"Oh dear god, what did they do to him?"

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god they killed him and they have thrown his corpse in here to send a message! Oh god were gonna die!"

"Darragh! Shut the hell up! Everything is goig to be fine. Look, he's still breathing."

"Luna, you saw it, what happened?"

"He tried to fight them, it looked like he was going to win for a while, then they transformed and knocked him out."

"Geez, well, at least he went down fighting."

"Mommy? Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, dear. Daddy will be just fine."

Alex could hear it all, and he was awake, but he could not bring himself to open his eyes. He had tried to save them, but failed. Now he was going to rot in this cell, watching his loved ones die. All of this hit Alex hard. He curled up into a ball and let tears fall from his eyes but not making a sound. Finally, the tears refused to fall. He shat up shakily and looked around.

"Oh good, he's awake." Erex said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You okay, dude? From what we heard they beat you down pretty hard." Darragh asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alex said, turning away.

Alex was alone in his cell. To his left was his fellow horseman. To his right was his wife. Behind him, his son sat by the bars, looking over at him hopefully. In front of him was the changeling Dalton, who also gazed at Alex hopefully.

From what Alex could tell, he was in the dungeon. He could hear the quiet chatter of the Equestrian guard far off in all directions, but they were too far away and it was too dark to see them.

"So, what's the plan now that you're back? How are we going to get out of here?" Lucas asked Alex.

No response.

"Are we going to bust out and make a run for the Everfree forest? You would think that would be the safest place." Erex told Alex.

Still no response.

"Alex, come on buddy, it's okay. We can get out of this, we can escape!" Darragh said.

"Alex?" they all asked at once.

Still, no response.

"Ale-"

"Shut up, you fools! I'm trying to think!" Alex yelled.

Alex was looking intently at the floor of his cell, drawing out a map of the castle in the dust. He drew markers to show the possible exits and the location of the weapons, which he hoped Samael, Vulgrim, Felix and Ulthane had not found yet.

When he had the rough draft of a plan, he turned and looked at his wife, which he found staring at him.

"Luna, can I ask you something?" He said.

"Yes, of course. What is it?" she replied.

"I got knocked out when they first came, and I woke up back in the human world at my old house. My family just acted like nothing had happened, like I hadn't vanished or anything. Why is that?" He asked.

"Well, we needed time for you to recuperate from the concussion you got, so, under the cover of night, I took you back home and put a spell over your family that erased their memory of you vanishing and making many returns." Luna explained.

Alex stood up and immediately felt dizzy. He fell back to the ground, cursing his own body.

"Whoa, calm down there. You're still a little hazy from the fight. Just lay back and relax a little." Luna said.

Alex laid on his back. He tried to close his eyes but they refused to move. It seemed exhausting just to blink. Alex sat up and look around, trying to find out where exactly in the dungeon he was. He heard the sound of struggling and then a loud "umph". He turned to see Alexieus had squeezed through the bars and trotted over to him. Alex let him crawl up in his arms and curl up. He stroked his mane, wishing his son did not have to go through this. A child should not be exposed to such things. Alexieus stirred a little as Alex heard hoof-steps approaching his cell. He looked up to see Twilight, Celestia, and Cadence walk up, using magic to carry plates of food. They slid them through food slots in the cell bars on the floor. Once all the food was delivered, the three of them walked over and sat in front of Erex, Darragh, and Lucas. They were talking when two guards walked up and said the masters wanted them. One of them slapped Cadence on the flank as she walked by which made her yelp and Darragh look up in surprise. All he did was snigger.

"Wish that blue one was in one of them dresses, that would be a sight to see." one said.

"Say that again." Alex said, lifting Alexieus up and laying him down on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend you, your majesty?" He said, walking up to the bars. "Can you repeat yourself, I didn't quite hear you." he continued.

The guards look of smugness quickly turned to surprise when Alex grabbed him by the collar of his armor through the bars.

"I said say that again, mother fucker!" Alex yelled.

The guard tried to pull away but the sudden burst of anger gave him an iron grip. His fellow ran up and tried to swing a punch at Alex, who dodged and grabbed the guard by the wrist. Alex violently yanked both arms back, slamming one of the guards into the bars face first and snapping the others arm at the elbow. They both yelled in pain and leaped away from the bars.

"You son of a-" One of them said but was stopped by a small roar.

