'There's just.... no way....'

Silence engulfed every corner of the murky room. He couldn't see much, though it’s not like his eyes focused on anything in particular anyway. Instead, the same thoughts constantly rang in his head as the black colt lay wide awake in the Apple family guest bed. 'Just.... no way.... Those mares have to be delusional or something.'

He tried shifting to his side; maybe he could drift to sleep if he got more comfortable. But to no avail, Crimson was still consumed by the constant thoughts repeating over and over again. It seemed weird, considering just how exhausting this entire day had been, mentally just as tiring as physically. 'I mean they just met me, right? Even that should be long enough for them to realize that I'm trouble. That I'm a criminal. That... That I'm a trained and hired killer. If they knew who I really am, deep down, they wouldn't even....'

He could still hear those ear piercing screams, those pathetic pleas for life, the sounds of flesh tearing open, bones shattering and dislocating until it became too much for them to get away. It wasn't hard for Crimson to keep a clear picture of those days, where if the boss said "slice", he'd only ask "how deep". Never why. And really, he could sympathize with his victims, but not pity them. Even to this day. It was do or die, survival of the fittest, and none of them even held the slightest significance in his eyes.... All except for one.... That one exception.

Crimson didn't even notice until he felt his pillows stained at the cheeks of his face, as he began to wipe at the tears for fear that he could lose himself once again. He wanted to rid himself of these Celestia forsaken emotions at all cost, which was something that those mares were making a challenge for him.

I love you I love you I love you I love you! I love you so much it hurts!

“Pinkie Pie....”

Every time Ah see him Ah feel so warm, an’ Ah wanna always spend every wakin’ minute with him.... Ah... Ah love you, Crimson.

“Applejack....”

To be perfectly honest, he really didn’t have any romantic feelings towards either of them. Or, at least he didn’t think he did. If anything, those damn mares were like sisters to him. Crimson couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of ever being roped into a relationship. Not just with them, but... anypony. ‘Dammit! Love is the reason I’m fucked up as it is! It just leaves you filled with weaknesses and openings! I’ll breathe my last breath on the battlefield if I have something to say about it-’

Crimson felt his ear flick at what seemed to be an almost inaudible pitter patter noise coming from where he guessed was his room. He looked down only to find the culprit to be a maybe inch long at most arachnid with a noticeable red hourglass shaped marking on its hindquarters.

“Oh, cool, a black widow,” the black colt murmured, his eyes growing wide. Even Storm would jump at the sight of one of these babies. Crimson couldn’t understand some ponies, spiders were one of the coolest, most creepy animals on the face of Equestria; they were like stealthy little hunters that nopony wanted to mess with! But then again, when did Crimson ever say he could honestly understand anypony? “Alrighty, ya little bastard,” whispered the fascinated colt, “Climb onto my hoof for a sec. Okay?”

The spider obediently obliged, crawling onto the colt’s fur that almost matched that of the spider. Crimson made sure not to make a sudden movement as he reached over and slid open the nearest window, letting the eight-legged creature crawl onto the barn wall before he re-slid the window shut. ‘There we go. The little guy could have been in real danger- er, a real danger if it had stayed here too much longer.’

As he headed back towards the fluffy mattresses in order to uselessly attempt to finally snooze off, the black colt’s ears began to flick at yet another sound, this one much louder than a simple pitter patter.... Instead, it was more like a crash.

And if he knew any better, Crimson could have sworn that it was from the room that belonged to-

“Applejack!”

The colt galloped as fast as his legs mixed with boiling fear could carry him, the orange mare the one and only thing to preoccupy his thoughts.

‘W-What if she fell down and seriously hurt herself?! Or worse, somepony from the company...’

The speeding Crimson didn’t bother to finish that though. In truth, he really didn’t want to. When the colt finally slammed his way into the farm mare’s room, all of his worries and more seemed to come to a silent halt, his crimson eyes the size of dinner plates as this point

“She’s.... gone.”

‘But, how?’ As he steered his head in every possible direction, the answer became shockingly clear when he spotted her trademark stetson still placed peacefully on her nightstand, and what looked to be an overgrown spider web coating an opened window....

“What in the....” Crimson dropped the thought before he could end up losing track, better to worry about the sticky webbing on the window later... right?

As time went by, the colt was starting to get... suspicious. Of what, you ask? The fact that nopony else in the house ran in to check about the loud noise....

‘Uh oh....’

Once again darting into the next bedroom, Crimson found that the little filly the residence was still fast asleep. “Weird,” the colt said to nopony in particular, “She must be a damn heavy sleeper. I mean she’s completely still for Luna’s sake. Completely.... still.......”

Sudden realization dawned on Crimson, as he galloped over to check if the filly was even still breathing.... “....Whew~, still alive! For a second I.... thought.........”

Stopping in mid sentence, his ears couldn’t help but flick at a familiar pitter patter noise coming from somewhere inside Apple Bloom’s bedroom. One that sounded similar, if not exactly like the pitter patter of a.... black widow spider....

“......Oh shit.”

It was an easy time for Crimson to find the spider, but this time, he just killed it. He had more important things to do than worry about one spider.

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

“Empty....”

The black colt simply stared into the empty studio apartment, a certain pink pony not soundly sleeping in her bed, or taking a late night shower, or even in the kitchenette stuffing herself with tons of late night pastries before hitting the hay -metaphorically of course. She was gone, and it was likely all his fault...

The only evidence that anypony was even here was the cool night’s breeze that the open window of Sugarcube Corner was letting. Either Pinkie Pie neglected to close it back up after their little.... scene, or whoever was in here was pretty sloppy.

What Crimson found to be interesting was a sheathed katana leaning against the wall. “I....I must have forgot it when... well...” Crimson simply let out a disheartened sigh as he eyed the sword. That is, until something else managed to catch the colt’s eye.

Red went to the window and looked out, the barest of gleams wafting on the night’s gentle breeze as a single strand of webbing caught his eye. He followed it up until his eyes met with a truly horrific sight.

“Oh, sweet Luna ride me like a rodeo, what the fuck is...” The ceiling was covered in a large, intricate spider web, and along the bottom of it ran words that had been weaved with no attention to detail. It said:

Crimson, the mares are Mine!

Crimson watched in horrified curiosity as the letters started quivering and shuddering. A pitter patter that was all too familiar started softly, but grew to an alarming level before millions upon millions of black widow spiders descended from the tattered message, all hoping for a meal.

