With a startled scream, Sirius awoke in the middle of the night.

He looked around. Nothing was threatening him at that moment. He sighed.

He didn't know why he woke up. He only knew it was something... just something. Neither good nor bad, neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It was just a reason, a reason he couldn't find.

Feeling the need of fresh air, he stood up from his bed and went to the window. He opened it and inhaled deeply.

But it didn't do him any good. He felt an extremely quickly tightening knot in his stomach. He gagged, shuddering, and then vomited out of the window, throwing up half-digested food. After the first burst, he gagged and coughed violently, his eyes tearing up, his legs shaking, and his whole body heavily sweating. Then, came the second burst that emptied his stomach completely. He coughed even more, tears streaming down his face. Then, his organism tried to force its own stomach out by making him vomit again, but this time it was nothing but acid, leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

After that final burst, Sirius collapsed, his head hitting the window sill and then the floor, finally stopping there with his whole body. He opened and closed his mouth helplessly, feeling his insides burning from the stomach acid.

He lied there helplessly, his eyes teary and his breath shaky.

"W-why me?" he said in his native language. "Why? Why do you keep torturing me?" he closed his eyes and let out a sob. "You, cruel world — why can't you let me go? What else do you need from me?" he sobbed loudly. His depression has taken hold on him. He didn't want to stand up — he wanted to die. What was the point of having to endure all of this? Why did he have to go through it? Haven't he suffered enough already?

It seemed not.

Sirius felt so miserable, so worthless. He sobbed and sobbed, unable to control it, his tears staining his fur.

A few minutes later, he stood up on his shaking legs and went to the bathroom. He needed to clean himself after this. He managed to bring his emotions back under control.

Sirius automatically turned on the water and showered himself. Then, he stepped out of the bathtub and received a blast of warm air. Soon, he was dry again. He looked in the mirror. He looked more or less fine save for the eyes: they were bloodshot and there were noticeable bags under them.

He was very tired. He got little sleep from all nights ever since coming to this new world, ever since he appeared on that red leaf in the middle of the lake out in the wilderness.

He was so sick of it. He needed sleep. He needed good sleep, something that would actually make him feel good.

Sirius returned to his bed and got in it, closing his eyes. He could try again.

But would it work?

Luna was lying on her bed, her sister by her side.

The lunar princess hadn't been feeling well since she tried to enter Sirius' dreams. A nasty headache appeared, disrupting her thinking process.

But she could still think. What did Sirius hide in his dreams and mind? Why didn't he seek help? Who is he? She didn't know whether she would ever find answers to those questions. Sirius seemed too closed and so distant from her. He was hiding behind a mask, trying his best not to show his troubles. Why? She didn't understand it. She had never met anyone like him before. She simply didn't know how to treat him. And if he suffers so much, why isn't he searching for help?

Maybe he just couldn't. Maybe he felt no one would ever be able to help him. Luna didn't know yet. But she wasn't about to give up, no — this discovery drove her forward in her struggle to help the poor colt.

So far, she only caused him harm. She knew what happened to him during the night, and it was entirely her fault. She pushed too hard, and he paid for it.

Luna wanted to go to his room and comfort him. The question was, would it work at all? He didn't seem like he wanted anyone near near him. She could see hidden hostility in his eyes: it was aimed at everyone. If she tried to force him to talk, she would only achieve blazing hatred from him, nothing more. She didn't want him to hate her because she was trying to help. She needed to find the right way to approach to him.

She stood up carefully.

"Sister, you need rest." Celestia protested.

"Perhaps, but not before I check on Sirius." Luna stated firmly, heading towards the exit. "It could be that I did something bad to him when I tried to enter his dreams. I must see if he's alright."

"Alright... But return as soon as possible." her sister said worriedly, hesitantly accepting Luna's plan of action.

