"Alex, I swear I'm going to kill you for this."

"Just calm down Erex, we will be out of this soon."

Alex and Erex had found themselves stuck in a very awkward position, to say the least. The only way they were going to learn about the myth of the Grand Horseman was to visit the place where the first thought of a Horseman was created….or the only person who would know something about any of this. The Pope.

3 hours earlier…..

"Okay, you dragged me out here, now tell me why we're here." Erex asked.

"Follow my lead. Every year, around this time if I'm not mistaken, a group a nuns go and visit the Vatican, where they get to see the Pope himself. We are going to be tagging along." Alex said, walking a good 20 paces behind the group of similarly dressed women.

"You are completely out of your damn mind. I think we have a better chance of killing this beast with our bare hands then this plan actually working." Erex said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I hope you have a tight hold on your balls now my friend, cause here is our chance." Alex said, motioning to two nuns who had left the group to visit the facilities.

"Oh hell no. I'm not doing this Alex. I would rather hide in the wheel…..oh fuck you." Erex was going to defy Alex's plan, but realized he walked right along with it.

No screams of pain or help were made. Soon, two nuns walked out of the bathroom, and no boys were seen. Well, they were if you knew what had happened.

Alex and Erex had their heads down, and were catching up to the group of nuns.

"Alex, I swear I'm going to kill you for this."

"Just calm down Erex, we will be out of this soon."

Erex and Alex followed the nuns into the plane and sat down in the back, only speaking in whispers so they would not bring about suspicion.

"Wow." Was the only thing Alex was able to say.

"What? Why wow?" Erex asked.

"I can't believe this plan worked." Alex said almost absentmindedly.

Erex shot Alex a quick glance of disbelief, but shook it off and stared out the window for the rest of the flight.

Back in Equestria…..

"Wow. This is more like it." Darragh said, taking a look over himself.

"Whoa...that's kinda hot." Cadence mumbled, weak for some reason.

"I guess this is what Alex was talking about when he meant my full potential...and I fucking LOVE IT!" Darragh said, starting to lose his cool.

He pulled out his weapon and fired an arrow off into the distance. It hit the ground in a nearly unpopulated part of the forest and the explosion could be seen for miles.

"Um, Darragh? Don't you think you should maybe calm down a little bit? Maybe get under control?" She tries to say but her voice is drowned out by the now numerous explosions and screams of almost sadistic glee.

Darragh had lost it. The rush of power was getting to him. Cadence got up, knowing she would have to stop him and help him keep his head, or force him. Whichever one came first.

Cadence ran out of the hut to find her Horseman rolling on the floor like a boy who just got a new toy for Christmas. She ran up and tugged at his clothes a little.

"Um. I think you should calm down a little."

"Are you kidding me? I haven't felt like this in, well, EVER!" He rolls over and keeps laughing almost psychotically.

Cadence frowns a little agitated and jumps on top of him, sitting on his back to keep him from rolling around. She puts a hoof on the back of his head to keep his face in the dirt.

"Now listen to me. You are going to calm down or I am going to beat the meaning of the word into you. Understand?"

Darragh pauses for a second and starts glowing. When the light fades Cadence is sitting on the old him. He looks up at her, a little confused.

"What happened?" He pauses. "And what's burning?"

Cadence smiles, knowing that the Darragh she lives for is back. "You reached your true potential and freaked out. And your magic arrows apparently explode too." She says, smiling a little at him.

He nods. "So I'm the first one to get it. Nice. I guess that makes me better than the others."

Cadence chuckles a little. "Of course it does." She smiles and gets off of him.

Darragh stands up and dusts himself off. He smiles at her and stares into her eyes a little, making Cadence blush.

"So, I was wondering, can you take me some place to eat?"

Cadence blushes and grins from ear to ear. This is what she has been wanting to hear for the longest time, or the closest thing to it. "Of course, follow me."

The two of them walk off, oblivious to Lucas, who is moaning in the almost destroyed hut, wanting somebody to explain what the fuck just happened.

Back in the human world…

"To be honest, I can't believe this has worked thus far." Erex said, sitting down with Alex in the back of the bus heading to the Vatican.

"You really are an optimist, aren't you." Alex says sarcastically.

