to be answered. Luna saw it and decided against the royal Canterlot voice. She instead sat back and waited for him to move.

"How do I know this isn't a dream" he said cautiously pointing a finger at her.

"Because if it was than I wouldn't know that you drive a "shitty Honda", as Alec put it". Luna realized that was the first Human curse she had spoken. It felt almost as strange as speaking in a different tongue. 

Raymonds outstretched accusation finger shrivelled up into a fist of retreat. He then moved out of the way so Luna could pass. He remained in the bedroom digesting what had just occurred.

"She's right, I do drive a shitty Honda"

"..."

"Way to make me sound cool in front of the princess Alec" 

He then made his way down to the garage to find Luna standing where the Chevelle should've been.

"He's gone" Luna said looking out the still open retracting door.

"Yup" Raymond said.

Luna turned to see him with a content look on his face.

"You know where he is don't you?"

Raymond nodded.

"He's where he always goes when he need's to think"

They both simultaneously looked back out into the lot now slowly being lit by the rising sun.

"Castle way"

///////////////////////////


Alec had gotten no sleep at all last night. Luna's presence wasn't what caused it as much as why Alec had reacted the way he had.

"Why did I do that?"

Alec asked himself this question over and over again as he sat idling in the morning sun rays

"She's a pony for god's sake!!! Why do I have to be an emotional rock but melt when an alien princess is added?"

Alec groaned and let his head fall into the steering wheel making it honk briefly.

"This is crazy. Mysterious mark on chest, followed by Luna being the victim of an assassination gone awry. Now I somehow have to get her back. Speaking of which is anyone even looking for her?"

Alec pressed his head harder against the wheel activating the horn for a good thirty seconds. The low blare disturbing a majority of the wildlife in the area, but at that point Alec could care less. It was a better substitute than tearing his own vocal chords by screaming.

He let off and leaned into the seat, letting his eyes slowly close. He was almost out when the Hondas engine buzzing it's way towards him forced him to crack one open.

"What does he want?" Alec said grumpily closing it once more. 

Alec remained motionless as Raymond pulled up behind him on the shoulder. Luna and him got out an went to the drivers side window. Luna jumped up and rested her forelegs on the window sill. When Alec still didn't respond, Luna had had enough.

"Where were you??? I woke up alone with this guy questioning my existence" she barked suddenly.

Alec raised his head slowly eyeing the two visitors at his window.

"Good morning to you too" he muttered sarcastically.

"Ok Alec, forgive me for the disturbance, but you need to tell us what's wrong. You leave and come out here to camp in your  car. Even I know there's something wrong with that"

Alec sighed and opened the door. He got out and blinked in the now almost risen sunlight. After a few stretches, he turned to see Luna patiently waiting and Raymond tapping his foot.

"Ok, I guess I'm just a bit frayed lately"

Luna sighed. After all she was in part (if not entirely) the cause for Alecs distress. 

"I had a hunch. But understand Alec that they're looking for me, I know they are" Luna said looking skyward.

"It's alright, You're no burden trust me" Alec said waving a hand dismissively.

Raymond began walking back towards his Honda, at first making it look like that he wanted nothing to do with the station.

Luna and Alec watched as he pulled ahead of the Chevelle and stopped in the left lane. He revved his engine and leaned out the window.

"If you're stressed Alec, I know only one way to relieve it"

Alec stared at him as he drummed his fingers on the door, waiting for a response. 

"What does he want you to do?" Luna asked looking up at him. 

"Well, he wants me to race him"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, race, like what Rainbow Dash does all the time?" Alec elaborated.

In the book luna had read, there was a few sections on the culture surrounding cars, and a big part of it was racing. But all of the racing Luna was aware of was the races that took place on a track like the Wonderbolts.

"So, you two are going to race here?" she asked looking around. There was nothing apart from the same tree bordered road that she was all to familiar with.

"No" Alec said walking towards the Chevelle, getting in and leaning over the centre console to open the passenger door.

"Me, him and you"

Luna cautiously aproached the car and got in. she fumbled with her seatbelt in her mouth as she raked her mind for answers.

"Is he actually going against Raymond?"

Her answer came in the form of the Chevelle roaring to life, a sound that she found herself beginning to enjoy hearing. Alec veered out into the right lane beside the Honda. Luna's previous thought morphed into a question that she felt had to be voiced before things went any further.

"Alec, forgive me for jumping to conclusions but I believe I know who is going to win"

Raymond, hearing the question replied for Alec.

"This isn't for my sake, it's for his" he called across the road.

The two cars revved their engines, the Chevelle easily drowning out the Honda. Luna felt nervous, but at the same time, the butterfly colony in her stomach was making her feel excited. The raw power of the cars vibrating through her body was almost intoxicating. She felt herself leaning into the seat absorbing it's full effect.

"Ready dude?" Alec called.

"Hell yea!!!" Raymond shouted back.

Alec shook his head with a chuckle and put the Chevelle into first.

"Luna, mind counting us down?"

Luna brought herself out of the "moment" to do what she had learned from all those Wonderbolt shows.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"GO!!!"

