Roland walked the halls of Canterlot castle with Seth at his side, explaining to him the advantages if heavy artillery compared to sniper support. It was a losing argument. For every point Roland made, Seth would only respond with "I won't have to worry about that because I'm a sniper." It was really getting on Roland's nerves.

"For the last time, Seth! Even if you're a sniper, you have to worry about other snipers!" Roland yelled at him.

Seth only shook his head. "Not really. Snipers look for targets on the battle field, not a mile away hidden in a tree. As long as I stay inconspicuous, I would be safe," he told him.

Roland threw his hands up in the air and stomped off, leaving Seth alone in the halls. The nerve! He would put sniper support before artillery?! How could anybody be that stupid?!

Roland turned a corner and, quite literally, bumped into Celestia and Luna. "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there," he apologized.

Celestia smiled at him. "No worries, Roland. It was an honest mistake." She looked into his eyes and he almost flinched.

Roland was a witness to Orion's breakdown, along with Sharpe, Celestia, Luna, and two little kids. He was angry when she refused to tell anybody but her sister what happened, and every time any of them look at either of the princesses they give them this look like they're trying to stab through their souls with their eyes.

Celestia held the gaze for a few more seconds, making Roland feel uncomfortable. After he blinked, she and her sister continued walking, leaving behind a very confused and very annoyed Roland.

They turned a corner.

"I still can't forgive them, sister," Luna told her angrily.

Celestia looked to her sister with a small smile on her lips. "It doesn't matter if we can or can't, Luna. Only if he can," she said.

They were quiet for a while as the walked through the white marble halls together.

Luna broke the silence. "It's hard to believe, isn't it?" she asked in a distant voice.

Celestia nodded to herself. "It is."

Luna stared hard at the ground as she walked. "We've lived through less horrible situations, and even as immortals, we almost lost ourselves..." She sighed. "I did lose myself."

Celestia put a wing around her sister for comfort. "I do not know how he did it, but from what little we know about him, I can only imagine what kind of mental state he is in."

Luna hummed in thought.

"No," Celestia said firmly.

Luna looked hurt. "I didn't even say anything!" she defended.

Celestia's eyes narrowed as she pulled her wing away. "No," she said again.

Luna groaned. "Sister, we could help him," she said.

Celestia glared at her sister. "And we could also make him even worse," she countered.

The two of them stopped outside of a large wooden door that was radiating energy. It had wide metal bars bolted into it and three large draw-bolts keeping it locked.

"We wouldn't even have to touch anything."

"No."

"All we would do is look."

"No."

"We could be in and out in ten minutes!"

"No!"

"We could learn so much from him!"

"No, Luna! We are not invading his privacy like that, and that is final!"

The door opened and a tired looking nurse looked at them both with disdain. "With all due respect, your highness. Please, be quiet. I don't know how much longer he can hold on and he needs rest," she said.

The two of them bowed their heads and entered the room, closing and locking the door behind them. They walked over to a large bed with black sheet and at least a dozen soft pillows on it. Resting on this bed was Orion. His clothes were all stripped off of him except for his pants. Everything he had on him was in a bin to the side of the room, safely tucked away. His breathing was shallow and ragged, him dragging in breath like it pained him to do so.

"How is he?" Celestia asked.

The nurse shook her head slowly. "His fever is only going up. He can't eat or drink anything that isn't in a straw, and I have to make sure he doesn't swallow his tongue from all of the screaming. I- I don't know. I really don't..." she told them, hanging her head slightly.

Celestia's eyes narrowed slightly. "Screaming?" she asked her.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, screaming. It sounds like he's dying and he'll be at it for hours before passing out again. I don't know if it's from pain or just nightmares."

Luna cleared her throat loudly and looked to her sister.

Celestia gave her a hard look. But, as she thought about what the nurse said, she sighed and nodded. "Nurse, can you make sure nopony enters the room for a while?"

The nurse nodded. "Of course, princess."