Time slowed to a crawl as Red relaxed completely. His body stopped shaking, but his heart throbbed painfully, until... it broke. “Allllright, that’s it,” he snarled as he looked up at the swarm of deadly arachnids, tears of fury starting to trickle down his muzzle. “I’m gonna destroy ALL OF YOU!”

~~~

Cup Cake startled awake at the sound of somepony yelling. “Dear, Carrot, wake up. I think Pinkie’s had a nightmare again.” Carrot Cake groaned as he rolled back over.

“We just got home, sweet pea, I don’t want to deal with Pinkie Pie til the morning, okay?” Cup sighed at her husband’s behaviour, but got out of bed, if only to make sure the twins were alright. A crash sounded, as if something ceramic had broken, and Cup stopped outside of Pinkie’s door, listening as somepony- not Pinkie- growled and jumped around.

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

“Hehehe~! Yes.... you two will make great bait.” the twisted mare let out a chuckle, admiring her handiwork as two mares- one pink, one orange- struggled to rip through the silky cocoon that held the two from the neck down. “Or of course, if you’d like, maybe you two could be the main dish.~”

“YMM BMM MMMNNRR MM MNNRRSN!!!” the completely bound pink mare tried to scream, though it didn’t do her much good with the her mouth completely covered in the same material she was currently wrapped in. From what she guess, the orange mare right beside her managed to translate it out to: “YOU BIG MEANIE MC MEANERSON”, or somewhere along those lines.

“For the love of all that is-” the cloaked mare groaned through her hoof, “Even when you’re gagged and bound you’re still annoying. You sure better hope your boy-toy pulls through...”

"Y'all might as well give while yer ahead," Applejack snarled in rebellion, which she guessed only seemed to widen the hooded mare's smirk. "He'll be 'ere, an' when he is he'll wipe that smug look right off yer face!"

"Hehe~, oh really now?" The farm mare's bravado began to falter as the hitmare knelt down near and began to playfully poke at her weaves with a hoof. Applejack could feel herself leaning back and forth, no surface behind her as she was only balanced by a single hoof.

"H-Hey! C-Cut that out!" The sternness in her tone was beginning to quiver, almost turning blue in the face as her heart started beating a mile a minute. Her surroundings weren't very inviting; they were near the bottom of the hill where the cliff over Ghastly Gorge ended, the bridge spanning it still not completed. Applejack was feeling dizzy just looking at it. This damsel in distress crap really wasn't for her.... "A-Ah'm not gonna be m-much of bait if 'Ah'm already dead, now am Ah?”

“Well now, that is true....but,” The orange mare had just gotten finished catching her breath too... “I only need one of you anyway. So behave now, or one of you will be pretty hard to clean up!~” The number of scowls only went up, resulting in another wicked frenzy laughter. That is, until-

SHUNK!

If the mare would have jerked her body back a second later she’d probably be missing a hoof. In between the hitmare and her captured prey was a long, black katana half way through the rocky surface.

Her playful demeanor was now long gone for the moment, replaced instead with a look of dread and anticipation. The mare cautiously scanned the area, but as far as she could tell, there wasn't another pony anywhere to be found-

“RRD!!!”

‘Wait, was that the pink one’s-’

A mix of shock and fear in her gasp, she whirled herself around to find herself facing a black coated stallion where the sword had previously stuck, his crimson orbs aflame with fury as he tightly gripped the hilt with a hoof.

“N-No way! So fas- ACK!”

The words cut short when the clash of the colt’s forehead against hers sent the mare soaring ten feet through the air, luckily managing to slide back to her hooves onto the rocky surface before she could lose her balance. His glare only intensified, as Crimson took the time to size up his now uncloaked opponent:

She was an earth mare, her coat a solid charcoal-black almost to the point of matching the colt’s; her eyes were a golden shade of amber, which was accompanied by her red eyeshadow. The mare’s most peculiar traits were a tie between the small fangs protruding from her clenched teeth as her pearly, snowy-white mane that just passed her withers flowed freely in the nighttime breeze.

“So,” the black colt started with a faint, yet mocking smirk, “I take it that you’re the rookie that took my place after I left? How sad...”

The mare’s snarl slowly contorted into a wild grimace, her grin wide enough to give a full display of her fangs. "Sad?” she echoed. “You wanna know what I’d call sad? Managing to get two confused, helpless mares love struck for you and screwed into your problems.” Silk String cooed, earning her not one, not two, but three different death stares, only making her toothy smile even bigger. "Colts like you are the reason I'm known as the Black Widow. But, you can call me Silk String if you so please."

'Black Widow, the colt killer? What could she possibly gain being with the Akuma? And what could she want with me?’

The thoughts swam through the black colt's mind, as he picked his black blade out of the ground, slicing the pink mare’s mouth covering clean off, resulting with a high pitched “EEK!” on her end. "I couldn’t care less who you are. Hand over the antidote for the venom, and maybe I'll spare you of a gruesome execution."

Silk simply chuckled to herself in amusement. "No need. Boss would have my head if I used anything more than a paralyzer on those weaklings. At most, the fools will wake up a little grumpy, but in the long run won't even know what hit them. But enough about that," her fangs jet out proudly, more than a dozen tiny black bodies with legs started to reveal themselves from behind her. Crimson's ears twitched numerously, the constant pitter patter once again filling his eardrums with the sounds as more and more began to show up. "If you want to get to me, you'll have to go through my babies first.~"

Crimson growled, jumping back as a wave of spiders crawling out of cracks in the ground tried to engulf him. His sword was quickly losing its effective edge- literally, as the spiders that didn’t die from the blade would coat it in webbing as it sailed past. “Dammit!” He could only watch from the corner of his eye as a string connected to the bound pink and orange mares was pulled, propelling them to where the current cloaked mare silently chuckled to herself.

"Dammit dammit DAMMIT! I've had it with these stupid spiders! How's about a little fanning down?!" Crimson slid his blade back into the sheath and, unbuckling it from his tool belt, held the sheathed katana out in front of him and began to spin. The faster it spun the more it did it's job of blowing the little arachnids off with what was comparable to a miniature twister.

"Hehe, what power too." Following the amused female voice, the black colt looked.... up? Once he did, Crimson found that the deranged, upsidedown mare had tied the string over a tree branch hanging over the ledge, her two hostages dangling panicky, only forty feet between them and certain end.... "Hope you don't mind, but I thought it'd be better to move these two someplace more.... interesting."

"You cunt...." The black colt could have sworn that the air itself was boiling from the heat of his anger.... "There isn't a thing in the world that would make them deserve something like this! Leave them out of this already!"

"Oh no no no, where'd the fun be in that? It'd just be a pointless battle, you wouldn't come back even if I had to drag you. At least this way, I have an edge...."

“So much as touch a hair on their heads and I'll fuckin-"

"....R-Red....." Pinkie's tears poured freely as a waterfall, looking as though she was going to crack any second now. "I.... I'm sorry, for everything! But please.... help us...."

