Allen staggered into a dark cave after using his magic to clear the blocked entrance, tripping over a root and falling down the sloped floor. Black Heart had found him a couple of days earlier and warned him that Twilight and the others were already searching for him, and Drayke was with them.

“Why did Celestia have to send for him?” he asked aloud, mostly a pained groan than coherent words. He glanced down to check his body’s process in the transformation, and sighed hopelessly. One of his legs and arms had completely returned to their human forms, and because of certain... other parts of his body returning to their original state, he had been forced to make a makeshift loincloth that he could wear. He had found a few hours earlier that he could no longer effectively walk on all fours, and as a result was forced to stagger around on two differently-shaped legs.

He continued his venture into the cave for several minutes before finally stopping at the edge of a glittering pool. He had never seen it for himself before, but he remembered it from a particularly funny episode of the My Little Pony show when he lived on Earth. He held out a hand and dropped a tear-shaped crystal into the clear water, causing the pool to bubble violently.

Allen had learned about Spirit Crystals from Princess Cadence; they were powerful objects that could be used to mimic another being’s traits when needed, and could be created simply by thinking about that individual when conjuring it, giving the user a different voice, appearance, or even strength. But, even more significant is just how close they were to their original counterpart.

After a few moments, the pool returned to its original, flat state, before the surface was broken by a human emerging from the clear waters.
“What the hell, man?!” the Drayke doppelganger cried angrily, “I can’t breath underwater!”
Allen looked at the human commandingly. “You need to find the real Drayke Blackwood and keep him from following me,” the prince stated clearly. “Do not hurt anyone; just stall them.”

The Doppel-Drayke snorted. “And why should I listen to you?” he said angrily.
Allen rolled his eyes and fired a bolt of magic at the false human, hitting him in the shoulder and severing his arm. The limb fell to the ground behind its owner, and slowly turned into crystal dust. Doppel-Drayke stared at the glimmering spot his shoulder occupied as a crystal spike grew out of it, slowly taking on the form of a new arm.
“Because you can only do that a limited amount of times before you run out of regenerative power,” Allen said darkly, “and if you don’t do as you’re told, I’ll make you use it all right now.”

Taking the hint, Doppel-Drayke nodded and ran for the exit. “Whatever you say, man,” he called behind him. “With me on the job, Drayke will never reach you!”

Allen sighed, relieved, and proceeded to exit the cave. That won’t stop him forever, he thought, but it will buy me some time. And right now, time is the most valuable thing I have.

~-~-~-~-~

“No, Grandma, I don’t wanna wear the frilly shirt…” I mumbled sleepily as I slowly opened my eyes. I was laying in them middle of the clearing we had set up camp the previous night, but there was no sign of the ponies or the tent.

“God dammit!” I shouted as I jumped to my feet, “they ditched me!”

The sound of hoofsteps behind me made me turn, and I saw a midnight blue alicorn with a mane that looked like a wavy slice of the night sky; Princess Luna, Allen’s wife. I had learned rather quickly during my stay leading up to the wedding that she had the power to enter dreams, as she had tried to use the deepest parts of my mind to make me a better person.

It worked about as well as you would think.

“Are you the one that’s making Cadence show up in my dreams?” I snapped angrily. The princess looked confused by my accusation.
“What do you mean?” she asked with a questioning look. “I have already seen how resistant you are to my power; anything you have seen in your dreams is created by your own mind. Why don’t you tell me more about Cadence?” she asked gently.

I gave her a suspicious glare. “Why are you here, anyways?” I asked.
Luna looked down sadly. “I’m worried about Allen,” she said in a low voice. “I know he is more than capable of protecting himself, but I can’t help but think something has happened to him.”
I shrugged. “Well, I haven’t seen him at all,” I said apologetically, and sat down next to her. “Ever since I left Canterlot, the night of your guys’ wedding, I haven’t been able to get Cadence out of my head. I hear her voice when I’m alone, I see her in a crowd; hell, sometimes I even smell her,” I said with a laugh.

Luna looked at me curiously. “And how do you feel when you get these feelings?” she asked slowly.
I laughed softly. “To be honest, a little scared,” I admitted. “Whenever I feel like she’s around, I feel like I’m being followed by some force, and I have no idea what it wants. But…” I trailed off.

The princess looked down at me. “What is it?” she inquired.
I stood up. “I don’t know,” I muttered, slowly rising to my feet and walking away.
Luna followed close behind. “What were you thinking about just now?” she demanded gently.

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I moaned, “whenever I get one of those feelings, I just… forget about my past. All the bad shit I’ve been through just fades away, and I only think about her. What does it mean?” I asked, giving her a hopeless look.

Luna looked down, closing her eyes and smiling. “I think I know exactly what you are feeling, Drayke,” she said with a giggle.
I stared, confused. “What?” I asked slowly.

The lunar princess brought her eyes to mine. “I get the same feeling whenever I’m around Allen,” she said teasingly. “Please, bring him back to me,” she said pleadingly, and suddenly she faded away.
“What?!” I shouted at the emptiness of the dream. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I don’t know why I asked that; I knew the answer.

And it pissed me off.

Suddenly, I bolted up in my sleeping bag, fully conscious. “I’m not in love with a fucking horse!” I screamed angrily. I looked around to see the six ponies all staring at me like I was a lunatic.

