“NO! J-Just stay back, y-you freak!”

“Ohoho, come now. Freak? Your creativity just baffles me.”

No life was growing from the rocky soil. All sources of water were forever lost to this field of gravel, only rivers of crimson sated the ground’s thirst. The red fluid even managed to shine brightly through the sky’s thick dawn, which revealed the mutilated bodies sprawled all over the soil’s cold, harsh surface. For many it was an impossible feat to recognize even what species the corpses even were; many were diced into multiple pieces until they were just nothing rotting flesh, others slit open to reveal the innards of that said creature peering and dangling limply through the swollen red carcases, and even the few of the bodies were slashed open with the blood leaking through the notches in their skin.

A handful of ponies were still alive through the onslaught of death that blew in the cool morning breeze. There were eight ponies of all races masked and covered from brow to hoof in black cloth, each shaking like a leaf from the presence of their opposing force. Every single one was noticeably unarmed of any steel weapon that could be carried. Instead, there were shreds of clustered metal scattered across the barren wasteland of rubble, not a single piece appeared as it originally did before it entered the battlefield.

Only one lone figure stood on its hind legs against the small group that could barely be considered an army at this point. It was a male unicorn with an incredibly light, shiny blue coat as if it were just freshly groomed. His mane was a shocking pink with bangs that hung past his rosy eyes, which were as calm and collective as a still body of water. The colt wore a smirk that could have passed off as confident and arrogant, but also as if he had nothing in the world to be afraid of. Out of everypony on the battlefield, he and his pure white cloak didn’t have a stain of blood or grime on them. The longer his unfazed stare threatened to swallow them whole, the more each member felt as though their rapidly beating hearts threatened to burst out of their chests.

Desperately trying to snap herself out of the colt’s unrelenting gaze, the mare that stood in the center of the army shook her head to regain focus and gave an angry glare of her own. “S-stay on your guard, men! This freak of nature can’t stay up forever!”

“Heh, you’re making me blush,” the strange, yet elegant stallion huffed, “But feeding your men false bravado will get you absolutely nowhere.”

“T-that’s what you think! Our bravery is to be owed to by the years of countless training to avenge out leader! Men, surround him!”

Their earth pony leader stayed back and gave support to an earth pony clan member who couldn’t even stand on his own. Another soldier, whose horn looked as though it had been broken off, was left behind clutching his blood-soaked arm, he couldn’t even feel it anymore. That only left five other ponies to surround the pink maned colt from all sides.

“Hmph, you Nichibotsu are all the same. You lack any form of tact whatsoever.” Even though there was nowhere to run, the colt didn’t look intimidated in the slightest.

As the first punch was swung, the colt gently tilted his head to the side and delivered a swift jab to the offender’s neck, as blood spilled out of jab mark in his jugular vein. Two more members charged into the battlefield, the first’s hoof was blocked with the colt’s forearm while he used his other hoof to swipe the second’s chest, more of the red liquid jetting out onto the colt’s arm. However, once the blood touched his fur, it began to fade into a glittery dust. The pony he had holding off with his forearm had now been impaled in the gut by a lengthy pink spear that shot out of the ground beneath. The pink-tinted dust blew toward the remaining two member’s direction, but suddenly vanished into thin air. Or so they thought. As the seconds past, the two clanscolts began to violently cough great amounts of blood until they collapsed with a thud, their bodies laying motionless at the hooves of the alluring, yet terrifying colt as he glanced back at the remaining trio with a toothy smile.

“Now what did I tell you? Absolutely nowhere.” the colt chuckled, and appeared to actually take delight in the fact that his final victims were stiff as boards, and even more traumatized than before. This wasn’t a fight, rather it was a slaughter. “And I honestly thought you’d put more of a challenge than this. You really are a bunch of washed up rejects-”

“Shut the hell up!” the doubled over colt screamed, the numbness in his foreleg replaced with a feeling of a boiling rage. “Like you Akuma bastards are any less than a group of rejects, you fucking fa-”

The rest of his words were cut off when rows of crystallized pink needles punctured the soldier's midsection, his body splayed out, engulfed in a pool of his own blood. Whereas an explanation was bound to come with no answer, the last two clan members already knew full well where the source of the needles came from. Or rather, who they came from. “Please excuse my brash behavior, but it simply isn’t polite to interrupt somepony when he’s talking. Now where was I...”

“Y-you monster!”

“Ah, I remember now! My question to you is: how you weaklings even consider yourselves assassins? Akuma Tenshi only takes in the best of the best; we take quality over quantity any day. Looks like Crimson sure did a half assed job getting rid of you pathetic stains. Oh, pardon my language.”

Finally, the stallion could take no more. The clanscolt released his ‘support’ and grabbed the nearest spear of shrapnel he could find and charged at the pink maned colt . The colt refused to move an inch, as a sharp blade of pink began to encase his upper forearm. As the clan member charged closer and closer, the stallion expected to hit impact. Instead, however, he passed right through the strange colt. But, that wasn’t possible. Why did that colt already have blood smeared as if he actually slashed? And why did the colt feel so light headed?

All of those questions ceased to matter as the clan member’s head slipped right off his shoulders and rolled to the ground, the red liquid glistening as the rest of the body collapsed as well. The strange colt then turned his attention towards the teary eyed mare, as he delivered a twisted glare while his face was stained with a mask of blood. To the mare, it didn’t seem like a mask at all. If anything, the colt’s real mask had come undone, his true nature now as plain as day.

“And then there were two.”

On the verge of tears, and losing her role of leader, the mare was stuck in place by her own fear. The blood on the colt's face began to dissolve into thin air once more, the glistening dust that came from it now began to surround the leader in a glittery haze.

Regaining his usual elegant posture he saw as vital to obtain, the colt glanced back in the mare's direction, his smirk visible as day. "I wouldn't move if I were you, you'll be cut to shreds if you step so much as a hoof forward."

"D-damn you..." was the only thing the mare could muster, her voice still shaken as she struggled to get a grip on the last fibers of her sanity. Unfortunately, the colt's faint chuckle seemed to snap her back into this world of horror she couldn't escape.

"You clan members really need to quit picking fights with whatever you see. I was just on a business trip, if you idiots didn't feel the need to attack me from the start, all of this would have been prevented, considering how I'm not the kind of stallion who attacks without reason.... But," the pink haired colt started, his smile fading as his face contorted into a surprisingly stoic glare, "if you decide to leave right now, I'll hold my word that you'll leave unscathed."

"H-how can I trust a word that comes out of your damn mouth? Look a what you did to my crew! You're nothing b-but a monster!" At this point, her tears flowed freely, her anger seared the words burned in her hoarse throat.

The colt simply sighed. Why was she making this much more difficult than it needed to be? "Lying is such a petty concept. I'm a colt of my word. And besides, you brought this upon yourself, my dear. Now, make your choice please. I don't have all day and I'm starting to lose my patience."

The mare desperately weighed her options of her life silently to herself, but in the end, she knew whichever choice she picked wouldn't matter in the slightest. "It matters not what I pick! Our code is to fight until the day we die! To never give up! If I turned my back on this fight now I'd be labeled as a traitor and the other members would have my head! So.... P-please.” Any bravado she might have had before, as well as all her fear and anger boiled away, replaced by calm acceptance. “Make it quick."

