CLANK!!!

His hooves dragging through the dirt, Crimson clenched his teeth as he exerted all of his might just to keep from losing his hoofing and the grip of his katana against the large glossy diamond spear. Opposite of the pointed end, the spear flowed with a stream of diamond dust, which followed it’s way back to a glittery dust cloud hovering around the ever confident Notch.

Not even the magic flames that set Crimson’s black katana ablaze could shatter the force of the enhanced diamond. Since the unicorn decided to show his real power, there had been a notable increase in the already tough magical gems Notch had used to completely overpower the powered-up black colt.

Crimson gave a mighty growl, spinning his entire body and dashing off in order to escape the useless struggle. His sword clashed against a sheet wall of diamond instantly formed from the dust to protect Notch’s neck just as the flat surface reshaped at the black colt into half a dozen spikes.

‘This... is pointless...’ The magic-emitting unicorn had bested him in both offense and even defense. The only drive that kept Crimson going at this point was the act of his stubborn pride. And even then, with his previous losses against a certain Celestial soldier and criminally insane bounty hunter since finding Ponyville, his pride was growing more brittle by the second.

As he half-heartedly readied his sword, a large shotgun of diamond dust exploded sooner than Crimson had time to react. Instead of feeling thousands of small blades run through his skin and fur, he only felt Notch slam his hind leg into his gut with more than enough power to send him sailing through the pink cloud and withers first into the hard, rocky cliff’s wall.

Seconds passed before Crimson felt gravity pull his body to the ground, falling weakly onto his haunches. Streams of blood ran from the corners of his mouth, choking him slightly as he fought just to breathe. He could even feel the red flames over his body slowly weakening with him.

Preoccupied with the agony coursing through his entire body, Crimson hadn’t even given a glance to the glowing unicorn only a dozen yards away, and more importantly, the series of stallion long pink thorns floating just ten feet above the black colt...

“I have decided it’d be best to just end this little game of ours now,” Notch’s pink eyes glowered intensely. “As fun as this little charade has been, I’m rather ashamed to admit that I lost track of time....”

‘Lost track of time... it can’t be.’ Crimson raised his head to meet Notch eye to eye. “....It’s Plasm, isn’t it?”

Crimson knew that as soon that composed, yet somehow devilish smile grew across Notch’s muzzle, no more needed to be said. “I take it that’s where you’re dragging those poor mares off to. Despicable. For that, you’ve lost the right to speak your last words!”

And with one last flick of the hoof, the thin spikes of diamond dropped tip first towards Crimson. The pegasus got onto his hooves only to fall just as quick. The only thing the stallion had left to do was clench his eyes shut and await his painful end...

That was, however, until a large scale flash of white emitted before Crimson, the pink spikes crumbling into dust and erased from existance.

Both stallions gave a simultaneous “What?!” as the event took place. When the light finally died down, there was one more pony in front of Crimson. A lavender mare in fact.

“....Twilight?”

“In the fur.” Though back turned to the colt, Crimson could detect a smile on the unicorn face, as a blaze of white over her horn quietly died down. “I just thought you could use a hoof is all....”

No. He couldn’t drag her into this as well.

“I’m... grateful. Really I am,” Crimson grunted, finding just enough energy to crawl back onto his hind legs, though with leverage from the cliff behind him. And strange enough, his red flames had yet to die. “....but you need to go. I’m not risking any of your lives just for mine.”

Twilight sighed into her hoof. “Quit trying to hold every burden on your own. In case the beatings you received weren’t informing you enough, it looked from where I was standing that if it weren’t for me, I doubt you would even be talking right now. And this is, what, the second time now?”

….Ouch. “You... you don’t get it. When I left Ponyville, I was prepared knowing I probably wasn’t coming back. That’s why I didn’t want you guys involved! Ponies have died enough because of me as is!”

“....Just shut up.” Crimson could have sworn his jaw had hit the floor. “I swear, you’re even worse than Storm sometimes. What is with stallions and refusing to accept help!”

When Twilight had finally turned to face the black colt, only then did the strangeness finally hit the metaphorical roof. Where the mare’s violet orbs should have been... they were absent. Even though there were only flashes of white in place of her eyes, it was clear they held frustration as they looked up at Crimson. And almost as if it were because of that, a pale white steam rose from her lavender coat.

“Wake up, Red! I get that you think death is a better fate than losing, but... it’s not. Not even close. Imagine what you’d be putting your friends through if you ended up killing yourself over something so asinine.”

Forcing Crimson up against a wall with each step, Twilight’s eyes bored deep into his own. Despite the mare standing on all four of her hooves, he couldn’t help but feel so.... small. Her next set of words had even set Crimson’s mind into question.

“Keep in mind.... your life isn’t just your own anymore.”

“....Fascinating....” the unicorn coated in his own magic “flames” muttered to himself; he hadn’t moved a muscle since Twilight had shown up. If Crimson weren’t in such a dazed state himself, he could have sworn he had caught a tinge of fear pass through the unicorn stallion’s pink orbs.

Regaining his composure, Notch spoke in a more delicate manner than anypony had heard of him yet. “Excuse me, young miss. I highly suggest you get of safe distance from that brute as possible. I would very much hate to see a lady such as yourself be put in peril by the likes of-”

“Blow it out your tailhole already.” Twilight cut off in a poisonous tone, much to the pink maned stallion’s shock. “You’ve been rubbing me the wrong way ever since we first met, and now I have an excuse.” Her eyes- a void of white light- bore into Notch with a hard glare. “You’re with Boss... aren’t you?”

The surprised expression soon turned into an amused grin. “Clever girl. But, that still fails to explain how you managed to break out of my diamond prison. It was made for your own safety, you know?”

The wave of concentrated scorn could be felt emitting off the steam of the lavender mare’s coat. “Once I figured out how your magic worked, it was as simple as a levitation spell.” The look in her eyes. Sure. Strong. Calculating. Almost as if the white-blue stallion were looking into a genderswapped mirror; only matched by a Virgo....