Luna was barely able to react when the Chevelle seemingly erupted from under the hood with a crescendo of thunder. She felt her head snap into the seat as the car rocketed off the line. Alec couldn't help from grinning as the sensation of the front wheels lifting off the ground resonated through the chassis. He slammed into second with the Honda hardly a cars length behind going (and sounding) like an angry hornet.

By the time he got to third, Alec was leaving Raymond in the dust. The speedometers needle was shaking it's way towards 110 kilometres per hour. 

Luna was, in a nutshell, happy.

Happy Alec was feeling better.

Happy that Raymond knew just how to cheer him up.

But mostly, Luna was happy they hadn't crashed yet.

When Alec reached 4th gear, Raymond was far behind, but that didn't stop the Chevelle from pushing 150. They would've gone faster, but Alec felt a bit more cautious due to the precious cargo he had aboard. Luna had her eyes locked on the horizon. The road seemed to melt into her peripheral vision as fast as it came into view. She turned to Alec briefly to see him with and equally large grin that was impossible to suppress. 

"I think we won Alec!!!" Luna yelled over the engine.

Alec agreed and slowed down, in a matter of seconds the Chevelle was stopped in the middle of the road as Raymond came up beside them.

"I just realized that we forgot to set a finish line" he said laughing as he got out. 

"If it weren't for Luna, I would've kept on going" Alec said gesturing to The alicorn beside him.

They got out and (unanimously) decided to sit on the Chevelles hood. It was more than likely that Luna didn't have a tetanus shot anyways, so the Honda was out of the question.

Luna opted to leap up with the use of her wings.

From a gentle trot, she flapped once, sending a few stray leaves into the ditch. Landing on the hood with a soft clunk, Alec assumed the worst.

"That scratched the paint didn't it" he said 

Luna checked under her hooves, The metallic coating was untouched as intended.

"Don't worry Alec, I was extra gentle" she chuckled.

"Well, that killed 30 seconds" Raymond said laying back against the windshield.

Alec and Luna did the same. The afterglow of adrenaline slowly fading from their systems, they watched the sun as it reached it's peak. 

All was quiet. No cars came either way and they had the entire road to themselves.

The sun was heating the hood rather quickly, and Luna was about to recommend they return home soon, but before she could put her thought's into words, she heard it.

Her sister, clear as day, asked her a question as if she was there with her.

"Luna, are you still alive?"

Luna sat up but did not run off into the woods. She knew that it was simply telepathy at work, but why was she hearing her sister now?

"It's been a good many weeks since I last saw you. It was the first day of summer. Now summer is almost over and I miss you with all my heart and more"

Luna listened as Celestias voice grew hoarse.

"I know it's terrible of me to think this but, I feel I could've prevented this..."

Her tone became wracked by heavy sobs, sobs that had been held back for too long.

"It's all my fault!!!! If I hadn't been so concerned with making the summer so pleasant, You would not have been alone, there would have been more guards!!!"

Luna felt her eyes beginning to cloud. Raymond looked over to see Luna tearing up for seemingly no reason. He jabbed Alec in the ribs but neither said anything to the emotionally unstable Alicorn.

"If you can hear me, just one last time" Celestia sobbed.

Luna stifled a sob in wait for her to continue.

"Know that I love you, so much more than anything in Equestria or the entire universe for that matter. My job as your big sister was to keep you safe... and I've failed"

"But I still love you"

Luna was barely able to hold it together. Between the sniffing and crying she was able to utter a single sentence.

"I know Tia, I love you too"

Celestia went silent. Not because of her connection to her sibling being severed once more for some unknown reason, but out of shock.

"Luna? did you just say something?"

Realizing she was no longer being adressed like a tombstone, Luna stopped crying as quickly as she had started. Alec and Raymond were both staring at her as she responded.

"Tia? oh my goodness can you hear me?"

Hardly a second passed before she got an answer that brought the tears back, only these were tears of joy.

"Yes!!! YES!!! OH LUNA I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!!" 

"No, I'm fine Tia but listen. I'm on the planet earth which is inhabited by a dominant species called humans. We speak the same Language and one of them saved my life!!! Oh sister i wish you could meet him!!!"

Celestia took a moment to go through what she had just heard.

Earth.

Same language.

Humans.

Her eyes widened further as another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"Of course!!! she realized in her head. But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Lunas now ecstatic voice.

"Tia? did you hear that? I'm alright!!!"

"Yes Luna, I heard you but listen, I need to go and tend to something of the utmost importance. Clearly wherever you are is a place where we can communicate without errors. I'll need you to return to wherever you are tomorrow night at midnight. By then I will have informed Twilight... wait... what time is it where you are?"

A glance at Raymonds watch informed Luna that it was just past noon.

"It's just after lunch"

"Good. The time zones seem to be fairly similar. Twilight may take an interest in that"

"Twilight?" Luna asked. "Is she helping with the rescue?"

"Indeed" 

"That's so wonderful!!! Give her my regards won't you?"

"Of course" Celestia responded with a laugh.

Luna was overwhelmed. She had finally found a way to reach her sister but was honestly a bit afraid to let go. severing the mental link across the cosmos felt like cutting the umbilical cord on a new born foal. Scary, but it had to be done.

"Will you be there? promise?" Her sister asked desperate for reassurance.