The colt couldn't help but let another sigh slip from his lips. This time, however, it held slight disappointment. Stupid Nichibotsu clan, why did their codes always make things more difficult, on not just him, but everypony? It never made things easier for the colt when it had come to killing mares, but if there had been at least one lesson that the colt learned by day one, it was that the hitcolt life was never easy. "...Very well, I will abide by your code. That way, I could at least say that you died with honor."

As the seconds went on like hours, the mare began to feel her hooves grow numb until she couldn't tell if they were even there anymore. As she glanced down, she could see a glassy pink coating begin to consume her body from the hooves up, her body being trapped and frozen as it traveled up to her neck.

The process started to halt to make sure he could see a clear view of her face. The colt slowly trotted closer, the still spinning shards not even so much as putting a scratch on his perfect physique. Was he lying about the dust cutting her up? Had she made a mistake for not making a run for it? All these questions and more slipped her mind when the colt brought a hoof up to her face and gently stripped her of her mask. Her face grew a bright red. If only.... If only it wasn't this kind of situation for him to do such an act.

The colt let out a light sigh, continuing to caress the side of her delicate muzzle with his hoof, the heat radiating from her face felt so warm and easing. "You have such a beautiful face. It's such a shame that it has to come to this."

"Who... Who are you?" the mare managed to gasp, her mind lost in the sweet aroma of the colt's breath, his face only a scant few inches apart from hers.

"Oh, fair maiden, remember me simply as Notch, The Blood Drenched Diamond of Equestria." he answered, figuring she deserved to at least know the name of her killer in her last few moments. "And rest assured, you will become a lovely, elegant piece of my art."

Closing her eyes as if to say "I'm ready", the crystallization process was finally completed by reaching to her scalp, cutting off absolutely any traces of movement on her body. The colt brought his hoof up to the diamond surface that was once the face of a clans mare soldier. He only watched as the large statue began to dissolve into thousands upon thousands of small, almost microscopic singular shards he simply called 'Diamond Dust'; the remains blowing into the wind leaving an absolutely clean, bloodless trail behind.

Notch turned his gaze away from the sight, his true emotions concealed in the art only the intellectual Virgo were very well famed for. Instead, he let his vision travel along the bloodbath and decaying flesh that he had created with his own two hooves. It was...

"Pretty.... yet inadequate. It's imperfect; lacking a certain beauty....” He made a small dismissive motion with his hoof, the blood and gore dissolving into a sparkling pink mist. “Next time I'll use less of a horrific look and use more diamonds. Everything shall be diamonds!-" Notch's eyes lit up as a memory had finally hit him like an enraged rhinoceros right in the chest. "Oh hell, Boss'll be pissed if I'm late for the meeting! To headquarters... I GO!"

The colt began to gallop, making sure to pick up the pace and make up for lost time. He didn't want to be late. Not ever again....

*****************************************************************************************************************

‘Oh, for fucks sake, my head is on fire!’

Through the sandy plains of the arid, desert wasteland, the two colts made their way onward through Celestia’s radiant heat glaring them down. Surely enough, they were making great time and were almost halfway back, despite the fact that they had just left Ponyville not even five hours ago. As they trotted however, one of them had a question burning in the back of his scalp. Well, among a different burning ache.

“Hey, Wild... How the fuck did we get out here?” asked the colt with the green coat, his eyes almost bloodshot as he couldn’t seem to keep at least one hoof off his throbbing skull. “I don’t even remember anything past falling asleep.”

“That’s because you’re hungover, Glitchy Witchy!” Wild laughed, his foxy smile clear as the sun as he bobbed his head to his own humming. The brown colt also seemed to be the only one of the two not to be fully cloaked. He never did get around to asking for that thing back, did he....

“What’s got you so excited, Card?” Glitch pondered aloud, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. “From what you’ve told me, those mares really put you to shame, which is something you really need more in your diet if you ask me.”

“OH, but when they see the little presents I left them, hehehe~! Too bad I won’t be there to see it....” As he said that, the green colt couldn’t help but notice his co-worker’s slitted eyes harden for just a second into a wicked grimace.

“I don’t like the look of that smile.... Wild Card, what did you do?”

“Oh, nothin’ too bad. Just left a little surprise, heh...... I gotta pee, I’ll be back!~” And with that, the giddy colt skipped out of sight behind a row of cactus, humming cheerfully as he did so.

“....Likely story.”

“I’m sorry, Glitch.... is this a bad time?”

As the colt directed his attention towards the apology, he found that the culprit was none other than than a fully cloaked mare -who looked to be about in her twenties- standing calmly in front of a rather large swirling black void. The mare was a unicorn with a jet-black coat, a matching mane that was rather long -almost reaching past the slim barrel of her chest, and a pair of violet pupils that were almost as void of emotion as the black hole right behind her. Her horn lit with a violet-tinted black aura, so the void must have been connected to that mare in some way, shape, or form.

“Hello there, Raven. What a surprise to see you here.” the green colt greeted, his demeanor very somewhat lightened. “And I see you made a portal from here to the headquarters. May I ask the occasion?”

“Sorry.... I was sent here to deliver a message to you and Wild Card.” Throughout the years he’s worked with her, Raven was a rather shy, polite young mare, not to mention she was never much of a talker. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. “Boss said that he wishes to speak with you two in person. So I guess this wasn’t the real message.... He asked me specifically to track down your energy signatures so I could bring you back to base.”

“I see... I’m guessing that’s why you made a portal here, otherwise you would’ve just teleported instead....” The sweat dripping down the green colt’s face must have been evident to the mare. It was actually quite rare her eyes would show any signs of emotion, not to mention worry.

“Are... are you okay, Glitch? I’m sorry if I stressed you...” The dark coated mare apologized yet again. Her voice had a sense of sincerity audible in it, as well as she was handing out ‘sorry’s like she was selling lemonade at a wooden stand.

“It’s fine, Raven...” Glitch sighed, simply adjusting the lenses resting on his green muzzle. “And what did I tell you about apologizing when you did nothing wrong? It just doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh. I’m sorr-GRK... Um....” she mare stopped in her tracks when felt a heavy weight wrap around her back. As she tilted her head upwards, Raven spotted a stallion with the a yard-long grin spread across his face.

“RAVY~! How great it is to find you here~! And I see you made us a ride! Are you gonna take us to some sweet new rave joint in Manehattan?! That’d be so AWESOME! ” The colt’s laughter was quickly replaced with a thud when the mad assassin was flung from the mare’s back like a polarized magnet to land on his back.

As the giggling stallion made his way back on his hooves, Raven let out a silent huff as she regained her posture. “Excuse my actions, Wild Card, but.... please don’t do that again. Ever.”

The green colt on the sidelines managed to cease his microscopic smirk. “For Luna’s sake, Wild. And I’m quite certain you didn’t wash your hooves either.”

“How exactly am I supposed to do that? We’re in the middle of the damn desert, you jackass!” the psychotic colt chuckled, not even paying any mind to Raven’s eyes slightly stiffening in animosity.

“....Let’s just go already, please?” Glitch could somewhat hear an irritated tone in her usually gentle voice. “Boss might get impatient if we beat around the bush for too long.”

“Oh? Bossy wants to see us? This’ll be fun~! And if you find that bush that needs beat, lemme at ‘em!” Smile still in contact, Wild Card happily bounced into the pitch black void of darkness, his image dissolving into the darkness as he was transported, leaving the two ponies in an uncomfortably uncanny void of silence of their own.

The two just stood there in silence, neither one really wanting to be the icebreaker. After what seemed like a millennia, Raven exhaled a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, her violet eyes locking with his green ones with a faint smile.