They each looked down and saw Alexieus jump at them, his tiny wings fluttering to keep him airborne. He bit down hard on one of the guard's fingers. The guard yelled in pain and kicked the small alicorn off, sending him flying with such force that he popped back through the bars into his father outstretched arms. Alex bent down and looked at his son. Alexieus had a welp the size of a golfball on his head.

"You son of a bitch! You, and your bastard child will pay for this!" The guard with the broken arm yelled through clenched teeth.

Alex stood up, shaking with anger. His eyes were wide with anger and hate. He lept forward at the bars and crashed into them. The guards flinched as Alex slammed against the bars. Alex roared and pulled at the bars with all his might. The guards laughed at his attempt at first but stopped at the sound of metal snapping and hitting the ground. They each looked at each other and then at Alex, who calmly stepped through the bars. The two guards bent down in submission, holding up their arms in defense. Alex grabbed on of their heads and snapped it with such power and force that it turned 360 degrees. Alex grabbed the other guard by the head and began shocking him with as much black lightning as he could put out. When he had let out all he could, he shoved his thumbs into the guards eyes for good measure. Both the guards fell over, dead.

Alex bent down and grabbed the cell keys off one of them. He walked over to the horsemen and unlocked the door to their cell. He did the same for his cell, Dalton's cell, and his wife's cell.

"Take these, release the rest of the guard. When your done, meet me back here. We are going to get our weapons." Alex told them.

"Fuckin' A, man. I knew you could get us out." Lucas said.

Darragh took the keys and the three of them ran off. Alex turned to Luna.

"Sorry if I scared you, but I will not allow anything like that to happen to you, them hurting Alexieus just pushed me over the edge" Alex said.

Luna ran up to him and buried her face in his stomach.

"Alex, I love you with my entire heart. I don't care what you do, I will always love you." She said, tearing up.

Alex ran back to his cell and grabbed Alexieus, he was stirring a little and opened his eyes.

"Daddy?" He asked weakly.

"Shhh, don't say a word. Just rest, you've been through a lot." Alex said.

Alexieus closed his eyes again and began quietly snoring. Alex ran over to one of the guards and grabbed a backpack off one of them. He stuffed an old blanket in it and laid Alexieus inside. He put the flap over him and snapped it shut, but did not tighten it all the way. He carefully put the pack on and had adjusted it so Alexieus would not be awoken if he ran. Just about then, Darragh and the others came back with the entire Equestrian guard. One of them pushed forward. He had a scar across his eye.

"Hello, Wild Heart. Good to see you again." Alex said.

"It's good to see you as well." Wild Heart replied.

"Okay, you take the guard and go out the back way and run for the Everfree forest. There you will find the Changelings. Dalton will show you the way. Luna, you go with them too. Darragh, Erex, Lucas, you're with me." Alex said.

"Now way! I'm staying with you!" She said in protest.

"Honey, now is not the time to argue, just do as I say." Alex said.

Alex pushed her forward into the crowed and told them to keep her safe. They all ran off in one direction.

"Where are we going?" Erex asked.

"We are going to get our weapons. I would hate to see what would happen if they fell into the hands of Samael and his goons." Alex said.

The four of them ran off, running for the staircase that led down to where the weapons were held.

"Okay, what exactly happened while I was gone." Alex asked as they ran down the steps.

"Well, Samael and his friends landed and started causing chaos. They attacked everything in sight. Suddenly, their glowing green soldiers started coming out of the ground and doing the same. We rushed to help, fighting them with just basic weapons. We held them off but had to retreat. We fought them at the castle but finally had to give in." Darragh explained.

"I see, so you guys have some battlefield experience. That's good. We are one step closer to unlocking your full potential." Alex said.

"Full potential?" Erex asked.

"Yes. You have been horsemen ever since you were born. Because of that, you have latent power that is sealed inside you. You probably have seen proof of this and random points in your life. Like when you're being chased and you suddenly have the ability to run faster or fight harder. That is your latent power seeping up and showing itself. Normally, if we tried to unlock it through force, than your body would be ripped apart and you would die, normally causing a large explosion. Your full potential has to be unlocked by your own way. Trust me, when you need it most, it will happen." Alex explained.

"So, Alex, what does your full potential look like?" Lucas asked.

"Truth be told, I don't know. I have my demon form, but that won't be enough to fight them." Alex said.

