Anastasia was at the mansion, a letter lying in front of her as she looked at it in disbelief. Her eyes were wide, her mouth opened slightly, her ears down.

"Sirius c-can be saved?" she muttered as the words of the letter bounced inside her head, hitting against the walls of her mind and returning to her again. She hoped that Sirius would wake up but she never expected magic to come into play. Going into his mind? It sounded completely impossible and not to mention insane. Why would it be needed? He would wake up on his own sooner or later, right?

The girl didn't know what to do. The mansion was completely empty, all of its residents gone. Sirius was on the edge between life and death, Iclyn was trying to save him. But what could Anastasia do? Her studies were going alright, ponies were approaching her from time to time and she talked to them. Even far away from home, her life was getting better.

She stood up and began pacing around the room, trying to think of something. What must she do, what should she do? If only she knew the answer to that question.

Without Sirius, she was almost completely helpless in the new world. Princess Luna and Iclyn were of great help to her but both were busy and unavailable at the moment. Those few friends she had made couldn't help her because of the nature of the situation.

In truth, Anastasia could do absolutely nothing but hope that all would be resolved soon.

Iclyn was walking through the forest, her steps light and yet cautious. She was in Sirius' mind and she knew she had to be wary of her surroundings. She didn't know how minds work but she suspected things could change at any moment, be it for the better or the worse.

Suddenly, she heard a joyful and happy laughter, and it was something she didn't expect to hear in Sirius' mind considering in which state he was at the moment. Iclyn's ears perked up and swiveled in the direction of the noise. She changed her course and headed to the source of the sounds. She hoped to understand what was happening and maybe the answers would come to her soon.

Soon, she came to a small lake. A group of four children was running around the shore, giggling as they played tag. Iclyn hid behind a bush and observed, trying to determine whom was Sirius. She already knew it was his original form — a bipedal ape-like creature. However, the children wore clothes. The weather seemed alright, and the pegasus couldn't figure out why would they wear anything. She squinted her eyes and saw that they didn't seem to have any fur. She assumed they needed clothes because of that exact reason.

She looked over all of the kids. None of them caught her eye, however. Aside from clothes, they looked almost the same to Iclyn. She couldn't see the defining traits of Sirius to figure out who was him.

She decided to move closer. Silently, she flew up and went above the treetops, landing on one of them right above the kids. She would use a cloud but she couldn't see one in close vicinity. She just hoped that her coloration wouldn't give her position away. She didn't want to be seen until she deemed it safe to do so. She had to be cautious in Sirius' mind, no one knew what resided there. While she was sure he wouldn't purposefully hurt her, she decided to be careful nevertheless.

Iclyn observed the scenery. She couldn't define which human was which, they all looked the same to her: same white skin, almost the same height, and three out of four had dark hair. Even the clothes they wore were similar, and their colors mixed and became a blur. They had different clothes but their form and coloration subtly changed every time Iclyn looked at the humans.

Soon, they stopped running and settled down on the grass, panting from running.

"How was it, Stas?" one of them turned to another one. The pegasus assumed they were a she — the voice was quite feminine. The voice was young, too. Iclyn already understood all four were kids but confirmation settled it.

"It, um..." the second one replied, and Iclyn had a tingle that told her that the voice was very slightly familiar. "It was fun." a small smile appeared on his face. He reached into his pocket and tried to find something. "Oh wait... I think I've lost my phone." he admitted, standing up.

"I'll just call you." the girl said, pulling out her own phone. Soon, a ringing sound appeared to the side, and Stanislav quickly found his phone.

"Thanks, Elle." he said as he put the phone back in his pocket.

Iclyn found the exchange quite strange. Why was it happening? Did it have a significant meaning for Sirius. And most importantly, where was he? He must've been either of two boys that were yet unnamed.

She continued to observe the group for quite some time, and she almost fell asleep while doing so. However, everything changed when she heard shouting. Her ears perked up as she focused her eyes on the group.

"But that's not good!" Stanislav shouted in response to something.

"Stas, please calm down!" one of his friends said. "We're not against you. We can figure something out."

"...I guess." Stas sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry, guys." he looked down, and then turned around.

"Stas..." Helen walked to him.

"Leave me alone for a bit, okay?" Stas replied with a hint of anger in his voice, sitting down on the ground.

Anger and almost immediate regret. Iclyn's eyes widened — Stas must be Sirius! But if so, why did he change his name? His original name wasn't bad. However, he still decided to change it for reasons the pegasus didn't know.

The boy was left completely alone, his friends disappearing in the forest. He was sitting near the lake, his arms around his legs as he hid his face behind his knees. He breathed calmly and there were no tears, however.

The lake became red, black words appearing on it. Iclyn looked at them and her eyes widened. The words told her of how Stanislav felt. He thought that he wasn't a good friend, he didn't deserve one, and all he did was getting angry for no reason. All of it confirmed one of the suspicions Iclyn had — Sirius was indeed a troubled person from the very beginning.