"I promise" Luna replied calmly.

Moments later she felt the presence vanish from inside her head. It was then Luna felt the two pairs of eyes boring into her.

She slowly turned, blushing to see Alec and Raymond with faces of complete incomprehension.

"I guess i have a bit of explaining to do"

The two humans nodded while keeping their confused looks.

Alec finally managed to get a sentence together.

"That was your sister wasn't it..."

Luna nodded.

"I bet she was the one you heard at the gas station"

Luna nodded again.

"I'm also hinting to the possibility of you having a bit more mental abilities than usual"

For a third and final time, Luna nodded.

The trio got off the hood of the Chevelles hood and waited for the explaining to begin.

Luna went ahead as clearly as possible.

"I guess you remember when I said I'd tell you something after that night at the gas station, don't you?"

"Uh huh" Alec acknowledged.

"Well, I'll make this as simple as I can. My sister now knows I'm alive and on earth. She also knows that I am in your care at the moment. Finally, the reason i heard her in the first place was because of an Alicorns ability to communicate through the use of telepathy. That's about it, we should return to this spot tonight to communicate further"

"You know... we kind of already knew that" Raymond quietly mumbled.

"Sorry?" Luna said looking in his direction.

"Well we did hear everything you said... you put on quite a show"

Luna blushed. She had been completely oblivious to the two as they watched her cry and go hysterical at a seemingly invisible presence for a minute or two.

"Well that sorts most things out" Alec said resolvingly. 

"Yes" Luna agreed. "How was i able to hear my sister from so far away?"

They all lowered their heads in thought. Raymond was drawing a blank until something caught his eye.

"Um, guys... I think I know what "amplified" your "signal"

"What?" Luna and Alec said questioningly.

Raymond pointed behind them.

"That"






> 15- The tower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Alec and Luna turned to see a spire of metal and wire poking out beyond the trees and into the sky. Normally Alec would have dismissed it as just another transmission tower. No different than the ones that gave him his radio stations. But this one was different. It was recently erected as Alec would've noticed the moment it went up. Castle way was frequently his "driving spot" to burn away stress as demonstrated not too long ago. The other peculiar thing made itself aware when he shifted his eyes to the ground.

In a clearing Alec presumed newly cut, there was a mobile office sitting beside it near the base. Along the perimeter was a razor wire fence giving the area a forbidden feel. A gate in the fence with a guardhouse resided at the end of a crude dirt road that led out of the clearing and onto Castle way. 

But what was leaving the gate and approaching the main road is what confused Alec most of all. An unmistakable Chevrolet Tahoe was slowly crawling its way towards the road. The light bar and the "RCMP" logo made it's operators a no brainer.

"Cops" Alec hissed. The word was a bitter one to utter, for no organization infuriated Alec more than the one that made it's sole purpose to harass every single person in Nova Scotia with a car that "stood out". They would pull over Nissans to check for drugs, Mercedes to check for hostages and finally any muscle car in their sights on suspicion of street racing.

That wasn't fair. Alec may do a burnout or two on Castle way once every blue moon but that doesn't make him Vin Diesel.

Alecs inner ranting was interrupted by another realization. He was standing on the side of the road with two of their most "loved" vehicles to pick out from a crowd; and then there was the Alicorn.

Alec looked at Luna who met him with just as much dread in her eyes as his. He motioned gently towards the Chevelle.

"Get inside and hide under the blanket in the back seat" He said through clenched teeth. He shifted his head slightly, not wanting to break contact with the Tahoe and saw Raymond already in his Honda. But it was already too late.

The moment the Cruiser emerged from the trees, a fluster of red and blue L.E.D's made clear they had seen them.

"Shit" Alec said still without unclenching his teeth. Part of him was frozen to draw attention away from the car. The other part was just out of fear. 

The Tahoe pulled over a few dozen yards in front of the Chevelle. Raymond had given up on escaping and had joined Alec in front of his car.

An officer emerged from the cruiser and slowly began to approach the two young adults.

"Why me?" Alec sighed despondently. 

The office was getting closer now. Alec could make out the objects on his belt.

Gun.

Tazer.

Cuffs.

"Why now?"

He had just finished the thought when the officer stopped walking just short of the Chevelles hood.

Behind the Oakleys, Alec knew he was staring them down.

"Afternoon guys" He began with the overused cop greeting that had lost it's effect on the general population decades ago.

"Hey" Raymond and Alec replied with less humanity than a concentration camp.

Alec noticed his name on his vest. Clayton. Alec wondered why they had to wordlessly announce their names like some sort of unwanted entertainer at a long dead party. Firstly, no one cared. Secondly, Why be formal if you're most likely going to give your audience a fine they (in most cases) didn't deserve.

"Just wondering what you're doing on the side of the road. Are ya having engine troubles?"

Officer "Clayton" then folded his arms and took on a neutral stance. Alec took this as a chance to divert attention from his car.

"No. We couldn't help but notice the tower over in the field" He said casually gesturing at the clearing.

Claytons face became dark. 

"That's classified unfortunately" 

"Damn" Alec thought. Clayton had shot him down before he got off the inquisitorial runway. Ironically however it was that sentence that alleviated any doubt in Alecs mind that that tower was important.

