It was an hour and a half before the school started. Sirius was lying on his bed, learning new words from the dictionary. His roommate Iclyn was preparing herself for the day, brushing her wavy mane.

The bleeding from her muzzle stopped, and yet she could still taste and smell some of the blood. It was faint, but it was there, reminding her of the events she didn't want to remember.

It wasn't too horrible at the first glance. But under the surface, there was something deeper, something scarier. The filly recalled the night's events.

Iclyn woke up in the night due to hearing Sirius mumbling something in his sleep. At first, she discarded it and tried to go back to sleep. But then, she heard his voice rising and rising, and she could hear fear in it. He was calling someone, someone who could help him. Iclyn saw tears running down his face as he desperately called out for help. His body shook as he sobbed in his sleep.

She did her best to comfort him, and woke him up. And then, she heard the most terrifying scream in her entire life. It was filled with despair, pain, and terror. There was nothing that could be even close to it.

She remembered his eyes. They were full of pain and fear. Stuttering, she exlained what she did, nursing her bleeding muzzle. And then, there was anger and hostility in his voice as he choked her, forcing her to swear she would reveal nothing about that night. However, neither anger nor hostility showed in his eyes. In truth, it was painful for him to hurt her, she could see it.

He let her go. As he disappeared into the bathtub, Iclyn closed her eyes, rearranging her thoughts and calming down as the last bits of adrenaline subsided.

Her muzzle ached from the powerful hit Sirius had delivered while thrashing about on his bed. She wheezed, still feeling the grip of his magic on her fragile neck. Just a simple twist could end her there and then. She tried not to think of it much.

But he didn't kill her. Instead, he apologized, and his apology was sincere and honest, she felt it. It was very awkward for him as well, but he was truly shameful of his aggressive actions towards her.

After all those events, Iclyn thought about just what could be hiding behind his expressionless mask. What lied deep within him? It was only the second day she knew him, but she could already tell something about him wasn't right. It became completely obvious to her after that night.

He was unlike any other colts she has ever met. No, he was much different from them. While most colts thought and talked about fillies or any other not very serious things any healthy colts talked about during teens, Sirius was a closed book with a cover unlike any.

He didn't seem to care about anything at all besides protecting himself. True, he didn't slack during the lessons as a lot of foals did, but it didn't mean he cared about those lessons. Though, Iclyn couldn't say anything about how Magic lesson went for him.

He also fought bullies, and fought them aggressively, in a way not many students would dare. It was everything strangers could see about him with their own eyes. In fact, there were already rumors about Sirius, but they always appear when a new students enters the school.

There was nothing about him that stood out too much in terms of appearance, at least on the surface. At the first glance, he was just another colt. Slightly above average looks, some barely noticeable scars here and there, but even the latter was common with colts, especially the daring ones. Though, on closer inspection, it could be clearly seen that Sirius wasn't healthy — his body was very thin, and not in a good way. It didn't end there: there were dark circles around his sunken eyes, and those purplish eyes bore a heavy gaze, one that wouldn't, couldn't belong to just any colt.

Iclyn was his roommate, and she could see slightly deeper into him. She caught him during his most vulnerable and emotional time — asleep and after a nightmare. He was absolutely defenseless and couldn't control his dreams or what he did during them. It opened up a side of him he wouldn't otherwise reveal. His more sensitive and emotional side. He wasn't always aggressive, she could see it clearly. That aggression and violence was just an inner mechanism of self-defense he adopted.

Iclyn hadn't experienced nightmares ever since she was a little filly. In truth, she knew that teenagers rarely dreamed bad dreams, princess Luna made certain of it. Could the princess not help Sirius, then? But perhaps it wasn't her fault. Maybe he pushed her away?

There was no clear answer yet, but it could be so. Iclyn remembered the letter the nightly princess had sent her a few days ago. The filly figured out it was a hidden warning. It warned Iclyn of how difficult Sirius would be to understand and live with.

It all made sense to the filly. She wasn't stupid to ignore the logical chain presented right in front of her eyes.

It was apparent that princess Luna tried to help Sirius but failed. Iclyn thought about it, and decided to see what she could do to help him. She saw something in him: mostly pain and constant sadness. He had suffered something very destructive that left him empty and yet very angry and perhaps even hateful. He desperately tried to disguise it under something else, but his emotions kept showing up, telling others what he truly felt inside. He was at the edge of something even more horrible.

