The procedure had to be done fast, but it also had to be done right. Lucas needed just the right amount of antidote which had to be synthesized and given to him at just the right amount, or it could kill him. His wounds would also have to be stitched up. Most of them were small and shallow, and had already stopped bleeding. But some were deep, and still bleeding profusely.

Darragh had to have his stump cauterized. He was knocked out, but the extreme pain that would be inflicted would wake him up, sending him into screaming pain. Just the right amount of sedative had to be given to keep him knocked out, but not send him into a chemically induced coma. When the two patients arrived, Chrysalis started with Lucas first because he was already close to death, Darragh could last until the antidote was synthesized. Some doctors and nurses from Ponyville were going to help her.

"Okay people, you need to follow my orders to the wire. You, check the fire on that bottle, make sure it stays at the right temperature." Chrysalis said, pointing to a pony then a bottle of bubbling purple liquid. "You, start heating up a pan, go out and find one from one of the citizens. Put it over an open flame and tell me when it gets red hot." She continued, pointing at another nurse.

Both of the two ponies lept into action, one running to find a pan, another going to check the fire. Two others helped put Lucas on a large tree stump to be used for a table. They stripped his armor off to expose the wounds.

"How much longer do we have left on that antidote?" Chrysalis asked.

"It has been 15 minutes, so I am going to say another 10." The pony replied.

"Okay, somepony help me stich some of the bleeding wounds. Where are we on that pan?" Chrysalis asked.

"Just got it." The other nurse said, running in with it in her teeth. She made a fire quickly and stuck it in the center.

Chrysalis and the other pony used magic to begin stitching some of Lucas's wounds. When the antidote for the poison was completed, Chrysalis injected it into Lucas's arm. Lucas, once pale, was now starting to get his color back and his heart rate began to climb back to normal. Chrysalis finished sewing Lucas up and moved on to Darragh.

Darragh was laying on ground on a mat. Chrysalis removed the blood-soaked bandages from his arm. She inspected the stump. It was bad. Really bad. She had to get it closed as soon as possible. She checked the pan and it was almost ready. Chrysalis had one of the nurses hold a bit of rag on the stump to keep it from continuing to bleed. When the pan was ready, she used her magic to place it on the stump. Blood and skin began to sizzle like bacon.

Darragh's eyes flew open and he let out a loud scream of pain. The two ponies jumped on him to keep him from moving, holding his remaining arm and legs down. It took all their weight to hold the horseman down. Darragh's screams had awoken the sleeping Lucas, who began to moan and groan with pain.

Chrysalis lightly kicked Lucas in the side of the head to knock him out again. She had to concentrate to keep the hot metal on Darragh's stump. When it was done, Chrysalis pulled the pan away. The cauterization was not clean, and Darragh would have horrible scarring and, of course, he would be missing his left arm.

Alex, Erex and the girls arrived to find almost all the ponies in Ponyville crowded around the hut. They pushed through them to get inside. The entire hut stunk of chemicals, blood, and burned flesh. Chrysalis had just finished her work.

"What's the verdict, Chrysalis?" Erex asked as she finished wrapping up Darragh's shoulder area.

"Lucas's body will be riddled with scars for the rest of his life, and the poison has affected his nervous system. It will be difficult to move for a while, but I expect him to make a full recovery. Darragh's arm has been cauterized and is thankfully not infected, but there will be permanent scarring there. He is also expected to recover." Chrysalis explained.

Alex and Erex breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the good news. Their fellow horsemen would survive.

"How long will it take them to fully recover?" Alex asked.

"Darragh will take about a week. It is hard to tell with Lucas. We will have to play it by ear to find it out." Chrysalis added.

A concerned expression crawled onto Alex's face. Samael had mentioned a great beast coming and it would show up within two weeks. They did not have time for this.

Alex turned and walked towards the exit when he felt something grab the back of his hoodie. He looked over his shoulder to see Chrysalis biting his hoodie and pulling back like a dog fighting for a toy.

"Chrysalis, what are you doing?" Alex asked.

"Don't think I don't see that" She replied

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Oh, so your white hoodie is supposed to be red like that?" Chrysalis asked.

Alex looked down and saw that his hoodie was turning brown, black and red. He sighed and began taking it off, letting Chrysalis examine the wound. He sat down on the ground, now noticing that the rest of Ponyville was watching him. Chrysalis looked over the large gash.

