/\/\/\/\
\/\/\/\/

“You call yourself… human?” She asked curiously, approaching him, and walking a circle around the smaller white and gray stallion, “That’s a very interesting claim, Alex.”

“Does it make me crazy?” He asked, hiding how excited he was at having his attitude validated, "What do you know about them?"

“Well, I don’t know much.” Celestia explained, never having read up on the subject too much herself, “But what I do remember is… strange.”

Everypony listened expectantly.

Celestia didn’t explain herself right away, as she looked him over, comparing him silently to the humans she had read about.

He wasn’t red and black. From his already displayed attitude, he didn’t seem too one-sided. But that was yet to be seen.

“Generally, they have been described as perfect beings, when inside of Equestria,” Celestia explained, “Attractive, amazing with magic, the center of all attention… superheroes, essentially.”

Twilight grimaced. That sounded like something out of a horribly written book.

“However, I’m afraid I’ll have to do some digging to find any more than that. This is all off the top of my head.” She finished, looking to Alex, “So tell me, how many of those things do you feel describe you?”

“Well, he’s not that attractive.” Pinkie spoke up.

“Can you fly? Can you use magic?” Celestia asked, wondering if he would have inherit ability in those challenges.

Flapping his wings as best he could, it quickly became clear he wouldn’t be airborne any time soon.

“What about magic?” Twilight asked, tapping his horn with her hoof.

“I use magic with this, huh?” Alex asked, looking up at his horn and pursing his lips.

It only took four and a half minutes of grunting and shaking arms to determine that he indeed, had no ability in the magic department.

Huffing he sat down on his rump and crossed his arms.

“This is stupid. I wanna go home already.”

“Well, if Alex is indeed a human, he’s the worst one we’ve ever had,” Celestia giggled, seeing his frustration only increase.

Deciding to calm down, and take things a little more seriously, Celestia looked to the offended pony, and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“If you’ll let me, I can walk you through your past.” Celestia explained, “We’ll be able to see everything that happened the night you arrived.”

“Everything huh?” Alex asked, playing the night before through his mind once again.

“Yes.” She nodded, “However, if you’re uncomfortable, we don’t have to do it.”

“…No.” Alex shook his head, sick of hearing all the doubt, “Let’s do it. I’d like to see just what happened myself.”

“Wonderful.” Celestia smiled, as her horn lit up, and touched to his, “Just close your eyes, and let me in.”

“You’ll see absolutely everything?” Alex whispered in her ear, half worried about her seeing the death of his parents, and half worried she’d see… something else he did in the shower that morning.

"Yes." She whispered back, "And don't worry. I'm excellent at keeping secrets."

Not wasting another moment, she cast the spell, and blackness overtook the two of them.

\/\/\/\/
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Off the Record
/\/\/\/\

During the most traumatic experiences of a person’s life, the world seems to fall silent. The amount of information moving through your brain becomes so immense, that your body stops paying attention to the other senses. Your vision blurs, your ears ring, and you become numb.

It’s the calm before the storm.

As the information is processed, the shock, and the awe of your situation starts to sink in.

You feel your heart start to beat once again.

You can see the man at your front door more, and more.

And his words start to make it past the both deafening, and comforting ringing.

“I’m so, so sorry.”

“C-can I see them?”

“Son, you don’t want to see them.”

Your breathing starts to become ragged, as the situation sinks deeper and deeper. The shaking starts in your chest, but quickly moves to your arms and legs, as the emotions finally start to bubble over, which usually goes one of two ways.

“Get out of here,” The young man said, taking a step back into his house, “I-I don’t want to hear another word.”

“Alex, you can’t be alone right now,” The officer said, taking a step into the house, “I’m going to stay here with you until your Uncle arrives, alright?”

“Get out.” Alex repeated, his tone darkening to a place the officer knew all too well.

“Listen, we just—“

The officer had reached out to place a hand on Alex’s shoulder, but wasn’t able to make it, as a fist was thrown into his cheek, sending him staggering backward out the door once again.

“Leave me the hell alone!” Alex shouted, slamming the door and quickly locking it.

Rolling his tongue around his hit cheek, the older man tasted his blood that was now filling his mouth. But, there was no anger. Only sadness, and pity.

Standing up, John brushed the dirt off of his pants and reluctantly walked back to his pickup, while milling over Alex, and the state he was in after today.

Alex was a good kid, everyone around here knew it. He was good-looking; a spitting image of his father at eighteen, being shy a few inches of six feet tall, with black hair, and blue eyes. And, while he had a bit of a reputation of being a joker, and a whiner, he was more or less dependable.

Starting his truck, he closed his eyes and exhaled. Today had been truly horrible for the kid.

