The trio sat at home speaking with the jack of what transpired with the princess, worried that he may have said something to jeopardize their goal.
"Ok, let me get this straight. You enter the crazy moon bitch's room. Told her your sorry ass life story, and then proceed to act like nothing's wrong? Are you insane?" Mort asked, as he grabbed the sides of the donkey's face and stared directly into his eyes.
"I mean when you put it like that you make me sound like a sociopath…" Alex said sadly.
Dark let out a loud sigh "So what now, does Luna know we are interdimensional raiders brought here by a completely mysterious force and now are wreaking havoc upon the timeline?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I simply explained how I understood her position of feeling like a stranger to her own family and how I relate to it… I didn't tell her we're humans, she just knows… we're not… from this world." Alex tried to say quickly, his words petering out towards the end.
Dark looked at him with eyes of dread "And you completely understand that if one word of this gets to Celestia, we will never see the sun again?"
"In my defense… she used her magic to see some of my dreams and memories… and well boom there's human us! But it's not the end of the world! Both of us agreed that Celestia is a terrible person to bring this up to… mostly because she is a terrible sister but also because she understands we would likely end up dead."
Quiet filled the room as Dark looked up at the ceiling contemplating his friends' words. Mort looked back and forth at the two awkwardly before eventually the unicorn tore his gaze from the ceiling back to Alex's eyes.
"You know that I trust you both more than anyone else… sometimes we aren't going to be able to stand on the sidelines and watch, I know what you felt and I know that decision was important to you, so I'll support you with everything I can."
Alex took a moment to look at his feet and sigh. Not long after he nods to himself.
"Thanks man, I just- I don't know it felt like something I had to do. It could be for a selfish reason or because…" Alex trails off before finally saying "I don't know I felt some kind of responsibility? Someone suffered from family issues, and I could relate to that. I guess I wanted to help but just ended up putting us in deeper shit."
"Enough already… what's done is done, we'll deal with it like everything else." Dark responded "But you know… it makes me regret not doing anything earlier."
"Jesus, you two bleeding hearts are hopeless. One minute you make a plan, then you say fuck it. One day we can't help, the next the other runs off to do it anyway." Mort said with a chuckle, clearly poking jabs at the two.
"But I guess we can't help it huh?" Mort said as he smiled.
"Nope! We are entirely helpless fools, who will inevitably lead to their own destruction." Dark responded dramatically.
"Heh… as long as my two best friends are right there with me… I think I'm ok with that." Alex said with a big grin.
"Alright, alright I get it. Just get your hopeless asses to bed, I need to wake up for work and I need all the sleep I can get to deal with my boss." Mort said, rolling his eyes to the two.
"Yeah that sounds good." Alex added.
The three finally wandered off to their beds, and were met with a dreamless night.
-Two Weeks Later-
The doorbell of the three former-humans rang, the only occupant of their home at the time being the unicorn himself; Dark.
"Please be Applejack or Spike…" muttered the unicorn quietly. As he slowly opened the door with magic.
However, awaiting him on the other side of the door was none other than the unicorn prodigy herself, Twilight Sparkle. The mare held a very awkward smile as she looked upon the stallion.
"Oh! Hello Dark, do you remember me? We talked a bit at your house opening party." Twilight said, trying to remind the stallion of their last meeting.
Dark cringed on the inside, he knew Twilight would show up eventually but did it really need to be so soon? Well it's been a few months since the two had an actual conversation, so the least he could hope for was to brush her off again.
"Oh yes! Right you were the mare that took over the library right? The head librarian there was a nice lady, too bad we had to close but I'm glad you found a place for yourself of course."
"Oh, you used to work there before I moved in?" Twilight asked, surprised to hear that information.
"For a short while, I haven't picked up anything new yet, but I'm sure I'll manage."
"Well, if that's the case why don't you come over to the library more often? I'm sure Princess Celestia has told you that I'd be willing to help you with learning to better use your magic, right?"
"Right… I remember Celestia approaching me on this matter, but may I ask you if you are familiar at all with incantation based bloodline magic?"
Twilight stopped and thought for a moment, as she held a pensive expression.
"I've never met or heard of bloodlines whose entire magic revolves around incantations, but I am familiar with spells that require incantations, as a matter of fact I have plenty in my library."