Iclyn sighed heavily and yet silently, making sure Sirius wouldn't hear it. Everything was so difficult and strange with that colt...

Meanwhile, in the Lunar Wing of the Canterlot Castle.

Princess Luna was wide awake, trotting nervously around her bedchambers. She looked bad: her eyes were red and there were dark bags underneath them, telling of her tiredness. Even her ethereal mane was unkempt and wild, its flow gone, replaced with a dull shade of blue.

She yawned heavily. That night was one of the worst she's ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Luna was there when Sirius had his horrible nightmare. She stood by the door to his mind, listening. At first, everything was peaceful. While she couldn't understand the words, she could hear happiness, she felt it. She managed to recognize Sirius' younger voice. He sounded cheerful. There was another person in the dream, Luna assumed it was his mother. Both radiated happiness.

However, there was a sense of imminent danger lurking just around the corner. Luna felt it, and it unsettled her, made her cautious and wary. Would the door open before her or attack her? The dangers of the unknown lied behind it. There could be anything.

Then, she smelled something in the air. It was a mix of blood, urine, rot, and pus. She gagged, trying not to throw up. It was especially difficult with the fact that dreams enhanced the perception of all things presented in them.

She felt as sticky fear encompassed her and Sirius. His voice became more fearful with each passing second. Luna could do nothing but stand and listen how a pleasant dream turned into a nightmare. His voice rose and rose until it turned into a desperate cry for help. A few moments later, the door to his mind disappeared, meaning he woke up. The events left Luna empty and fatigued.

The alicorn of night blamed herself for not being able to help him in any way. However, if she did try to enter, she would probably cause a painful physical reaction from him in the waking world. Perhaps, she could've made the nightmare worse just as easily. She wanted neither and decided not to intervene, but it made her feel horrible inside. Ever since she met the colt for the first time, she wanted to help him, to make him feel better. And yet, she was unable to do it. It was completely out of her control. It was utter defeat, one she hadn't suffered in ages before that moment.

She sat down and sighed. She hoped his roommate would have a better luck with it.

As the two ponies prepared to go to school, Iclyn noticed that Sirius decided to take the sword with him. Gladly, it came with a sheath that he could strap to his body so that the sword could be safely carried on his side.

"Um, are you sure you need that?" Iclyn asked him, gesturing at the sword.

"Pride Fight said I can carry it with not problem." Sirius replied. "And I don't want to leave sword here. It should with me at all time."

"But, why?"

"I want so." he looked at her heavily with a hint of challenge. "Is there problem?"

"...No, not really." Iclyn replied after a few moments of consideration. If he wanted to have the sword by his side, so be it. It wasn't like he was going to kill or hurt anyone with it. Well, as long as bullies wouldn't show up. The filly shuddered — she imagined all those hurtful things Sirius could do to them with his sword. They wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure.

As they exited the hostel, they were approached by three familiar stallions. Sirius frowned — they were the bullies that harassed him the day before.

"Here you are, skinny." their leader stepped forward. Sirius noticed that all of them had rather big sticks. Perhaps, they were weapons. "Because of you, now I will have to move back to Manehattan!"

"If you did no bully, you would stay." Sirius replied, readying himself for combat. He saw it as inevitable.

"We do not bully. We simply weed out those who don't deserve to study in Canterlot." the leader retorted. "You unicorns always get everything easily! You're nobody from nowhere, and yet you're here, in one of the best schools!"

"It has not thing to do with... me being unicorn." the former human replied.

"Yeah? Then why are my non-unicorn friends that are better than you not here?" the leader snorted. "You don't even have a talent! This city and its unicorn superiority... And to think that it's the capital of Equestria!"

"What do you want from me?" Sirius cut him short. Frankly, he didn't care about the feelings of the bully at all.

"Well, since all of us would be expelled anyway, we decided to give you what you deserve." the leader pulled out his stick. "You're now without sticks, huh? Whatcha gonna do?"

"Don't hurt him!" Iclyn stepped forward. She feared a violent fight would ensue, one that could end very badly for the bullies. After all, Sirius had a sharpened sword, one she was sure he would use without hesitation.

"Yeah, yeah... get outta here, bitch." another stallion said angrily, moving forward. "Ponies like you allow unicorns to screw us over! He fucks you, doesn't he, huh, slut? That's why you keep this piece of shit around, don't you?"