"We should get going. Wouldn't wanna give Wild a bigger excuse to run his mouth, right?" the mare beamed. This was just so.... uncharacteristic of her.

Well, Glitch figured that was the right word anyway. His head was beating like a drum. It was quite a challenge just to keep it together, so the colt just nodded in agreement. The two made their way through the dark swirling vortex of magic. Before the green colt even knew what hit him, he found himself back in the fairly lighted, charcoal walls and floor of the base. Home sweet home.... Why Red had such an appreciation towards Boss' choice in decor not many could answer.

The room itself had a lengthy, smooth table that looked to be made from the same stone material as the walls and flooring, the many rows of chairs melted in place made from the same material as well. Most were unoccupied; there were maybe three or so other ponies seated in the room. The room itself was multipurpose; it could be the place where most enjoyed meals such as dinner -though there were more rooms for such events and a couple just ate in their stationed bedrooms anyway, or the usual area that many of the group meetings were held.

Glitch wasn't sure he wanted to find out which was sure to happen. Instead, he glanced over at who was already seated. In the far back chair sat a jet black unicorn mare that held much resemblance to Raven as she was deactivating the portal next to him -her blackened aura coating her horn fading as them matching void began to follow suit. The seated mare had icy cold blue eyes with a trail of stitchings running down the right one, a bored scowl apparent on her muzzle. She was slouched forward, head resting on her front hooves with a blank stare. Glitch just guessed that that meant she was deep in thought about something. Something she'd probably take to her grave with her. Farther up the row was yet another pony seated; a pinto earth mare with a short, messy snow white mane, grey eyes lit with fury and ungodly irritation as her hooves pressed even harder against her ears, but the constant clenching of her teeth proved that it was to no avail. The culprit behind her madness? Of course.... Wild Card.

“-and my my, don't you look just extra beautiful today? Like you get more and more stunning each day’s passing, must be all the photosynthesis, eh? Wait, can you actually do that? I’d pay good money just to see tha-”

“For the love of Luna, shut up!”

“Awww! Why so grumpy, Terra? I’m just stating the obvious.~ I just love your mane today, totally makes you look like a winter if you ask me!”

Terra let a groan slip from her throat. Who could blame her, really? “ Yeah, well nopony asked you, man whore! Now quit fucking annoying me, or I’ll do things to you that you will never forget!”

“Ooooooh, I like were this is going!~”

The enraged Terra almost looked as if she was going to tear her ears clean off. She did kinda walk into that one though.

Looking as though he’d rather skip this eventful shitstorm, Glitch nudged at Raven that they should keep moving on. Not wanting to keep Boss waiting, the mare agreed wholeheartedly. Almost home free, they came to a stop at the door when an oh-so familiar voice called out to them.

“And where are you two lovebirds off to in such a hurry?” faintly laughed the other black mare, her bored blue eyes lifting up to catch a glimpse at the two before staring into space once more. “Heh, can’t even say ‘hi’ to your own sis first, Raven? Must be in quite the rush then.”

“Actually, we kind of are,” the soft spoken mare responded, a small tint of red over her muzzle from her sister’s comment. “Sorry, Stitch, but I really need to get Glitch in front of Boss’ door before-”

“Oh, so you haven’t heard I assume?”

"Stitch, what do you-"

“You haven’t heard. And from what I can see, there doesn’t seem to be a Crimson in sight. Meh, who in the pits of Tartarus really gives a rat’s ass? I know I don’t.”

She was lying. Glitch had noticed that each time Stitch lied, her nose would let off a barely noticeable twitch. Glitch seemed to be the only one had ever caught on to this, giving himself a mental pat on the back. He wondered if Raven had ever noticed it before. The two sisters were relatively close after all.

“Anyway, looks like Boss is gonna host a meeting instead.”

The green colt arched a single brow, resting a hoof onto his chin quizzingly. ‘A... meeting you say? Boss sure as hell changed his mind rather quick. How peculiar...’

“Bah! It’s probably having to do with that little red-striped brat. What am I saying, of course it’s about him!”

“I’d recommend you watch how you talk about Boss’ favorite if I were you, Stitch. It could very well save your life...”

Watching everypony in the room give a slight jump, the cloaked figure leaning in the far corner of the room gave chuckle. When had he come in? Had he been here the entire time? His arms were crossed and his head was down as if he had been relaxing there for a few hours now. How could such a large figure sneak his way inside the room without as much as a single pony catching him? As the air quickly grew uneasy, it wasn’t hard to see Terra shift awkwardly in her seat, her face growing ever the more tense with a distinct mixture between boiling anger and sheer fear.

“Orion....” His presence. Terra could barely keep herself from jolting out of the room and never returning.

"Well well, you don't look too happy to see me." the stallion chuckled, "Hehe, sweet, little Terra... don't you even care about the time I saved you all those years ago?"

“Orion, what a pleasant surprise,” Pushing his lenses higher onto his snout, Glitch attempted to regain his composure. This was one of Boss’ top three men, so he mustn’t be taken lightly for even a second. “But what exactly, may I ask, are you doing with lower classes like ourselves? You wouldn’t happen to be spying now, would you?”

Everypony was astonished that the green colt could even keep it straight around one of the top three. His blue muzzle had a big toothy smile peering out from the hood that hid the rest of his face. Even those teeth were out of place on an equine; they were sharp and triangular.

“Oh, you’ve got me all wrong.” the giant stallion laughed, his deep, raspy voice enough to send chills down everypony’s spine, “I’m not such a stick in the mud as to stick with my own class you know. I’m just waiting here for the big meet to start. Hehehe, it sure has been a while since the last one was held, could end up being quite interesting....”

*****************************************************************************************************************

"Mmmnmnn.... Ughhwha? Oh. Morning, wha'dya know. Ugh... I feel.... warm. Heavy? Is there somethi- Oh....not again...."

The black colt found himself sprawled out against the wall in Pinkie’s bedroom. He rubbed at his eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him, which unfortunately didn't seem to be the case. Crimson could feel a throbbing in the back of his skull. It was nothing too serious, so he decided not to resort to something as petty as panicking. That is, until he found an orange mare cuddled into his side. Okay.... now it was time to panic.

Crimson couldn't say he'd ever once witnessed Applejack without that band in her mane until now. She didn't even have her trademark stetson placed on her head, Her golden locks were splayed out along part of the colt's chest, glistening like strands of hay under Celestia's hot sun. She must have gotten cold at some point in the night, the orange mare looked to have buried her petite muzzle deep into his charcoal fur as she wore a content smile. Without giving any thought, Crimson found his hoof gliding along the surface of Applejack's mane-

'D-dammit, Crimson! Get a fucking hold of yourself! Just... I'm sure if she woke up right now she wouldn't be too happy to see us doing something like this! I mean, just look at her....'

Just gazing at the sight, the red faced colt could feel his chest pounding at an alarming rate. Was he having a heart attack or something? He could feel himself short of breath; his stomach felt a tad queasy, as if it was doing cartwheels and somersaults over and over again. Crimson couldn't even figure out why, he couldn't explain, but the feeling didn't exactly feel.... bad. It didn't look like the mare at his side minded much herself. She looked truly happy....