"Ah… It's as I feared, unfortunately, you're familiar with spells requiring foci and spell scrolls, if my judgment is correct." Dark quickly paused before he continued "But in my case that line of understanding can be harmful, since power originates in blood through body and then strengthened by words"
Twilight once again was left silent as she tried to think through the situation. But before she could form her next sentence, the two were interrupted by a familiar panting donkey with a baby dragon riding upon him.
"Dark! A gang called the Diamond Dogs kidnapped Rarity, Spike got me and we came back for you! Come on, we need to get going!" Alex said, very clearly winded from galloping.
"Please Dark, we have to go now! Who knows what they're doing to her!" Spike said urgently.
Initially Dark thought why it had to be her, but this could work out in his favor, since it was an easy escape from Twilight's inquiry.
"What about the others? Someone should go and let them know what has happened, we don't know how strong they are and we could be walking into a number greater than Alex and I can handle."
"We need to get the others to help save Rarity! Come on you three, let's go find them!" Twilight states as she gestured for them to follow her.
"We can't waste too much time, here Twilight take Spike with you, I've got a good idea of where to find them." Alex responded before he placed Spike next to the purple unicorn.
Dark nodded his head "He's right we need to stall the Diamond Dogs before anything happens, then both of you can bring in the reinforcements and ensure Rarity's safety."
"But I want to come with you guys!" Spike exclaimed.
"No way Spike, it's too dangerous! We need to get the others before we go help Rarity!" Twilight rebutted.
Alex moved his head down to Spikes level before he spoke to him in a calm and reassuring voice.
"Hey, look. I know we didn't help you before, alright? But if you trust us, if you think we can help save Rarity, then go with Twilight and get the others ok? I promise we'll get her back safely. Can you do that, little buddy?"
Spike was taken aback for a moment, before he looked into the donkey's soft brown eyes. He let out a sigh before he straightened his back and gave him a nod.
"I- I trust you guys."
Dark looked at Alex "Let's get moving."
Alex nodded back.
"I'm with you."
-Diamond Dog Fields-
"Rarity is lucky her magic's scent is still lingering around, the show never really visualizes where these kinds of places are." Alex said as he ran alongside Dark.
"I'm just glad your nose is able to track it, no way I would want to be found fiddling our metaphorical thumbs, when the others arrive" Dark shot back.
The two came to the end of a short cliff that overlooked the many tunnels dug out by the Diamond Dogs, they looked to each other for the next step in their plan.
"We try to outpace them before they can seal the tunnels?" Alex suggests.
"Wanna countdown? Been a while since I've had to wait for the starting pistol." Dark responded in a snarky tone.
"Ok Mister Track and Field, you shave; I boost?" Alex responded as faint electricity started to build in his coat.
"Cross Country, get it right, anyway… ready…" Dark grunted as he started to jog in place gathering magic around him.
"Set!"
Alex's entire body is covered in electricity, and his eyes are glowing faintly as he finally starts the kickoff. "Go!"
At that moment Dark yelled "Shave!" as both him and the donkey flew across the field and down into the nearest tunnel.
The two of them made their way to the bottom unscathed, Dark thanks to his teleportation ability, while Alex used his increased speed to jump wall to wall to lessen his fall. As the two stood there in the tunnels, their surroundings were only illuminated by the electricity that came from Alex's body.
"Alright, she's…" Alex sniffed the air for a moment. "She's down this tunnel."
Alex pointed down the tunnel to their right with his hoof.
Dark nodded as he lit up the tunnels with a simple magical light on his horn and walked down the path with Alex.
"Hmm you hear that?" the Diamond Dog Rover asked Fido and Spot.
"Nu-uh. Could be guard dogs walkin' 'round." Fido responded.
"Oh, unhand me you brutes!" Rarity yelled out as she barely tried to squirm free, from fear of chipping a hoof.
"We almost at work area, so stay quiet." Rover said to the white unicorn he held.
"What's the game plan? I hit the guy holding her, you get her out? Or do we try to take them all out first?" Alex asked as the two were gaining on the Diamond Dogs.
"I'll keep the one that has Rarity in place, we deal with the other two, and then we can deal with the last after we get her out, sound good?" Dark replied.
