Once Sirius returned to the apartment, he remembered his promise to himself. He needed to find something magical to be able to defend himself against powerful users of magic, mainly alicorns. He wanted to be prepared for anything, be it a rise of an ancient enemy, corruption of existing alicorns, or anything else that might happen in the future. He knew combat, but his skills of magic weren't sufficient enough to battle alicorns. He couldn't afford spending years to learn it. In the fantasy world, there certainly were powerful magical artifacts, and Sirius intended to find at least one of them.

He spent the next few days staying late at the school library, going over many books about magic and the like, trying to find at least a mention of an artifact. His mind was so focused on that task he barely got any sleep. The dark circles around his eyes returned, giving him an eerie and scary look.

Iclyn was worried for him but she didn't know what to do. She knew he was searching for something, but he refused to let her know what it was. The filly was afraid of pushing forward since she feared he would react negatively to it. He kept his thoughts hidden and only let out small portions of them when he felt like it. There wasn't anything she could do, unfortunately. She decided to watch over him and help him if he went too far.

On the third day of his research, it finally gave fruit. In a dusty and old book, he found a mention of a powerful artifact that was described as being able to perform high-level spells. It gave the user untold, alicorn-level powers, greatly empowering him or her. Not only that, but the artifact was wearable and couldn't be taken off by anyone but the user themselves.

However, such power came at a price. The artifact, the Alicorn Amulet, corrupted its user the longer it was being used.

Sirius pondered about it. What did it mean — corrupt? Would he become greedy, power-hungry? He didn't believe in it. He had a strong mind, one that could withstand the invasion of an alicorn. Besides, there was nothing to corrupt. Sirius didn't define himself as being good in the first place. He was only himself, not aligned to such foolish concepts based on flawed moral. There was no black or white and he knew it. He had done many things that were considered bad, and he didn't regret most of them.

The former human knew he wasn't a good person. He could already see how uncomfortable Iclyn seemed to be around him. He saw how Luna looked at him during and after the tournament. He was sure neither of them saw him as good.

Ultimately, Sirius decided to find the artifact. He needed to find that amulet and make it his. Buy it, steal it, take it by force, anything could work. He couldn't afford being the weak one. There was nothing that could stop him from gaining leverage over those that might try to hurt him.

Deep in the evening, he went to the oldest part of Canterlot. He had a saddlebag with himself, a letter he earlier received from Luna inside it. The Royal Seal was still present on the letter unbroken, and Sirius gently removed the paper from it. He also made a plan for getting the artifact if it was in someone's collection or shop. Overall, he was prepared.

He had heard about a curio shop that was placed in the old part of the city, in one of the alleyways, hidden from most. It dealt in many mysterious items, magical and not, ancient and fairly new. Sirius decided that it was worth a try. Looking there definitely wouldn't hurt.

He saw clouds gathering above his head as pegasi pushed them. A rain would start very soon, and he hoped he would be able to get back to the apartment by then, with or without the amulet.

Soon, he saw the entrance to the shop. He peeked inside the window and saw a stallion by the counter who seemed to be asleep. Perhaps Sirius wouldn't need to give him anything. However, if need arose, he knew how to act.

He opened the door slightly, and it touched the tubular bells, waking up the shopkeeper. Sirius winced — he was stupid, very stupid not to expect something like this.

"Oh, good evening, sir!" the stallion said, adjusting his glasses and stifling a yawn as he rose from the counter. "How may I be of assistance? It seems... something brought you here, but I don't know it yet. Interesting..." he scratched his chin in confusion. Usually he was able to tell why ponies came to his shop.

Sirius looked around the shop. Frankly, it was a mess, nothing was in any particular order. Wardrobes, chairs, curtains and carpets, plates, all kinds of things were littered around the room, making it quite hard to navigate through. There was an especially interesting chair — old and simple, made of dark wood, it was standing atop a wardrobe, a sign placed above it that read: Don't sit, cursed!

However, it wasn't what Sirius was looking for. He soon noticed the item he needed. The amulet was placed under a glass dome. The colt could feel magic radiating from it, very powerful magic. Certainly, it was it.

"Princess Luna ordered me to collect this item." Sirius gestured at the alicorn amulet, levitating the seal simultaneously and showing it to the shopkeeper. "It will be kept in her private stash for safekeeping purposes."

"Oh, her nightly majesty?" the stallion leaned closer to get a good look at the seal. "Her word is law, and I abide the law. You may take it, but beware — don't put it on."

"I'm aware of the way of handling this dangerous artifact." Sirius said. "This is why her majesty wants it secured."