Notch grew ever more wary around this mare. She was undoubtedly dangerous, but killing her was still his last choice of options. “I apologize in advance, but if you refuse to sit this one out, I’m afraid I’m going to have to make you.”

Without warning, above the lavender pony began there were flat diamond surfaces beginning to enclose around her. A flash of white emitted off her horn, and before they had the chance to entrap her in yet another prison of diamond, they had begun to crumble until they were no more. “If you’d stop to listen to anypony but yourself, you would have figured out that the same tricks won’t work twice on me, Notch...”

Notch had been lost for words. ‘This one’s sudden power burst is undoubtedly a result of taking in too much of my magic, but that could only be the case if my magic had set off a spark somewhere dormant in her own due to a certain link from the start. Meaning, this isn’t a burst in her power... it’s the awakening.’

His grin was starting to waver against Twilight. Not even the black colt watching behind her felt entirely safe from the mare’s newfound power.

Twilight smiled in triumph. “If there’s one thing you’re due to find out,” With each word, the steam of magic grew ever more solid, bright and tangible, spreading even on the earth the mare stood on. “You don’t— and I mean don’t— hurt my friends. Consider this your ‘extra credit’.”

With her final words escaping her lips, Notch struggled just to stay on his hooves after a sudden explosion of mock wind gusts came from Twilight’s aura.

Just as he feared, her magic was gradually surpassing his own. A large, bright white tendril made from pure magic snapped at his hooves only seconds after he had leapt backwards from his spot. Pushing off the shakey ground thrice with his forehooves, Notch barely dodged three geyser-like pillars of magic rising from underground with each leap.

Coming to a screeching halt, Notch turned to face a tendril erupting from the dirt. In mid-jump, a second split from the first tendril and quickly proceeded wrapping around his leg. Before he could react, however, he was already soaring, halfway between the clouds above and the ground below. Prying his eyes open through the violent winds, they were met with a set of crimson orbs belonging to none other than the Shadow himself.

And in his hooves, he held a katana, blade pointed right at Notch’s heart.

In the short time he had just foregoing impact, a thin, pony sized wall of diamond formed in time to halt (albeit painfully) the unicorn’s flight. Notch wasted no time pushing himself off as the katana impaled, in turn shattering the almost mirror-like wall as if it were glass, Crimson’s muzzle being met with a hind leg smashed with enough power to send him falling back to orbit.

Luckily for him, a bed of weightless magic was there to cushion the impact, courtesy of Twilight, as Notch jumped onto magic-made diamond platforms until he was closer and closer to solid ground.

That was, until a familiar pillar of magic burst from the landscape and tore through the final platform, leaving Notch smacking into the ground with a painful thump. No time could be spared for painful thoughts once he immediately rolled onto his hooves, and thankfully with enough time to left to leap from yet another pillar of magic.

“You’re starting to get on my nerves, now! I came here on a simple mission, only to find a shadowy blackheart in the company of a group of mares! Now please, let me finish this fight between me and—grrk!” In a flash, time slowed down for a split second as Twilight shot forward fast enough to send the trees rustling, her hoof held in the air. When she came to a stop, Notch was on the ground before her, rubbing the newly sore spot on his cheek.

Twilight dropped her hoof to the ground, her body still shimmering from her flashpoint. “Yes, this fight between you and I isn’t quite finished. Pinkie, go make sure Crimson’s still conscious, with his blood loss he might have a concussion. Applejack, you get some strong sticks and some vines if you can find them, just in case we need to make tourniquets. Broad leaves can be used as bandages, as long as they don’t have pointed ends. Rarity, you help Applejack. Dash, you help Pinkie. Fluttershy... you help wherever you think is best, you’re better at medicine than I am.” Twilight took a step back as Notch struggled to his hooves. “I’m going to teach this guy a lesson in friendship.”

“Oh, what’s this?” Notch said in grunts as he rose to his hooves once again- or rather launched himself several yards away first, the “flames” he was emitting almost extinguished. “A petite like yourself taking on the big mean old stallion?! I’m not one for hurting a mare, but even if I have to knock you unconscious, I will take Crimson’s life tonight. It’s all just as well, anyhow, since it’s just you, me, Pinkamena, and the three pegasi. What was your name again?”

“Twilight Sparkle. Personal Student to Princess Celestia, and—” Notch cut her off with a chuckle.

“My, my, the Princess goody-goody horseshoes’ personal student? Oh, how she would act when she knows you’re consorting with a hated killer and criminal! The shame, the scandal! Oh, it would be delicious to see... but alas, I’d rather kill him myself, and not let her put him in a noose.” Notch cantered slowly to the side, Twilight keeping pace and making sure she stayed between him and her friends.

“It’s not like I don’t know his past, Ezekiel, but you’re forgetting lesson 1 about friendship: Second chances. I’ve given you one chance, so here’s your last: Leave us alone, or I’ll have to do something we’ll both regret.”

Notch’s sneer grew even bigger as he giggled. “Oh dearie, me. Twilight, you simply don’t understand. I’ve got a mission to complete, and nothing’s going to stop me. I’m sorry to say but, even if you can break through my diamonds, there’s nothing you can do. Some things are just inevitable, my dear.”

Twilight huffed and lowered herself down into an attack position. “Alright, then. If that’s the way you’re going to be...” She closed her eyes as her horn started to glow a vibrant purple.

“Ha! Thinking to kill me, are you? Your princess would be so proud, wouldn’t she?”

Grunting with concentration, Twilight opened her eyes once more to glare at her opponent. "This will only be enough to neutralize you, not kill you. I'm afraid we wouldn't sink to your level, Ezekiel."

“Hehe... just give it time.” Both forearms sprawled at his sides, Notch’s horn went ablaze. In his magic’s familiar flash of light, a solid pink wall taller than almost twice a manticore in height appeared before the battered stallion. In shape, it was comparable to that of half a fully cut diamond. Whether it could hold or not wasn’t a problem. “For all it’s worth, I once again apologize that it had to come to this.”

Tipping her head, a beam of light tall enough to tower over Twilight’s own height escaped her horn with enough force to cause her hooves to drag through the hard-packed dirt. The two forces collided within seconds. Already, the barrier had begun to crack.