***

As Luna entered Sirius' room, she felt a gust of cool air brushing against her fur. She frowned slightly, and then continued to the bedroom. She cracked the door open and peeked inside. Sirius was lying on his back turned away from her, seemingly sleeping. The window was open, letting fresh air come into the room. Luna didn't want to disturb him, so she closed the door. Sighing in relief, she exited the study room and went back to her chambers, relieved that Sirius seemed to be alright.

Unbeknownst to her, he wasn't asleep. In fact, he was very awake and absolutely furious. His face was twisted into an angry frown, his eyes almost ablaze with a newfound hate for the princess.

It didn't take half a brain to realize that it was her behind his sudden and rude awakening and his recent physical suffering. He figured out she tried to enter his mind once again and failed, and then decided to see if he had reacted to it.

Before she came into the room, he had been thinking about jumping out of the window to end his life. He didn't see any reason to stay in the new world. All it brought him was more pain. However, his room wasn't too high off the ground, meaning he would more likely turn himself into a pancake vegetable than kill himself. Besides, he still remembered his painful transformation. As much as he hated it, he didn't see death as a way out any longer. It would lead him into more suffering. He simply had no choice.

He stood up from his bed and snorted loudly. Oh, how he wanted to punch that princess in her face! How dare she think she could just use his most helpless state to see inside him? He was angry, very angry.

He had to remind himself that showing emotions won't do him any good. He calmed down enough to put on his expressionless mask. His face smoothed, facial heat gone. But fire in his eyes remained, hateful fire.

To him, Luna became nothing more than a pretender. She pretended to teach him and help him while she tried to rape his mind behind his back, hiding her cowardice, abusing her power over him. He feared her, feared and started to hate. How far would she go in order to access his innermost sanctuary? He didn't want it. He wouldn't allow it.

He knew he had to find a way of defending himself. Knowing that he would probably still be helpless while asleep, he needed to find something to protect himself with in the waking world.

And he had a plan.

He woke up early in the morning, his internal clock working precisely. He relieved and cleaned himself, and then sat on his bed and concentrated. He looked at the dictionary he was provided. He strained himself, trying to make the book fly. His intense stare did nothing to the pieces of paper bound together. Even his horn didn't glow.

So far, his efforts didn't bear fruit. However, he wasn't about to give up — his need for protection drove him forward to obtaining magic. He wanted to learn telekinesis, and he certainly would do so in time. He was sure he could do it. Once again, there was no choice but to adapt to this new world, and gaining magic would be his first step.

Suddenly, the book started glowing faint purple. Grasping onto this thin straw like a drowning man holds onto a plank of wood, Sirius pushed forward. The glow intensified, meaning he was doing it right. He grunted, his eyes fixed on the book. It moved up.

He was cheerful inside, but didn't stop with the slight lift. He pushed more magic through his horn, strengthening his levitation. The book moved up a little bit more.

He didn't stop, pouring more magic, forcing his horn to work. It was working! Little by little, the book moved up and up, supported by his purple aura of magic. A dull ache appeared inside his head.

Passing an invisible barrier, the book shot up, almost hitting the ceiling. Sirius felt like a whole mountain was lifted off of his shoulders as his horn started conducting magic as it was supposed to. He achieved telekinesis.

Then, he needed to practice it. Grabbing more thing around the room, he lifted them up and moved around. He took as many items as he possibly could.

There was a certain limit, but he hadn't reached it yet. His head started aching a lot, he had to stop it. Groaning, he rubbed his temples, trying to make the annoying pain go away.

His thoughts were disrupted when his stomach grumbled. Once again, it was time for him to eat.

***

He reached the dining hall rather swiftly and was ordering a maid around to bring him so much needed food. Besides himself, there was Celestia in the hall, sitting at the head of the table. She was enjoying her breakfast and watching how well Sirius was doing with his own morning meal.