"Yes, indeed! I'm glad to be of assistance." the shopkeeper nodded.

Sirius levitated the amulet to himself and took a good look at it. It bore the effigy of a red-and-gray alicorn, along with a massive blood-red gem of rhombic shape. The former human could already feel its power and might. Such a force would,surely be reckoned with, and it would certainly help him if he ever fought an alicorn or any other magically powerful being.

Sirius stuffed the amulet into the saddlebag and exited the curio shop. As the door closed behind him, a cloaked figure bumped against him and went past him into the shop. The colt just grunted in displeasure and went his own way.

Unfortunately, the rain had started by then, and it was somewhat heavy. Sirius was soon soaking wet, but it didn't bother him that much in the light of his most recent accomplishment. He got a very powerful artifact, and he was sure he would be able to combat Luna or Celestia or any other alicorn if it ever came to it. He didn't trust them at all and wanted to be sure he was safe from them in any way possible.

He would hide the amulet where his revolver was — right under the mattress of his bed. He might buy a special box for those life-saving items. After all, he had the means to do so. He could maybe buy himself a house. However, he wasn't sure he would be able to pay taxes.

"Wait!" he heard suddenly. He turned around and saw a cloaked pony. Judging by the voice, they were a she. Sirius could clearly see a horn as well, marking her as a unicorn. He remembered bumping into her just a few minutes ago. "You have the Alicorn Amulet, right?"

Sirius nodded warily. What was it to her? He prepared to fight. He was glad he never went anywhere without his sword.

"Can you give it to me, please?" the mare asked. "I'll pay you!" her horn glowed and a bag of bits was levitated from under her cloak.

"No." Sirius replied simply, and then turned away to leave. He baited her, waiting for her to react to his words.

Just as he expected, he heard splashes of water behind him as the mare dashed towards him. He immediately dodged to the side while unsheathing his longsword, preparing to defend himself and the artifact. The mare stumbled, stopping herself. She saw the sword and knew that Sirius wouldn't be easy to take down. However, she tried to grab his sword with her magic.

Without hesitation or doubt, Sirius broke the contact as soon as he saw her magic glow on his sword. He swung his sword at her and cut the edges of her cloak, as well as cutting her foreleg slightly, causing her to drop to the ground in pain. The blood started streaming down her leg, soon mixing with water and painting it red.

Sirius pointed the sword at her, ready to finish her off for good. If she knew what the artifact was, he couldn't allow her to leave. She might try to steal it from him later or worse — use it against him. He couldn't allow either.

"Please, no!" the mare begged, trying to crawl away, only to gasp in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Sirius thought for a moment. Why take a life? He wasn't a complete monster. She wasn't someone he would kill either. Maybe that mare had a reason for wanting the artifact so badly.

"Why do you need it?" he asked warily, his sword still pointing at her.

"I just need revenge!" the mare replied quickly, holding onto the thin string of hope. She didn't know the pony before her, and she feared he would harm her further.

"What was done to you?"

"T-they humiliated me! Made me laughable, miserable, I can no longer do what I like, what I worked for so hard!" the mare said rapidly, afraid of being not believable.

"...There are other ways extracting revenge." Sirius said. He knew what he was talking about. "And... maybe it is your fault." he turned away from her. The mare looked down. She couldn't convince him to give her the artifact. "You will call guard, they will wrap the cut, and you will be silent of this." he turned his head back to her. "You fell and cut your leg, that's it. Now, I disappear. You call guards when I'm away. Understand?"

"Y-yes." the mare nodded, and then hissed in pain.

Swiftly, Sirius disappeared around the closest corner, getting away from the mare. From then on, it was her problems, not his.

After all, he got what he wanted.

Author's Notes:

This chapter was smaller than usual, but I felt it didn't fit in anywhere else.

Now, Sirius, a mentally unstable person who doesn't fear violence or its use, is in possession of the Alicorn Amulet. If a sword and a gun wasn't enough, he got a powerful magical artifact that brought him on equal grounds with alicorns themselves.

This chapter also shows that he doesn't mind using excessive violence or coercion. He isn't sympathetic to strangers either, especially those who try to attack him.

A note to you all — don't try to attack someone who has a sharp weapon if you don't have the element of surprise or an equal or a better weapon. All those disarming techniques simply don't work if your opponent isn't a complete disabled idiot.

To make things clear — yes, it was Trixie. And yet, it's the second season show-timeline-wise. MLP was always known for a somewhat wonky timeline, but my justification here is that Trixie might've gotten it earlier to test in and plan her revenge. I've also learned that Magic Duel was planned for the second season first.