I couldn’t believe it: another human, here in Equestria, standing right in front of me. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a kind of handsome face (don’t judge me on that one, I’m just describing him!), and stood about a half a foot higher than I did. He was leaning against a tree, staring at me with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

“Yo! I asked you a question: Who are you?” he said loudly, breaking me from my trance.
I cleared my throat nervously. “I could ask you the same thing,” I shot back, making him laugh quietly.
“The name’s Drayke. You?” He asked, stepping forward and holding out a hand. I took it and he shook firmly.
“Allen. Sorry about my surprise, but I didn’t think I would ever see another human again,” I said shakily, still recovering from my explosion during the fight with the Sentinel.
Drayke nodded, smiling. “Good to meet you, Allen. Listen, those things will probably be back soon. Follow me; I know somewhere safe!” he said, running off into the trees. I followed close behind, keeping an eye out for any attackers.

Celestia stared at the throne room doors slamming shut as Allen rushed out. Twilight and her friends slowly turned to Celestia, questioning looks on their faces. Twilight spoke first. "With all due respect, princess,” the purple alicorn started politely, with a tone of anger suddenly filling her voice, “why would you lie to him like that?! You saw how torn up he was after you said he couldn’t go home. Tell me, why, just WHY would you lie to him like that?”

Celestia straightened herself and glared at her student. “I had my reasons. You saw how he reacted; had I told him from the beginning, before he was friendly with us, he may have gone even further!” she shouted, her voice echoing through the room.
It was Applejack’s turn. “Beggin' yer pardon, Princess,” she said firmly, “but Ah don’t think Allen would've reacted like that if you had just told 'im from the start. That just isn’t like him.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “You think he would have acted like a monster if you had told him from the beginning that there was no way out of Equestria? The way things are looking here, it seems like you're the one who’s the monster.”
The other ponies nodded in agreement, and Fluttershy spoke up. “Girls, we should go find him. I bet he feels really bad about the way we reacted, and might be all alone and upset. He needs us to help him!” she said, her voice unusually certain.
The six ponies ran out the door one by one, and Twilight, being the last,stopped and gave Celestia a disapproving look before following her friends.

Princess Luna sat in her bed, unable to accept what had just happened. Allen, a human that she had thought was without an evil bone in his body, had almost tried to kill Celestia. She knew he would be angry when the truth was revealed to him, but she didn’t think it would be that bad.

“Even the gentlest of spirits can be cruel sometimes,” a deep, alluring, and all-too-familiar voice said quietly "all it takes is i a little push." Luna sat up and looked around.
“Where are you?” she demanded.

The voice laughed wickedly. “Over here, Luna. Did you miss me?” it asked mockingly, and Luna turned to a large mirror on the wall to see her reflection, standing tall with a maniacal grin on its face. On top of that, it was much darker than she was, and wore teal-silver armor.

“That’s right, Luna,” Nightmare Moon said tauntingly, “it's me. What’s the matter, did your little boyfriend end up not being as innocent as you thought he was?”
Luna stood up sharply. “Leave me alone!” she shouted defiantly, but couldn’t help but feel pain from the dark alicorn’s words.
Sensing she was breaking through, Nightmare Moon pressed on. “Oh, come now, Luna. You know you don’t need anyone, pony or human, but me. I can make you strong, and I can take away this pain you feel. Come back to me, and I can make everything better.”

Luna stared at her dark half as she slowly walked over, entranced by the promise.
No more pain, she thought, almost hypnotized, when she suddenly snapped out of her daze.
“I will never join you!” she shouted defiantly, and smashed a hoof into the mirror, hearing Nightmare Moon cry out in anguish as the shards fell to the floor. Princess Luna looked down at the pieces of the mirror angrily.
“No matter what you offer me, no matter how bad I feel, I will never give in to your darkness again!” she shouted, and ran back to the throne room.

“Well, here it is: home sweet home,” Drayke said, gesturing to a large, run-down castle. “Those crystal things don’t seem to like this place. Something to do with what it’s built with, I think.”
I nodded. “Same with the cloak? Does it keep them from detecting you?” I inquired.
He tapped his nose and smiled. “You’re a sharp one, Allen. Now, I think I have something in here that can help us out with our current situation,” he said as he led me inside.

“First off, I want to know something. The ponies told me that I was the first human here in thousands of years. How did they not know about you?” I asked, confused.
Drayke laughed. “Those crystal monsters found me first; the magical ponies have never laid eyes on me. Now, do you want to hear the plan, or would you rather be trapped here for the rest of your life?” he asked as we sat down at a table in what looked like a dining room. I nodded, and he cleared his throat and began.

“I found some old notes in this place a while back. I was able to decode most of the intact ones, and they said something about these crystal pillars that controlled the attacking creatures. The humans that lived here were able to open the portals at will by using crystals charged with a ton of magical energy, and those pillars are supposed to be like nuclear power plants compared to the little ones they used. If we can get a hold of one of those, and divert the energy into some crystals, we can open a portal and ride it all the way home. How does that sound?” he said, looking up at me and smiling proudly.

I shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Any idea where we can find one of these pillars?” I asked, and he suddenly frowned.
“Uh… wait! I’ve got it!” he said, suddenly running out of the room. He returned about a minute later with what looked like a compass. “This thing doesn’t point north. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, right? That means this thing is pointing southwest. I get the feeling that this is a locator for strong points of a specific type of magical energy: the energy produced by those pillars.”
I grinned. “Great! When do we leave?” I said, jumping up to my feet.

“Right away. You might want to wear this, though,” he said as he tossed me a cloak similar to the one he was wearing, “you’ll want to save your strength for fighting whatever that thing has waiting for us.” With that, we rushed out of the ruined fortress, and I was finally on my way home.

Twilight and the others rushed off towards the Everfree Forest, where they hoped Allen would be hiding. They stopped at Zecora’s house, hoping she had seen him.
“I do not know the creature of which you speak, but I think I know what he may seek,” the mystical zebra said cryptically.
“Whattya mean, what he seeks?” Applejack asked urgently as Zecora went on.
“To open the doorway home, he needs a key. He may be searching for where one may be.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, irritated. “Great, so he could be anywhere right now. How does this help us?” she asked angrily. Twilight suddenly gasped, an idea forming in her head.
“I know! We could read Starswirl the Bearded’s journal in the castle archives! It’s bound to have information on this!” she said happily.

Rarity stepped forward. “Twilight, although that is an excellent idea, I don’t think the journal will have any notes regarding the portal. Celestia said ponies never learned how to open the portal, remember?” she said gently. Twilight smiled.
“Starswirl was a clever old wizard. I’m certain he put it in his journal, just not in a way anypony could easily find it!” she said, already heading for the door. The others ran after her as they rushed back to Castle Canterlot.

“So, exactly how long have you been stuck here?” Drayke asked me nonchalantly as we ran across an open field. I had told him most of the details of my stay in Equestria, and he had told me his. Apparently, he had found the portal during a hike in the same woods I had found it, and was suddenly sucked in.
“About a week. You?” I replied.

Drayke chuckled. “Almost a year now, but I’m not too sure. Two at the most, I think,” he said, stopping suddenly. “How much you want to bet it’s on there?” he asked, pointing at a cave dug into a nearby rock formation.
I nodded. “Looks like a place where I would hide an ancient artifact of immense power. Let’s check it out,” I said, and we ran to the entrance, slowing as we approached.

When we got inside, our suspicions were further confirmed by the fact that the tunnel looked like it had been drilled through with tools, and mystic runes covered the walls. I looked around as we entered a massive chamber.
“This place feels old,” I said, shivering, “really old.”
Drayke nodded beside me and whispered, “Yeah, and I don’t think we’re alone.”

Just then, the ground ahead of us erupted, and a massive crystal behemoth erupted from the ground. It looked like a fusion of all sorts of Crystal Guardians, with four arms, two of them bladed and the other two with hands, two sets of crystal wings, and a body that looked like a totem pole of crystal bodies. It stood what looked nearly ten feet tall, and spoke in a voice-of-the-legion tone, sounding like all the voices of enemies I had fought in the past week. Its head was just a simple pillar of crystal that stuck out of its body, covered in the same runes that decorated the cave.

“Now, after so long, we finally meet in person, humans,” it said coldly. I stepped forward, pulling out the crystal and tossing aside the cloak.
“I don’t think these things will work on it,” I muttered as Drayke threw off his.
“Um, Allen? I don’t want to seem like a coward here, but you’re on your own on this one,” Drayke said, stepping back. I nodded.
“I understand. It’s kinda hard to beat something like this without one of these,” I said as the crystal erupted into a blade in a flash of white light.

“Any last words, human?” the crystal abomination taunted.
I smiled, remembering the first time I heard one of the Crystal Guardians say that when I first went to Ponyville.
“Yeah. Something along the lines of ‘Fuck You’ comes to mind!” I shouted as I charged into battle.

The creature slashed downward with its bladed arms, blocking any sideways escape, and tried to skewer me with its pointed head. I spun to the side, just barely dodging, and swiped at the head to find it was much harder than the others I had faced; my sword bounced off like it was made of rubber.

“Allen, that thing head is way too powered up with magic! You’ll have to beat the body first!” Drayke shouted from behind a large stalagmite. I nodded to myself.
Take out the body? No problem, I thought as I charged in for another attack. I swung down hard, and the creature simply blocked by locking its swords in an “X” formation. Then, it tried grabbing me in its hands, but I slid under the swords and between its legs, slicing off one of its four wings.

“I learned how to take care of these things back in Cloudsdale!” I yelled as I grabbed the stump that was left of the wing and held on tightly, hacking away at the four remaining wings, “And now you’re grounded!”
I jumped off and slid across the floor as my foe roared in its mixed voice.
“I refuse to lose to you, human!” it shouted, sounding a lot like a spoiled two year old, which made me smile. Back on Earth, I loved it when the spoiled kids didn’t get there way.
“Too bad, asshole!” I shouted as I charged and slashed, only for it to dodge and disappear from view. Then, I felt something cut into my arm, catching me by surprise.

