Iclyn was sitting still, her eyes staring at the unconscious body of Stanislav as he lay in snow. The car behind her was burning hotly, fires blazing and consuming it, black smoke rising.

"It was my first murder." a voice spoke, but it wasn't what the pegasus had heard before. It was much more alive, full of subtle emotions she couldn't quite catch. It was the voice of Sirius, his true one. "Coming back to it, I ask myself — was it a right thing to do? People tell me murder is wrong. But is it? I've not told them about what I did. No one knows, not even Nastya." the voice paused and sighed, a wave of emotions washing over Iclyn. Confusion, fear, uncertainty.

"Sirius?" she called him quietly, hoping to hear him answering to her.

"Time and time again, I come to a conclusion that it wasn't wrong." he continued, not hearing the pegasus. "He hurt us. He hurt me. He didn't care about anything but himself. He killed my father and had no regrets. He deserved to die. And yet..." he sighed deeply. "It was wrong. If anyone finds out somehow... No one will like me. I will spend the rest of my days in prison or mental hospital. But I won't let them take me without a fight."

The voice stopped talking, leaving everything in a deafening silence. Iclyn didn't know what to say or feel about the whole situation. Why was there Sirius' voice? Why couldn't he hear her? Perhaps, it was just a memory and his thoughts about it? After all, Iclyn was in his mind, and she had no idea how minds work.

She got up but found herself sitting again in just a moment. She needed time to think about what Stanislav had done. It was murder, one he didn't regret. Was he lying to Iclyn when talking about killing changelings? It could be so but his emotions during that time seemed genuine.

But what was the difference between killing a man or the changelings? Why was the latter worse for him? Was it because he feared she would leave him?

Or maybe because he already hated his own kind a lot? It would explain many things, but one was left unanswered — where did his immense hate come from?

Iclyn knew where to find the answers but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know them. Before her very eyes, the bad side of Sirius was showing along with his past. Many bad things had happened to him over the course of his life: anger issues keeping him disliked, his father brutally dying before his eyes, and his first murder. All of it happened when he was just a kid, influencing his later decisions and views. Maybe she could stay away and let him reveal everything to her by himself once he woke up.

There was a problem — he wasn't waking up. He was dying, he was unwilling to live. It was apparent that he no longer wanted to continue his miserable existence. Unloved by the one he wanted to give himself to, forced to commit suicide when he was just eighteen, and then trying to find love and understanding only to be torn apart from them, and almost killing himself for the second time.

There was no way for Iclyn but to continue exploring his mind in search for answers and understanding. She could at least try to understand him and convince him to return and give a chance to to life. To her.

Besides, he had no one left but her, she was the only one to rely on. His family was gone, his friends were gone, and only one of them found him accidentally. He had no one to trust but Iclyn, at least the pegasus hoped so. Was he still trusting her? There was no way of knowing but she could travel further inside his mind and see him from within: understand his motivations, look at his experiences, find out how he came to being whom he was.

She had to move forward. He needed help and understanding more than anything, and whom would Iclyn be if she didn't help the one she loved? Leaving him all alone, leaving him to suffer would be beyond cruel for someone like Sirius. He was confused and scared, searching for the light only to find none.

Everything around Iclyn begun to warp and twist, swirl and turn. Colors changed to gray, the sun was no longer shining through the clouds. A mist enveloped everything around Iclyn, and she felt a horrible chill going down her spine as a view came into focus.

It was a long, simple bridge made of stone. It disappeared behind the mist, hiding most of it, and Iclyn was standing at its beginning. Fires were rising from under the bridge, the flame licking the lifeless stone, heating it up but not enough to melt it. A smell of searing flesh in the air, making pegasus' stomach twist into a knot, making her gag and hold back the vomit.

There was a single lamp providing light. Something was glistening near it, grabbing Iclyn's interest and attention. Cautiously, she approached the lamp and looked around it, hearing a soft hum of unknown origin.

A sword was propped against the lamp. It was a longsword, its blade slightly rusty and a half of its left cross-guard was gone. A simple sheath was lying around as well, the leather mostly rotten and the metallic fittings rusting away.

Iclyn decided to take the weapon with her. She put the sword into its sheath and carefully put it on, making sure her wings weren't restrained. After adjusting the straps accordingly, she marched to the bridge. She was bearing a slight frown, her eyes looking forward. Her ears were swiveling around, trying to catch the smallest sound.

She swore she could hear something just at the edge of her hearing, something hidden behind the mist, out of sight. She had a feeling of being watched, her wings twitching slightly in the anticipation of an attack. She expected the Figure to jump out at any moment and chase her down. Or worse being that she had no idea of. Anything could be inside Sirius' mind. Monsters and abominations created by his troubled and sick mind, they could be lurking around the corner and Iclyn wouldn't know it.