Just a few hours ago, before he had gone off duty, John had been called to a disturbance at a small diner just a few blocks away from the local high school, where Alex had to be pulled off a fellow student that was twice his size, because the student was with his ex-girlfriend, that had broken up with him only a few hours before the incident.

But, since they lived in such a small town, John knew that he didn’t need to arrest Alex for assaulting the teen. They could simply work it out with some parents present.

The drive back had been awkward, as Alex was taken back to his house from the diner by the officer.

John didn’t have much information at that point about the fight, but was filled in quickly. After the full explanation, he was happy with his decision to simply take Alex home. The hot blood between young men in these kinds of situations was commonplace, and there was no need for anyone to get a criminal record over a scrap like that one. He could even recall a time when he and Alex’s own father had been given the same break in high school, after a big fight broke out on the campus between his group of friends, and couple of douchebags. It was a fact of life at that age.

Arriving at the house, John asked to speak with Alex’s parents. However, they had taken the truck into the city so they could stock up on groceries. So, he told Alex he’d be by later to discuss the incident.

But, when he did come by again, it wasn’t to see his parents.

Getting home from dropping Alex off, John had relaxed in front of his television for a few hours, while his wife prepared dinner for the two of them. However, just before the meal was completed, he received a call from the local dispatch, asking him to respond to a fatal collision on the highway, where a couple had been hit by a drunk driver on their back side, sending their vehicle tumbling over itself, and killing the occupants.

John quickly headed out, idly hoping that his meal would be ready by the time he got back form controlling the flow of traffic.

It wasn’t until he reached the site of the accident, that he realized something was very wrong.

He recognized the truck that was in a mangled heap on the ground.

It belonged to Alex’s parents.

They had been returning from their day in the city, when an intoxicated driver started to drive aggressively behind them, unsatisfied with the speed they were moving at. However, when they stayed at their lower speed, he decided to run into their back bumper, while increasingly erratic in his steering.

It all came to an end when he swerved into the back left of their car, sending them out of control, and making it start to roll over itself.

The crash itself was over within seconds, and it only took a few more moments for someone to run to the truck, and see the horrific scene inside of the crushed vehicle.

So, after all was said and done, John decided to be the one to speak to Alex. Other officers were on duty to do it, but he figured it would be better coming from a close friend of the family.

And, in the end, he was happy that it had been him that was punched. The last thing that needed to happen was to have a rookie cop drag Alex in for throwing a fist on the night his parents were killed.

Looking at the dark house, John sighed and pulled out from the driveway. He decided to head out and find Alex’s uncle, Chet. It would be hard news to deliver twice in one night, but Chet and Alex could really use one another right now.

/\/\/\/\

Alex looked at his hand, and winced at the pain he had just inflicted on himself.

The last five minutes had been filled with nothing but cursing, and destruction, as he refused to process the information he had just been given.

A table lamp, a wooden chair, a back window… It all culminated with the flat panel television hanging in the living room.

The first punch he put in to it did little damage to his hand, only cracking the screen itself. However, he wasn’t satisfied with that level of damage, and started to let out every ounce of anger into the panel of glass. Eventually, the screen was filled with so many cracks, that shards of glass were starting to imbed themselves in his hand, while jagged pieces still attached to the screen were causing deeper slices.

Staggering back, Alex fell back on to his living room couch and exhaled raggedly.

He was crying.

It had all been too much.

”Son, you don’t want to see them.”

Those words echoed through his head, as his stomach started to churn.

His parents, the people who had raised him, cared for him, and loved him, had been in an accident so bad, that he wasn’t even allowed to go see their bodies. How fickle was life, that the most important people in it can just be erased, in the blink of an eye?

They were just bodies.

Shaking his head, this was all too much. Alex had to get the hell out of his house. If he stuck around, he was either going to throw up, or destroy something else.

Standing up, Alex walked by the front door and slipped on his shoes, before heading to the back door, and stepping outside.

The entire back side of his property ran along a massive forest that he had spent most of his life playing in. So, he knew it like the back of his hand. He could spend hours in there without worrying about a soul coming to find him.

His mind was in shambles, and he wanted nothing to do with the world right now. All he needed, was to find some peace in the darkness, and silence of the woods.

Not missing a beat, Alex ran as fast as he could toward the tree line. Nothing was more important to him than getting inside. He didn’t know why. He should have been with his uncle right now… But logic was too far gone from his mind. He had an objective, and god himself couldn’t stop him from completing it.

/\/\/\/\
Later
\/\/\/\/

The night had passed slowly, and Alex had completely lost track of time in his wandering.

The truth behind his situation had sunk deeper and deeper into his chest until he felt like his heart was about to simply give up. Every little possibility ran through his mind, as he considered just what he would have had to do earlier in the day to prevent this from happening in the first place.