"It's alright, Pinkie. Red'll pull through this an' win..." Applejack used her words to ease the pink mare hanging next to her, though she looked just as petrified herself. Emerald green eyes locking with his, Crimson could easily detect the fear placed in them that she desperately attempted to hide. "Ah may be a mite stubborn when askin' fer stuff like this but.... please, Red. We could really use yer help right 'bout now...."

At this point, Crimson could have been shaking either from the pressure, or just the rage fueling his body. Why should some of the first two mares to ever treat him as if he weren't a freak of nature feel guilty for his mistakes? And why should they have to pay for them as well? Despite the ever growing thoughts swirling in his head, the black colt's glare towards the arachnid-like pony didn’t falter in the slightest. In fact, it might just as well have done quite the opposite...

“....Quit worrying your pretty little heads,” the colt practically shot steam through his nostrils, “She’ll be dog food when I’m through with her.”

“Oh ho ho~, really now?” the black mare gave a cocky smirk, “And how do you think you’re going to pull that off wrapped like a mummy? Really, it looks like somepony already beat me to the punch.”

In the midst of his anger, Crimson forgot that most of his torso was wrapped in bandages. Really, what had it mattered to him? Though the girls will just nag the colt to death if he goes and gets his wounds from earlier all opened up again... 'Hmph, what is there to worry about? She's just some rookie they got to replace me. And I'll be the one to make sure she knows that too.'

A small scoff escaped from Silk String’s lips when she noticed the black colt preparing an offencive sword stance. The beaming mare could hardly contain herself, a new challenge and a new slab of meat to be fed to her babies once she was done with him. Once the mare finished scaling her way down the hill -which she seemed to be a natural at, she stared down her prey, taking up a stance that almost mimicked an arachnid getting ready to pounce.

“So, have anything you’d like to say before I tear you limb from limb?”

“Hmm.... Nah, I’m not the most talkative pony,” Red readied himself, his eyes glued to his opponent with a bloodthirsty glare. “I’d rather have my sword do the talking. I’m sure it has much more to say right now than I do.”

“Hehe, suit yourself, just don’t blame me when I-”

Silk ducked down to avoid the first slash from the enraged colt. Looked like he really was done talking. He was fast, Silk could barely dodge the rapid swings of Crimson’s black bladed katana, he definitely knew how to use that thing, and with such proficiency. Counting her lucky stars, Silk made a small leap, landing forehooves first onto the blade and swung her back leg at the colt, landing a hit on his pretty little face. She backflipped to gain some distance, surprised to find that the colt barely even moved an inch from the collision from her blow. If she hadn’t known any better, Silk String could have sworn he was... smiling?

“Really now,” Crimson chuckled, wiping the stray blood running down his cheek with a hoof, “Your blows are so soft, are we having a pillow fight?”

“D-Dammit,” a pissed off, shaken Silk String muttered to herself. Why... why did her leg suddenly feel warm, as though it had been caught in an oven? “Don’t get cocky, you stupid colt. This fight has only just begun.”

“Ha! Who says I need to feel cocky against you? I’m just getting warmed up!”

And with that, Crimson made yet another charge towards her, sword positioned behind him ready to swing. She’d make sure to follow his movements carefully this time, she... “What?!” Silk gasped. He... vanished. Completely and utterly vanished from sight. She began to slowly back up, eyes scanning her surroundings until-

“Yo.”

The black colt slammed a hoof into the dazed mare, who luckily managed to block with both of her forehooves to cushion the blow, though the impact itself was enough to send her flying a good ten feet. As achy as her hooves now were, Silk dug them into the ground to bring herself to a sliding halt. As a counter defence, Silk shot from her mouth a hefty blob of what looked to be silk of some sort. As it neared, it began to shift into a net-like webbing. Crimson waited for just the right moment before he slashed through the base, splitting the spider web in half, the two remaining pieces flying off to separate ways past the black colt.

"....Impressive," the mare went on with a sweat drop, her face a look between amusement and utter shock. "Heh, though it doesn't look as if you'll be using that sword anytime soon.~"

She was right; there was an absolutely thick coat of silk surrounding the edges of the black blade. The katana wasn't going to do much cutting in the state it was, so the colt figured he might as well just leave it in it's smooth, yet tough red sheath at this point. "You act as if I need to dirty my sword to deal with somepony of your caliber."

"So you still think you're gonna win this, hm?" Silk String chuckled to herself, "Well then, guess we'll just have to kick it up a notch, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's." Glaring metaphorical daggers towards his opponent, Crimson reached into his belt and withdrew what appeared to resemble that of a steel nail. Really, it was only around eight inches long, though he grasped it in his hooves as though it were a weapon of it's own.

Crimson readied himself for what he guessed was going to be another web shot again. Looked like his guess was correct, as a similar glob of web soared through the air and quickly formed itself into yet another web of silk. The net drew closer to it's mark, closer, closer....

'NOW.' With the nail clasped between his hooves, Crimson swung as if he were trying to smack a speed ball with a baseball bat. The “nail” wasn’t looking so small anymore however, growing significantly in size, revealing it to be what looked like an enormous steel spiked club, which even rivaled the colt in size. The weight of the club easily overpowered the web, causing it to smash apart from it’s original state.

‘A magic enchanted weapon? Interesting choice, Crimson Shadow.’ Silk took a large breath before spitting out three more web shots at a time. All seemed pointless in the long run, as the black colt swatted away the first two shots, the club getting larger with each swing. Crimson leapt over the third, despite the weapon he wielded being now over three times his size.

But he wasn’t done just yet.

Crimson had leapt to a height rivaling even some of the canyons in the gorge, and still in midair, prepared to smash the giant club right into the ground. "You wanna be a spider, huh?! Well I guess this'll be the newspaper I'll use to squash you with!!!"

‘Shit, he might end up leveling half of this chunk of land with a blow like that!’ Thankfully, the mare was a quick thinker. Galloping between two wide, crevice like hills, Silk pinpointed the place of impact of the spiked club’s landing and launched a voluminous blob of silk from her mouth, besting the size of her other nets by far.

She continued to pour more and more silk into this one until it looked to resemble a large, white trampoline, which actually managed to capture and halt the blow of the giant club being swung down overtop, the gust from the impact still strong enough to nearly sweep the spider-like mare literally right off her hooves. Though it looked as though the colt was still far from finished. Crimson steadied himself on the handle of the club and kicked off, shooting himself off at a powerful velocity. Worry was starting to overcome the mare; she knew that there was no countering a hit from that speed, so leaping out of the way seemed to be the most logical option.

Just in the nick of time, she managed to cut the remaining silk in her mouth that connected to the large web with her teeth, as well as avoid getting crushed by the force of the colt’s punch, the fissures forming in the ground below didn’t look to be as lucky however. As the dust and debris were beginning to clear, two demonic, glowing crimson orbs seemed to be the only things visible through the smoke, easily sending a jolt down the black mare's spine.