And in only half that time, the wall that stood in the way of the two stood no more, crumbling under the sheer weight of Twilight’s magic as the rest of the beam trail ran for almost a good mile through the forest until stopping with a ear-thumping BOOM.

As the cloud of dirt rose and fell, only one pony remained standing. One mare in fact. The other’s fate was questionable, as there was no opposing stallion to be found.

“Twilight....” Rainbow Dash grimaced, “you think ya went a little.... overboard there? That kinda says something right there when I’m the one saying it, ya know....”

Twilight shook her head, eyes still glued on the destruction she had caused. Or, more specifically, a thin, equine sized wall of diamond crumbling into the dirt.

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

‘I’m... shocked to say that actually worked, to say the least...’

Leaning against a boulder just large enough to be safely concealed, Notch gave a small sigh, quiet enough for nopony but himself to catch.

‘That mare is something, alright. Regardless, I would rather hold my hooves back on her than to get serious. Then again, I could tell that wasn’t all of her power as well, rather she doesn’t know how to control it.’

Feeling it was safe to do so, Notch put on his trademark grin. His breathing finally began to slow.

“Hmph. It’s a shame she couldn’t be on our si—!”

Feeling his arms and legs tighten closely against his will, Notch spotted a smaller magic tendril slither up his snout and around the unicorn’s horn. He only caught from the corner of his eye the trail leading under the boulder itself. The large rock shattered before him like glass, a lavender unicorn standing in the rubble with her horn still alit.

“I’m surprised,” Twilight mimicked a chuckle similar to that of the prettycolt’s own, “You’re holding back quite a hefty load of magic even now. And yet, here you are.... running away.”

Notch’s laugh came out as more of a wheeze, the magic binding him slithering tightly up his ribcage. “I... could say the same for you, beautiful. Though I am willing to bet that your reserves lay too dormant for even you to access yet. A pity I couldn’t see it for my own eyes...”

“Don’t underestimate me.” The void of light where her eyes once were had begun to to dim enough to catch a glimpse of the mare’s violet orbs. “I have a willing mentor to help me unlock that power, and I have a group of irreplaceable friends to wait for me.”

Feeling the binds loosen and lift, the unicorn stallion dropped to his haunches in heavy breaths. As Twilight continued, he looked to find a trace of foreign magic still on his body. More specifically, his horn. “You could have had something more. And you still have that chance. Leave it all behind, Ezekiel. Boss, his line of work, all of it. It’d definitely make things easier for you and I to have such a powerful ally....”

Only a second later could a sneer be heard from the stallion at Twilight’s mercy. “And leave the first ever pony.... to see potential in me? If you’re thinking about killing me... make it quick. I’m not about to hurt a mare who shouldn’t play any part in this feud....”

Twilight’s head slowly shook, a faint “Tsk” heard clicking behind her mouth. “You stallions are universally stubborn.”

A grunt escaped Notch’s lips, as did Twilight’s once their horns created a bright spark. In Notch’s case, this came without a choice. Their horns were now hidden underneath the blinding white light, along with the lavender mare’s pupils. Even the ground below them had started kicking up dirt at the force of the ever towering auras coating Twilight’s horn. With a suppressed shriek on the mare’s end, a small wave of dirt and grass flew off around the two before the magical light show quickly faded with both ponies off their hooves.

Notch brought a hoof to his forehead and let out a groan. “Well, if that little display was meant to give me a headache.... you certainly succeeded...”

“That... wasn’t all... it did, I’ll assure you....” the mare said in between breaths, a dainty but triumphant smile taking hold of her muzzle. The mare’s violet eyes alit in the pitch black night, a brilliant, and even victorious look shone through.

“You look worn down. Good.” Lifting his hoof to point at Twilight, a faint pink spark slowly lit over his horn. “I don’t wish to hurt a mare, that’s why I will make sure you stay out of my way....”

Getting shakily onto her hooves just to plop onto the grass again like a stone, Twilight could just barely form a smile between heavy breaths. “That’s.... not the only....”

“Give it a rest already...” Aiming his hoof at the heavily worn down mare, Notch’s horn sparked. “I must restrain you for now. I deeply apologize....”

Not even a flinch ran through Twilight’s sturdy, fearless eyes as she layed there in silence.

And with seconds still ticking by, a look of confusion, soon replaced by one of horror came over Notch as his horn slowly died down. He stared down, eyes lock on where his hooves had been, as well as where his spectral cloak wasn’t. “No! W-What did you-”

“What does it look like.... Notch?” Twilight smirked, a giggle hidden behind her words. “I sealed you off from your magic. Or rather, suppressed it. Even I couldn’t completely seal off all of it while you were cloaked in it like that, but I doubt you’ll be doing more than making necklaces right about now.”

“Hehe.... Ahahaha! You are just full of surprises, Miss Spark-”

WHAM!

The unicorn slid an impressive distance through the grassy dirt with the force from the airborne pegasus punch. Though given from the tone of voice, it definitely wasn’t the pegasus Notch was expecting. “....In the name of every last Wonderbolt, will you just SHUT UP already?!”

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?! I told you to go help Pinkie-”

“And leave you alone with this piece of trash? Buck that noise, I’m sick of his face!” Rainbow growled, pawing at the ground. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for ages to do that.”

“-inthesamefuckingspot-Ouch!,” Notch flinched from his own hoof resting on his slowly swelling cheek. “You’re quite the quick one, you little-GWUH!?”

With only seconds to spare, Notch made a slightly scatterbrained dive-roll to avoid being crushed alive by a falling tree, an orange mare in a proud stance on top of the lumber. "Ah got th' sticks y'all asked for, Twi! Thought y’might like a log as well!”

“Without my magic... this may be a problem, but I cannot let this chance slip pass-GRK!”

With a blow to the neck strong enough to force him to his forehooves, Notch is met with his “chance” panting over him. This time more than ever, the battered and beaten black colt radiated murder even through his “flames”. “Yeah, afraid I can’t let mine pass either....”