Iclyn gasped, tears appearing in her eyes. She had never heard such harsh words spoken to her.

"Leave her alone!" Sirius said and prepared to fight. While he didn't like his roommate much yet, he wasn't going to let bullies get away with such a serious insult. Even if he didn't understand it completely, he knew it was very offensive, judging by the tearful reaction of the filly.

"You're going down!" one of the bullies yelled, and then charged forward.

Sirius unsheathed the sword and swung it, successfully breaking the charger's stick in half with little effort, making it seem like the blade cut straight through it.

"Oh crap, run, he has a real sword!" the leader shouted, and soon they disppeared: the two pegasi took off while the earth pony disappeared into alleys of the city.

Sirius surveyed the surroundings, expecting another attack or an ambush. He wasn't sure they left for good.

However, he was wrong — there was no one else in the area.

"And you said me bringing sword was bad." Sirius said, sheathing the sword. "Let's go — school awaits."

He wanted to hurt those bullies so much, but he saw some reason behind their actions and words. Though, teenage maximalism spoke inside them, overshadowing any sense of logic.

This event solidified his belief that he needed to carry his weapon at all times. As much as he wanted to believe everything was peaceful, he was being proven otherwise each day. He wanted to be sure no one would attack him for any reason. But if they did, he would make sure they wouldn't walk away unscathed. He was no pushover to allow others to hurt him. He had already suffered much pain, and he surely wasn't looking for more.

***

During the two history classes, Sirius was extremely bored. While the teacher did his best to explain different events and how they influenced Equestria, the former human wasn't interested in history too much. Though, he liked it — there weren't big wars ever since Celestia and Luna took the throne. Though, after the banishment of the princess of the night, Griffin Empire saw it as an opportunity to expand their lands. Thus, they tried to conquer Equestria, but failed. Ever since their defeat, there wasn't any war at all. Some discoveries were made, things invented, and that was it.

At least that was what Sirius learned during history classes while not really paying much attention. However, he surely got attention from students — his sword wasn't exactly unnoticeable. Rumors were in the air about Sirius enlisting to the Royal Guard. But nobody approached him or talked to him about it — the fear was strong. The former human didn't care — less questions, less annoyances to deal with. He just wanted to finish the school for the day and then go to the training. It was the only thing he was looking forward to.

As the bell rang, Sirius decided to grab a snack at the cafeteria. He remembered seeing hay fries, some kind of chips, and a lot of different rolls and buns. As he entered the cafeteria, one of the teachers called him.

"Colt, you can't carry this around." she said, gesturing at the sword. "It's not Royal Guard training facility."

"Pride Fight allowed me." Sirius replied.

"I disallow you."

"Why?"

"Are you arguing with a teacher?" the mare looked closely at him.

"Is it a crime now?" Sirius raised a brow. He hated those kind of teachers who couldn't explain anything and just used their 'superiority' just by being older and working as a teacher. To him, neither meant anything.

"Well..."

"Miss Flower, let me solve this problem." Pride Fight said, coming from the teacher's section of the cafeteria. "He's smart enough to know how to handle a sword."

"But then those colts place their oiled blades on the tables, and our janitors have to scrub it for hours." the teacher complained.

"I'm certain he has enough brains not to unsheathe a weapon unless a danger is present. Right, Sirius?"

The colt nodded. He knew how swords must and mustn't be used. If he wanted to show off, he would buy an elaborate wall-hanger that he would place somewhere and forget about it.

"Alright..." the mare sighed. "But if I see it on a table, I will take action." with a huff, she left.

Sirius shook his head slightly, and then proceeded to grab a couple of buns to chew on. He finished eating them rather quickly, and headed to the Math auditorium.

As he met Iclyn again, the filly went straight to him.

"Um, Sirius." she said. "I never said thanks for, you know, what happened just before the school."

"I was in danger. You could walk away. No thank needed." Sirius replied, passing her. He turned his head to her. "You better learn to fight. I won't be nearby always."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Iclyn sighed. "Mind if I join you after classes? Fencing seems like a nice idea."

Sirius nodded. It certainly wouldn't hurt her if she learned how to use the environment to her advantage. She would also become stronger, faster, and more agile. Indeed, she should learn something of martial arts.

Besides, he could use someone to train with. It would be slightly more fun and productive.