He could have told them to go tomorrow, or he could have skipped school and gone with them, changing the schedule of their day enough to have put that car in front of them.

Of course, for all Alex knew, that guy would have just ended up hurting someone else. But, right now, he would have been happy with that result. He knew how terrible it sounded to wish this kind of pain on someone else, but when you’re going through the situation, you don’t care about others. You want your life back.

Feeling the pain in his arm start to pulsate once again, Alex looked down to his mangled knuckles, and regretted his decision to completely destroy the television. He was feeling guilty for having so much focus on himself, at a time when he should have no other thought than to his parents.

The truth behind every catastrophe like this one, is the horrifying unknown that’s to follow. And the pit growing in his stomach because of that was getting larger and larger by the minute. It took all of his willpower to keep himself from losing his composure completely.

But he wouldn't. If he learned anything from his father in his lifetime, it was that endurance in the face of adversity was a true test of character. He wouldn't break. Not right now.

“Hey!”

Interrupting his thought process, Alex heard someone yelling off in the distance.

At first it was hard to make out. But it was definitely coming from a woman.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on the voice, only to confused when he finally made out what she was saying.

“Alex!” The voice shouted from somewhere in front of him, “Come back!”

Figuring that this had to be someone looking for him, Alex decided that this was the time to find them, and head back to his house.

Maybe he shouldn’t be alone anymore.

/\/\/\/\

Alex followed the voice for further than he had first anticipated. All he could figure was that whoever was calling him, had a real set of pipes on her. But he had no idea who that could possibly be, as he didn’t really have any close friends with such a loud voice, or the kind of tone she possessed. He considered the possibility of it being his ex-girlfriend, feeling guilty for seeing that guy so quickly after their breakup.

“Alex…” The voice called from nearby one final, dejected time, “Please come back…”

Breaking the tree line, Alex saw a petit young women standing in a clearing, wearing a black hoodie and short shorts. He didn’t recognize her at all, but figured her to be a police officer, or something along those lines.

“I’m right here,” Alex called, exhaling slowly, “Sorry for running off, I just—“

He was cut off when this young woman ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his chest.

“Thank Celestia!” She mumbled in to his shirt, nuzzling his chest for a second, “I thought you were going to do something stupid!”

“I’m- I’m sorry?” Alex asked, stunned by her sudden, and powerful affection toward him, “I don’t think—“

“I know you wanted to see your parents, but things here aren’t right for you, and we need to get back to Equestria,” She said, pulling backward and raising a hand to his face, “Thank you for taking this seriously.”

Alex was about to apologize, and tell her she must be confused, but before he could even open his mouth, she pulled herself up, and kissed him softly.

Alex could have argued with this… But when a girl is kissing you for little-to-no known reason, sometimes you just let it happen.

Pulling backward, she smiled so warmly, that Alex almost felt himself fall in love with her.

Her face was built perfectly, dominating any girl he went to school with, including his ex-girlfriend. She was simply stunning.

A few strands of hair sticking out from under her hood were strange, as it seemed to be individual sections of red, yellow, and orange. There was no one in his town like that. But it only intensified her attractiveness to him.

Her most hypnotizing trait of all, was her pink eyes. They were a color Alex had never seen on anyone before, so he immediately assumed that they were contacts. But the way she looked at him with them, gave him pause on that assumption.

“Come on,” The girl said, tugging on his shoulder, dragging him into a thick series of bushes, “We parked back here.”

Deciding to let her do her thing, Alex followed behind the bombshell, since it was obvious she knew something about him.

“I found him!” She shouted, as they passed beyond the bushes, back into the trees, “Let’s get back right now!”

Alex went wide eyed as he approached what looked like a blue, wooden phone booth.

“I’ve started the engines! Get him in here!” A man’s voice called from the inside, with what Alex recognized as a British accent.

“We gotta save your friends!” Another female voice called from inside this small box.

Alex was completely lost right now. Why were two people hiding in a telephone box, in the middle of the forest? What sense did that make? He was starting to get a little sketched out.

“Let’s go,” The girl said, walking behind Alex, and pushing him into the small box.

“W-wait, in there?” Alex stammered, as she shoved him into the box.

What came next was a little different than the past few minutes with this strange girl. The inside of this blue box, was incredibly large. Some might even say it was bigger on the inside.

But he was not having any of that.

“Let’s get home!” The girl said to the tall man standing in the center of the large room.

“You got it,” He smiled, throwing a lever on what looked like some kind of a control panel, as what sounded like a dying engine roared to life.

Of course, at this point, Alex was catching up with the situation, and was starting to panic. This wasn’t natural. The inside of this tiny and yet somehow massive box, wasn’t right. He needed to get the hell out of dodge.