Celestia and Luna both started charging their horns. The combined light was intense, almost blinding. Once the spell was complete, they touched the tips of their horns to Orion's forehead. In the next second, they were gone.

***

The two alicorn sisters opened their eyes, awakening in a dream. Well, dream used loosely, as the only thing they saw was a large, open expanse filled with fog without any color besides various shades of white.

The two of them walked forward. They didn't move. They looked at each other in wonder.

"What's going on?" Celestia asked Luna.

Luna shook her head. "I... don't know. This should be his dream, but... Well, as you can see, this is no dream."

The sound of a creaking hinge met their ears.

They turned around to see a small stand rise up out of the ground directly behind them. It had two buttons on it.

The first button was a large red button with a sticky note attached to it reading: Do Not Press.

The second button was a large red button with a sticky note attached to it reading: Use Other Button.

They looked at each other in confusion for a while before Luna reached out and pushed the "Do Not Press" button.

The floor fell out from beneath them, leaving them falling into a small room with multiple monitors. They looked around and saw beings fade into existence around them. One of them was Orion, and the other was a young female who they didn't know the name of. She had red skin and black tattoos all over her body, tight-fitting clothing, and two slim tails on her head.

"Tisus, what are we doing here?" he asked her.

They were shocked when they heard how serious his voice was. How stern he looked. They almost didn't recognize him.

"We need to help them out of their cells, right?" the female asked in a rushed voice.

Orion crossed his arms. "No, we really don't. We can just leave," he said.

She turned around and got in his face. "Just be ready, okay?!" she screamed at him

He sneered into her face. "What if I'm not?" he threatened.

They held each other's gaze for a while before she looked away and scoffed. "Please? Just be ready," she said quietly.

He shook his head and went over to the controls.

The image faded out and was replaced by another one of Orion and two more females who the didn't know.

One of them was a light pink color with dark blue hair with neon blue streaks through it. She had red eyes and was quite a bit shorter than Orion, but her muscles looked hard. She had a light tan jacket and a black tank top beneath that. She had blue pants that went just past her knees and black boots that went up to her shins. Stockings came up to her knees and also on her arms went to her shoulder, with black fingerless gloves holding them in place. She also had large headphones and and was wearing purple sunglasses. The most noticeable thing was the metal collar that had a flashing red light on it.

The second female had dark purple skin with bright red hair and light purple eyes. She was a little taller than the other female, but not by much and had about the same build. She wore some kind of tight-fitting body suit that was zipped down to her waist, revealing a tight black shirt underneath. She had black armored boots and black goggles hanging around her neck. A green eye piece flashed lines of information over her left eye. She also was wearing a collar with a flashing red light.

They lay on either side of Orion in a grassy field. It was night time and the nocturnal creatures made their calls as they stared at the sky. Billions upon billions of stars stared right back at them.

Orion had his arms wrapped around them. "You know, I think I could live like this," he said happily.

The smaller one turned over and looked at him. "Like what?" she asked.

He looked at her and kissed her deeply on the mouth. "Like... this. You two, me, the stars. Once we get enough money we can have a little house out here and do this every night."

The larger one cuddled closer to him. "Mmm, I'd like that. I think I'd make a lovely house wife," she mused.

The smaller one laughed. "You? A house wife? Yeah, and I'd make a good mom!" she jeered.

The two of them sat up and argued while Orion put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

The scene faded away and was replaced with a nightmare. Orion was chained down as the two females from before where in chains in front of him. They were sobbing openly as... something... paced in front of Orion.

"So, you think you can stop me?" it asked in a hollow, echoing voice.

Orion pulled on his chains. "I'll fucking kill you, you big bitch!" Orion screamed.

The thing walked away from him and stood in front of the two females. "I think that once you learn to lose, you'll appreciate what I'm trying to do here."

Orion's eyes widened. "No. No, no , no nononononononono!!! Don't you fucking touch them!" he screamed as he pulled against his chains.

Thankfully, the image faded away.