“I-I’ve had enough of this!” snarled Silk, reaching into her cloak, “You wretched stallion! I’ll make sure of it that you’ll be on the floor writhing in pain. Just you wait.”

The mare reached and pulled out of her cloak a pair of chained sickles, wielding one in each hoof, as she took hold by the lengthy metal chains and began to spin them to gain striking power. The blades themselves looked like they could cut you just from looking at them too long... “Now come on, Crimson Shadow! Let me take those rumors and bury them six feet under with the rest of you!”

The colt sidestepped the first blade and ducked under the second, followed by a cartwheel when the blades were pulled back to try and take a surprise hit from behind. With only a single hind leg, he kicked off the surface of one of the crevice walls and began to wall run on the opposite wall. Kicking off a final time, Crimson spun and slammed his hind leg onto the mare, who only just barely managed to block with both hooves. She couldn't keep it up much longer, seeing as there was a crater forming under her, so Silk kicked at one of the sickle's chains until the blade itself came around and nearly sliced right through the colt... well, if not for the fact that he practically vanished with his blinding speed yet again.

“D-Dammit! Where’d he-”

“Missing something?”

“GUH!!! Stay still!!!” Silk growled, attempting to swing behind her to make sure the colt can’t get away. Crimson dodged both the sickle’s blades and grasped the chain that connected them, twisted, and pulled at the chains. The mare could only let out a blood curdling yell as she was now being strangled at the waist by the very chains she wielded.

“So, look who’s calling the shots now?” the black colt gave a discomforting smirk, all while trying to stifle a laugh. “Well? Aren’t you gonna convince me why I shouldn’t squeeze your organs out your ass? Sure would be a great technique if somepony wanted to go on a diet, huh?”

“G-Go to fu-AUGH!”

“Ah ah ah, that’s not how you negotiate with an international murderer.” He retorted like a smartass, only watching with a smirk as the colt-killer gasped for air and wavered, looking ready to lose consciousness. He was tempted to pull tighter, and really what was stopping him? Not many can actually say that they’ve literally squeezed the life outta someone... ‘Oh right, the girls are still watching. Dammit, guess I’ll just finish her off quickly then.’

Welp, this was going to be no fun. Crimson unsheathed his oh so infamous katana, making sure to wipe the sticky silk off to make sure for a clean kill. Though before he could even bring the blade over...

“W-What the- Where the hell’d she go?!” He scanned the chains for maybe some sort of explanation of how Silk could have escaped, but... the only thing Crimson could find was... dead skin? ‘What in Celestia’s name is-’

His ear flicked when he heard the subtle clacking of the chains sliding ever so slightly before two familiar sickles rained down from the sky, Crimson reacting in time for them to smack onto his blade. The chain was yanked once again, the black colt losing his sword before he could tighten his grip on the handle, resulting in the katana flipping off somewhere far back and sticking in a nearby rock. And the sickles didn't look finished either, both swooping around in an crossed like formation, which Crimson managed to duck and watch as they stuck onto both crevice walls.

"Heheheh~, miss me?" the familiar voice of the cloaked mare sneered. Crimson followed the voice up to see that she was yet again hanging upside down on a thin, bridge like section of the walls, somehow only sticking to the surface with her hind legs.... "Well well, look who's cornered now?"

"W-What the hell are you-"

Crimson was cut off when Silk jerked her head back, resulting in the colt letting out a small grunt. He couldn't see it at first, but as he looked closer he could somewhat make out a trail almost invisible wires tangled at the ends of the sickles, making it's way around various directions of the narrow crevice, and what looked to be tangled around the black colt's midsection, all the strings leading right in between the twisted mare's teeth...

"Grk! When did she-?" Then, it hit the colt like an entire sack of bricks to the face. The strings must have been making their way around on the blades since she pulled out those sickles, it was a trap.... And he fell right into it. The infuriated stallion began to thrash around, growling and wildly attempting to snap through Silk's bindings to no avail. "Dammit, you fucking bitch!"

"Like it?" the mare giggled with a smug grin, "That's the thinnest string I can weave, and the more you struggle, the more it'll just wear you down. And not to mention the tighter it gets..."

Crimson was too blinded by rage to even care about what she had to say. Any signs of exhaustion on the colt's part was even less visible than the string that bound him, growling and letting off enraged roars, his entire body shaking rapidly from the stress until...

"No...." Silk String muttered to herself, "He can't be trying to- there's just no way...."

Finally, an audible SNAP echoed over the canyon walls as the black colt's forearms tore through the string, free once more. Not only that, but there looked to be faint singe marks apparent on the webbed strings where Crimson's body was once tied.

"Impossible! There's no colt alive who could break through my-"

Before she even had time to blink, the mare was literally staring death in the face; Crimson's muzzle not far from her's, and dilated, animalistic eyes tearing through her own better than any blade could dream of doing. She had just enough time to block the furious colt's swipe before the earth mare shot through the sky, smashing right through the beam she once stood on. Even piercing through solid rock was less painful than taking a hit from that monster, despite the fact she was guarding. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse....

"And just where do you think you're going?!"

Silk looked down to her horror to see that the colt tore the bandaging off his own previous wounds and had draped it around his hoof, and as he yanked it, the mare noticed that part of the said bandages were wrapped around her waist....

'Oh no...' Before she could even make an effort to cut herself free, her entire body was jerked until her face met with Crimson's mighty hoof, sending her crashing back to the ground at insane speeds that would make something Goku would do look tame. Wait... ponies wouldn’t get that reference. Oh well, it’s been writ, so writ it shall stay. Now, back to the show, here on Miguzi!

Once the dust cleared, the black mare didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, only a narrow tunnel in the middle of a large crater that lead straight down where Silk's body once landed. 'I'm.... pretty sure I didn't hit her that hard....'

Crimson's ears flicked once again, leaping out of the way of three kunai that shot up from the ground below. The colt looked up to see another extra thin strand of string -probably what set off the knives, his eyes tracing the string to find the mare crawling out of another hole parallel to the one prior. "So you dug that, huh? ....Also, what's with your....face....?"

From Crimson's viewpoint, the mare's face actually appeared to be.... cracking. Silk was also breathing pretty heavily, a hoof sliding over the broken section of her skin while looking as though she was trying her damned hardest to contain her own rage. "Yes, well," she started with a silent growl, "This would be me shedding my exoskeleton. It acts as an armor of sorts to help cushion the blows of heavy impact. Though I never thought I'd actually have to use it...."