His musings were interrupted by a small, cute-sounding snort from his other side. Turning to look that way, his eye gave a nervous twitch as his heart face planted after attempting a backflip. ‘Pinkie too... dammit, dammit, that’s not a fucking coincidence, then... shit, shit, shit...’ Pinkie’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she snored softly into his mane, snuffling and snorting when she accidentally breathed a strand of his mane in. She snorted again, rubbing a cheek against his withers as her mouth opened slightly, and she started drooling. ‘Dammit, fuck, why does this seem to keep happening to me?!’

Crimson let out a small whimper from anxiety, and looked away, only to see Applejack’s face was even closer to his then before, and ‘oh god her tongue’s hanging out, and ooooooohhhhh, that feels weird, why does this keep happening to me?!’ Applejack’s tongue flicked around as her brow scrunched up, as if irritated, and she lashed out at Crimson’s fur once again with her tongue, eliciting another shiver from the uncomfortable colt.

Pinkie’s head was suddenly right next to Crimson’s, her breathing hot against his neck. Applejack snorted almost derisively as her mouth snapped shut on a tuft of his coat. Then, she started chewing, and dear, sweet Luna’s knee-high stockings that was a... a... why did it feel good?!

Right at that moment, Crimson’s heart stopped in its tracks as Pinkie’s teeth closed softly around his ear, her tail swishing around his and getting tangled in it, and the smell of apples and caramel and toffee and- Crimson’s eyes widened as his pupils shrank. ‘I have to go. Now.’

Pinkie and Applejack slid down the wall, groping around until they ended up in each other’s forelegs, each growling and snorting as they continued to sleep, but Crimson wasn’t in the room any more.

FsssssssSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh......

The cold water washed down Red’s neck and pooled at the bottom of the shower, slowly circling the drain like a vulture before descending into the depths of the drainage system. Everything was moving slower than normal, the world was strangely calm. Red saw each drop of water as it cascaded down his body, and he lifted a foreleg, causing a few drops of water to be flung back into the air. Almost as if he were in a trance, he reached his hoof out and plucked it from the vast, empty space between the shower and the floor, and pulled it towards himself. He gave his wings a flap, the water droplets flying every which way, but as before, he just plucked them out of the air as one might pull blackberries from a bush. Atop his head sat a steadily increasing ball of water, which he was thoughtlessly manipulating with his pegasus magic. The water on his body was completely gone by now, either down the drain, or pulled into his orb. The water from the faucet was still running, keeping the growth rate steady.

He was fascinated by the water; how it floated barely a hair’s breadth above his face, and even though it was one big globular puddle, he could distinctly see and feel each and every drop. It was... calming. Relaxing. Much better than thinking about those two- “SHOWER PARTY, WOOHOO!!!”

“Gyah!!” SPLOOSH!!! FSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..... “Piiiinkiiieee....”

“Yes, Reddy Weddy Steady-beddy?”

“You messed up my concentration.”

“Oh? Did I, Red?”

“Y-yes, now stop leaning against me! Get out of the shower!!! UGH!!!”

Cli-clop, cli-clop, cli-clop, shhfft. “Red? Why’d you open the window?”

“I need some air.” Fwip, thoosh.

“Was... was it... something I... I said..?”

The shower held no answers, and the water was freezing. Pinkie Pie shivered, but she wasn’t feeling the cold. She turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and dried off.

She slowly plodded out of the bathroom, ten minutes later.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Rarity awoke, her snout twitching as she felt something tickling her nose. “Ugh, this isn’t the time for your silly pranks, Rainbow Dash...” She grabbed the item touching her with her magic, and flung it away, only to have her eyes snap open when it was met with a metallic thunk.

Fluttershy woke up to a gasp, and the tight sensation of a pair of hooves wrapped around her midsection. She fantasized about the big, strong, red forelimbs for a second, before sighing slightly and looking to see that they were actually an almost pearly alabaster. A small glint appeared near her eye, and she swiveled her eyes just a tad to see what it was. Her eyes dilated with fear as she saw what was dangling right above her. “Oh... oh m-my...”

Hanging right above Fluttershy and Rarity was a group of about a dozen knives all hanging by thin string, each blade inching its way closer, ever so slowly.

A strangled yelp echoed from down the hall, and Big Macintosh trudged into AJ’s room, took one look at the conglomeration of blades, and grumbled. “Wild Card...” He trudged back out, Fluttershy trying to contain a squeak as she saw a very... oddly bunched group of sewing needles just barely poking into the surface of his posterior.

Big Mac returned a scant few seconds later, a lasso in tow. He looped it around the strings holding the knives, and carefully pulled them away from the two mares. Rarity relaxed her grip on Fluttershy and let out a small sigh of relief.

Rainbow Dash jerked awake, her upwards momentum only staved off by a sudden pressure on her chest and forehead. “Do not move, fair maiden. The air is not the haven you know it to be.”

She opened her eyes at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, to see the air above her filled with razor sharp playing cards. If this strange colt hadn’t stopped her from leaping off the couch, she’d be out a pair of vocal chords. “Thanks,” she choked out. “... Who are you?”

She turned her head to look behind herself, but the colt was already gone, along with all the deadly playing cards. Rainbow relaxed, her mind now full of two things: gratitude, and a gold-trimmed mask, painted to look like the sunset. The colt even had a coat similar in color to that of an redish-orange sunset sky. His black bangs were slightly visible through the white full body robes he wore, his eyes a warm vermillion. Unfortunately, that was all she was really able to pick up.

Her thoughts were cut short by a pounding noise coming from the door that separated her from the others. “Rainbow Dash, are you okay in there, darling?”

“Just fine, Rares! I’ll be out in a minute, this is that whiny black colt’s room after all!” Before adjusting herself onto her hooves, she looked at the window that had not’ even been open when she went to sleep. She sighed to herself with a small smile on her muzzle. “Weirdo...”

****************************************************************************************************************

Red was chilling, laying back on a cloud. Okay, he wasn’t chilling, and he wasn’t so much laying down as he was hiding.

He’d forgotten to grab his cloak before heading out, and he’d only remembered after a ditzy looking blonde pegasus had told him he had a funny cutie mark. He’d thanked the stars she’d not seen his scar. The longer Crimson stayed motionless to keep from being spotted, the more time and effort he spent racking his brain to see if he could remember a thing after they went to the bar yesterday. Everything after that was blank, much to the black colt’s dismay.

‘Damn damn DAMN! I can’t believe this!’ Crimson screamed in his head, which he could still feel throbbing as if it were a ticking time bomb, ‘I haven’t lost my memories like this since the first time I got drunk! Hell, I’ve never even gotten as drunk as I was last night! And to top it all off, I have absolutely no clue what I could have said or done, but considering where I woke up..... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!’

His body wouldn’t even stay still, violently shaking as if he was in the middle of a snowstorm. The colt was on the verge of breaking at this point. He could feel it.... ‘This can’t be happening! What if we actually did something?! It’s not out of the question, they were just as drunk as I was! They’d never forgive me! Shit, I wouldn’t even be able to forgive myself! I’m not Wild Card, I.... I’m not Wild Card.’

As he managed to slow down his heartbeat, Crimson inhaled a large breath of air and slowly exhaled. Doing so actually managed to cease his shaking, and the black colt wiped at the beads of sweat with his hoof until no traces were left. He couldn’t believe how worked up he had gotten. Even in his hitcolt days he had never once let himself sucumb to his stress before. Maybe... maybe the thought of forming ties to those mares, or anypony for that matter was just.... unbearable. It always ended in one of two gut wrenching outcomes; their resentment for him, or death. It was always one or the other....