Before Notch could reply with a witty retort of his own, blocking his face from the rapid succession of punches from the blue mare became the bigger priority. They didn’t pack as heavy a blow behind them than many other opponents, but it was not something he’d be easily be escaping if he got caught in her flurry.

Her wings, however, obviously had more power behind them than the unicorn’s body, as his hooves dragged through the dirt farther with each punch; sweeping under her hooves would be impossible with them not even touching the ground. As soon he managed a glimpse behind him, Notch mustered the strength from his arms to push the rainbow maned pegasus just enough of a distance to sidestep the oncoming buck from Applejack behind him. And judging by the pressurised air pushing off her legs just being near it, something told him it was a good thing he did.

“I strongly suggest admitting defeat at this point, Notch.” The lavender mare called out, still too worn to stand upright. “I’m rather good with numbers if I do say so myself, but in case you’re not as good as I, I’d say you’re looking just a tad... outnumbered.”

Once again, the chance at witty banter was cut short, as he was now clasping the flat sides of a black katana with his hooves just short of his snout, evoking a gasp from the mares. “What’s the matter, pretty boy? Forget to bring anything with an edge? Don’t worry though, I brought one just for the both of us...”

Even now, Notch still possessed just enough strength left to hold off even the still powered up Crimson, despite his hind hooves digging craters under the weight. He had a crazed look made up of his crimson, pinprick pupils and a frightening scowl. And from the looks of it, even the ponies on standby were hesitant to get involved.

“Showing your true colors at last.... you monstrous simpleton?!” Even the unicorn stallion’s words felt heavy under his grunts. Even still, Notch’s habit of smiling wildly under the worst circumstances couldn’t be buried as his horn desperately blazed pink.

“He can’t be serious....” Twilight muttered to herself, looking on with horror at the scene as her two friends did similar. “Putting it lightly, he’ll.... he’ll melt his brain if he tries too hard to release his magic. Is... Is Crimson going to...”

“Red, tha’s enough!” Applejack raised her voice, coming out more shaken than stern. “Yer gonna kill ‘em if ya keep it up, n’ Ah reckon none o’ us wanna see you goin’ back t’ those days....”

“You don’t get it!” Crimson growled, never once letting up his grip as his eyes tried to burn into the back of Notch’s skull. “The world I’ve lost myself in is different from yours. I can’t go back now.... and neither can he!”

Finally, the pinned Notch let out a mighty roar, twisting not only the blade, but the colt behind it and threw them to the side. “I am stars apart from you in comparison! What would a freak like you know about me!!!” And with that, a blast of light exploded off his horn, only seconds before erupting over his fur with full force.

And sooner than anypony had the chance to react, they were already coated from the neck down in the pink, immobile solid diamond. With the exclusion of Crimson. “And don’t... fuss...” Notch breathed heavily, finally showing signs of wearing down. “I have something.... special.... planned for you too, Crimson Shadow...”

“I can’t believe it...” But it was true; Notch had managed to overload the seal with his held-back magic, something that would have left most ponies unconscious, if they managed to succeed at all. One detail, however, even her magic-impaired friends could pick up:

“He’s almost reached his limit.” Twilight couldn’t suppress her smile. “Much more and he’ll be out in no time, this is the last of his magic after all.... but,” she continued to herself, drastically less confident than just seconds ago, “The magic Notch is releasing is still dominating anything Crimson had prior to first awakening that cloak of magic by a long shot. This unicorn... there is no sense of the definition where he identifies under ‘normal’....”

At the same time attempting to push her hooves under the diamond surface in vain, a small violet spark escaped Twilight’s horn, only to disperse into fireworks fit for ants. She could feel the magic being sluggishly sucked away from her body by the same coating of diamond that kept the lavender mare bound.

Meanwhile, the same thing couldn’t be said for the now brightly glowing Notch, the magic cloak dancing around him appearing still and closer to his fur. Judging by the concentration it was undergoing, even Crimson felt dread wash over him for what was to follow…

‘But… I can’t get scared now,’ Crimson lept forty meters back with the help of his wings, and just enough power left in his cloak of flames to do so at the blink of an eye. Once in position, his sword stance held strong as he awaited his opponent’s inevitable first strike.

One after another, neon pink barbs had begun to protrude from the earth in front of Notch’s hooves. It had started in the tens, seconds passing until they had grown not only more plentiful, but larger and bundled together. Crimson gulped, standing opposed from a multiple story high mountain of diamond spikes pointed dead straight at him, and it was moving fast.

Before long, the black katana had made contact with one powerful overhead swing, imbedding itself deep within the diamond surface. Meanwhile, Crimson’s had lost any friction between his hooves and the ground as they dragged into the dirt as though it were a road of soap. His body only came to a halt after it had collided the underside of the forest’s cliff, a warm liquid trickling down his back and jagged rocks.

“You are nothing but a mistake. A coward!” Notch grinded his teeth, a sour scowl painted over his previously amused grin. “You made our organization into a joke! Your reckless murder-sprees have given Boss and the rest of us a bad reputation! Never have we had this much danger of the royal sisters taking action against us fall upon our heads until you came along, you are nothing more than selfish trash!”

Soon after, the wave of diamond had finally come to a halt. Crimson, however, found this to his disadvantage; his entire lower half been frozen inside the pink rhinestone, sharing the same fate as the rest of his mare comrades. Before he could even lift a forehoof, he had felt it smashed against the rocky wall behind him, leaving his sword knocked and fallen to the ground.

“Ahahahaaa….this is finally it...”

‘Another telepathic conversation?’ No, that wasn’t it. The voice was Notch’s unmistakably, but held a metallic ring to it with each word.

Crimson watched as his arm was gradually crystallizing, holding it down being a hoof made entirely of diamond. Soon, a diamond muzzle poked out from the spike encoated pink wall trapping the black stallion, the rest of the stallion-shaped head slowly forming and mutating into a pseudo Notch…

“You’ve dragged this fight on... much too long…”

Any feeling in Crimson’s foreleg was lost. He could feel his lungs painfully slowing down as his torso had been next to freeze. The diamond surface had now spread across half the black colt’s face, part of his vision gone as everything started to fade to black…

‘Is this how it all… no… I can’t… not to….’