Backing up slowly, he started to feel for the door he had just come in through.

“I’m sorry we had to go through all of that,” The girl said, as she turned to Alex, and frowned at his horrified look, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Who are you?” Alex finally asked, taking another step backward toward the door, “What is this place?”

“Alex, it’s me!” the girl said, approaching him slowly, “Colors?”

“Oh no…” The tall British man said from the control panel, as he carefully stepped down toward the two of them, being careful not to fall flat on his face, “That’s not our Alex.”

The girl looked back to him, as her eyes went wide in realization, “You mean—That’s the one from the past?”

The man nodded.

Alex didn’t care at all about what they were saying, and knew that he needed to get out of there.

Taking the final steps backward, he kicked the door open with his right leg, and stepped out of the massive box. But, where he expected grass, and a cool night air, he instead found rushing winds, and stars. Stars everywhere.

The last thing he remembered hearing was the girl’s voice.

“Alex!”

/\/\/\/\

“What’s wrong?” The dark voice asked, as it approached the six colorful girls, “I thought the Elements of Harmony were supposed to stop me! I suppose my Element is just stronger!”

Nightmare Moon, the long lost sister of Princess Celestia, had just returned from her thousand year slumber on the face of the moon, and she was ready to exact her revenge on the ponies who shunned her, and the beauty of the night. She planned on starting with these six girls, by turning them into her minions. And from there, she would move in on Canterlot, and destroy the mare that sent her away.

“Do you have any last words, my little ponies?” She asked, smirking at the fear she could read on their faces.

“I have faith that the Elements of Harmony will be able to defeat you!” Twilight Sparkle, the prized student of Princess Celesta herself, said, “We’re just missing something…”

“Well, ah’ hope y’all can find it.” Applejack, the resident workhorse mumbled, seeing little hope in this situation.

“I knew I should have stayed home today…” Fluttershy squeaked, taking a few steps back to hide behind Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe we just need to ask her nicely!” Pinkie Pie giggled, hopping forward to meet the large mare, “Are you suuuuuure you don’t want to be my new best friend?”

Pinkie wasn’t completely sure, but it looked like Nightmare Moon may have been annoyed with her request.

“Maybe not, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash said, running forward, and biting her tail to drag her back.

“Awwww!” Pinkie whined.

“We’re just—Missing an element!” Twilight said, exhaling in defeat, “But the book didn’t mention a thing about a seventh element!”

“Well, that’s all the time we have girls,” Nightmare laughed darkly, stepping toward them further, as they all shied backward, “I hope you enjoy the next thousand years of darknes—“

Suddenly, from a massive hole in the ceiling, a white pony fell in from the sky, and landed square on Nightmares head.

Nightmare, without any elegance, fell flat on her face, as her legs sprawled out in all directions, and her tongue rolled out of her mouth.

Silence.

“Uhh… What just happened?” Rainbow Dash whispered, trying to contain her laughter.

“What is this?!” Nightmare shouted, shaking her head at the taste of dirt now on her tongue, as she stood up, “I will have no part in—“

“I can feel it!” Twilight called happily, standing up, “That pony over there is the seventh!”

“Are you kidding me?” Nightmare scoffed, growling as she looked back to him, “That doesn’t make any sense!”

The six girls didn't respond, as they were all levitated off the ground, and started to glow brightly.

Following suit, the unconscious pony was also lifted off the ground, but it was as if he was being lifted by his stomach. And, as he was raised up, he wound up flipping around himself a few times, until he settled upside down, with his rump pointing at Nightmare.

The magic Twilight could feel started to increase exponentially, as each of her friends added another rush of power into her crown.

“Is anypony listening?” Nightmare bellowed, still upset that this seemingly random event was exactly what they needed to save the day, “This plot is simply horrible!”

Pinkie giggled, realizing that Nightmare was referring to the white Pony’s butt, not the story .

“Don't worry, Princess,” Twilight shouted over the humming of the magic surrounding her and her friends, “We're going to bring you back to us!”

The following explosion left everypony completely deafened, as a massive rainbow blasted out of the girls, into Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare, at this point, was simply too upset with things to even put up a struggle. Things always seemed to work out for the good-guys.

The attack was over in a matter of seconds, and all that remained in the place of Nightmare moon, was a small, shivering filly. Something that surprised everypony, except of course, the unconscious upside down dude.

/\/\/\/\

“Jesus…” Alex mumbled, feeling all of his blood rushing to his head, as he swing freely in the air, “What’s going on…?”

At this point, his entire mind was fuzzy, having no recollection of the immediate past. So, seeing all of the strange colors, and the weird upside down ponies, he decided that this was a dream.

Yes.

So, he closed his eyes, and drifted back off.

School was in a few hours, after all.

/\/\/\/\