"I suppose I should feel honored then?" Crimson smirked, "Maybe I'll also do you the honors of being the one to rebury you."

"You cocky little...."

"Cocky?" the colt questioned, "I'm not getting cocky you see, I just don't see any reason to fear you. You talk a big game, but if you haven't noticed, this hasn't been much of a fight on my end...."

"Hmph. Well I guess we'll just have to see about that," Three jet black, hook shaped claws pierced their way right out from the tip of both the mare's hooves, through she didn't even so much as flinch from the pain. Silk String sensually slid her tongue over the trickling red liquid running from her fresh new claws until there wasn't a stain of blood to be found. "now won't we?"

With a hungry roar, Silk was the one to charge first this time, appearing as though she was done with being the one on the defensive. Crimson swatting away her hoof to re-direct her line of fire, something in the colt’s head told him that he really didn't want to be slashed by those claws of her's anytime soon....

As quick as the last, the mare was already back with a second slash attempt, Crimson just barely managing to avoid getting his muzzle torn wide open. It soon turned into a flurry of slashes, each seeming to be more wild than the next, which made it a tad tricky for the colt to dodge. Silk then performed a cartwheel with great nimbility as Crimson blocked her downwards kick. She then kicked herself off his forearms and threw yet another kunai, which the colt tilted his head to avoid and even managed to catch with a free hoof. The two were now both equally equipped, each of their strike clashing on impact as ferociously as the next.

Silk String swooped down to avoid the colt's high kick, using his hind leg as leverage to somersault onto a nearby wall and recoil with kick of her own, to which Crimson was able to smoothly limbo under. If the colt had to give her one compliment, it was that she had simply astounding agility. Kicking off the wall parallel to the first, the mare came back to only have her second kick blocked and caught in mid air. Crimson grabbed her leg, spinning around and tossing the mare away before she dug her claws into the dirt to cease her sliding, to which Crimson was sure he caught the sound of string being cut....

If the black colt hadn't leaped backwards a second later, he could have risked dealing with the barrage of, you guessed it, more kunai knives now stabbing onto the rocky floor. It hadn't taken long for that damned mare to cover the distance between the two of them, as she was already back with only more claw attempts to give her opponent.

With some luck, Crimson had gotten her to back into one of the crevice walls before he smashed a free hoof aimed towards her snout. Silk had to jerk her head to the side to avoid the colt's punch, his hoof merely piercing it's way into a section of the wall alone. She ducked under Crimson's hoof when it dragged it's way through the rocky wall in attempt to make it's mark, bits and pieces of rubble biting into her face and temporarily blinding her. Just when she'd regained her vision, the mare had to completely throw herself back in order to avoid getting completely cut up by the knife the colt used to slash at her face.

"So, gotten serious now, have we?" Crimson commented with a hint of snark in his tone, absolutely refusing to let down his menacing gaze.

"Oh, so you've noticed~?"

"Hmph, don't get too full of yourself," the black colt scoffed, "This fight'll be over before you even know it with that attitude. Now, shut up so we can hurry up and end this game of bullshit."

"Heh, as you wish," Silk String grinned, holding both her forelegs out suspiciously widespread, "Though I think I'll be the one pulling the strings from now on."

As the mare charged at him once again, Crimson couldn't help but notice that with every step forward she cut yet another strand of thin string, and before the colt knew it he was dodging kunai raining from every direction of the crevice. Silk String neared with a lustful aggression in her amber eyes, maneuvering each airborne blade with what looked to be pure primal instinct alone. Crimson just barely avoided contact with each of the mare's claws while using his heightened hearing to pinpoint each knife's position and let his years of honed reflexes do the rest. It was multitasking at it's best, but the black colt still had the problem of coming dangerously close to grazing either the mare's or the kunai's attacks. If Crimson didn't get out of this soon, the colt was bound to make a mistake...

"What's the matter~?" the mare snickered in a mocking tone, whatever swipe she had missed cutting through and setting off more of her well placed traps. "If I'm not mistaken, you seem to be slowing down a little. What's wrong, I thought somepony of your caliber would find this no problem? Or maybe you really don't care about the fates of those lovely little mares as much as you thought~!"

Silk continued with her snide remarks in hopes that one of her comments would get to him and he'd eventually slip up, either falling in the fate of her claws, the dozens upon dozens of flying blades, or even both. But to her dismay, the more disdain that made itself apparent in the colt expression, the quicker his reactions were starting to become. 'But.... how?'

As the last of the blades made their marks, only the mare was left standing over the field of cluttered knives. The colt, however, was nowhere to be found. It took awhile for Silk to figure out that he was actually hanging horizontally to one of the crevice walls in a crouching position, a pair of newly revealed pegasus wings flared out in attempt to, what the mare could only figure, keep his balance.

"From the look on your face, I take it you never noticed that I was a pegasus." Crimson stated with a now mocking tone of his own, the light from the moon reflecting off his coat, casting a shadowy appearance over the rest of his dark coat. His crimson pupils however, glowed as radiantly as the moon itself as they bored right through mare's tough exterior. "Mistakes like that'll get you killed all the quicker when going up against an opponent like me...."

Silk only snarled, scaling her way up the wall with relative ease. Despite being an earth pony, the mare looked to be able to climb literally any kind of surface. The longer their fight dragged on, the more and more she really did remind Crimson of a spider....

As the mare lunged, she crouched under a slash from Crimson's kunai and rolled above -or behind- him. Continuing their gravity defying quarrel, Silk lifted herself with only her forelegs and delivered a swing at the colt with her hind ones, the first being ducked under and the second being blocked and grabbed yet again, before she was sent sailling through the air. She had just enough time to maneuver from the knife aimed straight between her eyes, but the mare had to resort to a block when the colt attempted to kick her, the force sending her spiraling towards the ground.

As she plummeted, Silk String spat a focused shot of thick, rope-like string, that attached itself to the leg that the colt had used to kick her. The mare delicately hit the ground as if she weighed as much as a feather, unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Crimson as he was pulled to the ground with a painful THUD. Silk wasn't quite finished yet, grasping the rope of string in her hooves and using all of the power in her arms to lift the black colt off the ground to simply smash him back down like a limp rag doll.

'D-Dammit, that smarts....' Just as Crimson tried to get back on his hooves, the colt was flopped back onto his side and dragged through the rock and dirt, the mare literally pulling the strings sporting a large, grim smile that could even make a certain card game obsessed colt rith in envy....