"I'm surprised you can still move this arm." She said, pulling out a needle and surgical thread.

She began stitching the wound. Alex flinched with every prick. When Chrysalis was done and has wrapped the wound up and was satisfied with her work, Alex walked out of the hut. The ponies moved out of his way. In his hand he held a knife from one of the nurses medical bags. He had stolen it on his way out.

Alex walked out of the clearing towards a nearby stream. Nobody followed him, everybody, even Erex, was caught up in the two severely injured housemen. Alex kneeled next to the stream. His reflection showed a boy he once knew, but as he focused on it, the reflection changed to what he was now, a beaten and scarred man who was stripped of his innocence in a harsh new world. His hair was no longer pulled back in a ponytail, but was hanging freely like a heavy metal band member. Alex gripped the knife in one hand, and began giving himself a much needed haircut with the other. Long tufts of hair fell onto the ground and into the stream.

The haircut was messy, but he looked almost the same as he did. He dunked his head down into the water to wash away any loose strands. When he sat up, he felt the cool water rush down his head and onto his shoulders. The cool water felt good.

He stood back up and made his way back to the clearing. Most of the ponies had returned to doing what they were doing. Many tents had been set up for ponies to sleep in, and a few makeshift huts had been made as well.

"Hey, everyone. Can I have your attention?" Alex called over the entire area.

The crowd fell silent. They were not expecting something from their king. Some of them looked at him funny, not recognizing his new hair style.

"I must now say that you can return to your homes. The threat has been eliminated. I suggest that you return to your homes and try to pick up the pieces." Alex said.

All the ponies waited for a second and began cheering. They were happy the threat was gone. Most of them ran off to collect their things and start the trek back, others ran off to spread the word. Alex was happy to see that things might go back to normal.

"Do you really think it is safe? We didn't see any green soldiers, but they might still be there." Erex said.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm sure that they have vanished, returned to the place they were from." Alex replied, walking away.

"Hey, Alex!" Erex called after him. Alex turned to look at him. "We did good. It looks like we saved the day." He continued.

Alex smiled and nodded. He wished he could be as optimistic as he was. He would think about optimism later though. He had to find Luna and tell her what was going on. He found her near a ledge looking out over a large part of the forest. He sat down next to her.

"Alexander." She said, not even looking at him.

"Luna." he replied.

They sat in silence. Alex was not sure how to start things. The news would probably shatter whatever kind of good mood she may have been in.

"Look, there is something I have to tell you," He said, but was cut off.

"Sush. I don't want to hear anything from you." Luna said.

Alex looked over at her like she had just smacked him. "What's up with you?"

"Your actions have caused me a great deal of pain, Alexander." She replied, still not looking at him.

"What did I do?" Alex asked.

"You almost threw your life away. Sure you got out relitivly unscaved," she said, her eyes moving to his bandaged shoulder then back forward. "but you gambled with your life without thinking of how it would affect the ones who love you." She continued.

"What are you talking about? I risked my life because of the ones I love." Alex replied, hurt a little by her words.

"Sometimes I wonder, Alexander." She said, but trailed off.

"Wonder what?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you even love me anymore. It has been a thought that has been in my mind for a very long time. The way you almost carelessly throw yourself into a fight hurts me. If you believe I will think of you as a coward for not fighting, then your wrong. It takes a strong man to fight, but it takes a stronger man to walk away." Luna explained.

Alex could not believe what he was hearing. He clenched his hands in anger. Then he stood to walk away.

"Do you remember what you are?" Luna asked, finally turning to look at him.

Alex did not reply.

"You're not a god Alex. You can die. And you will if you keep doing this. And as long as you are throwing away your life so easily then I won't-" She said but was cut off.

"Stop. Stop right now. I don't want to hear any more. I have already heard too much." Alex said, his head bent.

"What have you heard?" Luna asked, suddenly interested.

"He was me, Luna. Samael was me from the future. He came back because he had failed, that in his future, he had lost you and Alexieus. He came back to warn me about what was going to happen. That is why I must fight. I could not stand to lose you and Alexieus. I could not live with myself knowing that you died because of me." Alex said, turning to look at her.

Luna had a look of saddened surprise, like she had just gotten news that Alex had died in battle. Tears flowed out of her right eye.

"Alex, I didn't know." She said, struggling to get the words out.