The sisters looked at each other briefly before looking back at the developing scene.

It was a bar. There was loud music playing, people dancing and laughing and smiling everywhere. Except for Orion, which was sitting at the bar with a haunted expression on his face.

A dancing couple came too close and bumped into them. The air around them felt like it was crushing down on them. They couldn't breathe. Not just the couple, but the entire building stopped and started to choke on... nothing. There wasn't anything there, they were just choking. After about twenty seconds, the first bodies hit the floor. After a minute, the whole bar was dead.

Orion finished his drink and got up, walked out of the bar, and let the image fade away.

The new image was that was a large battle field. There were corpses everywhere. Bolts were flying back and forth. And Orion was standing in the middle of all of it. He had an uncaring expression on his face, even as a bolt hit him in the shoulder.

"Orion!" Roland yelled. "You need to clear the way! Tisus isn't here and I'm out of ammo!"

Orion turned towards where the bolts were coming from. He stuck out his hands. He opened his palms, and after a few seconds, he made them both into fists.

The sickening crunching sound made them glad that they couldn't see what had happened. But before the image faded, they could see Orion's twisted smile.

The next image was simple. Orion was in a plain, grey room with a young girl tied to a chair.

"Please! Please let me go! I swear, I didn't mean to do it!" she begged.

Orion pulled out a large knife and advanced on the girl. "If you didn't mean to do it, then why did you?" he asked calmly.

She broke down crying.

"See, I knew you were guilty," Orion said as he loomed over the girl. He started cutting.

She started screaming.

He started laughing.

The sisters looked at one another again with very disturbed expressions.

The next scene started, but before it could kick in, a voice shattered it. "Well, hello, hello, hello! Who have we here?!" Orion's voice said. But it wasn't his voice at the same time.

"What's wrong?" asked a different but still the same voice.

"The princesses are in our head!" the first voice said.

"Um, hello?" Celestia ventured.

"Hello!" came the reply of at least twenty voices, all the same but still different.

The white scene from before turned into a homely bar. There were comfy booths, shiny tables and counters, good lighting, hardwood flooring, and a jukebox in the corner.

There were Orions everywhere.

There was a very cheery Orion standing before them with two menus wearing an apron and a little name tag that hang crookedly on his cloak that spelled: orien :) "Hello, welcome to Orion's Happy Place! Would you like a table or a booth?" the cheery Orion asked.

They stared at the man before them with confusion. "Uh... Booth, please," Celestia finally said. And like they blinked, they were sitting in a booth with menus in front of them and each had a glass of water with a crazy straw in it. They looked at each other for a second before Luna shrugged and started browsing the menu for anything good.

"Luna, is this a normal dream?" Celestia asked suspiciously.

Luna answered without looking up. "No, it's not. But I've never been in a Human's mind before, so this could be perfectly normal for him," she said.

Celestia thought about this for a while before finally giving up trying to figure it out and looked through the menu as well.

Luna spoke out loud as she decided on what to eat. "I think I'm having the roasted veggie bowl with the side of... Cherrubs? No... Ah, here we go! The fruit salad with a side of banana pie!" And again, just like if they blinked, her order was in front of her.

They both eyed it for a while before Luna levitated a piece of watermelon in front of her and ate it. Her eye went wide. "Sister..."

Celestia looked at her sister worriedly. "What's wrong, Luna? Is it poisoned?!"

Luna shook her head. "Worse. It's... real."

Celestia cocked a brow at her. "What do you mean?"

Luna popped a grape into her mouth and ate it. "I mean, that everything in here is real! As in, really real! As in, anything that happens in here actually has a physical effect on the outside world!"

Celestia's eyes widened. "So... if we were to... say, die. Would we actually be dead?"

Luna nodded slowly as she ate a part of a banana dipped in strawberry sauce.