The boys finally came up on the to the door that led to the armory. They ran through to find it untouched. They ran to the back to find the door holding their weapons. Alex unlocked the door and they opened it to find their weapons sitting there, just like they had left them. They each grabbed them and were just about to leave when Alex walked over to a chest off to the side of the room. He opened it and pulled out pieces of armor.

"Put these on, this is armor that has been specifically built for you. We found them with the weapons. Put it on quick, we have to get out of here." Alex said.

Each of the boys began to suit up. Alex's armor consisted of a solid black chest plate and shoulder plates, the one on the left larger than the other, a set of black and red bracers, and armored plates on his legs. The armor was protective but lightweight for quick movements and running. Erex's armor consisted of a red chest plate with a hood attached made of super strong cloth, bracers with skulls and spikes on them, and spiked greaves. Erex's armor was heavy, yet light. Darragh's armor consisted of only chest plates and leg plates that were red and silver. His armor had to be quick and flexible to be able to use his bow the best. Lucas's armor was similar to Darraghs, but had shoulder plates and was green and black. Each of the boys looked over themselves when they were done.

"Wow, this armor seems heavy but is fairly light." Erex said.

"I know, it's almost like I'm not wearing it at all." Darragh added.

"That's the point. This armor was built to be strong and light, though the two don't normally go together. I wish I could explain in further detail, but we really have to go." Alex said.

"Where to next, boss?" Erex asked.

"Where do you think?" Alex asked.

"Um, the Everfree forest?" Lucas asked.

Alex looked down at the floor and shook his head at the stupidity of his fellow horsemen.

"Who exactly have we not saved yet?" Alex asked.

"Dude! Quit with the fucking riddles and just tell us!" Erex yelled, getting impatient.

"We have to get Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight you insolent monkeys." Alex said, equally annoyed.

The boys looked at each other and each wanted to slap themselves for forgetting the other girls. Alex led them out of the dungeon and let them take the lead when it came to slashing open, shooting, and whacking the guards they met. They boys suddenly seemed stronger and more experienced. It's like the weapon's and armor's wisdom was seeping into them. Alex smiled at the thought of the three boys he once knew growing into men.

Finally they made it to the throne room. That was where the supposed "maids" were cleaning according to one of the guards what was not immediately stabbed, impaled, shot or sliced to pieces. They each listened as hard as they could and only heard three voices. They each sounded feminine and were saying things like "make sure to get over there" and "you missed a spot" and "I can't believe we have to do this crap". Alex kicked the door open and Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight each flinched, then came barreling at them at mach 1. Alex hit the deck as the girl launched over him and rammed into the boys saying things like "I knew you would save us" and "I'm so happy to see you again" and "What are you wearing".

When the girls calmed down, they all made a mad dash for the exit. They leaped in a carriage and shoved it down the mountain and rode is down occasionally flinching when they ran over a rock or when the carriage lurched. They finally stopped when the carriage flipped and crashed into a boulder.

"Woohoo! Let's do that again!" Erex said popping up from under a plank of wood.

"Let's not." Cadence said, stumbling a little and turning red when Darragh helped her get her balance back.

Alex led them into Ponyville and found it mostly empty. There were no guards, ponies, or anything. Not even any of the infamous green soldiers were to be seen. The little detail made it's way into the Everfree forest and finally came up to the Changeling horde and the population of Ponville. Soon the group was surrounded by both pony and changeling alike, welcoming them back. Alex pushed through the crowd and walked to one of the shacks that he knew belonged to Chrysalis. He entered to find her and Luna talking. Luna ran up to him and nuzzled him. Alex gave her a quick hug and pushed her back, taking his armor off and setting his scythe aside, setting down the backpack. He pulled Alexieus's little sleeping body out of it and explained to Chrysalis what had happened. She went over and pulled out a bottle of red fluid and fed it to Alexieus, who woke up with a cough.

"He has suffered a major concussion. The medicine I gave him should ease the pain and swelling. The only thing I suggest now it plenty of rest and sleep. He should feel better in a few days." Chrysalis explained.

Alex held his son in his arms and carried him over to a couch where he laid him down and told him to rest. He thanked Chrysalis for the help. He then walked out and found the boys in a swarm of bodies.

"Hey, boys, take your armor off and relax a little. We won't be staying for long. Rest a little, because tonight we strike back."