"I HOPE YOU FEEL THIS ONE!!!" the mare brayed at the top of her lungs, as she took hold of the webbed string one last time, spun around to gain momentum, and let go, sending Crimson flying a whopping fifty feet before crashing into the opposite side of the gorge, a thick cloud of smoke the only thing visible from the opposite side and likely taking a good chunk out of it as well....

"RED!!!"

"Oh, right. Almost forgot about those two.... They sure like that color a lot," Silk muttered under her breath, finally deciding to take notice over towards the hanging orange and pink mares with faces soaked in... were those tears? Over just one worthless, womanizing stallion? "You two do know that there's lots of better things to cry about than trash, right?"

"Y-You're a MONSTER!!!" the enraged, tear soaked pink pony screamed with every last raging fiber in her body. "Crimson never wanted to hurt anypony, and you just.... How can you even live with yourself?!"

"All a part of being an assassin, sweetheart." Silk retorted with a smug grin. "And in case your cute, empty head forgot so quickly, the Crimson Shadow isn't as you make him out to be. Or did you also forget about the thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands, I could go on for a while, that he's murdered in cold blood? Sorry, honey, but I don't even scratch the surface compared to the things he's done throughout the years."

"A-At least he's tryin' ta get away from it all," the orange one butted in, looking in no better shape from the mare hanging across from her, "He's actually tryin' ta leave it all behind, and y'all buncha bastards can't even let him do that!"

"Hmph, sympathy is for the weak hearted." the cloaked mare said to really nopony in particular, as she stared into space with a surprisingly serious look in her eyes, "When you've been in the assassination business as long as the two of us have, you tend to throw away any sense of morals you've got left, lest you actually go crazy from the guilt.... Anyway~," Silk put a devious smile back on her muzzle before she'd get too off track, "You two can mourn over what's left of him after I scrape him off the mounta-"

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed something small shooting straight out of the dirt cloud from all the way across a section of the gorge. And the mare actually had to squint to see that it was spinning straight towards her. "Shit!" Silk leaped back to avoid the propelling object, and before she could even plant a hoof on the ground she looked back to-

"And you thought you'd gotten rid of me so easily...."

"....Shi-"

And before she knew what hit her, the sheath to Crimson's sword cracked into her jaw with a solid hit upwards, sending her soaring through the air just for her combined body weight to smack down onto the rocky soil with a dirt rising gust.

"RED!!! I'm so glad you're okay~!"

"E-Easy now, PinkieEEEEE!!!"

The black colt almost burst out into giggles when his gaze wandered off to the still tied up pink mare swinging back in forth in a burst of glee, leaving Applejack looking a little green in the face since Pinkie's movement was affecting her movement a well. Crimson fixed a hardened expression towards the fading dirt cloud near the crevice. He knew this wasn't over juuuuuust yet...

The dirt and rubble was cleared to the point where Crimson could see through, revealing a heaving and wheezing Silk String just barely making her way back on her hooves, a much more apparent crack plastered on her face accompanied by a river of blood leaking down the side of her mouth.

"So, got any fight still left in ya? Or are you finally gonna let me end this already?" The dirty look plastered over the mare's face failed to amuse Crimson yet. He already knew the answer, but simply where's the fun in not smashing her hopes into the ground first?

However, It didn't look as though she even had a snide remark for the colt this time, but instead clumsily charged at him once more. This was seriously getting old, though evading her attacks were a hell of alot easier this time. Her swings noticeably lacked any precision they had once had, and were filled with much more desperation to say the least. Silk still had a hell bent look in her eyes, fueled almost entirely by her anger and her pride. Something Crimson understood all too well....

"Just give up," the colt said between dodges, his cold crimson eyes not letting up in the slightest, "Quit acting like some dumbass little brat and learn you're damn limits. Face it, you've already lost."

Silk String seemed to actually be slowing down, to the point where she had come to a complete halt. What came afterwards was even more surprising. Crimson wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if the mare had tears streaming down her face. This was probably one of the absolute most idiotic thing he'd ever do, but....

Crimson slowly trotted up to the mare, though Silk looked as though she was going to fall over backwards out of sheer terror. "J-Just stay away, you hear me?! Take one step closer and I'll-"

"Look," the black colt started, finding it almost impossible to keep any form of eye contact whatsoever, "It sucks actually finding somepony stronger than you, believe me, I know. But this is going a tad overboard, don't you think-"

Crimson caught the smile growing on the mare's face too late, just managing to rebut the full extent of her slash. Though, the tip of one Silk String's claws was just able to graze the skin under the colt’s chin. The mare’s smile vanished however, when he simply towered over her with a stare that could almost put a certain yellow pegasus to shame....

“....I-I don’t understand. How could yo-”

The furious colt smashed his hoof right into Silk’s gut, effectively cutting her off as she was sent rocketing backwards, landing straight onto her side to convulse in sheer agony. It took her a few overstrained attempts before the fatigued mare shakily made her way back on her hooves, though Crimson wouldn’t have been surprised if she collapsed at any second.

“....I...I don’t get it,” Silk began to speak with a pause for breath every couple words, “You.... the poison.... my claws were littered with poison from when I licked them.... that should have instantly paralyzed you.... the second you were hit you should have dropped like a fly, how did you-” The mare grew wide eyed in realization when her eyes scanned over the colt’s cutiemark....”Y-You’re... you’re a zodiac, aren’t you! Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! Zodiacs have a resistance to most poisons, I should have been more prepared!”

The colt merely cocked his head in question.“We.... we do?” Crimson thought aloud. Even he never caught on to this, and mentally face hoofed when he realized that he had been living about eight years with the damn thing and he still barely knew jackshit about it...

“Dammit! Figures that I had to be paired against a stupid zodiac!” the mare continued to rant to herself. “Your quick regeneration abilities only further my annoyance, being able to heal quickly and just get back up and train again just lets you have another pathetic advantage over others! And don’t even get me started on those damn special powers each of you have! But, judging from this fight, you haven’t learned how to use yours yet, have you? I’m guessing that you must be the equivalent of the failure for your kind then, hm?”

“....Piss off.” the colt deadpanned. “So, I take it you’re not one of us, huh?”

It was then that Silk String pulled her cloak over her flank to reveal a spool of white string with eight legs sprouting out of it that resembled that of an arachnid. Whether the legs have always been apart of her cutiemark Crimson had no clue. “Of course not! You freaks of nature are just selected at random! Absolute luck. Flaunting those damn things as if you’re special or somethi-”