It probably wasn't for HFM either...

Raymond then (of all times) decided his two cents needed inputing. Alec was powerless to stop him.

"So ya gonna arrest us or not?" he said with more boredom than concern.

Clayton chuckled in response.

"Heck no, I got more important things to do than busting two dudes for being curious about antennas in the woods" 

"So... I guess that's our cue to depart?" Alec said inching towards his drivers door.

"Almost" Clayton said getting his attention back almost instantly. The authoritative voice reeled him back to the front of the Chevelle in an instant. 

"I'm just going to warn you guys, that tower is there for a reason. Strange things have been going on here the last few weeks"

Alecs stomach flipped. It summersaulted into his intestines and threatened to bounce up and knock a lung off. Alec knew for sure what the tower was there for now.

Something came from somewheres far away, and now the government wanted to find out what. The tower was there in case it happened again.

A puzzle took shape as Alec attempted to turn and enter the Chevelle. All he wanted was to get his friends out of that spot and back home.

"Don't worry sir, We won't go near it" 

Despite lying to authorities being an offence, Alec let the lie flow effortlessly. He wasn't by any means a frequent lier, he just knew how to if the situation called for it. 

"Good" Clayton said with a smile. The smile was unsettling, but like a bowl of halloween candy that could have a piece of tampered candy, Alec didn't have time to dig deeper into it.

Clayton turned on his heels and went back to the Tahoe. Moments later it turned onto the highway and accelerated out of view.

"That was too close" Raymond breathed like he was holding his breath. It wouldn't be surprising if he was.

"No kiddin" Alec agreed going to the Chevelle, getting in and starting the engine. A glance in the rearview mirror revealed Luna still covered by a black bundle in the back seat.

"He's gone, you can come out now"

The mass shifted, letting the head of the Princess pop out with a look of disgust on her face.

"When did you last wash this?"

"Dunno. I found it in the trunk so I guess a while..."

Luna let out a groan as she shoved the blanket clear of her torso. She ruffled her wings and clambered between the seats. 

"I take it as he was one of the people you warned me about" 

Alec nodded as he started the engine. He then nodded to Raymond, who wasted no time in coaxing the Honda to life and leading the way home.

Alec followed closely, his hands held the wheel in a death grip. Luna could've been captured or worse back there and Alec knew that this along with the tower and the heightened security around it, meant they were running out of time.

"What do we do, Alec?" Luna asked.

"We need a plan" 

"A plan?"

"Yep. And I got something in mind"


//////////////////////////////


Twilight was despondent. Luna had been gone for a month and all efforts to reach her had lead to dead ends. Pacing in her library, she had lost more than one favourable nights sleep. She still had come up with next to nothing in terms of how the resolution to this epic drama would play out. What concerned Twilight more was the fact that Celestia had sent her home only a few weeks after she had arrived. Despite her protests, Twilight, her brother and pretty much all other beings in Equestria had been shut out by their Ruler. 

"She knows something" Twilight confided to herself.

"But why won't she tell us?, even me for that matter?"

Twilight let out a frustrated groan as she flopped down onto her bed. The sheets were freshly washed, and she soon found herself drifting off spread eagle at the foot of her bed.

At least until she heard spike.

It mattered not that he wasn't in the same room as her. It didn't take long for her to be able to tell when her got a message from the princess by listening. The flaming belch was as good as any Mailpony walking up to the door and tooting an air horn.

The sound of Spike scurrying u the stairs seconds later got Twilight off the bed and at attention. Normally a letter from the Princess was important. At these times though, a letter was that and more. Inside she knew it had to be about Luna.

"You would not believe how close I came to torching my house of cards" Spike stated reaching the top of the stairs.

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes and took the letter in her magic. She tried her best to read it slowly, but the message was too short for that.

Come to Canterlot at once. Something has happened.

Twilight was heading down the stairs in a flash. She had been waiting for news like that, and now that she had been called back, hopefully she would get some answers.

"I guess I'm dragon of the house again?" Spike called after her with a noticeable amount of eagerness in his voice.

"No parites" Twilight said as she exited into the night.

"Darn it" Spike grumbled in defeat as he returned to his slightly singed house of cards.


////////////////////////

The train to Canterlot was the longest she had ever taken. Sleeping was impossible and the only other ponies in her car were an elderly couple who were sleeping and a teenager who had probably been to a not so clean social gathering. He tossed and turned on the seat across from her mumbling things that hinted towards hard cider being more popular than the fountain drinks.

".....Theres no way they can........... build a robot out of chocolate............"

Twilight shook her head. That's all the evidence she needed to prohibit Spike from hosting anything remotely similar.
She rested her chin on the window sill, watching the castle grow closer each time they went through a tunnel. Upon arriving, Twilight opted to teleport directly into Luna's bedroom, where she found Celestia mumbling to herself not unlike the teenage colt on the train.

She didn't even notice her arrival.

Twilight felt nervous. Her mentors mane was a mess and there were what looked like bags beginning to form under her eyes.

The purple mare announced her presence as decently as she could.

"Ahem"

The sun goddess stopped and locked eyes with her.