He, on the other hand, kept a very close watch on the alabaster, multicolor maned alicorn. He didn't show any magic in her presence, deciding to hide it from her or anyone else he would encounter. He needed to practice it first. Besides, he would need the element of surprise to be on his side if he ever needed to defend himself against her or Luna.

"Good morning, Sirius." Celestia decided to approach him softly and carefully. "I am Celestia, the princess of Equestria alongside my sister Luna."

He nodded in reply, glancing at the alicorn.

"You still have problems with speech, I see." the alicorn said. "Don't worry, you will soon be able to speak properly."

He understood little of words but he did see the meaning. He nodded once again, acknowledging her words and expressing his understanding of them.

"How was your night, dear Sirius?"

Anger flashed in his eyes. He remembered the night clearly. Especially the part where he figured out Luna's intentions.

"Fine." he replied. Celestia did notice something in his eyes but couldn't recognize it. It was a nagging feeling that Sirius was lying. However, she had no way of knowing.

Meanwhile, thoughts went through his head about Celestia and Luna. Could it be possible that both of them wanted to know him more? Certainly, there was no doubt about it, he could see through both of them. Was Celestia trying to ease her way at that moment? Probably.

"Good." Celestia replied slightly cheerfully, trying to pass on her relaxed state to Sirius. "So, how do you feel overall?"

The former human paused before replying, "Fine."

It was a blatant lie Celestia could see through. However, knowing something was a lie didn't mean knowing the truth. Sirius would prefer keeping the second part as it was.

"Sirius, can you tell me more about yourself?" the alicorn asked.

There it was. Celestia was on Luna's side on this. It was clear to Sirius at that moment. Anger flashed across his face again. If they didn't back down, he would have to do something about it sooner or later.

He decided it to be sooner. Starting lightly.

Sirius turned his head towards her and locked his eyes with hers. He couldn't read emotions from her face — it was pleasantly neutral. He stared at her for a long while. The princess didn't flinch to his stare that turned into a glare.

"Myself are not for you to know." he replied coldly. "Tell Luna — no. My, uh, mind — doesn't do... You two — keep out."

Celestia frowned slightly, understanding the message. However, she decided to have a go at it.

"Sirius, I'm very sorry we caused you so much stress." she said, stepping closer to him. "We are sorry for doing it to you. It wasn't right. But all we want is to help you."

"I not ask." Sirius snorted. "Go away. Don't... ask. Leave be."

"Sirius..." Celestia sighed. "You can't be like this forever. You hide great pain, one we can help you—"

Sirius grabbed the nearest plate and smashed it against the table. His face twisted into an angry snarl. He stood up from the table, blazing glare aimed at the princess.

"Go to hell, horse." he swore in his native language and stormed out of the dining hall.

Before the conflict could escalate further, Sirius forced his emotions to stay down once again. However, he couldn't stomach staying near Celestia any longer.

He realized just how alone he was. Even those two princesses that gave him shelter, food and water weren't his allies.

All alone in the sea of enemies.

Author's Notes:

I begun to like those short summaries I do in this story. They can certainly help you understand the story better.

First, I must say that I'm not portraying Celestia nor Luna in a negative way. They try to do their best to help Sirius, but ended up being seen by him as people he can only fear and hate. Having not experienced such a contact before, the two princesses have a hard time at getting on his good side. So, those two ponies are more or less show-accurate. Though, I suppose I should build more believable characters for both princesses while staying within how Equestria is depicted in the show. Since this fic is meant to be realistic, some minor things may be changed or removed entirely for the sake of being logical. And since the story is Mature, Equestria will be as well. And there certainly won't be clear evil or good.

I hate what they did to changelings, for example. They took away their originality and turned them into pony bug-bananas. Thus, there can be seen a clear line: black, has lots of unnatural holes, does green magic changeling — bad; yellow deer-bug — good.

I know that MLP isn't a serious show but I would like to make it enjoyable for more mature audiences. It's fun. Besides, imagining us interacting with a more peaceful society is very interesting, at least to me.