Celestia let out a worried sigh. "Well then, I'd better not get too much desert. I think I'll have... the... 2x4? What's that?" There was a blink in time and space, and the food was there. Two pancakes, two eggs, two pieces of bacon, and two sausages. Meat... "Uhm, can I get fruit instead of meat?" Another blink, and the bacon was replaced with watermelon, and the sausages with orange slices. "Thank you!" she called out to nothing in particular.

They ate in relative silence. Once they finished, their plates blinked away.

The same cheery Orion came up to them with a happy smile. "Was everything okay?" he asked happily.

They both nodded. "It was wonderful. Give my thanks to the chef," Celestia said.

He smiled wider and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Luna called.

The waiter came back to them with a smile. "Yes ladies? Can I get you anything else?" he asked.

"Where can we find Orion?" she asked him.

His smile vanished. "Oh, him... He's over there, by the bar," he said as he jerked a thumb over to a hunched over figure nursing a large bottle of alcohol.

They thanked the waiter and made their way over to the Orion at the bar.

"Wilfred, where did I go wrong?" Orion asked the Orion behind the counter.

Wilfred, the Orion serving drinks sighed. "I don't know, sir," he said in a posh accent. "Maybe it was when you went insane?" he suggested.

Orion grumbled at him. "Thanks Wilfred, you're a lot of help."

Wilfred Orion smiled. "Always happy to serve, sir," he said as he walked around to the other side of the bar.

Luna and Celestia listened to the exchange with interest. When Wilfred was out of earshot, Luna cleared her throat.

"Why are you in my head?" was the immediate response.

Celestia was surprised. "You knew we were here?"

Orion took another drink. "It's my mind, genius," he scolded.

Celestia and Luna were taken back by this. Orion was always happy. Always nice to them.

"You are not Orion, Impostor! Give us the real Orion!" Luna yelled at him.

He spun around on the stool and glared at them.

They actually flinched.

"Didn't you see the in-flight movie, highness? In case you were wondering why I was so different back then, it's because that was before I lost my mind," he growled.

Celestia spoke. "What do you mean?"

Orion swirled his finger around his head. "I'v gone bat shit crazy, that's what I mean. You see all of these fuckers pretending to be me?" he asked them.

They nodded.

"Well it used to just be me up here, but after a while, they started showing up. Now I have to share my head with myself," he shivered. "Do you have any idea what that's like? No? Well, it's a fucking living nightmare."

The two of them thought about what he said for a while before continuing their conversation.

"Aren't you in control though, being the original Orion?" Celestia asked him.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I am. But I also have all of these little fuckers influencing me as I'm going. That's why I come here at night; to get away from them. Ain't that right Wilfred?!"

Wilfred came around the bend in the bar and groaned. "Yes, the sir has been coming here every night for as long as I can remember. And quite frankly, I'm considering recommending him to a rehabilitation center for his problem," Wilfred articulated.

Orion growled. "Y'know, I'm sitting right here, you great prick!"

Wilfred looked offended. "Sir, with that kind of language, I'm going to have to cut you off for the rest of the night!" he told Orion sternly.

Orion stood up and threw his drink at Wilfred, who ducked under it, and stormed out of the room with the princesses following close behind.

"Orion!" Celestia said. "Orion, stop!"

"Make me!" he barked over his shoulder at her.

Celestia was about to charge up her horn, but Luna stopped her. "No, if you do that it could cause permanent brain damage," she said.

Celestia sighed. "Well, how do we stop him then?" she asked her sister.

Luna smirked. "The old fashion way," she said.

Orion was walking when a great weight hit him in the back and knocked him to the floor. He rolled onto his back to see what it was and to try to kill it, but he realized that it was Celestia and Luna, both whacking him with their wings. "What the fuck are you doing?!" he yelled.

Luna whacking him one last time. "You can't abandon your friends! You need to wake up!" she yelled at him.

Orion dodged away from Celestia, jumping to his feet and gave them a cold glare. "I can stay in here as long as I fucking want to," he seethed.

They both stepped forward.

He stepped forward and got in their faces, literally coming nose-to-nose with Celestia.

"You need to wake up," she told him sternly.