How’d I beat the Assassin's invisibility? I thought, quickly wrapping my shirt around my wounded arm and wishing I had Twilight’s magic, when the answer struck me. I really hope these caves have good acoustics!
I pulled out my MP3 player and cranked the volume up to max, putting on some heavy dubstep, and then quickly placed it in the corner of the chamber. The music bounced off the walls of the cave, gaining strength with each echo, until the base drops slammed into my invisible enemy, vibrating its body and revealing its location.

I put on a predator-like smile as I ran in for another strike, leaping through the air and tearing off one of its humanoid arms. It swatted at me with its blades and remaining hand as I passed, but to no avail. I slid across the floor when I landed, turning quickly and rushing back for another strike, the combination of my anger at this thing for trying to kill me, the thrill of the battle, my massive adrenaline rush, and just plain having fun keeping me going. This time, I tore off a sword, leaving it looking a lot like just an overgrown Sentinel. I glanced ahead and saw a boulder standing right in the middle of me and my opponent.

“Now you’re just a boss in mook clothing!” I shouted as I charged, jumping once off the ground, again off the boulder, and flying straight at the stunned monster, slamming my blade straight into its chest.
“And now, you’re even less than that,” I said coldly as I jumped to the ground and the creature collapsed, unable to stand after the absolute thrashing it had just received.

“So… I have failed,” the pillar said, its voice no longer a garbled mix of Crystal Guardians. Then, the runes covering it slowly dimmed until they could no longer be seen, and the creature's body disintegrated, not even leaving behind a pile of dust. Drayke rushed over to see if I was okay.

“Here, use this,” he said, tossing me the cloak. I used the sword to tear off a piece and use it as a bandage, allowing me to put my shirt back on. “Now, lets get to the archway!” he said, motioning for me to grab one end of the pillar as he lifted the other. We carried the hunk out of the cave as quickly as we could, looking like we were moving furniture.

Twilight scanned the shelves of the royal archives for the journal of Starswirl the Bearded, and ran out to her friends, levitating the tattered book in front of her.
“Let’s see here… there’s a riddle in one entry. ‘Those who wish to open a path between worlds must undergo a task, one that very few are able to pass. By defeating my greatest creations in their darkest hour, one can open the portal with their unlimited power’. Huh, what does that mean?” the purple alicorn wondered aloud.
The six ponies pondered this a moment, when a sad voice spoke from behind them.

“His greatest creations were the pillars that created the Sentinels,” Celestia said quietly. “I never realized what he meant until now.”
Twilight looked at her mentor with pity. “So Allen went to find one of them?” she asked slowly.
The white alicorn nodded, avoiding the gaze of her student and her friends. “That would be my guess. I have no doubt that he will defeat it, and then use its powers to return home,” she said.

Pinkie frowned, her mane suddenly straight. “So, its over? Allen’s going home?” she said, her voice wavering.
Celestia nodded, and they all sat in silence for a few minutes, all of them unsure of what to do next. Eventually, Celestia quietly stepped away, returning to the throne room.
I’m sorry, Allen, she thought, a single tear running down her cheek, I’m so very sorry, but now it doesn’t matter; now you get what you wanted.

I stood the pillar up in front of the stone archway in the field I had woken up in earlier that week.
“Now what?” I asked Drayke, who was practically shivering with excitement.
“Now? Now we both get what we want,” he said mischievously, pulling one of the Guardians’ heart crystals out of his pocket and pressing it against the pillar. The pillar glowed a bright blue, and the crystal slowly changed from a brilliant white to an inky black. I stepped back, pulling out my crystal as it became a sword once again.

“What did you just do?” I demanded, holding my weapon at the ready. He stuck the crystal in his pocket and smiled at me politely.
“It’s nothing personal, Allen, I just needed someone who could actually fight those things to come along. Too bad it had to be you; you seemed like a really cool kid,” he said as the pillar suddenly turned to dust, “but you know what? I may be evil, but at least I. unlike this ‘Celestia’ you spoke of, stay true to my word.”

As he spoke, I felt a gust of wind run through my hair, and turned around to see the portal reopening. I ran at Drayke, tripping as an invisible force pulled my feet out from under me, and I slammed my blade into the ground, struggling to stay put.
“I’m not letting you get away with this!” I shouted as he turned and walked away, in the direction of Castle Canterlot. He stopped and chuckled, shaking his head.

“You’ve been playing the hero for so long, you actually have it nailed in your head that you are one! Well, I’m here to show you the truth, Allen: you’re no hero. You’re just the guy looking for the way home,” he said, and continued to walk away. I saw him wave his hand, and several black Crystal Sentinels appeared at his side, marching after their master.
I cried out desperately one last time, when my blade lost its hold on the ground, and I plunged into the vortex.

I woke up in a forest, the crystal at my side. I looked up and saw the archway, looking as it did when I had first found it.
“NO!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, “I have to go back! They need me!”
I ran for the archway, diving through it, only to painfully slam into the dirt on the other side.
“I HAVE TO GO BACK!”