‘Just get a hold of yourself, you asshole. I’m not Wild Card, so I’d imagine that I had at least some form of self control over myself, even when drunk...’ Crimson let out a small whimper. ‘I hope...’

Maybe it was best to drop the topic for now, the black colt could get back to it once time was of a better use to him. For now, it would be better just to figure out how the hell the colt was even going to get out of this jam without anypony taking notice. Crimson’s expression went absolutely stoic, pushing out any forms of thought in his mind except his drive to make it out unseen. Crimson had done far more challenging efforts even before his days of becoming a part of the company; stealing food, packpocketing, sneaking past the royal guards, etcetera. And that’s when Crimson was just a little kid. With years of practice and training under his belt, he could probably pull this off!

As his eyes began to wander, Crimson spotted a lengthy tablecloth over one of the nearby carrot vendors. It was.... blue. Oh well, this definitely wasn’t the time to be picky, beggars couldn’t be choosers, right? The colt didn’t make a sound, as he patiently observed the mare at the counter. Crimson could see why she was running this stand, her mane was the same bright orange color as the carrots she was selling. She even had a trio of carrots as her cutiemark for crying out loud.

As the minutes went by, Crimson noticed that the mare’s stock was running very low. She’d have to leave her stand to go and get more carrots sooner or later. Thankfully, it looked like it was going to be sooner. The mare sat up, and stretch her legs, and trotted away from her cart without a care in the world. Now was the time to act.

He waited a few more seconds for the mare to be at a respectable distance before lowering the cloud he buried himself in. In the blink of an eye, he brought a black hoof out and swiped the tablecloth from under the remaining produce and, as an added bonus, managed to keep everything on the table exactly the way it was prior. He then quickly fled with his cloud in tow, gaining enough height to make sure nopony would be able to track the tablecloth thief.

The inside of the fluffy white cloud was surprisingly roomy, spacious enough to take cover in while he tied the tablecloth around his neck to best imitate a cloak. It didn’t look all that bad. Good thing it was about as long as his old cloak so it could cover his entire torso down. The colors of his crimson striped hair and the blue cotton of the cloth clashed a bit, but it was of far little importance of the colt to really give it a second thought.

Looking around to make sure there was nopony in sight, Crimson slipped out of the cloud and onto the dirt road. It felt... weird to be visible. Usually the colt would just remain in the shadows and stay far far away from any hints of social interaction. It wasn’t too much that he couldn’t interact when the time was right, per se a mission came up. However, it all served a purpose. Other than that, not only was he on the shy side, but his brain would always tell him to ‘get outta there’. In short, socially awkward. Oh well, there didn’t seem to be anypony in sight-

“Sup, charcoal butt.”

‘Wha.... how could anypony manage to sneak up on me?’

As he turned around to face the voice’s source, Crimson was now eye to eye with a mare. The colt took a moment to size her up; an earth pony with a mulberry coat, cerise mane and eyes, and her cutiemark was a strawberry and a grape next to each other. He couldn’t put a hoof on it, but she seemed.... familiar.

“What? Don’t recognize me?” the mare chuckled, and delivered a friendly, yet surprisingly quite the powerful slap to the back for a mare. “Well, I guess you were a little distracted last night, so I can’t say I blame you~! Hehehe, nice tablecloth by the way. If you need clothes so bad, Rarity’s Boutique isn’t too far from here!”

Did he hear that right? The black colt couldn’t kid himself, of course he did! “Last night? Waitwaitwait, have.... have we met before?”

“Haha, ‘course we did, sweetie!” the mare snorted. She seemed a tad... tipsy. But only a tad. Why she had even been drinking so early in the morning Crimson didn’t have a guess for. “I don’t forget such a handsome face so easily! Hehehehaha~!”

“I...um....thank you....?”

The mare couldn’t help her laughter at the faint rosy tint on the colt’s cheeks, his gaze now averted anywhere but toward the mare’s as he nervously dug at the ground. “It’s hard to believe you’re so easy to embarrass outside the bar doors, considering how last night you actually fell out of your chair and started yelling ‘I love you’s to literally anything that could move!”

“I...... what?”

“Yup-ery! It was so fun, we should all do it again sometime~.” the mare coo’d in glee, all while getting a tad too... close. She was practically rubbing up against him at this point. “Hehehe~ Man, such a shame you’re taken.”

“.....Taken?” Oh did that catch his attention. Regaining his posture, Crimson gained some bravado and looked the mare dead in the eyes. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, mister! I saw how those mares ogled at you all night! So cuuuute~!” the mare gushed giddily, a dreamy giggle every now and then as she began to clap her hooves together, looking as though she could barely even contain herself from squealing. “Afterwards, you three left the bar with that other handsome fellow, went to Sugercube Corner, and- EEEE~! Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about either, you are one lucky stallion~!

“......”

“Oh hell, look at the time! I gotta go give my little Pinchy her lunch! She forgot it just before she left for school right after I reminded her seven times, can you believe that? Silly little filly. Anyways, see ya later, guy! By the way, name’s Berry Punch!~” she winked.

With an extra bounce in her trot, the mare bolted off to her own business, leaving the colt sitting wordlessly in the middle of the throughway, a grimace you’d have to be either blind or drunk out of your mind not to notice.

“.....I’m so fucked.”

*****************************************************************************************************************

'A-Alright, Crimson. Just calm down. Deep breaths. Deep breaths...'

It was almost in the afternoon now, as the black colt flew through the now busy streets and multiple food vendors at a high enough altitude to not be seen by any civilians, tablecloth- er, temporary cloak wrapped around his body as the sky's gusts of wind blew through his mane. It took him a couple of hours just to keep it straight as he debated with himself whether or not he should even bother finding one of the girls. Maybe they knew something, maybe they knew more than he wanted to hear... Either way, he absolutely refused to believe anything that lush had told him.

‘There's just no damn way any of that could have happened.' Crimson desperately kept telling himself, hell bent on blocking out any unwanted possibilities. 'Those two probably have much higher standards than somepony like myself. Somepony kind, somepony friendly, somepony handsome, somepony who's not a murderer.’ He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that one. 'Anyways, maybe I should just-'

Grrrrrrrrooowwllllll

The sound almost made the colt jump. '.....Get something to eat I guess.'

Crimson hadn't exactly expected it, but then again he never actually ate breakfast this morning. Hours of panicking must really make a pony hungry, huh? The colt swooped down low as he neared a nice, dark alleyway to land in so he didn't make himself look suspicious, he was the new pony in town after all. He figured that old habits must die hard, but his stubborn pride wasn't going to let them die anytime soon. As he peered around the corner behind one of the many houses, he found himself staring at the wide variety of different ponies -all shapes, sex (though he found a slim majority to be female), and colors, trotting about to their business as most made some small talk with one another. Crimson knew he liked this town better at night.

As he brought a hoof up, Crimson found that it just fell back to the ground each time. As if some invisible force was preventing him from moving forward. The black colt had always lived his life in the shadows, he always found it difficult to masquerade himself where everypony could see him. Sure they were ignorant of his reputation, but that didn't mean he was always... "friendly" around other ponies. But in the end, Crimson managed to dig out the courage to take one step forward. Then another... And another... And another...