None came but the quiet noises didn't cease. As much as she tried to understand them or their purpose and meaning, she couldn't. They were all around her, whispering something to her, something she couldn't understand yet. It was something about Sirius, she was sure of it.

She straightened herself, a frown of determination appearing on her face. She blew the mane out of her face and marched forward. There was no time to waste.

Princess Luna was working her magic on Iclyn's mind, and it seemed like she would be able to enter soon. Sirius' strength and power weakened, losing their grip on the mind of the pegasus. The former human was breathing laboredly, his heart beating at an increased pace, and sweat rolled down his forehead. His horn was glowing ever so slightly, his ears erratically swiveling.

Suddenly, the alicorn felt as if she was falling, darkness enveloping around her. She struggled and fought it, but as suddenly as the pressure came, it was almost immediately gone.

Before her, the Figure stood. In its left hand it held the revolver, its right hand holding a longsword. The nightmarish creature raised the revolver and fired off a shot at Luna.

In time, she conjured a shield. She felt a hard impact as the sound of the shot rang inside her ears. Another two shots were made, and neither of them penetrated the shield.

The pale creature growled lowly and moved in, preparing its sword. Luna watched it closely, preparing to strike. She knew a spell, but she needed to lower the shield to use it.

She decided to fake it by ceasing the glow of her horn. Immediately, the Figure shot another time, and then the weapon disappeared from its hand. The creature charged at Luna, pointing its sword forward for a thrust.

The alicorn lowered the shield and shot a magical projectile at the Figure. It dodged with a surprising speed, and then went in for a thrust.

Luna successfully evaded the initial strike and summoned her own sword. The steel clashed and the Figure jumped backwards, only to return a moment later with a series of swings and thrusts. It moved precisely, surprising Luna with its agility and speed. Having almost no muscle, the nightmarish being performed well, its style copying Sirius' from start to finish.

Having no time to think, the princess acted purely on hard-trained reflexes, deflecting the blows and trying to deliver her own.

"Get out of my head!" the voice of Iclyn sounded, knocking down the two duelists. "Sirius has things he'd rather hide, and I promised to keep his personal things secret."

Luna frowned, making her sword disappear. She looked around only to find that the Figure was gone as well, only four deformed bullets lying in the void of black.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" the princess asked.

"Yes, I am! Just... Sirius has been through a lot." Iclyn replied, her voice bearing sadness and pity. "I don't think it'll be a good idea for you to go in. I feel his anger and... even hate directed towards you. As soon as you entered my mind, I felt it." she paused. "Stay away for now."

"I understand." Luna nodded, and then closed her eyes. "Good luck, Iclyn."

The princess reappeared in the waking world. She opened her eyes and saw Iclyn frowning with her eyes closed. A few seconds later the frown disappeared and a neutral expression took its place.

Luna sighed deeply. It looked like she could do nothing indeed.

Anastasia was studying at the school, sitting quietly in the far back and solving mathematical problems. She bit the pencil slightly, her mind working with equations and numbers. Her eyes were going from left to right, looking over the whole problem and trying to find if she made any mistake.

To get her mind off of Sirius, she decided to dedicate her time to studying, and studying hard. It worked well, and she even enjoyed studying again. It was way easier than it was in the school but it still made her mind work.

Wind Rider was sitting by her side, helping her from time to time. She still had some problems with understanding the language, and thus his help was very appreciated. The colt worked well, not ignoring Anastasia's needs either. He knew she was feeling down because of Sirius' sickness, and he was trying to cheer her up by providing emotional and practical support. The two didn't speak much about the former human, trying to find something else to think or talk about.

However, Anastasia felt like she was betraying Sirius, trying to replace him with someone like him but less troubled. Wind Rider was a good friend, much like Stanislav was. He was quiet and shy, unsocial, but searching for his happiness and trying to make friends and be good to them. However, the colt didn't have the aggression and desire to hurt Sirius possessed since birth.

In the end, Wind Rider was indeed a better version of Sirius. Even their colors were fairly similar, too.

Anastasia didn't know if it was alright for her to try to forget Sirius and make new friends. She already liked the new colt, maybe even more than she used to like Stanislav.

She realized she was finally adjusting to the new world. She longed for home but it looked like she would never return there. Princess Luna was searching for a way but none was found so far, and there was little chance there would be anything for her at all.

In conclusion, it would be better for her to try to accept the new world and hope for the better than to drown in her misery and close herself from others.

Maybe she would reach her happiness, too.

Author's Notes:

I want to hear what you think will happen next.

Also, this chapter was finished in about two and a half hours during college, everything done from start to finish.