“Lucky? Special? This thing is a fucking curse if you ask me! You have no idea what it’s been like living with this damn thing!” Crimson started to raise his voice, “I’ve had nothing but bad things happen to me since this stupid thing appeared on my flank! Most of the time I keep it hidden, but it never seems to yield any of the punishments it has in store for me, not in the slightest! I’m a monster.... and besides,” the colt now traded his cold grimace with an even colder smirk. “We seem to be on the same boat here. I’m guessing Professor Diana Plasm was the one who gave you these mutations?”

Judging from the wide eyed, dumbfounded look spread across her expression, Crimson hit the nail right on the head... “-Y-Yes, I-”

“Exactly. You’re a mutation. An experiment. A pathetic little lab rat whose purpose was only to serve as a mean to further research. A monster. You’re no better than me...” The black colt’s smirk grew ever the larger into a toothy, yet wicked smile. “And exactly how do you know that you’re even free from his grasp still? Plasm does keep quite a tight grip around his pets you know...”

“I-I’ll have you know that Akuma Tenshi removed any remaining traces of his DNA left in me from the moment I joined the organization!” the rather offended mare shot back. You could probably roast marshmallows off the heat generating from her red muzzle. “His DNA is gone! He has no holds on me!”

“That may be, but have you yet to even consider the organization itself? You are, in all honesty, the absolute weakest member of Akuma I have ever fought with by quite a large margin. Your only purpose was to be a replacement for me. And who’s to say if they’d even keep you if I ever went back, there’s a good chance you’d just be cast aside and thrown in the trash once I returned anyway? Why? Because you’re just a rookie, Black Widow, a pawn for them to dispose of whenever they like. Worthless.”

Without even as much as a single word, Silk propelled full power at the colt, her tired body ignored by the screams of rage dwelling through her chest. Keeping the same demented smile as prior, Crimson sidestepped the thrust from her claw and took a solid grip on the mare’s forearms with his own. She was now fighting the black colt’s clutches, able to feel the fur on her forearms searing away until it began burning her own flesh....

“Nighty night~!” It was the last thing Silk String heard before the colt smashed his skull into her’s with the force to shake the very earth they stood on and form a small crater from beneath. The colt watched as her amber orbs rolled to the back of her head, her body falling limp in his grip. “Hmph. Finally had it, huh? Too bad you weren’t made outta tougher stuff. Would have actually made this game a little more entertaining to-”

He fought the urge to let out a startled yelp when the colt felt the grip from the mare tightening. Her skin was now beginning to smoke from his touch, but it didn’t seem to do anything to loosen her hold in the slightest.

“So.... tougher stuff, eh~?”

The mare arched her head in a way that could even make the mightiest of stallions cringe in utter disturbance. It didn’t help matters that her skull appeared to be hollow. Small, eight-legged insects crawled out from the gaping holes where her eyes and mouth should have been, making their way up Crimson’s forelegs towards his neck. It didn’t take much to snap through the mare’s forearms as the rest of her body began to decay and rot into the wild canyon winds, fortunately the spiders already climbing onto his body began to crisp and burn off. ‘....Sweet Luna’s Stockings-’

“REEED!!!!”

The colt’s head shot to the direction of the cry, eyes growing to the size of records at the sight. Applejack and Pinkie Pie still dangled from the cliff, a knife just barely scratching the surface of the webbed rope that held the mares. Following the forearm grasping the blade, at the top stood a good as new Silk String with a smile that more than showed off her pearly white fangs....”Hehe~, how cute. You’re speechless!”

“......Wha-how in the.....” It took a while before Crimson’s stupefied expression morphed into a fierce glare. “You! How are you even still-”

“Alive? Let’s just say that my babies and I share a mental link. They took over my molted husk and used it to imitate my every move as if I were the one fighting to cut your throat out!” Her smile increased in length as she took in the sight of the colt trying to make sense out of any of this.

“But, when did you.... the hole. It was actually a three-way hole.”

“Manage to figure that out yourself?” Silk inwardly giggled, “You’re stronger than me, that much is true. However...” She brought the knife closer to the string, finding pleasure in witnessing the colt’s courage slowly fade. “I always have a back up plan, darling, he he hehahAHAHAHA~!” Silk String held out her hoof when the colt looked like he was about to attack. “I’d cool down if I were you. In case you didn’t know, I’m the one in control now....”

Crimson just stood in place, motionless, his legs feeling like they were made out of lead pudding. He... He didn’t know what to do. This was the only time in this fight that he was actually the one up against the wall. “....Please....” the colt muttered, a look of submission and a tone of defeat in his voice, “Do whatever you want to want to me.... just, don’t bring them into any of this. Them or anypony in this town.... please....”

“Heh, quite the attitude adjustment if I do say so myself,” the mare chuckled, giving a smirk when she noticed the colt’s glare grow and slowly diminish into a look a frightened little colt makes when their mother scolds them too harshly. “Well, here are your choices; if you come at me I’ll kill you and the mares alike and leave the three of you to rot in this wretched gorge,” Silk smiled even wider, she could have sworn she had just seen the black colt cringe in fear. It was oh so delicious.... “However,” she started, “If you walk away now and head back to Boss, then I’ll leave these two cuties in peace. Sound like a deal? Of course it does~!”

The colt was staring both the entangled Pinkie Pie and Applejack dead in the eyes, each one able to sense the pain in the other’s, Crimson poured his soul into one last gaze, trying to convey his sorrow to the two mares that he’d failed, just like... just like her... “Red....”

Cutting the glance, the stallion was already half turned around before.... “....D-Dammit. Dammit, dammit!! If you stay around me, then you’ll just get hurt! One way or another, you’ll just get hurt....”

“So, you’ll go back, Crimson Shadow?” Silk arched a brow in question.

“....No.”

‘Wait, what?!’

“I know you, Black Widow.” Crimson faced the mare completely, showing his new found courage and kept his eyes hardened towards her. “You don’t strike unless it’s to kill. And if you can’t kill me for ‘sinning’, then you’ll kill them for both having any sort of affections towards me!”

“Ahh, looks like the cat’s outta the bag now!” Without even a second thought, Silk String cut through her string, leaving two screaming mares to fall ever closer to their certain demise. “Too bad you’ll only have the chance to save one of them, ahahahahahahahahaaa~!!!!”

Any attention towards the mare’s maniacal laughter was long forgotten. Crimson flew full speed towards the two plummeting mares in a blind frenzy. There wasn’t any time for thoughts, as pure instinct completely took over his reactions for him. Only one thought beat like a drum in his head repeatedly: ‘Too bad you’ll only have the chance to save one of them’....

One....

‘....I can’t.... I won’t!’

But.... could he try? His wings couldn't be nearly strong enough to- “No! I don’t CARE! have to! I couldn’t go on if I don’t at least try!”

His surroundings seemed to slow dramatically. The mares were less than 15 seconds away from their death. He wasn’t Rainbow Dash, but he didn’t need to do it in ten seconds flat. Crimson flexed his wings and started flying around the two in a circular formation, nearing a blinding velocity as his body erupted with a red, fire-y aura. The power flowing from the winds themselves were enough to barely catch the two mares in a miniature twister. As the winds began to die, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were placed delicately onto the rock floor with enough adrenaline to last them at least four lifetimes.