Before he even knew it, Crimson found himself standing right in the middle of the Ponyville marketplace. The colt took a gander at the sight to behold; there were tons of ponies either grocery-shopping, making paintings on the spot (Crimson made a mental to check that one out later), or chatting it up with other fellow shoppers. The colt gave a glance at all of what the stands had to sell; carrots, potatoes, pears, cherries, tomatoes, corn, onions, lettuce, ...toothpaste, oranges, watermelons, grapes, apples, hay-

"Howdy, Red!"

....Apples....

As his gaze turned back a bit Crimson caught himself staring snout-to-snout with a certain blonde, orange coated mare behind the counter. She wore a great big smile and her cheeks were a delicate rosy tint, her emerald eyes would keep flickering back and forth from Crimson's direction as if she had a hard time keeping her gaze on the colt for too long. But as she took in the colt's features, her smile was replaced with a worried frown. Something looked... odd about him. If she didn't know any better, the mare would say he looked.... scared. A trace she had not yet seen on the colt up 'til now.

"H-hey, Applejack," the black colt weakly replied, finding it impossibly difficult not to make a break for it. And what was it she just called him? Must not have heard her right he figured. Crimson just decided to stand there and go along with it, his legs felt like jelly the longer he awaited her response anyway. "Fancy meeting you here, eh? Well, then again, it is your job and all, ehehe...."

"Ya'll okay there, pardner?" Applejack asked the colt, one eyebrow arched.

"Oh, I'm fine! Really, don't worry!" The colt scratched at the back of his mane nervously, he could feel a small amount of sweat forming over his brow. Crimson's poker face was almost always perfect, but something about these mares was driving his emotions over the edge; so much so that one might say that Evil Keneighvel could use them in his next trick.

"Well, if ya say so, Hun..." She knew there was something he wasn’t telling her. She always knew when it came to these things, Applejack was a living lie detector. But she figured making him spill it would just make things even worse, so she decided to leave it at that.

"Hey, AJ. Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? Well shoot, 'course ya can."

"Well..." At that moment, Crimson couldn't hold his breath any longer. "D-Do you remember anything about what happened last night? Everything after the bar incident just sorta went... poof."

"Ah..." This caught the farm mare off guard. Really, the truth was... "...no, mighty sorry, Crimson. Last thing Ah remember is wakin' up an'... well, Ah'd rather not talk about it...” The rosy tint of her cheeks grew slightly darker as she remembered waking with Pinkie’s teeth clamped softly on her bottom lip. “A-aanyway, care for an apple, Red? Y’all look rather famished.” She smiled awkwardly, hoofing him a nice golden delicious before he could protest. “Don’chu worry none, that one’s free a charge; Least Ah could do, seein’ as I ain’t been payin’ ya fer yer work, hee hee.”

Red relaxed slightly; he knew AJ would rather eat her stetson than lie, and if she didn’t think any funny business had gone on the night before, than he’d believe her. Before he could even let out a ‘thank you’, the colt heard a slight bang near the corner of the stand. His quick gaze led to his eye’s growing as wide as flying saucers when he saw a sheathed blade protruding out from behind the apple stand.

“T-That’s my-”

“Eeyup!” Applejack could barely contain her great smile from growing even wider, hoofing the completely dumbfounded colt the sword before anypony could notice. “Ah know how naked ya’ll feel without this here doohickey. So, before Ah set up this ‘ere stand, Ah went back real quick an’ got it fer ya! Apparently Wild left a nasty lil’ ‘gift’ before he left, but it was all under control by the time Ah got back-”

The rest of her words seemed to fail coming out when Crimson wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a quick, yet tight embrace over the counter. By the time he broke the hug, the farm mare felt a tad... lightheaded. Her face felt like it had just come out of an oven, which luckily went completely unnoticed by the black colt.

“Thanks, Applejack!” He gave her a small smile as he launched himself back into the air, missing the deepening of the farm filly’s fluster. That might have been the first time Crimson hugged her first....

“Confound that colt,” Applejack muttered to herself as she slowly shook her head. “He’s drivin’ me ta distraction...” As Crimson flew off and out of sight, she turned a welcoming smile to another pony who was waiting in line. The mare had apples to sell, she could think of love later.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Pinkie dropped the bowl of batter, its contents splattering the walls and floor of the kitchen, but somehow completely missing her. “O-oh... Sorry, Mrs. Cake... I’ve... I’ve just been distracted.”

Who was she trying to kid? She was more than simply ‘distracted,’ she felt nauseous- but not the queasy, icky-wicky-sicky feeling she got after eating too many cupcakes or brownies, but an oddly... thumpa-wumpa-jumpa feeling in her heart that made her stomach roil uneasily, as if she needed to be burped.

“Oh, that’s alright, dearie... I remember when I first met Carrot. Oh, we had such a romantic evening...” Cup giggled, blushing slightly. “Let’s just say... the first cake we baked together didn’t all end up in the oven.” She sighed dreamily, then shook her head, her smile becoming motherly once again.

“Now, I may not have your ‘Pinkie Sense,’ dear, but I do have eyes, and I can see that you’re lovesick. I want you to put up your apron for the day and go find that colt that’s got you hanging by your tail. Show him how much he means to you, and you never know. He’s probably just as ‘sick’ as you.” Mrs. Cake gave Pinkie Pie one last encouraging wink before nudging her towards the door.

“You’re right, Mrs. Cake! I need to show Red my undying love! And everypony knows that the fastest way to a colt’s heart is through his digestive tract! ... Or was that stomach?” Mrs. Cake giggled as Pinkie dashed out of Sugar Cube Corner, her pink, frilly apron floating gently, and landing perfectly on its hook. It’s too bad no Howlympic judges were around to take notice.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Crimson sank his teeth into the flesh of the apple, the sweet juices within flowing over his tongue with just the right amount of tart freshness. He moaned appreciatively, glad that nopony was around to hear his vocal opinion of the fruit. Fwit.

He wasn’t, however, lost enough to be unable to dodge the shuriken.

Crimson’s eyes flashed as he reclined once again, his hoof casually poking at the weapon embedded in the tree branch where his head had been. “Shuriken, huh,” he said to the air, as if slowly musing aloud. “If the markings along the edges are any indication, it’s also poisoned.” Fwit, fwit, fwick. “Aww, I was enjoying that apple. Oh, well...” Crimson threw the apple almost carelessly, a flickering shadow moving between the foliage almost being hit by it. “Kunai now? With the assortment of weapons being used, I’d guess... you’re Nichibotsu, right?”

The shadow streaked forward, coming straight for Crimson’s head. Crimson yawned, stretching out his lithe body and flexing his wing-joints. He sat up on his haunches, stretching his forelimbs wide as the shadow came to a sudden halt, the blade of a whitesteel katana shuddering against his hoof. “Oh,” Crimson said as if he hadn’t expected anypony to be interrupting his catnap. “Good afternoon... prince, is it?”

He twisted his hoof slightly, and the blade shattered, the masked pony leaping back to save himself from the shrapnel. “You are as strong as the Masters had proclaimed, Oh Bloodshade, Clankiller.” Crimson took a moment to size up his opponent. For an earth pony, he was small and scrawny. His equipment could only be described as scrappy, his ‘armor’ consisting of a white silken robe, and his sandals were in shoddy repair, as if they’d seen more use than he was used to.

“Don’t you have a mule or donkey to carry your Highness around, Oh, Prince Hayai?” Crimson sneered as the colt looked down at the ground.