“Ehehe… I’ll slowly disintegrate... every last atom... in your corpse… coward!...”

It all faded to black…

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

BOOOM....

“Dammit! What could it possibly be this... time….”

Pieces of diamond rained before Notch’s hooves, each turning into a pink mist as they hit the ground. In front of the stallion was a large cloud of mist, where the explosion had come from, and where his opponent had been held. The latter turned out to no longer be the case…

The pink cloud had finally vanished to reveal Crimson, but at the same time, there was definitely something off. Not only was he free as a bird- or pegasus- from his cocoon of diamond, but the red flames shrouding his body flared a different- much more violent nature, as if even the Shadow’s magic wished to feed on the flamboyant stallion’s corpse…

And that was only the beginning.

Nothing left the black colt’s lips other than a raspy growl. Most attention could be drawn to Crimson’s glowing orbs of the same color. It was unclear if there was even consciousness behind them, only a need to see blood spill. The colt’s teeth revealed themselves tightly clenched at the unicorn, streams of saliva trickling from the corners of his mouth without care. Signalling that he was ready to charge, a bovine snort escaped the colt’s nostrils through a puff of fuming steam.

Notch turned his attention to the ground at Crimson’s hind legs, noting a his face made of diamond pinned under the black colt’s hind hoof being crushed by the second.

“R-....Run-”

“RRROOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Kssstssh!

Crimson gripped the katana by the handle and tore the black blade from the earth. The red flames engulfed the blade and the black colt shot off like a rocket, his cloak of magic dancing behind him as to give off a meteor-like appearance.

A loud CLANK erupted from their clash, Notch holding off the katana with his diamond coated arm as their fusing cloaks shot off a blinding light from every side. Both bodies shot off a good distance apart, leaving Notch to readjust himself from the force behind Crimson’s swing.

And looking back to his arm, he witnessed the diamond armoring his hoof crumble to into the dirt, revealing his naked shaking hoof. ‘I can’t believe it! That could have torn my arm off-!’

The unicorn ducked his head to avoid a clean decapitation from the black katana. Three more wild swings were narrowly avoided by Notch’s agility, and managed to block a stray punch from Crimson with enough force to send the whitish blue unicorn sliding backwards, hind hooves dragging through the dirt whilst attempting not to lose his balance.

With no momentum lost, the broken black colt threw himself sword first aimed at Notch’s neck with speed even the unicorn’s eyes barely followed. It was then that he suddenly came screeching to halt, merely an inch of space from the point of the blade and Notch’s sweat soaked throat.

A smile crept onto Notch’s muzzle as he stood up, watching the blade crystallize in front of him. The process halted at the blade, instead splitting into walls meeting around the sword and pegasus himself, the end result leaving Crimson trapped inside a fully cut diamond large enough to house at least forty Timberwolves.

It didn’t stop there; from each side of the diamond surface, a hoof first molding until an entire equine body dropped out from each side. As one righted itself onto it’s hooves, it was clear that each was an animated diamond cut into the unicorn caster’s image. A row of spikes protruded near the handle, tearing through the flesh in the savage black colt’s hoof as he jumped backwards near the mob of Notch clones.

Notch himself only watched through the pink walls as Crimson simply stood in the center of the diamond cage, too busy glaring daggers into Notch to make notice of the diamond equines walking his way. ‘Is the magic causing his mind to become unstable…? His magic output has certainly shot up at an immense level, but even then his magic is too dormant to be a threat to his body as of yet. No, there is definately something else...’

As one of the dolls pulled back a hoof and ready to swing, it lost the opportunity faster than it arised once the back of a black hoof smashed through it’s skull and came out the other end. His crimson orbs only turned to give the scene any mind by the time the clone had already dropped to the ground in pieces.

The next one charged and shot a hoof at Crimson to only meet the same fate as the prior with a much faster punch, following with a swift buck through the ribs of a second. A third reached a desperate forehoof out at the stallion before it’s encrusted wrist was grabbed, it’s entire body propelling off the ground and smashed to bits into the ever growing pile.

One by one, packs of diamond clones begun to crumble at the flurry of hooves the raging stallion was swinging, each with as little control and ruthlessness as the last. Landing into a pile of now crumbled clones with a powerful stomp, Crimson charged forward, knocking each artificial body out of his path. He only stopped at the protruding hilt of his katana to tear it free, ripping from the prison’s wall and beheading the closest pseudo Notch within swords reach.

“Congratulations, you managed to obtain your precious toy back,” Notch’s voice mocked from the other side of the wall, the enraged pegasus’ eyes scanning the mark in the wall repairing itself like an opened wound. “Just don’t reassure yourself to your escape just yet…”

More and more diamond clones had fallen to his black blade in gruesome fashion. What Crimson had been too caught up to notice was that it only took about thirty seconds for each fallen to piece itself back together, while new “recruits” had formed from the vast walls to crowd the prison’s moving space further and further.

Soon enough, a diamond hoof managed to place itself onto one of Crimson’s legs and freezing it in place inside a rocky pink coating. However, it only served to slow the colt down, not even given the chance to spread it’s course as his hoof violently smashed the coating to pieces and luckily keeping the leg attached with few cuts.

The culprit was not so lucky, unable to react quick enough to Crimson’s hoof clasping around it’s rock solid neck and hurling it into the wall the ever-so-often chatter had come from, creating a hole large enough for even an entire stallion to fit through.

All within the span of seconds, the clone whizzed passed the flesh and blood unicorn outside the cut prison and, too preoccupied with the fact, a hoof had smashed into Notch’s cheek, his body shredding through the grassy dirt for at least twenty or more yards before he could manage to spin himself back onto his hooves. By then there was no hope of keeping that monster trapped, as the entire prison and clone within had already mostly dissolved into a mist and faded into the air…

Something warm had started to drip down the corner of the unicorn’s mouth. Dabbing the tip of his of hoof into the liquid, Notch slowly raised it into his vision to find his white-blue fetlock stained red…

Notch almost couldn’t believe it; the Crimson Shadow had actually not only gotten a fair hit in, but even managed to remind the unicorn what it felt like to bleed. Notch looked up to find that his opponent hadn’t even moved from his spot, as if he were waiting for something interesting to happen.

