Well it's certainly been a while now hasn't it. I can scarcely remember the last time I wrote anything on this thing.
But I suppose time has a way of changing one's perspective, and in this case, time allowed me the rare pleasure of listening to someone reading a story I had almost forgotten about.
Nothing Is Set In Stone…
I'd honestly completely forgotten about this story, and all the other's that came along with it. So, on a whim I decided to read through the series again. And do you know what…I fucking liked what I was reading.
I'm never one to praise my own writing talent, but when I got to the end of Alex or Xander and realized that it was left on a cliff hanger, I actually shouted "Oh come on!" at the screen before remembering who actually wrote the damn thing.
So here we are one more time, from me to you…here we go.
Begin!
Prologue
Alex Pov
I was back.
Three words so small that if uttered quietly enough they would fade in the wind. And yet it was an unmistakable truth.
I was back.
Back from the hell I had been imprisoned within. Back from the nightmare that refused to end, back from the pain and the fear.
I had escaped from it all, I was back!
…and yet I wasn't back, not really. A part of me, the part of me that still remembers that place never came back. He screams in my head over and over, but so quietly that I can barely hear it.
Until that part of me wakes up and I remember it all, every single part of the torture I endured for almost three god forsaken years!
How does someone ever recover from something like that? How does someone wake up from a nightmare like that and tell the world that he's okay?
In my case…I chose to bury the memories as deep down as possible. And now that I was no longer immune to magic, possible it was.
It took no convincing on Celestia's part for me to agree to her plan. She would use her magic to bury the memories so deep down that the pain and fear I felt with every breath I took no longer crippled me to the point of insanity. I would remember what happened, but the trauma would remain forgotten.
But…I can still hear it, that part of me that she buried with them. When it's quiet…and I am alone, truly alone with nothing but my thoughts I can hear him screaming. It's quiet and barely a whisper…but it's there, and it never stops.
For nothing can take that part of me away, nothing except maybe…
Her.
She is my everything, my love, my heart, my reason for waking up each and every day.
She is my-
"Honey…"
I open my eyes and shuffle uncomfortably against the covers surrounding me, blinking once, twice before the world came into view.
And with it came perfection…
She was looking down at me, her ears alert and twitching adorably, her eyes affectionate and kind. I could feel the soft texture of her fur as she moved against me beneath the covers, the sensation wonderfully warm against my skin. She smelled like…nothing I can compare, but something truly worth breathing in.
And as I took all of this in, her gaze remained upon my own. The love in those orbs almost more than I could take, and yet I would let her stare forever if it meant I could do the same.
I loved this Pony with all that I was, for she saved me again and again every morning I awoke and feared I was back in the nightmare.
She saved me with that silly smile, over and over again…
"I can feel it," she whispered, her eyes lidding tenderly. "Oh…I will never get tired of this, Alex."
She leaned down and I up, meeting in the middle with a soft kiss. There was no lust or desire within it, only our raw, powerful connection to the other.
"I love you," she breathed, tickling my ear ever so slightly.
"I love you too."
She giggled and all but collapsed upon me, her weight comfortable.
"I've missed you so much," she said, wiggling against me as she giggled again, sheer joy within her tone. "I never left you when you were unconscious, Alex. Never…but I've ached to hear your voice again."
She suddenly gasped and leaned up, a hoof upon her muzzle as she looked at me with shame.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that," she said rapidly, eyes becoming shiny. "Celestia! I am so selfish, I didn't mean to say it like that, I'm so sorry-"
I placed a hand upon her muzzle and made a soft shushing sound, eyes closing.
"I missed you too, Cadey," I soothed, eyes opening and regarding her with what I hoped was a reassuring look. "I thought about you every day I was trapped in there, you were all I had left."
Cadance's eyes teared up as she sniffed, before placing both her hooves upon my face and nuzzling my nose gently. "I'm so sorry for doing that to you," she whispered…and then she began to sob uncontrollably. "I w-was a h-horrible Pony. I k-knew something was wrong with me and I d-did nothing, and it's ALL M-MY FAULT SHE TORTURED YOU!"
She completely broke down, collapsing completely upon me as she hiccupped and sobbed and wailed. "I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING, AND I LET A MONSTER TORTURE Y-Y-YOU!"
I could nothing but hold her to me, her words were affecting me more than I could bare and to move, to say anything back would cause me to become undone…and I couldn't let that happen again.
It took time beyond comprehension for Cadance to calm herself down, her sobs lessening to quiet, almost unnoticeable hiccups.
But eventually…
"O-oh, I'm sorry honey," she said quietly, lifting her tear streaked face to look at me. "I'm such a stupid mare, I don't even know why you want to be with me."
Finally, a smile for me, to give to her.
"Because I love you, you silly mare," I said, hand reaching up to cup her cheek, thumb brushing away the lone remaining tear. "And I always will."
My wish was answered as her face broke into a watery smile, a little laugh accompanying it.
"I'm supposed to be comforting you," she giggled, leaning down and stealing a quick kiss before leaning back and shaking her head. "You sure messed that up, didn't you?"
"What can I say, I'm a sucker for rule breaking." I sat up and pulled her with me, cupping her face once more as I kissed her gently, loving the little sounds she made as I nibbled her bottom lip.
"Now then," I said as I pulled away, grinning at the flush upon her cheeks as she looked at me lovingly. "What's say we get out of our pit and go have some breakfast, yeah?"
She grinned and nodded, eyes twinkling as she stole a quick kiss and hopped of the bed, swaying her way into the bathroom. She looked behind at me and winked before she shut the door slightly, leaving just the littlest of it open as an invitation.
I stood up and…stopped as something caught my eye. I turned to my right and looked at Cadance's vanity mirror, a small benign thing.
And yet…
My pale reflection stared right back, mouth open in a silent scream as he wailed against the confinement. My entire body shuddered, suddenly wracked with a phantom pain as I doubled over and shut my eyes, breathing heavily for one…two…three…
…and then I opened them, and the reflection was only me.
What the…
"Alex, are you coming?"
I blinked and looked at Cadance, her head poking out of the bathroom door as she looked at me worriedly.
"Are you okay hon?" she asked.
I looked back at the mirror and breathed deeply, shaking my head ever so slightly before I looked back my her and smiled crookedly. "What, can't a man admire his perfect booty every once in a while?"
There's no sense in worrying her over whatever that was, it's gone in any case.
Cadance cocked an eye at me and thankfully lost her worried look, instead regarding me almost hungrily.
"Well you can, or…" she ducked her head back in the bathroom and suddenly I heard the sound of water running. Her head then poked back out and she grinned right at me. "You can leave a little bit of Alex booty for me to admire."
Grinning despite myself, it didn't take any more time for me to make my way into the shower with her.
It had been two weeks since I woke up, two weeks since I unwittingly released Princess Luna back into the word at least a decade early.
Two weeks since I learned of Luna's disturbing truth.
I didn't know it yet, but for better or worse everything was about to change for me.
And there was little I could do to stop it.
And that my friends is the little teasing prologue.
Basically, just to see whether or not this story still has people who want it. If you do, then yay. If you don't…then fuck it I'm writing it anyway, for my own curiosity if nothing else.
Cya, stay snuggly!