"No, I don't," he responded, just as sternly.

"Your body is dying," she said.

"The Force can sustain me for almost a year," he shot back.

"Your friends are worried about you!"

"Oh yeah? What friends?"

"Roland, Sharpe, Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and all the others!"

His eyes narrowed. "They aren't my friends," he growled.

Celestia's gaze softened. "... We're your friends, Orion. We're worried about you. Please, if not for yourself, but for us, wake up," she pleaded.

Orion glared at her for a while longer before pulling his head back and scoffing at them.

"You've been in here for two days Orion," Luna said. "We're scared."

Orion looked at her and he spoke. But it wasn't this Orion.

"You don't know what fear is," Orion said in a haunting voice.

They all turned to see Orion. But he was made of flickering shadows and his smile and eyes glowed pure white. There was an air which swirled around him like a vortex, creating a deep sound, like a roaring fire. "You've never experienced real fear, my dear Luna."

"What are you doing here?" Orion asked the shadow Orion angrily. "Shouldn't you be massacring a village somewhere?" he asked sarcastically.

The shad- You know what? Let's just call him "Shadow".

Shadow laughed an echoing laugh at them. "I heard we had guests. I only wanted to meet them," he told them.

Luna and Celestia both looked to Orion.

"What is he?" Luna whispered.

"He's every last bit of anger, hate, evil, etc that's inside of me. All concentrated in one ball of fuck-all," he said.

Shadow came closer to them, not really moving, so much as gliding at them. "Would you like to see what fear really is?" he asked them.

Orion stood in front of them. "Back off, you dirty fuck!" he yelled.

Shadow glided through him and looked Luna in the eye. "This... is fear."

There was a second of silence.

Luna's eyes turned red as blood vessels burst and her ethereal mane and tail fell limp against her body. Her coat went a pale grey color. She rasped in a single breath as she fell over, unconscious.

"Luna!" Celestia yelled.

"Get out of here! Take her and get out!" Orion yelled.

Celestia looked at him.

"I'll be right behind you," he said, not looking at her.

Celestia wrapped Luna in her mane and lit up her horn. In a flash of light, she was gone.

Shadow pulled back and looked Orion in the eye. "So, it's just you and me again."

Orion smiled at Shadow. "Good thing you didn't kill her. That would've been awkward," he laughed.

Shadow smiled wider and nodded. "Indeed. Well, I'll be off then. People to kill, cities to burn and all that," he said.

Orion nodded to Shadow as he dissipated into the air, leaving a smell of burning flesh behind him. He shook his head, chuckling. "That man is going to be the death of me." Orion blinked.

***

Orion blinked.

"You're awake," Celestia sighed in relief.

Orion sat up in his bed. He stretched as he groaned. He scratched at his goatee as he looked at Celestia.

She took a step towards him. "Are... Are you feeling all right, Orion?" she asked.

Orion smiled stupidly at her. "I'm hungry. Do we have any cookies and milk? Ooh! Do we have and Cookies & Cream ice cream?!" he asked, his goofy smile widening.

Celestia's face fell and tears came to her eyes. She came to him and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Oh, Orion... I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please, please be okay," she whispered into his ear. She pulled away and kissed him on the forehead lightly before hugging him again.

Orion felt the tears fall on his shoulder. Why was she crying? Did he do something bad? Orion smiled and hugged her back. "Mmm, you smell vanilla," he said stupidly as he licked her neck.

She shuddered and pulled away from him.

His smile dropped a little bit. "Aw, you don't taste like vanilla. Oh well!"

The tears kept falling.

Orion's smile disappeared completely. "Don't cry, Tia. Whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made you cry..." he said sadly.

Her tears doubled as she hugged him again. "Please Orion, stop it! You didn't do anything wrong, the world did! You're absolutely perfect just how you are... Please, stop this and be happy again..."

Orion pulled away and looked at her with a goofy, confused smile. "I am happy."

Deep down, Celestia could feel a part of herself die.