"Twilight, how good of you to come" she said in an voice that failed to hide her exhaustion.

"Yes I... got your message" Twilight said walking over towards the portal. It had been turning for a month, and yet she had never really considered how important it was to the whole situation. Celestia had barely managed to regenerate it. Had she lost it it may have taken years to conjure an new one, and at that point it would've been pointless to even hope of finding Luna alive.

"Indeed" The Princess said as she finally stopped pacing. Twilights presence was clearly easing her stress.

"So what is it that happened?" Twilight asked.

Celestia opened her mouth for a moment as if to answer but quickly closed it. It wasn't a solid theory, but somehow Celestia knew that there was only one way it could've happened the way it did.

"I got in contact with Luna a few hours ago"

Twilight exploded into a verbal snowstorm of questions.

"Is she ok?"

"Who helped her?"

"Did you figure out what that music was?"

"Do you know how to get her back?"

Celestia smiled and raised a hoof. Twilight blushed as she realized what she had done.

"Sorry, I guess I really miss her" 

"You are not the only one" Celestia said warmly. 

She approached the portal and looked into it. Lunas fate would be decided in the next few hours.

"Your questions will be answered" she said without turning.

"But first, we must wait till midnight tomorrow"

"Tomorrow?" Twilight blurted.

"I only barely managed to hear her. We must wait till the most favourable circumstances are present"

She went up beside the Princess and voiced her concern further.

"I really am confused. Is there somepony helping her?"

Celestia nodded.

"Who?" 

"I cannot tell you unfortunately at this time. I shall say this however. Something has occurred that hasn't happened in a long time my pupil. And if my suspicions are true, both Luna and her friend are in grave danger"

Twilight gulped; It wasn't often that the Princess used such negative words.

"You should fetch your brother in the meantime. We have much to do"

Twilight wasted no time in setting off. Celestia sat and pondered what would unfold in the coming hours.

She whispered the lines from the book that now made more sense than ever. She even knew who it belonged to.

"In plight of loving them
They bleed
And willingly surrender themselves to death
For with death
Comes emancipation"

Night fell peacefully over Equestria. On Earth the same night fell onto Alec's house, in which a plan was quickly taking shape.

A plan to get Luna home.






> 16- Last night on earth Pt. 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     The atmosphere was tense as all Alec, Raymond and Luna took a seat at the kitchen island. Partially because of what they had just done and partially because of what they would have to do. Luna and Alec knew they had to go back to the tower tomorrow night at midnight to (hopefully) meet Celestia and finally get Luna home. As always, it was easier said than done. They had no idea how protected the area was and even if they did get in, the only sure-fire way to hear Lunas sister and guide them to their location would be to climb the tower. That only brought on more problems though...

"You saw the look in his eyes dude" Raymond said pointing a finger at Alec. "He knew we were lying"

"Even if he did, how come he let us go so quick?" Alec countered. 

Luna sat and watched from the sidelines as teams Alec and Raymond slugged questions back and forth. She knew all too well that patience was a virtue, but eventually, Luna could stand it no more. She interrupted as politely as she knew how.

"Well, maybe he just want's us to thi-"

"THIS IS GETTING US NOWHERE!!!!!!"

Both were immediately sent back onto the back legs of their chairs, teetering, before leaning forward and locking their wide eyes onto the Alicorn. 

"Did you really need the royal canterlot voice?" Alec asked timidly raising a hand like he was suddenly in detention.

"Even though I've only known Raymond for a day, I think I can see how things work when you're in the same room" Luna said rolling her eyes.

Confident she had their unbroken attention, she decided to voice her opinion for the first time that night.

"The way I see it, the circumstances call for drastic action. From what I heard while under that blanket, they wont be to happy to see us in there. Much less climbing their tower"

The two Humans nodded in agreement.	Trespassing on private property, especially after just receiving a warning, would leave them no room to negotiate if they were spotted. And with Lunas safety on the line, nothing could be left to chance.

"It's the only way" Alec said grimly. "Theres no doubt about that"

"I'm not denying that. What I'm trying to say is that we need a fool-proof plan"

The three then looked across the table at each other. None saw any strategists, spies or any other useful traits behind their eyes. Instead was fear, concern and complete cluelessness. 

"What if..." Raymond started.

Alec and Luna focussed on him the moment he opened his mouth. Reminding him only further that all ideas were now being considered. Somewhat satisfied to have all eyes in the room on him for once, he continued more easily.

"What if we created a distraction, like say if I drove by hauling ass and got the truck off to pull me over, I could keep going a while and get him away from the tower. Then, by the time I get a huge ass ticket and come back, you guys will be done and we can head down to the gas station and wait for Celestia there" 

"But how will she know where that is?" Luna asked.

"I could park and shine my lights into the woods. There's almost no cars out there during the day, so I think we'll stand out pretty good in the dark" Alec said cracking a smile.

Luna smiled in return, which made Raymonds plan seem all the more perfect. At least until he realized what he'd just said he'd do.

"But you guys still don't know how many meatheads are in that shack by the tower though"

This time, Luna had the answer. Being something she hadn't done in such a long time, she had almost forgotten she could in the first place.

"I could fly up"

Raymond and Alec glanced at each other, then at Luna.