And Notch found it mocking.

“....I have underestimated you... you are much more dangerous than even I could have thought.“

“Reeeeeeeeeeeeed!!”

Notch glanced up from Crimson, his breath fogging in the suddenly still night air, as a familiar pink-coated mare barrelled out of the forest, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Red, are you okay?! I’m so, sososososo sorry I ran as fast as I could but I couldn’t keep up Izzy’s magic crystal box-thing had made me feel all super slowy-sleepy, and I haven’t had any sugar at all since like a whole day ago, and Twilight, oh my gosh, you don’t look so perky either, oh, is that what it does?! IS IT TAKING HER LIFE?! Reeed! I wanna help but I don’t know what to do!” Notch frowned... well, fine, pouted at the mare’s words.

“Pinkamena, do I really deserve none of your concern? I’ve been trying to protect you from this demented menace...”

Pinkie shook her head furiously. “Izzy, you were so totally being a complete meanie-weenie and you trapped us in a crystal box-thing that was sucking our lives out through our ears or something, and you’re beating up one of my bestest of all best friends who’s not one of the Element Bearers, because the main group of six are kinda like the bestestestest friends that anypony could want in the universe, but Red comes pretty darn close after that, and you’re being a complete Gilda and you won’t even say sorry!”

Notch could only respond with a sigh, his attention directing back to Crimson. “I know I have said it before, but this time, it’s guaranteed. There is nopony to stand in my way, not even you, Pinkamena. I will not hold back any longer.”

The diamond-patterned flames dancing over Notch’s magic cloak had begun to intensify, his pink eyes and cutiemark glowing brighter into the night as a result. Notch held out a hoof, in it formed a diamond rapier with miniature unflared wings on the guard in a matter of seconds. “My spectral cloak has less juice in it thanks to that lavender mare, but it will be more than enough.” Notch raised it pointed at the ready. “It’s time to end this!”

“Noo!” Pinkie wailed. “Red, please stop! Just run, please!”

Pinkie cried out again, but both combatants ignored her, Notch’s face hardened into a look of concentration while Crimson was just... feral. Crimson snarled like a wildebeest, his sword clutched in hooves that were still battered from an already overly-long fight. Pinkie wilted, quailing at what she saw. This wasn’t the stallion who had first yelled at her. This wasn’t the stallion who had shared some of his most secrety-secrets with her. This... he barely seemed to be a stallion at all anymore.

“Red... please, listen to me!” Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs, even as Crimson lunged towards his opponent.

Notch thrusted his sword forward, sparing a momentary glance towards the pink pony, the shockwave from their blades meeting sending her tumbling backwards into the bushes.

Sparks flew from the intensity of their collided swords as well as their magic as they scared the earth with the power of both. This time held a major difference: the unicorn hadn’t even flinched from the pressure in the slightest.

With a single jerk of his sword, Crimson had found himself the one pushed back. Once his hooves halted in place, he immediately lunged a second time as though he has lost the ability to process fear. The strike ended very similarly, with Notch perfectly parrying the ebony blade with his own, retaliating with a stab aimed between the mindless stallion’s eyes.

The diamond blade ran along the edge of the black colt’s cheek, a trail of blood coating the tip of the rapier. His crimson eyes dialated to the size of pinpricks, almost collapsing from the weight his body had adorned. If not for his animalistic state, Crimson would have cared that the superior magic he opposed was weighing down his own with it’s presence.

A simple elbow to the muzzle was enough to send Crimson dragging through the dirt, but nonetheless charged right back into battle the second his hooves touched the dirt floor.

He didn’t get far, however, as the unicorn was already holding Crimson’s blade back with a slash. The black colt found both his hooves needed to grip his katana against the strength of Notch’s one. The thought of losing had yet to cross Crimson’s mind, his stare still burning holes through the back his opponent- no, his prey’s skull. Notch didn’t even wear his cocky smirk, leaving his face completely and utterly focused.

The glare his crimson eyes held wavered slightly once his shoulder was slashed, but his body felt that it was still nowhere painful enough to bring his rage to an end.

Every slash of Crimson’s were cut off halfway by the unicorn, who was now on the offensive and leaving little room for him to literally breathe. Notch was not fooled by the pegasus’ nature, his vastly more powerful magic was causing Crimson’s body and spectral cloak great stress.

Deep in the back of his mind, Crimson felt like a he was clashing swords with a hurricane…

The fight was already over.

Notch pulled his sword back for one final stab. Crimson put all of his might into the swing that would strike down his prey.

He couldn’t lose….

CLANK!!!

Kssstssh!….

The rapier had exploded into tiny bits of diamond, his diamonds still not strong enough to put a scratch on that sword….

SHWINNG!!!

The black blade sliced through the air with enough force to launch gust of wind and earth before him.

But none of that mattered. Crimson had missed.

Notch had ducked under the colt’s slash. His spectral cloak had shrunken extensively in size and power, however, as he spun low to the ground and knocked the wind from Crimson’s stomach with the back of his hoof.

“Spectral Kumite!”

In a flash of blinding light, the intensity of Notch’s ‘flames’ focused into the joint of the back of his hoof, the raw force of the magic itself enough to sweep Crimson off his hooves and launch him ninety feet at the speed to pressurize the winds around his body.

Now it was over…

“CRIMSON!!!” came from at least six different voices. Notch ignored each one.

Instead, waiting for Crimson’s body to finally tumble on the ground to a stop, Notch raised a single hoof over his head. Several pink flashes of light came from at least twenty yards in the sky.

The lights had finally dimmed to reveal more than two dozen rapiers floating in the sky, all pointed directly down at the black colt….

“I have suppressed what little magic you had left with my own with that last attack. You cannot fight any longer.”

“RRROOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

The cloak of magic flames flickered over his charcoal fur. Struggling to simply get to his hooves, the animalistic stallion lifted his head into the night sky with a mighty roar, the flames blasting several feet from the Crimson as though it were synced to his intense rage.