“Yes, I do, but Lun is a respected friend of mine, and I have told him- no, promised that he shall not have to bear my weight on any day that I am able to bear it myself!” The next thing Crimson knew, the clanscolt was already drawing a second katana. He should have figured as much, the clan was always extra prepared when it came to taking the black colt’s head. “Well, I’m waiting...”

“Uh... waiting?” Crimson questioned, his head slightly tilted.

“What are you- are you not going to draw your sword?” Hayai responded, a hint of frustration apparent in his tone.

“Heh, now why would I do that?”

“How ignorant must you be to not realize what I’m asking of you?! I’m asking you to draw your sword as a term of fighting on equal grounds!”

“Oh?” the the colt mildly chuckled. “That’s cute, you think we’re equals. Don’t get your hopes up, kid. Otherwise you’ll have nothing but a broken spirit and a lot of disappointment.” Crimson couldn’t help but pat himself on the back. He knew he got this kid going; and he wanted to test out this so called prince.

“F-Fine then! Your arrogance will have a price, shadow slayer!”

“Yeah, it’s two bits per smirk, three for a raised eyebrow as well.” And with that, Hayai shot at the colt and slashed repeatedly at Crimson, gaining more and more irritation when the black colt avoided each one without so much as giving it much thought. With a vicious yell, the clanscolt smacked the blade of his sword into the ground. Dust arose as it made contact with the dirt road. However, after the dirt dispersed, his face became a combination of both shock and disappointment when he found his target merely standing beside his blade, a cocky smirk plastered over his muzzle. Without warning, the clanscolt felt a hind leg jab into his gut, sending him flying a good ten feet backwards, separating him from his sword. Luckily Hayai managed keep on his hooves to avoid looking weak in front of the colt he’s dedicated his life to taking out.

“I-Is that all you’ve got? I’d have thought you’d be more of a challenge...”

“Wow!” Crimson laughed to himself, actually a bit astonished, “Most of your kind usually don’t stay up after just a little hit. I’ll give you one thing, you’re not half bad.”

“Your words of encouragement, though mocking as they are, still give me the strength necessary to carry on! I shall finish this fight as the victor. Now, prepare to meet your end!”

With Hayai making yet another speedy dash at Crimson, the black colt blocked a punch with his forearm and ducked under a horizontal high-kick to the face. Making sure not to waste any movement with his next strike, Hayai spun himself to right his footing and delivered a swift yet powerful punch towards the Crimson, who managed to just catch it with another block. It took awhile for Crimson to notice that his arm was actually shaking under the weight of the clancolt’s hoof. ‘I was right, this guy is a whole lot better than the majority of those masked idiots. His strength is actually not half bad. He’s pretty good. No where near as good as the guy in charge was, but maybe one day with the proper training-’

Crimson’s thoughts were cut short as he jumped back to avoid an upwards slash. Crimson flapped his wings, the tablecloth he’d been wearing up to then falling off in tattered shreds.

“Dammit, Hayai, I was borrowing that!”

“Y-You’re a pegasus?!” Hayai couldn’t help but gawk in astonishment at what the black colt has obviously known all of his life. “You must have kept it hidden very well, the legends never told us that the Crimson Shadow was actually a pegasus!”

“I’m a legend now? And what’s the big deal if I am, I just don’t like to use my wings, okay? Gah, just forget it!”

The black colt charged the clanscolt, hoping to finish him quickly so he wouldn’t see his scar. Instead, the black colt’s face almost met with the pointed end of the Hayai’s blade as he jabbed it forward, almost impaling Crimson between the eyes. Luckily, he had sidestepped. With another yell, the clanscolt stabbed at Crimson once again, though in vain when the black colt had already sensed a pattern in the quick jabbs. Hayai lunged forward once more with now a blinding barrage of sword stabs, not a single one hitting its mark. Crimson’s speed didn’t even appear to be faltering in the slightest, even as Hayai picked up the pace to a speed well over untraceable to the untrained eye. ‘He’s got speed on his side too. Not bad, but...’

Crimson used the opening in his opponent’s offence to his advantage when the Hayai over extended on a horizontal slash, and made yet another strike to the clanscolt’s stomach with his forehoof. This time, however, Hayai managed to cease being propelled by the impact. Instead, he made a frontflip over the black colt and actually managed to land a slash to his withers. Finding time to make one more move, Hayai reached into his garments for a kunai and dug the blade deep into the colt’s waist, feeling the feared colt wince, and left the blade in place. Knowing it would be smart to get to a safe distance, Hayai leaped backwards and waited for his opponent’s next move to come.

“Give up now, Crimson Shadow! Your wounds are much too severe for you to go on any longer, otherwise you’ll just painfully bleed to death. There is no hope for you to win this fight! Surrender and I’ll make sure that your end will be as quick as possible.”

“......HehehehahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!”

With blood still dripping down the crease of his back, Crimson turned his gaze towards his target. But, something was wrong, Hayai could sense it. The black colt’s demeanour had completely transformed from its original state. His eyes were dilated, and there was a wide, yet monstrous smile forming on his face as noticeable streams of red liquid poured down from the sides of his mouth. Even the air around the colt grew heavy and distorted, as if some demonic presence had been surrounding the colt. It didn’t even seem as though Hayai was his opponent anymore. He was more like his prey.

“You call this a wound? HA! It’s more like a papercut if you ask me!” as his wicked facsimile of laughter continued, Crimson reached into his back and viciously ripped out the weapon that was imbedded into his flesh without so much as wincing at the pain it should have very well brought. “Do you want your toy back? Well here, HAVE IT!!!”

With the force of his swing, Hayai had to completely gallop in order to avoid being impaled by the flying kunai. He managed to catch a slight glimpse of the knife as it shot clean through a tree, and even had enough momentum left to pierce through a rock as well before finally leaving a good sized crater in the road.

“Over here!”

The clanscolt prince shot his head in the direction of the voice. However, there looked to be nopony there-

“Where are you looking?!”

Once again turning to face the voice, all he came to face was absolutely nopony. What was even going on-

“Come on, keep up!”

This time, Hayai managed to jerk his head at just the right time to see the image of a black colt before it once again faded into the air. ‘His speed, it’s ungodly-’

Hayai felt his head instantly jerk down as he felt something similar to a steel baseball bat smash against the back of his head. Instead, what he found was the Crimson Shadow’s hind leg making it back to the ground as he disappeared once more. Before Hayai could even grab hold of his head as a reaction to the pain, he felt the back of his collar yank backwards, cutting off his air in the process.

“HAHAHA! PATHETIC!!!”

Hayai could feel his entire body parting from the ground, and before he even so much as blink, he was thrown downwards, his body smashing into the dirt road once again. He couldn’t even gasp in a single breath of air before he was swooped back up in the same manner. This repeated a gruesome five times -each one Hayai could feel a pop or crack as his body he slammed back into the ground. With one final roar, Crimson dragged him against the dirt road and threw him with enough force to tear down the entire oak tree that Hayai crashed into.

Slowly pulling himself up from the wreckage, Hayai wasn’t even sure whether to grip his neck or his face out of sheer pain. His entire head was practically numb, and to top it all off he could barely keep a steady breath through all of his wheezing for oxygen, and surprisingly still grasping tightly onto his katana’s hilt. Even though his ears was ringing like a doorbell, he could still make out the horrifying, bloodcurdling laughs that took place.

“Awww, what’s the matter? The poor baby not feeling so good? I thought the prince wanted to fight on equal grounds?! HAHAHAHAHAHAH-grrk!”