“Um, Drayke,” Applejack asked slowly, “Is there something you wanna tell us?”
I looked at their worried faces, blushing slightly. “No,” I lied, and noticed sunlight was streaming through the tent flap. “Come on, let’s get moving,” I said, and walked outside.

“For the last time, I’m not talking about it!” I snapped. Applejack had been bugging me for the past ten minutes since we had started walking again to get me to talk about what I had said earlier.
“Come on, Sugarcube,” she said with a friendly nudge, “you’ll feel better if you talk about it!”
I stared ahead angrily. “Somehow I doubt that,” I muttered, and something caught my attention. “What in the hell is that?” I asked slowly. I saw a lone figure standing next to a tree, leaning with one arm propped against it. He had long blonde hair and green eyes, and a crazy smile stretched across his face,

“Another Drayke?” Pinkie asked, dumbfounded. “But Drayke is right here!”
I stared at the stranger. “Wait, that’s what I look like?” I asked, realizing she was right. “Jesus, I look like shit!”

My imposter straightened himself out and took a step forward. “You’re little quest stops here,” he said with a smug tone.
I laughed and pulled out the ancient sword. “Yeah, sure thing, pal,” I said coldly. “How about you just step aside, and I won’t hurt you.”

The other me held his arms straight outward, and they melted into long crystal blades. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said in an equally cold tone.
We stared at each other for a long time, daring one another to make the first move, before I finally spoke. “Holy shit, a UFO!” I cried, pointing urgently behind him. When he turned to investigate, I ran and planted a scissor kick right in his back, knocking him several feet away.

We both leaped to our feet and ran at each other, locking our blades in a struggle to overpower the other.
“Just give up already!” I growled.
Doppel-Drayke scoffed. “Like I would lose to someone as stupid looking as you!” he shot back.

I stared at him for a moment. “You do realize we’re the same person, right?” I asked slowly.

My imposter thought about this for a moment. “Yeah, well… fuck you!” he screamed finally, and pushed me backwards, causing me to stumble and fall. I heard a tearing sound as I fell, and found that he had cut my jacket off.

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now, asshole,” I growled as I tossed let the shreds fall from my arms and tackled my opponent, locking him in a strangle hold as we rolled around on the ground. Eventually, he broke free from my grasp, and we stood up, gasping.

“Hold it!” I heard a voice shout. We both turned to see the six ponies angrily staring us down, and Pinkie was aiming her signature party cannon between us.
“Now, you two step away from each other,” Applejack demanded. We quickly obeyed out of fear of being blasted by a pack of confetti at immeasurable force. “Now, I’m gonna ask you three questions, and whoever answers them right must be the real Drayke. Deal?” she asked loudly.

We both nodded obediently.

“Alright. Question one: what name did you go by when you took over Canterlot?”

Did she really have to bring that up?

“The Obsidian King!” my duplicate cried triumphantly, giving me a smug grin.
“Come on, Applejack,” I complained, “that guy’s the phony. Just blast him and we can continue our search,” I pleaded.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “I dunno, Sugarcube,” she said slowly, “he sure seemed to know the answer to the question, while you’re sitting here making excuses. Question two!”

I sighed heavily as she asked the question. “Where in Equestria did you go with Allen to defeat Sanguis?” she asked.
I was just about to open my mouth, before that imposter shouted “The Crystal Empire!”

Applejack gave me a suspicious look. “Things aren’t looking good for you,” she said slowly. “This one will decide it. Question three: what were you dreaming about last night?”

I froze, unsure of what to say. I glanced over at the other me, and saw he had no idea what the answer was.
Well, looks like I’ve gotta come clean, I thought angrily. “Cadence,” I mumbled sadly as I stared at my feet.

Applejack glanced at me. “What was that?” she asked curiously.
I looked up at her, not moving my head. “I was dreaming about Princess Cadence,” I said, a little louder this time. “I've been seeing her in my dreams ever since I left Equestria after Allen’s wedding.”

The orange pony stared at me, her intense gaze slowly softening, before she turned to Pinkie and gestured to the Doppel-Drayke. “Blast him,” she said quickly. Before anyone could react, I heard a loud party-horn sound, and my impostor exploded into several shards of crystal that slowly turned to dust.

I let out a heavy, relieved sigh. “That was close,” I said.
Applejack laughed. “Not as close as you think,” she said teasingly. “I knew it was you the whole time; I just wanted you to open up about what’s been on your mind.”

I exploded. “WHAT?!” I screamed, my fingers curling like claws. “You mean to tell me that you knew I was the real Drayke the whole time? You lied to me!” I accused.
Applejack looked offended. “I did not!” she said defensively. “I made you think there was a risk of getting hurt so you'd come clean about your feelings.”

I stared and rambled incoherently at the ponies for a long time, before finally sighing and walking away.

“Where are you going?” Twilight called after me.
“Finishing this damn mission so I can go home!” I called without looking back. “You gonna come?”

Black Heart watched from the trees as Drayke continued on his quest, the six ponies following close behind. He was impressed that Allen actually used a Spirit Crystal to make a duplicate of Drayke, but that wasn’t what occupied the armored pony’s thoughts’ what the human had said caught him completely off guard.

“Dreaming… about Cadence?” he asked himself slowly, hardly able to comprehend this information. “What are the odds of that…”

He stared ahead for a few moments, entranced by his thoughts, before quickly shaking his head. “I wish he had just kept his mouth shut; this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
Saying this, he held his horn high in the air, and vanished in a flash of light.