"Why am I like this?" he asked himself, his voice echoing and carried by the wind. "They are my friends... You don't get angry at friends, right?"

The water of the lake started bubbling, words mixing together, making the surface of the lake looks blotched and unnatural. The plants around it became red in color, strange flowers blooming on them, creeping closer to Stanislav with every moment. Two small purple spots appeared in the center of the lake, eerily familiar for Iclyn.

She decided to do something before it was too late. Something terribly wrong was happening and she needed to stop it.

"Hello?" she called out, flying down.

Stanislav turned around and saw her. His eyes widened in surprise, and Iclyn suspected he recognized her.

"W-what?" he managed to say. "Who are you?" he stood up and backed off. The pegasus was unsure what it meant — surely Sirius would've recognized her. Stanislav was Sirius, after all.

"I won't hurt you." Iclyn assured him, stopping in her tracks not to scare him.

"...Okay." the boy said slowly, his posture relaxing slightly but his eyes still on her. "But who are you? You guard this forest?"

"No, I'm just a pegasus." she explained to him. She paused for a few seconds before she figured out what to say next. She must be careful not to make something wrong. For all she knew, the situation could go anywhere. "I'm searching for someone."

"Oh..." Stanislav looked down. "So... you're not here for, um, me?"

"It's not like that." Iclyn shook her head slightly. "I need your help... Stas, right?"

"Y-yeah..." the boy replied, scratching the back of his head, his dark-green eyes looking in the general direction of the pegasus. "I guess, um... I guess my parents can help you more." he paused. "Is that alright?"

"I think so." the pegasus nodded. "Oh, and sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Iclyn." she smiled at him.

"That's a nice name." Stas smiled back. "Um, my full name is Stanislav Zima. You can just call me Stas. So, um, let's go?"

The wind was blowing, tearing the leaves from the trees. The sky was covered by dark clouds, and a light drizzle falling down upon the trees and the ground below them. It wasn't enough to be uncomfortable but it was making Iclyn shiver, vapor escaping her mouth.

She walked alongside the younger version of Sirius, trying to figure out what to do next. She couldn't understand why he didn't recognize her even though it was is mind she was in. Logically, he would almost immediately understand who she was. However, it wasn't the case. But why? What did it all mean?

"I don't know if you're real." Stanislav said, disrupting Iclyn's thoughts.

"...Why do you think so?" she asked him after a few moments of silence.

"Um, well..." he paused in his step for a moment. After a second of thinking, he said: "You're a talking flying horse."

"No, I'm a pony." Iclyn corrected him.

"Equine, whatever." Stas replied. "Pegasi are myths. You're also talking and just... strange-looking, I guess."

"Makes sense." the pegasus nodded. Sirius used to live in a different world and it wasn't impossible for it to not have pegasi. It would be like having talking animals. They could communicate with some ponies but they weren't sapient.

She didn't know what to think of young Stanislav yet. He was like any other kid and he also was very similar to foals in terms of behavior. He was a bit shy and cautious but Iclyn expected it. However, the look in his eyes and the way he spoke made him seem mature. There was no childish innocence or naïveté in his eyes either. Under his slightly baggy clothes, Iclyn could see a skinny body, and it was almost unhealthy in the way he looked. Even cheekbones could be seen which shouldn't usually be showing at his age. However, he lacked dark circles around his eyes that his older version almost constantly had.

Iclyn looked around. Everything looked normal, at least for the other world. Everything looked natural and consistent like it was supposed to be so. She almost forgot that all of it was taking place in Sirius' mind.

What she failed to notice was a silhouette that followed her. It was outside of her vision, moving silently through the forest, its eyes focused entirely on her as it ignored everything else in its path. Stanislav sometimes looked around and could see the silhouette. However, his mouth was forcefully kept shut and he had to look forward.

Soon, the pegasus and the boy exited the forest. A single house was visible in front of them. It was a two-storeyed house with a garage nearby, a well-maintained road leading from it to more houses and a small town. A proper look was maintaned, and the house had a fairly fresh paint-job. Everything looked neat and tidy.

"Um, this is where I live." Stanislav said, stopping. "I'll, uh, go tell my parents... I just explain, um, you to them. A-alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll wait." Iclyn nodded, stopping as well.

"I'll be back soon." the boy said and ran off to the house.

The pegasus sighed, looking at Stanislav. Just what was happening in his mind? How could something like this appear? Was his mind divided into parts and ot was just one of many? Iclyn was sure Princess Luna would be able to explain everything to her but all was silent and she was all by herself. She had no idea what to do or where to go but thought that Stanislav's parents would help her.

She couldn't waste time, she must figure out how to move forward.

Author's Notes:

Do you have any guesses or theories? I'd very much like to see them since you readers can find out the truth before it's clear. I'm very interested in seeing that.