"I guess so" They said in unison.

Luna giggled and spread her wings. They flight giving appendages sent a brief gust of wind throughout the kitchen. She looked forward to using them again, even if it was for illegal activities.

"So Raymond distracts, Luna and I sneak in, I keep watch as she heads to the top. Then she tells the Princess where to meet us at and then we drive over once finished to meet you" Alec said reviewing the plan aloud. 

"Sounds good" Raymond said.

"I agree" Luna echoed.

"But, I think some things will need to be altered on my part"

"Like what?" Luna asked.

"My car... it's kinda... flashy" 

The Princess conjured a mental image of the Chevelle, sparkling pin stripes and all, drawing every law enforcement personnel in Halifax to it as it got within 50 feet of the tower. It may be themed after the night, but there was no way it was as inconspicuous as it. She almost instantly had another solution. But Alec wasn't going to like it.

"Do you have any black paint, Raymond?

///////////////////////////////////

"I hope you guys know that what I'm about to do is going to be like cutting my hand off" Alec said ruefully shaking a can of licorice black spray paint that Raymond had fetched from his house. Luna and paints supplier stood near the back of the garage and tried their best no to laugh. 

"Black is (snort) sooooo in this season... but not for cars!!!" Raymond said covering his mouth as he broke down into a fit of "tee hees" and "ha ha's".

Luna was fortunately able to contain her humour a bit more. She approached Alec as he levelled the can to a door and depressed the nozzle, letting a stream of sombreness vanquish the former (and expensive) night sky. He stopped as she reached him and nuzzled his free hand. As he looked down, she nodded towards the door leading outside. 

"Come outside for a second. I need to tell you something" 

Alecs heart quickened uncomfortably. Raymond was still infected by the laughing flu and had turned to lean against the wall as he gasped for air. As soon as it was apparent he wouldn't notice, Alec made his way towards the door with Luna in tow. 
The air outside was cool and still. Alec had flicked on the light above the door which gave a lonely yellow tint to the ground they procedded to sit on. Sitting against the door, Alec knew it was anybody's guess what Luna wanted. More worryingly what she wanted that required Raymond be absent. Luna took her time in falling onto her haunches beside him. While sitting, Alec was eye level with the Princess. 

"Oh great" Alec thought. "No avoiding eye contact now" 

Luna turned to look at Alec. Her cyan eyes capturing light from the porch. Her wings shifted at her side uneasily and a look of exasperation took over her face.

"I guess... this is it. Isn't it..." 

"What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow I may very well be returning to my homeland" 

"I guess you're right. But you miss Equestria, don't you?"

Luna nodded. "Very much so. But I..."

"What?" 

Luna hesitated for a second. This only added to the tension that was already palpable. Thought it did little to prepare Alec for what she finally said.

"I want you to come with me"

"WHAT?" Alec stammered.

He and Luna both noticed how loud that was and looked up at the doors window for movement. Strangely, Raymond had quieted down, and judging from the sound of paint being emptied from the can, had decided to go ahead and continue where Alec had left off.

"What?" he repeated leaning in towards her.

"Since we met, I've gotten to know you more than I can imagine anypony else besides Raymond has ever gotten the chance to. I have learned so much about your species capacity for violence, and you're so unspoilt by it all. You aren't like the others Alec. You're kind and smart and... gentle"

A slight gust of wind blew some of her mane into her eyes. she ignored it as Alec scrambled for a response.

"I, uh, well thanks um... You're all those things too and-"

He fell silent as he realized how close their faces were from each other. Had they been unconsciously drifting towards other this whole time? And how come she wasn't moving away?... how come he wasn't moving away?

"You saved my life, Alec. Because of that I gained something I thought I'd thought I'd never have again"

Alec could feel the gentle breath from her muzzle on his face. Around them, the entire world seemed to go silent. Save the hissing sound of compressed paint from inside the garage.

"More recently, I also felt something I'd thought I'd never feel again"

"..."

"What did you gain?" Alec whispered.

A timid smile crawled onto the Alicorns face.

"A friend"

Alec slowly moved the strand of hair from her eye, their faces now inches apart.

"What did you feel?"

The smile stayed.

"Love"

Neither moved first. Both closed the remaining gap simultaneously. An almost euphoric haze clouded their minds. They remained like that for several seconds, revelling in the warmth of their lips, and at that point, the holes in their hearts were sealed forever. All of the loneliness from both the Human and the Alicorn was snuffed out by a wave of passion and relief.  Then, as soon as it began, it was over. 

They paused and remained facing each other. A look of realization followed by blushes resulted in both looking away before either uttered a word.

"..."

"Luna?"

Alec turned to see the mare facing the other way, obviously ashamed of what they had done. He slowly reached out and took her chin in has hand, turning it to face him. 

"Alec... I'm so so-"

"Don't be"

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't felt like this about anyone... or pony before. That was amazing, and it finally made things clear to me"

The next sentence came with difficulty, but Luna already knew what it was going to be.

"I think I'm in love with you"

Luna's heart fluttered. A grin as long and wide as the Ghastly Gorge spread across her face as she practically leapt into Alec, sqeezing the life out of him with her forelegs. 