The colt wanted to collapse in a mixture of relief and exhaustion, but knew he had one last debt to pay to a certain spider bitch-

“.......WHAT? She’s.... GONE!!!” Crimson searched high, and he searched low, but nopony else was even within his hearing radius, only himself and the two mares. “Dammit! I can’t let her get away from me without so much as-”

“Red, please. Jus’ let her go, sugarcube....” The colt shot his head in the direction of the orange farm mare, eyes pleading for him to simply drop it. “Goin’ after her ain’t gonna solve a darn thing. Trus’ me, y’all are better than that...”

“And besides,” the pink one perked up with a bubbly smile, “She’s the one that’s gonna have to report her failure to the boss, not you~!”

Crimson silently nodded and gave a small sigh before he trotted over to his black katana and yanked it out of the ground. He hovered over the two still tied up mares and, with a reckless slash, finally set the mares free from their webbed prisons, Pinkie and AJ letting out small, scared squeaks, surprised that they weren’t harmed from the colt’s unsubtle rope-cutting methods....

“....I....” the colt clenched his eyes shut and turned away, guilt making it unbearable to even look at the mares. “Sorry I dragged you two into my mess... again. You two are the greatest friends a stallion could ask for, and I’ll be damned if you ever did anything to deserve somepony as fucking stupid and troublesome as me to deal with.... I’m sorry.”

His eyes remained shut, but his ears still flicked from each clop the two mare’s made as they drew closer to him. They shot open however, when Crimson felt each’s warm, soft lips pressing on each side of his cheeks, a blush over his muzzle that could illuminate even the younger sister’s night sky...

Crimson blinked once. Twice. Three times, before his brain could even comprehend what had just happened. He gave a quick glance to see that both mares appeared to be shying behind their manes from him with a bit of red over their muzzles.

“Jus’.... wanted ta thank ya is all.”

“Yeah, sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I know you don’t like this kind of thing, but....”

“.....Come on,” the colt gestured the flustered gals with a sigh, “I’ll walk you guys back....”

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

The walk from Ghastly Gorge to Ponyville was a long one, and a rather silent one at that. Instead of just the black colt, the entire trio was lost for what to say. A few glances were shared, but not much else. Luckily they were just nearing Sugarcube Corner, Crimson cutting down stray spider webs along the way. It sure was a good thing this town wasn’t very active at night...

“Well, here we are,” Pinkie Pie finally spoke up with a faint smile, snapping Crimson out of his train of thought. “And don’t worry, I’m not gonna need any watching. I’ve got everything covered, don’t you worry!” The colt tried to bring himself to speak, but his mouth uselessly closed itself shut, causing the pink mare’s cerulean eyes to glass over slightly. “I know nothing I say will probably convince you otherwise, but really, Red. You’re not a bad pony. A bad pony wouldn’t have even bothered to risk his neck to save two mares that he’s only known for about a week. I don’t care what you’ve done in your past, none of it makes you the amazing stallion you are today.”

Pinkie managed to catch his undivided attention when she leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. He was silent at first with a noticeable blush, but gave a small, appreciative smile. For the first time, the thought of a mare kissing him hadn’t gotten him to panic in the slightest. Instead, he found Pinkie’s sudden action to be rather.... cute.

“Get those cuts bandaged up, kay?” Pinkie Pie said through the crease of the door. Crimson gave a small nod before the mare gently slid the door to a shut, leaving him standing outside her door with a weird feeling in his stomach. Were those.... butterflies?

“Hoo-boy! Looks like somepony else has her eyes on ya, lover-boy~.” The orange mare chuckled, the amusement in her emerald green slowly morphing into a more saddened expression as her glance quickly diverted elsewhere. Or at least anywhere but his direction....

The remaining two trotted their way to the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres, quietly sliding open the front door to find that everypony else was still fast asleep, a creeping light making it’s way through the barn windows.

“Well shoot. Looks like it’s jus’ ‘bout daybreak. Ah’ve got first shift today so I best get-”

“Nope.”

Crimson scooped the mare off the ground and into his arms, almost triggering an ‘eep’ from her in response. “Crimson, Ah-Ah’m not a foal y’know!” Applejack protested, a slight warmth creeping up her neck, “Ah’m a fully grown mare with responsibilities she needs to take care of. Ah can’t jus’ shirk mah chores every time we come home late or get caught up in somethin’ else, mah granny an’ the others will be mighty upset if Ah miss mah shift again.”

“Don’t care. You were just attacked and kidnapped in the middle of the night. And from just looking at you, I can tell you’ve maybe gotten as much sleep as me. In short, you’re exhausted. You’re going to bed. I’m sure your family will understand.”

Applejack simply huffed in defeat, letting Crimson carry her all the way to her room, accompanied yet again by those Celestia damned butterflies. On his way in, the mare caught him eyeing a golden, heart shaped locket with pegasus wings on either side laid across her dresser drawer next to her bed. She reached over and delicately grasped it in her hooves, each hoof pressing down on the wings causing the heart to spring open with a click, revealing on the inside to be a small picture of four ponies, two of which Crimson didn’t even recognized.

The first two in the front row were easily recognized as a young Applejack and a mini Macintosh. One of the two behind them was a large, incredibly well built dark red stallion with a familiar stetson resting upon his head. The second was a mare with a light yellow coat and a long, flowing orange mane, her stomach rather round for a mare of her build. As he took the picture in, it didn’t take long before he had a good guess of who those two ponies were....

“Ah... Ah don’t remember all that much about them, but from what Ah recall, they were two very hard working ponies. Everythin’ was fine an’ dandy ‘till.... Ah’d rather not talk about it.” the mare ducked her head slightly. Crimson knew it wouldn’t be a smart idea to press on, as he noticed that her eyes were almost welling up in tears. Instead, he lowered her onto her mattress, and even tucked her into her sheets. It was strange. She felt so weak and helpless, yet, at the same time, it reminded her of them....

AJ stopped twisting and turning as Red stroked her mane, and with a sigh, she soon relaxed into the welcoming embrace of sleep. A light began to shine it’s way through the very window Applejack had been captured though, the sun Crimson had very much grown to hate peered it’s way over the hills of orchards, causing the sky to turn a vivid shade of orange, reminding the colt very much of the sleeping mare’s fur, and even a few reds and yellows thrown in as well. Though as beautiful as it was, it didn’t look as though he was going to be getting any shut eye anytime soon. Red stood up slowly, walking to stand vigil by the window; nothing was getting past him this time. He was putting his hoof down!

Crunch....

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

"There goes the last of my babies....” The mare growled in annoyance, standing between a vast variety of trees in the oh-so dangerous Everfree. “I’ll need to start a new nest, and soon. I'll report back to Boss my.... failure.... afterwards...."