"I try to be." Erex replies, taking a look around at the back of the bus. "So what's the plan once we get there?"

"We walk in, bid the leader of a massive religion a 'how-do-you-do', then ask him some good natured questions. Sound right?" Alex says.

Erex gets a bad feeling then nods. The bus begins to move and they head into the city.

A half hour passes and Alex and Erex finally make it to the Vatican. The Pope is there now, and so is his security.

"Didn't really plan on this did you." Erex says. He waits for a response but there is none. "Alex?" He looks around. His comrade had vanished.

Erex looks around, a little distressed. Suddenly a hand is on his shoulder and he whirls around. Alex is behind him, his normal clothes back on.

"Take the garb off." He says.

Erex gets rid of the nun clothes. "Now what's the plan? How are we gonna get to the big guy without the guards noticing us?"

"They just recently installed air ducts in the building. We'll get into them and make our way there that way."

"How will we reach the air ducts?"

Alex points over at a small vent near the floor.

"Ah, that way."

Both the boys make their way through the ducts, Erex complaining all the way.

"God I hate tight places."

"Stop complaining."

"I have claustrophobia, you know that right?"

"Stop complaining."

"We really should not be doing this, it's like, nine kinds of illegal."

"Stop complaining."

"Maybe we should just turn around."

" Maybe I should have left your little complaining ass back in Equestria."

"What?"

"Nothing, keep crawling."

They crawled for what seemed like ten minute to Alex, but for Erex felt like to hours. They were in silence, their hot breath making it hard to move comfortably. One time through this escapade, Alex had stopped to look down below a vent to see where they were. Erex was looking behind him and walked face first into Alex's behind. Erex thought this would turn into something else, but a swift kick in the shoulder stopped that.

"Watch where you're going, idiot." Alex said, figuring out where they were and continuing on.

For the rest of their time moving through the ducts, they remained in silence.

Back in Equestria…...again.

Lucas kept staring up a hole on the roof. His body was still stitched up and he had began to stink. The last time he had been able to smell himself was in Paris Island, the Marine Corps training base in Florida. Lucas thought he would never have to smell something like that again. The scent of the mixture of blood and sweat was almost maddening.

Finally he decided to get his smelly ass up. He moved and didn't feel pain, but soreness. His skin ached, and that was not something he liked. He looked around, not wanting to trip over anything. Most of the place was splintered and there was lots of glass shards everywhere.

Lucas stepped out of the hut, happy no new cuts were in him. With every movement he cringed as scabs not fully healed cracked at he walked. He slowly made his way through the path that he thought was correct through the forest. From what he had heard from the chatter of ponies that had passed him while he was out of commission, this place was to be feared. There were supposed to be hundreds of dangerous things in this forest, but the only thing he saw that had even seemed remotely dangerous was the mosquitoes and the occasional spider sitting in it's web.

Lucas was just about to give up and sit on a nearby log to take a nap when he heard the rushing of water. He moved towards it and found a large stream. The water was crystal clear and and was cool to the touch. He pulled all of his clothes off and gently stepped in, laying out and letting the water wash over him. He didn't have any soap or anything but he just laid there letting the water cool him off and remove the smell of blood and sweat and what he wanted to say was piss.

When Lucas was done he shook himself off, making sure he didn't shake any stitches loose and put his clothes back on. The water had given him a new sort of regained energy. He started moving on a trodden path out of the forest and into Ponyville. He asked a pony how he could get back to the castle and was instructed on how to get there. He thanked the pony and was on his way again.

Back in the human world….again…..

"Dude seriously I'm done with this shit I'm not crawling any more."

"You don't have to…"

"The fuck do you mean?"

Before Alex and Erex could say anything else the vent suddenly creaked loudly and made a noise none of them wanted to hear. The vent collapsed and the two boys feel down for about five seconds before their bodies hit the floor with pronounced thuds. They looked around the see the main room of the Vatican. There was a terrified group of nuns to their left, and a confused group of guards to the right. Before anyone in the room could react, Erex raised his head and said one of the worst things to be said at the time.

"HAIL SATAN!"

Alex smacked his head into the floor. Maybe bringing Erex the Smartest of the Smart Asses might have not been the best idea.