"I gotcha, in that case I'll take the big guy." Alex added.
Before the Diamond Dogs could properly know what happened, Fido hit with a full speed headbut to the gut, and was sent skidding on the ground by Alex. In that same instance Dark conjured forth his power.
"Grasp!"
As the words rang out Rover's body became sheathed with magic as he went into a standstill, his muscles freezing into place.
"C-can't m-move…" Rover said, barely getting the words out of his mouth.
Fido on the other hand couldn't get up from the ground as his muscles convulsed rapidly.
"Body, not listen…" Fido added.
"Gah-" Alex winced as he felt his body start to lock up from the backlash. "Last one is all you Dark…"
Dark turned on the last standing Diamond Dog "Good thing I'm good at multitasking, Now! Eat This!"
Energy poured out into a swift wisp toward Spot blasting him back into the far wall.
"Alright that's that, Alex can you move? I can't hold this guy forever."
"Yeah, I can move. Can't say the same for the other guy." Alex responded as he slowly shuffled toward Rover to free Rarity.
Meanwhile as Fido attempted to get up, he quickly vomited from the impact to his stomach, rolled onto his back, and groaned from the pain.
As Rarity was freed from the grip of Rover, she started to speak to the two.
"Oh my! I should have known you two would rescue me! Only the stallions from Canterlot could be so brave as to save a damsel like myself." Rarity said in an exaggerated tone, as she attempted to seem more elegant than she really was.
"Right, sure, Dark come on we should bounce before any other Diamond Dogs show up." Alex said, as he unleashed a hind leg kick to Rover's stomach, causing him to groan in pain.
"I hope you plan on carrying her out, because the only way out is up." Dark stated in pity for his friend's task, while he let Rover free from his magic, leaving the Diamond Dog to slump to the floor.
"I had a different idea in mind." Alex says with a devious smile on his face, and looking toward an empty minecart.
-Topside of the Diamond Dog Fields-
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Spike finally made it to the edge of the short cliff that overlooked the field of tunnels.
"She's down there somewhere, I think Alex and Dark are already looking for her." Spike said to the other mares.
"Well let's get to it! We can't let them boys do all the heavy liftin'! Let's go get Rarity back!" Applejack said with determination in her voice.
However, in that instance a thunderous echo rang out and a minecart from the depths of the earth shot up into the air like a rocket.
Both the sound of Rarity screams and Dark yelling "DAMN IT ALEX!" were heard before the minecart hit the ground skidding to a halt in front of the Mane Six.
Spike's face lit up with relief as he saw Rarity safe.
"Rarity! You're ok!" Was all Spike could say as he hugged her.
Rarity's hair was disheveled as she gently pushed Spike away.
"Yes it's been… quite the day for us all… I think I would like to go home now…" Rarity said, taking pauses between her speech.
"What in tarnation did you two do? How'd you get that thing topside like that?" Applejack said in complete awe.
Dark slowly clambered out the cart and said "It was Alex's doing, one of his giga impact I believe, too bad he couldn't come with though, might take a little for him to get up himself."
"Nah don't worry about it, I got him!" Rainbow Dash said as she flew down the tunnel with a cocky smile.
As Rainbow Dash returns holding Alex by his axilla, like some type of cat, the rest of the Mane Six begin their walk back to Ponyville. Before they all parted ways back home, Alex and Dark were stopped by Spike.
"Hey you two, can I talk to you guys for a moment?" Spike asked, as he looked seriously at the two.
"Sure little buddy, lay it on us." Alex responded.
"I really wanted to thank you guys, I didn't know how to feel at first. I didn't know if I could trust you guys, but I'm glad I could and I'm sorry for not believing in you guys." Spike finally said as he looked down slightly in shame.
"No, you were right to distrust us, we let you down when you needed us, but we won't ever stand by like that again… no matter what we have to face." Dark said, putting a hoof on the dragon's shoulder.
Spike's face lightened up when he heard Dark's promise, and then smiled.
"Although! If you still feel guilty in not believing in us, you could always make it up to us by telling Twilight you want to spend more time with us to play DD&D!" Alex suggested half-heartedly.
Spike could only chuckle at the joke. "I'll see what I can do."