With a throbbing pain jabbing deep into his skull, Crimson put a hoof over his head and began panting at an accelerated rate. Hayai didn’t even know how to process any what just happened before his eyes. Not only did that weary presence around the crazy colt completely vanish, Crimson had began to lose the feral look in his eyes and had a hint of fright on his face as he struggled to catch his breath. It was at that moment he realized why he was called Equestria’s Demon.

‘D-Dammit.... what in Celestia’s mane just happened?’ Crimson slowly but surely managed to re catch his breath. His head, however, started pounding even worse than when he woke up this morning. He winced slightly when he felt a sharp pain run over his withers and side. That’s right, he was wounded... but... Crimson could have sworn it was far worse. The bleeding even began to quickly cease as the seconds went by. Were... were his wounds already healing?

The black colt took a survey at his surroundings, he realized that he actually caused more damage than he feared he would. Oh well, he’d deal with the repercussions later. For now, he still had a dirty stain from the past he needed to wipe clean...

“I... shouldn’t have let my... guard down so easily,” Crimson said in between breaths. “You’re not half bad, kid. I’ll give you that. However, I think we should hurry and get this shit over with already.”

“Q-Quit trying to belittle me. I’m nineteen years of age! Where I’m from that’s considered the proper age of an adult, so I suggest you start treating me like one!”

“Is that so? And where I come from, adults don’t just pick fights that are way out of their league, without even so much as giving thought of what they’re up against.” Crimson spat back with an emotionless, yet cruel glare. ‘Hmm, then maybe that means I still have some growing up to do...’ He decided to shake off those thoughts for now and focus on the subject at hoof. “If you want me to believe you’re not just some snot-nosed little brat who’s biting off more than he can chew, you better fucking try to prove me wrong!”

“If that’s how it’s going to be, then SO I SHALL!!!”

“Bring it!”

After preparing himself with a stance on all fours, Hayai’s body seemed to fade from its original position. Crimson, however, had no problem following his sudden burst in movement, as he witnessed that Hayai had jumped a good... twenty feet in the air. Very impressive for an earth pony. Unfortunately, the black colt couldn’t follow him any further as flinched back, a blinding beam of light temporarily disabling his vision. Crimson knew that was Hayai’s plan, and even he had to admit, it was a pretty smart one. As gravity took its toll on the robed colt’s body, he readied his sword for a downward slash the position of the blade directed at just the right point to reflect the Sun’s.rays of light into his opponent's eyes. Crimson knew that if he couldn’t get a hold of himself in time before that blade reached its target, it could be his end.

‘Damn it, it’s too bright! He’s craftier than I had originally given him credit for- wait a minute! C’mon ears, don’t fail me now!’

Crimson closed his eyes and drew a sword of his own, one he thanked Applejack twice for remembering to grab it for him, and took a guarded stance. Hayai was rather impressed that the colt would rather go down fighting than in an idiot panic, but he knew that guarding blindly would get him nowhere. As he almost made his mark, Hayai faintly noticed the demon’s ears twitch repeatedly on the colt’s head. Nervous spasms maybe, he wouldn’t doubt it. When he finally descended close enough, Hayai flicked his hoof and made a horizontal slash and- CLASH

“Wait, what?!” The robed colt’s blade completely stopped another opposing one. “B-But how?! You shouldn’t have even been able to find me, let alone-”

The colt could only watch as his blade was smacked right out of his grip and embedded right into the ground. Hayai could only watch as a black hoof smashed his torso right onto the ground, a colt pointed tip of a blade heading right for his- THUNK

The two were as still as statues, Crimson bent over the body, katana still in-grip and pieced towards the center of the body’s torso, a red liquid running down dirt pavement ...

‘I feel so.... numb, but I can feel the warm oozing of blood. This must be what it’s like to die, huh... I’m sorry Lun, Stonewing.... dad. In the end, I couldn’t avenge your name.... I couldn’t even fulfil the simple task of earning a mate, the two of us raising our young little offspring together... Oh well, lost cause anyway... G-goodbye world, may Celestia have mercy on my-’

“Open your eyes already, dumbass.”

“W-W-WHAT?!”

Hayai’s eyes shot open and instinctively tried to shoot forward, but something prevented him from leaving the ground. He gazed over his shoulder and found a jet black blade dug hilt-deep into his shoulder, stabbing straight through the cloth of the robe, yet it missed making any contact to his body. As he looked up, he jumped at the sight of the Crimson Shadow leaning over him, teeth clenched as he held his side to prevent any more blood from leaking onto the dirt road.

‘So... it wasn’t my blood I felt after all, his wound must have reopened after he pinned me into the ground to prevent anymore movement. But, why didn’t he just go for the kill-’

“Pay close attention, kid.” the demon began, “I’ll admit, you actually did surprisingly well against me, even considering how much I held back.”

“Wait... held back?”

“You heard me, held back.” Crimson replied with an emotionless stare. “If I really wanted to, you would have been killed by the time you even tried to swing at me. Lucky for you, that fight still got my mind off of... other things for a little while. Plus, it’d be a bit hard to explain why I’d be cleaning up a corpse when somepony actually comes through here... So in short, I’m letting you go.”

The pinned colt was almost speechless. Almost... “...Why?”

The black colt arched an eyebrow. “...Did you just ask ‘why’?”

“Letting your opponent go is like telling them to live the rest of their life in shame! Do you have no honor?! Though I suppose that’s a given, considering how you are hiding the rest of your life in towns without even so much as giving a second thought about the safety of the civilians! You sicken me, you demon!”

“....Alright, look here, dipshit,” Crimson growled, as he knelt down to make sure they were snout-to-snout. “I’m not in the mood for dealing with you. My name is Crimson... the color of blood. If you’d like to see my name splattered all over the place, then keep talking.”

Shaking like a leaf, the only thing Hayai could do was give a trembling nod. Crimson grabbed hold of the hilt and jerked the bladed weapon out from the ground when he he could hear a silent ‘ringing’ noise. When he looked towards his former captive, he saw that he was holding a small, light-purple sphere with a clock face in his hooves, a string hanging from his mouth. Crimson’s eyes grew twice their size when Hayai tossed it into the air and covered the sides of his head. The ringing started to grow louder until Crimson’s balance began to slip with it. He could feel the noise tearing at his ears, and he fell to his haunches, the pain absolutely unimaginable. As strong as his ears were, Crimson also knew how much of a nuisance they could be as well. It was most likely a simple distraction technique, but to Crimson, he felt like he was in a world hell; he felt like his ears were on fire.

“Do not think you have beaten me yet, Crimson Shadow!” The black colt could make out the clanscolt from the corner of his eye. He was back on his hooves once again, another sphere in his hooves -though this one looked like a small white ball. “I’ll be back, so prepare yourself for my return. Next time we meet, you will not be as lucky as you are now! Or my name isn’t Kaminari Hayai!”

And with that, Hayai slammed the sphere to the ground. A smokey substance began to pour out. The smoke grew larger as it engulfed the prince, but as it faded, the colt was nowhere in sight. Hayai’s sword in the ground was gone too....

Crimson smashed a hoof into the ground, a scowl clear as day on his muzzle. “That son of a bitch! If we ever meet again, I’ll make sure you suffer a hell worse than my own! Count on it, brat!”

The black colt picked himself off the ground with slight difficulty, and flew back into the clouds before anypony were to trot by and discover the wreckage. His ears still had a ‘ring’ that he bet likely wouldn’t be fading for the rest of the day.