"Ooof, um ok. I guess you've been feeling the same way then?"

Luna brought her face to his and nuzzled him.

"You know what, Alec?"

"What?"

"I believe in fate, and fate doesn't always make sense. But sometimes- "

Alec put a finger to her lips and they kissed below the porch light for a second time that night. 

It was, in all of Lunas 1000+ years, and Alecs 22, the most perfect moment yet.

Until Raymond knocked from inside.

"Are you guys done doing whatever it is you're doing out there?"

The bubble of perfectness shattered and the "lovers" quickly got up and returned inside as if nothing had happened. Both of them knew that telling Raymond what had just occurred outside would be in ill taste. So, they chose to pretend nothing had happened and joined Raymond in painting the Chevelle. Neither got much done though. The cans Alec held and Luna levitated with the last of her magic tended to stay on one spot a bit longer than intended. Raymond however, failed to notice and in a few hours longer than anticipated, the Chevelle was completely blacked out, save the windows and headlights.

Satisfied with their work, they then proceeded upstairs. They gathered in the kitchen once again. The clock on the stove read 9:28. 

"So... what do you think we should do now?" Raymond inevitably asked.

Luna was about to answer when a knock at the door made her words turn to cement.

Alec and Raymond froze too. For just outside the door, a faint voice could be heard. It wasn't the voice as much as what it said that dictated what happened next.

"Halifax regional police. Open up please"







> Last night on earth Pt. 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Alec wanted to do was panic. Panic seemed like the only thing possible at that moment, Outside his door was one (possibly two) armed police officers who probably wouldn't hesitate to put all three of the houses occupants down or worse if they refused to open the door. Alec and Raymond would likely be imprisoned for a very long time and Luna would be shipped off to an unknown fate. 

That would be ending the night on a bad note.

Instead, Alecs mind applied the brakes which enabled him to remember that they still hadn't heard or seen anything. As far as the cops were concerned, the house was empty. Alec looked to Ray and Luna. He brought a finger to his lips and beckoned Luna over to a cupboard under the sink. Opening the two doors slowly, he carefully slid some contents aside to make room for Luna. When he was done, she stepped across the kitchen like it was a minefield. The slightest creak or tap would give the law enforcement outside all the reason they needed to believe that someone inside was hiding and break in. That would be game over for everyone at that point. 

Fortunately, Luna had the leery steps of a ghost and found herself sliding into the cupboard as the police knocked a second time.

"Hello? is anyone home? Please, come to the door immediately"

Alec glanced at Raymond, who mouthed to him:

"Why Isn't he leaving?"

Alec gave him a mirthless look and pointed up at the kitchen light that could be seen from the front door.

Raymond blushed briefly before the reality of the situation sank back in. He pointed at his wrist like one would a watch. Alec knew what he meant. Time was running out. He had to answer or the meatheads outside would call for backup and then it would be back to scenario one.

He motioned for Raymond to make it look like he was asleep. He latched onto the idea quickly and gently laid his head down on the table. Alec then turned to see Luna had finished squeezing into the cupboard. Alec went over and closed the doors slowly, minimizing the chance of an unwanted squeak. As a third knock came, Alec ruffled his hair and slowly walked to the front door and put on his best sleepy face.

He opened the door a crack and peeked at his "guests".

Fortunately there was only one officer at his door. He was clean shaven and had a gaunt appearance. His eyes were attentive but did not instil fear or discomfort as Alec had thought. When he spoke, Alec guessed he was no older than 25 by his orotund voice which was amusingly similar to his.

"Sorry to bother you sir, I take it as if you were sleeping?"

Alec waited and summoned his best fake yawn before answering.

"Kinda, I was fixin up a late night snack and kinda dosed off. But I'm up now" he answered with a dry chuckle.

"Well, I've been told to visit all houses in the area and inform them that Castle way is going to be closed tonight and tomorrow night"

Alecs eyes almost shot open, but a salient wave of clarity reminded him that he could make no affiliation with the road in front of the officer. 

"There will be alternate routes to Bedford pointed out for those who commute there and back"

"Oh... ok then" Alec responded hoping the anxiousness in his voice wouldn't betray his next question.

"Any... any idea why?"

"I haven't been told much, but apparently the province is testing some new transponders and stuff. They say it's extremely sensitive so they can't have anyone with a mobile device within a certain distance"

"Great" Alec spat in his head. "Just great. We were going to infiltrate a little radio tower and help a friend and need. But humans being humans, they just couldn't help setting up a classified one that for all we know, could be designed specifically to track us down. As much as I hate this, we still need to get to the top without being noticed"

Another thought shoved its way forward and made its presence known.

"Didn't the cop from earlier say it was classified? Why would another say it like everyone knew? Is it just a coverup for what it really is?"

Alec would've stayed in the thought chamber longer if he wasn't dragged out prematurely by the officer, who until then had been watching Alec zone out like one of the druggies he would pick up behind movie theatres on friday nights.

"Sir... are you alright?"

"Huh?... Oh of course" he said smiling. "Just how it goes when ya got ADD" he laughed.

The officer grinned in return. At that moment a burst of static drew him to his radio on his shoulder. Alec had no clue what it said but when the officer turned and started down the stairs he figured it must've been important.

