-Canterlot-

Rex's mind strayed to Discord's words. "Join me... Help me rid Equestria of those harmony brats." he had said. The sentence haunted the former Tyrannosaurus, filling his heart with fear and guilt. Agreeing to take out the elements just to get Talon back would ruin his relationship with Obsidia, have him fired as a guard, and leave him the way he started his life; cold and alone. With a sigh, he looked up at the night sky, his eyelids dropping slightly.

"Hey, Rexy." Obsidia's voice said, causing Rex to jump in surprise slightly.

"Hi." he murmured softly as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Dadda!" Thalia exclaimed with a grin, placing her hooves on his own. It was almost funny how much of a difference in size there was between the two ponies. Rex's glum mood lifted slightly as he lifted the small alicorn into his hooves with a gentle smile.

"Are you okay?" Obsidia then asked. "You seemed rather upset when before I came out... Is something wrong?" she continued, worry lines on her forehead.

"If you mean other than Talon's death... Yes." he replied, his frown returning as he gingerly placed Thalia back onto the soft grass.

"What is it?" Obsidia had only seen Rex upset like this twice within the year she had known him. The normally fearless stallion, once a predatory reptile with bone crushing teeth now seemed like any other pony that showed emotion.

Rex hesitated before he spoke, as if afraid to speak. "... After Talon's funeral... a strange serpent appeared to me. He called himself the Element of Disharmony." he started, hesitating again.

"Discord..." Obsidia said, slight anger forming on her tone of voice.

"Yeah... Anyway, Discord came to me and said... He said that he could bring Talon back if I got rid of the Elements of Harmony." he murmured, dropping his head with guilt and sorrow.

"Baby, there isn't a thing that lying snake could have done to bring her back. He was using you." Obsidia said, welling with sympathy for the heart broken stallion, walking around to face the pony head on. With a comforting smile, she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. Rex's eyelids dropped as he lightly squeezed her waist, a drop of water rolling down his cheek.

With a sniff, the stallion allowed Obsidia to pull away, pulling a tissue from his saddlebag that he normally used for work and handing it to him. "Thank you." he acknowledged, wiping his eyes with a half hearted smile. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just... I just thought that he could bring her back." he said, rubbing his eyes and squeezing his girlfriend for comfort.

"You don't need to be sorry." the pegasus said with an assuring smile. "You miss her. I can't blame you for wanting to bring her back."

-Crystal Empire-

The dark Celestia had things on her mind... Mostly things involving a foreign stallion with a muscular frame and a bad attitude, both traits that she found attractive in stallion. King Sombra and King Chrysalis were nice enough, but she had her eye out for somepony who could survive a fight against a massive reptile and was capable of rivaling her mirror self... And SURVIVE. While One Eye didn't know magic well (only being capable of blasting dark magic and telekinesis,) he could transform into a beast that could kill dragons, serpents, even his own brother, let alone other ponies. Put simply, he was Celestia's kind of stallion.

One Eye nearly collided with Celestia as he sprinted down the crystalline halls, news of Rex having been sent to him via telepathy. "Ack!!" he shouted, screeching to a halt. The Evil Celestia, or "Shamlestia" as she was jokingly called by the hyperactive Pinkie Pie, reeled back momentarily and was ready to cuff the pony in the head until she saw that it was none other than One Eye, just the stallion she wanted to talk to.

"One Eye!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing bright red as she saw his flabbergasted expression.

"Uh, Princess... Is your face normally that red?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

The celestial alicorn fought to find words to reply as the dark stallion stood, waiting for an answer. "N-no." she finally replied, noticing the stallion peering at her with his good eye. "What's the rush about?" she then asked uncomfortably, disliking the way he stared at her.

"I just got news from your sister. Said she was flying above Canterlot searching for a weak spot in the walls when she saw Rex and Obsidia. She heard bits and pieces of their conversation and managed to make out that Rex changed his mind about attacking your world's so called Elements of Harmony." he replied, mentally listening to the message again.

"So that's a bad thing? Now Rex can't find us." the dark Celestia said, puzzled at the news.

"Well, no it's not bad. I just... Can I talk to you somewhere else?" he then said, stopping mid-sentence.

"Of course." Celestia said with a mischievous grin, her hopes that One Eye felt the same as she rising.

-Elsewhere in the Crystal Empire-

"Try to loosen up, or it won't work." the dark Celestia ordered the dark Rex, placing a hoof on his shoulder. One Eye closed his good eye and inhaled deeply, his chest expanding as air entered his nostrils and traveled into his lungs. The unicorn stallion jerked his neck with a loud pop, loosening the muscles in his spine. With an exhale, he opened his eye and peered at the alicorn mare who elegantly sat before him, her shoulders dropped and her head low.

"What are we doing this for, exactly?" One Eye asked calmly, compared to his normally rigid and annoyed tone.

"It'll calm your mind and loosen your muscles." she replied softly, not opening her eyes. With a sigh, she finally lifted her eyelids, looking eye to eye with the Tyrant Lizard King. One Eye lifted a quizzical eyebrow.

"I don't have a family." he started, shifting his gaze to the crystalline floor. "Surprise, surprise... I came from a test tube. That's why the mark on my hip is two letters and not an image, like yours." the former saurian murmured softly. "Seeing Rex with a family, though it doesn't seem like it, makes me feel lonely. Venom and the Ophiacodon are practically useless in helping anything except themselves."

"I can fix it." Princess Celestia's mirror self reassured the stallion with a soft smile. One Eye faintly felt her lift his chin with her hoof. Looking up, he watched her closely as she gently lifted the kingly crown from his head and set it aside. "I have a feeling that we're going to have a history together." she whispered, putting both hooves around his neck and scooting herself forward.

"I feel the same way." he replied planting a kiss on her forehead.

Venom watched with a sorrowful frown as the two ponies kissed. He felt his heart sink into his stomach as memories of Bastidon's death played through his head, repeating the moment the that King Sombra blasted the club tailed saurian with his dark magic.

The changeling swung around as he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

"I know." the Ophiacodon unicorn said, pulling the carnivorous pony into her arms. "I know." she repeated with a whisper. "It's gonna be okay, bud." she assured the changeling.