With the blink of an eye, the flames dispersed into nothingness as Crimson fell to the ground once more.

“As if I’ll give you that chance!”

“You’ve done quite enough, if I do say so myself.”

Before his hoof would be lowered, Notch felt a force clasp and hold it back his entire foreleg. The smell of smoke invaded his nostrils. The unicorn turned his pink eyes onto a hoof that was effortlessly restraining his own. A dark green hoof to be more precise.

Tilting his head even further, his vision came in contact with the shine reflecting off a pair of glasses before anything else. Behind those lenses were the green orbs of a very unamused stallion, lit cigarette hanging from of his mouth.

“So, having fun?”

‘G-Glitch! How could I have not sensed him get behind me?’ A pang of freight struck Notch unlike anything this battle had offered yet. “Let go of me! I have been craving this opportunity to end this brat for what it feels like-!”

Notch struggled not to fall to his haunches as a sudden weightless, empty feeling washed over the pink-headed stallion’s body. Snapping his head back to what laid ahead, he was just in time to find the aerial rapiers shatter and fade into a pink mist. Notch’s eyes flicked back to the white-blue fur on his foreleg, unable to see the spectral cloak that had been previously encoating his body.

‘He… He suppressed my- with as little contact as-...’

As if a hanging mountain were untied from his shoulders, Notch’s now free arm was in the possession of being sorely rubbed by the other. “There was no need for any of that, you son of a-”

TWACK

A green foreleg smashed into the unicorn’s cheek with the force to be mistaken for a full blown punch, knocking him off the ground and back again, this time lying flat on his back several feet away.

“HA! That’s what you get, ya jerk! I think I’ll warm up to you real fast, four-eyes!”

Paying no mind to the distant pegasus’ words, Notch’s eyes widened with shock, quickly narrowing with into seething glare soon after. “What the hell is wrong with you! You seriously cannot tell me that you still see a traitor as your friend, can you?”

“That is irrelevant. I assure you, that little scolding was better than any punishment you would’ve received if Boss had found out you disobeyed his orders. Remember what happened to your opponent over there when he got too excited as well?” Glitch hid his eyes behind the glare his glasses reflected from the rays of younger sister’s moon. Looking down at the expression of terror that was once again sprawled across the unicorn’s face, his followed his statement with, “Honestly, Ezekiel. I pegged Wild would pull something this stupid, not y-”

“GRRRAAAAHHH!!!”

Both stallions’ attentions were stolen by the still foaming at the mouth colt, lost trashing weakly about in his own boiling pit of rage he unleashed onto nopony in particular.

“Glitch, you got any idea if he’s even equine anymore?”

The green pegasus took a quick drag from his cigarette, smoke escaping his lips as he spoke. “No magic appears to be radiating from him, and he would have been eased into a barely conscious state if overusing his spectral cloak really did that much of a number. The problem isn’t magic related at all, rather a suppressed-?!”

“Shhh,” Pinkie murmured from next to the struggling, feral-looking pegasus. “Don’t worry, Red,” she said soothingly as she trailed a hoof down his back, petting him softly. “Everypony’s safe now. All thanks to you.” A small smile wavered as she held back tears. “You don’t have to be angry anymore. Just calm down now. Everything’s just fine.”

The black-coated colt kept struggling against her grip, though more and more sluggishly as his growls and snarls petered out. The unusually calm mare started humming a strange, almost unearthy tune, and Crimson’s contorted and angry face started to melt away, until all that was left was a faint, slumbering smile.

Glitch’s cigarette, left unattended in his unhinged jaw, fell to the forest floor, causing the colt to start. “Mm. Well. That’s... new, I’d have to say.”

“Even after all these years, that kooky pinkette has never ceased to amaze me. Bet the brat doesn’t know how lucky he really is…”

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

“-or I’ll tear that smile right off your- h-heywhat?! Stop that!”

“-or I’ll tear that smile right off your- h-heywhat?! Stop that!”

“Simply astounding- Eek! Please, enough is enough!”

“Simply astounding- Eek! Please, enough is enough!”

“What kind magic is allowing him to copy our- Oh for the love of Celestia, will you please-”

“What kind magic is allowing him to copy our- Oh for the love of Celestia, will you please-”

“Parlor trick, magic, or just being creepy, I believe I’ll never learn the answer as long as I’m stuck with him…”

Inch by inch, the darkness around his vision slowly lifted as his crimson orbs made first contact with the nighttime sky.

His senses slowly came back, though head throbbing painfully. The others around him he could identify almost without trying; his hearing was even sharper than usual. The pink mare, who was sitting to his left, shifted slightly as she leaned closer towards a crackling fire. With a grunt, Crimson shifted his weight from the ground into a sitting position, eyes scanning the many guests circling around the campfire.

Pinkie Pie’s friends sat at her left in order; Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle- almost causing the barely alert Crimson to jump to his hooves to see a familiar and completely conscious white unicorn stallion sitting very closely beside her. Rather than meet Crimson’s eyes, his royal blue ones were too preoccupied trying to will his glare-daggers into real ones. Not aimed at Crimson, instead into the hardly visible golden ones behind the charcoal fedora, laying above the brown stallion’s creepily aloof smile.

Wild Card’s attendance was only part of the confusion for Crimson, as looking further did he find a dark green stallion laying on his back, too preoccupied with the smoke coming from the lit cigarette in his mouth than the one coming from the campfire. The moonlight’s reflection hid Glitch’s green orbs, leaving Crimson wondering if he were awake himself.

And just behind Glitch, leaning against a tree was the figure of...

“Oh, the beast’s awake,” a usually-posh voice croaked out under his breath. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Another pony- Applejack, by the sound of her hoof-falls on the soft ground- came up behind the unicorn and smacked the back of his pink head. “Shut up, ya git. Ah brought s’more firewood.” The apple farmer walked into the clearing, her own stetson still sitting on her head, despite the fraying and knotted appearance of her mane.

Crimson’s ears flattened as Rarity’s high-pitched whine sends searing pain through his ear drums. “Really, Applejack, you should let me brush your mane, at the very least.”