"I know, my love. Samael said that something would be coming, something that is hell bent on destroying us. He mentioned something about a Grand Horseman. I must find out what he meant and find who this Grand Horseman is within two weeks, or the beast will destroy us all." Alex told her.

"Where will you go? How will you start your search?" She asked.

"The only time that I know the four horsemen to be mentioned anywhere else would be the Bible. The names of them are War, Death, Conquest, and Famine. I guess the only way to figure out if there was a fifth was find out from the big man himself."

Luna looked perplexed, she knew nothing about christianity.

"Nevermind. Just stay here. Me and Erex have a plan. We are going back to the human world."

"What?!" Luna asked in sudden surprise, standing up to face her husband.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Alex said, but was not going to go anywhere fast.

"No! I forbid it. You are not going, and that is FINAL!" Luna yelled, scaring off some birds in a near by tree.

"Why? Why do you want me to not go back?" Alex asked, really wondering why his wife was acting like this.

"Because I said so and I do not need a reason!"

"Luna, I have to do this. If I don't figure this out, then when this thing comes, I don't think we will be strong enough to beat it."

"I don't care!" Luna yelled, getting down into a crouching position, like she would jump Alex if he tried to leave.

"Look, I'm going to do this weather you like it or not." Alex replied.

"Fine, then I will be going with you." She said, regaining her composure and sitting back down, giving Alex a commanding and almost snooty look.

Alex stared at her for a second, turned around, and walked off.

"Good, I'm glad that you- HEY!" Luna began, but stopped when Alex took off running.

Alex sprinted through the woods as fast as he could. Luna was flying overhead, trying to find a way to land on top of him to bring his sprint to a halt. She tried to keep up, but fell behind a little. Alex had far better stamina and speed.

Erex was lazing around in the clearing when he heard a commotion to his left. He heard yelling from above and saw Alex burst through a bush at top speed. He ran into a hut and sprinted out with his now fixed white hoodie on. He grabbed his scythe from the place he put it and was yelling something, but Erex was in a daze.

"What?" Erex asked.

"I said grab your shit and lets go, we gotta move!" Alex said.

Thinking this was a real emergency, Erex ran to get his sword and the holder that attached it to his back. Once they were ready, the both took off running. Erex could hear yelling behind them. He glanced up and saw both Celestia and Luna flying after them.

"What the actual hell?" Erex asked over the sounds of footsteps and yells from the girls above.

"Long story, just run!" Alex replied.

Both the boys crashed through the front of the forest, ripping apart trees on their way through. They rushed through Ponyville, which was already being rebuilt. Erex heard Celestia yell for someone to stop them. Ponies tried to intercept them, but were no match for his and Alex's evading skills.

When they finally got out of Ponyville, Erex's lungs were complaining about all the running. He told Alex he had to stop, so they ducked into a small bush. They heard the girls yells as they flew over them.

"Jesus christ on a bicycle, why the hell are we running and why the hell are the girls chasing us?" Erex asked between pants and gasps.

Alex explained that they had to go back to the human world and Luna(And apparently Celestia now) did not want them to go. Erex asked why, and Alex only replied with one word.

"Reasons."

When Erex had finally caught his breath, they took off full speed again. Someone yelled "there they are" and they both picked up the pace.

They ran along the river next to the castle and saw the cave leading back to the human world. They rushed through and as they exited, Alex jumped and spun around mid flight. He reached out towards the cave mouth and clenched his right hand into a fist. Suddenly the cave mouth closed up. The portal was blocked.

"What the hell did you do?" Erex asked, falling over, gasping for air.

"I closed the portal, but we still have to move. They will probably get through it soon." Alex replied, and as soon he was done, they both heard a boom as if something on the other side of the cave was trying to get through. They both stood up and slowly walked away. They were back.

"So what's the deal? What are we going to do first?" Erex asked, beginning to catch his breath.

"We are going to see the pope. He really seems to be the only person that can help us." Alex replied.

"Ah, I see. Oh, and another thing." Erex said.

"What?"

"If you make me run like that again, I swear I will shove this sword right up your ass."

Author Note: Christ, this story is just dragging on and on and on, and I'm sure you guys are thinking the same thing. So this is what I plan to do. I am going to try to make the next few chapters as long as possible to try to make this story end sometime in the foreseeable future. Just keep with it and expect the wait for the new chapters to be longer...or longer than it already is. If you have anything you want to be done to the story of even future ones of mine, either private message me or friend me on Facebook at Alexander Kralie. And with that, good night.