"10- 4, I'll be there in a sec" he said in response.

In a moment he was in the driveway where he had parked his cruiser. Alec wondered how he had pulled up and had not alerted them from the kitchen, but knowing the cops of Halifax, he probably snuck up on them at a snails pace. That combined with the discussion inside was probably more than enough to surprise them.

"Duty calls?" Alec said as the officer opened the door to his Chevrolet impala cruiser and got in.

"Just how it goes; and remember what I said" he said using the same smirk he had given Alec earlier.

The officer nodded through the window before heading off into the darkness. Alec watched until the taillights faded into the trees before he took solace that he was gone. Alec released his breath, not knowing he'd been holding it. As soon as it left him however, a new reason to hold it took hold. Castle way was now closed. Anyone going near would be in an insurmountable amount of trouble.

Luna was dead silent inside the cabinet. She couldn't hear anything from inside so what went down at the front door was eating away at her. Still, she remained quiet. Raymond had gone quiet too. The kitchen became an assembly for stillness. The Alicorn sat in the dark for what seemed like an eternity. Not moving despite a growing cramp in her neck due to the low clearance. These factors made her relief to hear Alecs voice coming down the hall all the more bountiful.

"He's gone guys. You can come out now"

The cupboard doors flew open. A few grunts were heard as Luna squeezed herself out and proceeded to stretch her neck where the cramp had been. Alec took notice and chuckled.

"Was thy majesty comfortable?"

Luna finished stretching and smirked up at him.

"Of course. I'll have you know that us Alicorns can be quite ductile if the situation calls for it"

She looked past Alec down the hall towards the door. Despite Alec's reassurance she still felt on edge.

"Will he be back?"

Alec thought for a moment. He slowly walked to the island and reclaimed his position across form Raymond. Luna followed and clambered onto her spot as well. The crickets were now more noticeable. Their shrill chirp advertising a sense of calmness that even Luna found comforting. Luna got distracted by them for a few seconds. The subtle concerns from earlier looking more and more folly by the second.

At least until Alec spoke up.

"Castle way's closed"

Luna's mind bogged down for a moment. 

"What?"

Alec nodded. 

"So that means... oh dear... now what do we do?"

Alec got up and went over to a drawer. After rifling through it briefly he found what he was looking for. 

"A map?" Luna asked.

Alec nodded again. 

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not giving up so easily. If Castle way is off limits, We'll simply find an alternate route"

He opened the map and laid in the middle of the table. Luna found it unfamiliar until he pointed out a yellow line bordered by green. 

"That's Castle way, we need to get a good ways in there to reach the tower" 

Her looked up to see Luna studying the laminated guide intently. Her eyes slowly followed the line leading up to where one would turn onto Castle way. A small line a shade of green darker than the forest branched off before the turn and followed Castle ways entire length through the forest.

"Service road"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Service road" Alec patiently repeated tapping the line Luna was looking at. "They're used to access the power lines that run  underground there"

"So... these are unguarded?" Luna asked hopefully.

"Yep" Alec quipped. 

Luna looked up, her spirits rising.

"If we go there, we can hide the car in the bushes and fly right up to the tower from behind them!"

"Exactly" 

The mood in the dimly lit kitchen brightened. An obstacle had been found and overcome in a matter of minutes. Of course it was one thing to plan something out on a map. To carry it out in the dark tomorrow night would be like going in blind.

Raymond got up from the table and headed for the door, saying something over his shoulder about making sure the Hondas alternator actually charges the battery overnight. Luna yawned and decided to turn in too. Earths day - night cycle had even Equestrias biggest night owl needing rest. Alec followed her to the bedroom and watched he pull the covers up to her chin. As she finished she noticed the human leaning against the doorframe.

"You're wondering how to tell him aren't you?" 

Alec nodded before speaking.

"It's not like we've got a lot of time"

"I know... If you come with me-"

"Luna, you know that might be impossible" Alec with a bit of remorse for him and the Alicorn.

"But what if it isn't? You and him could be free from this land of fear and misery. If he found out then, I don't think He'd care much at that point"

Alec brought a hand to his chin in thought. So much had happened in the last few weeks. He brought his hand down to the spot where the strange mark was. 

"I'm gonna find out what this thing is soon"

"Well?" Lunas voice brought him back to reality.

Alec sighed before walking up to he bed, jumping on and sitting on top of the covers against the headboard. Luna rolled over and rested her head on his lap, to which Alec responded by gently stroking behind one of her ears. A softening sigh escaped her, and she became even more tired by each passing second. 

"You know" Alec began. "If someone had told me a few months ago what was to come, I would've called them crazy"

Lunas eyes had closed. But the alicorn was still awake, and before sleep took her, she had one more thing to say.

"You still didn't answer my question"

Alec stopped stroking her ear and ran the free hand through his hair in thought.  

The princess smiled at his response.

"I will, me and him both"

Alec made to move from his position but changed his mind when Luna started to snore. Instead he looked out at the night through the bedroom window one last time before letting his head rest on the wall behind him and nodding off.

Sleep took him, and all was quiet. 

The final piece fell into place.