“I would be more than willing to myself. That golden mane of her’s is simply asking to be-”

“I think you’ve done enough for one day, mister.” The poison in the fashionista's words only matched her cold azure eyes, just seconds of greeting them leaving a painful tear in Notch’s chest.

A lengthy yawn escaped Crimson before he could muster a chuckle. Upon his reawakening came a small spark of anger returning, the flames of his rage growing at the sight of his previous opponent only feet apart from him.

The flames lost their chance to escape, however, as a warm pink body was now leaning her head on his shoulder. “Red! You’re finally awake!” A dampness met Crimson’s neck as Pinkie pressed her teary-eyed face into his chest. “I was scared, Red...”

His heart stopped for a second, a chill running through him. ‘Did I..?’

The mare pulled back, her face drawn with worry and fear and joy as she smiled at him. “I was so scared I’d lose you.”

His mind drowning in a sea of questions, another stallion’s voice snapped Crimson from his thoughts before he could even part his jaw. “To put things into perspective,” Glitch started, green orbs staring into the Princess Luna’s moon as he had still refused to sit up, “It was as though a raging bull had pushed your from your own body. You’ve been out a good few hours, if we decide not to count the subject at hoof. Care to give an explanation?”

The colt in question’s eyes widened in a blended mixture of shock and terror, gaze darting darting to his hooves. “I… don’t have the slightest clue. All I remember was that I was angry… really, really angry. After that, everything turned…. black.”

The wise beyond his years stallion simply remained silent, no doubt searching his refined thoughts for the answers. “I see…”

“Lucky you…” All eyes shifted to the inexplicably grinning Wild Card, chuckling out his next words. “If Glitch hadn’t arrived in time, you’d just be raw cattle meat to be shipped off to the Griffon lands.”

Rainbow Dash had half a mind to try her luck for another free punch. “Why are you even-”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the fedora-wearing stallion retorted. It was freaky enough for the hot headed mare that he responded with before she could finish her question, but to mimic her own voice down to the exact pitch to respond with…

“Y-You mean…” the pale yellow pegasus muttered.

“Princess Luna ordered me her-oof!” Storm’s sentence was cut short by a sharp elbow to the ribs.

The lavender mare gave a light puff from her nose. “Princess Luna ordered us here. Same target, only we’re only supposed to go as far as snooping around, though seeing as how these events have been going…”

“Our job is just as simple,” Notch spoke up, the usual humor he held in his voice currently locked away. “To capture Professor Plasm, dead or alive.”

Crimson tore his glare from the forest ground, eyes now staring dead into Notch’s pink ones without so much a flicker of hesitation. “Not before I pound his muzzle in first! I’ll get my answers from him one way or another, and I’d like to see you try to stop me this time…”

Notch stared back, finding his usual arrogant smirk once more. Or maybe that wasn’t all… “...If you insist. Maybe you will even make our job easier for the two of us-”

“Three~!”

“You snuck here under Boss’ nose and against his orders, Wild. And were you even wearing a hat before we…?”

“At any rate…” Glitch’s voice boomed loud enough for everypony to hear. “It’s best we call this one hell of a night hit the hay- metaphorically speaking. We’ve got a long, maybe even twice as gruesome night before us….”

The animosity loomed through the air as each mare and stallion alike found a comfortable spot on the grassy forest floor. All aside from a certain curly maned unicorn mare, who spread out her packaged blanket for such an occasion. With an extinguishing spell courtesy of Twilight, the campfire’s light was no more, the once gloomy night around them even more so before each pony drifted into slumber…

Or what would be true, if Crimson hadn’t been staring two glowing royal blue orbs inches from his own. “So much as put a hoof on Twilight, and you’ll be granted a fate far worse than execution…”

With that said, Storm turned away, likely trotting off to where said mare had been located, no doubt.

On a usual basis, the black colt would’ve easily held the death glare head on. Crimson’s face contorted into one of sickness and fear; Storm had every right to say those words. Even before the night’s events, Crimson knew Twilight Sparkle should have every right to keep her distance, now more than ever…

‘So much for sleeping…’

“...Psst.”

The charcoal stallion’s single ear flicked.

“...Psst! Red?”

The same reaction came once more, only this time almost causing Crimson to jump from the sound. This was likely due to the culprit making noise inches from his ear… “Yes, Pinkie, I’m still up…”

“Just making sure.” she giggled, not even so much as asking permission as she snuggled into Crimson’s side, draping his cloak around the two to shield them from the cold. “Goo’night, Redsy....”

Blush alit in the black, nighttime air, Crimson sighed as the seconds fell into the wind.

But not for long.

“Before he found his calling…”

The colt’s ears perked at the pink mare’s voice. It wasn’t clear if she was muttering unconsciously in her sleep, but an unmistakably sniff was clearly heard.

“Notch... was the only pony who would even look in my direction… and I returned the favor. We only had each other before Notch... found his calling… And I couldn't- no, I refused to go with him. I couldn't leave the only real family I had left..."

And yet, she had done so regardless. She had found even more ponies to add to her “family”, and was more than willing to follow or drag their smiles along with her for the rest of her days.

He ran his hoof through her poofy pink mane, the snores soon following as she officially drifted to dreamland. And with a mixture of heaviness from his eyes, head, and heart, Crimson soon followed suit…

Or what would be true twice now, had a second body not snuck under his “blanket” and burrowed her snout into his chest fur. It only literally sunk in once a damp feeling reached his skin from his fur, as well as yet another sniff…

“P-Pinkie ain’t the only one s-scared, ya jerk…”

Author's Notes:

Glad I got this update out earlier than last time. It would've been out Yesterday, but things didn't go as planned. Anyway, only 1-2 more chapters and this arc's over. Also, don't really expect much from Nocturnal. May be a lil' slow on the updates there (more-so than here ;~;) till then.

Also, if you haven't yet, check out the newly improved first chapter of Remorse; not revised, but entirely rewritten! Tell me what you think about it, better or not, in the comments on that chapter. It'd be very appreciated!

Thanks for reading!~