Storm looked at the farmhouse with a hard glare. The aqua-green unicorn that pointed him this way had said that she had seen a cloak clad colt walking around with the resident apple farmer. And here he was, a mere five minute trot from the house. Finally...

“I finally caught up. Be prepared, Red...”

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

“.....”

Crimson awoke, his peaceful slumber being replaced with a rude awakening from his senses. He looked out the window of his guest room, that sensation even stronger. It was already 12:57 on his alarm clock, and knowing that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep, he decided that it was late enough to sneak out and get some practice. He didn’t want to be too rusty when Storm showed up.

The colt jumped out the window, and despite the fact that he was in a two-story house, he landed with ease, his wings barely fluttering. Crimson then made his way through the orchard, that is, until he was stopped by a familiar voice.

“Crimson, what’s goin’ on out here?”

“Apple Bloom, what are you doing up this late?” the black colt asked.

“Ah couldn’t sleep. N’ b’sides. Ah could ask you the same thang.”

“Point taken. Look, it’d be a good idea for you to go to sleep befor-”

Crimson took hold of the filly in his arms, quickly jumping out of the path of a dagger. It also had the recognizable insignia of Princess Celestia’s cutiemark on the black handle. When the dagger smacked into the ground, it crackled with electricity. Not good to let those touch.

“Hello there, Red... Miss me?” came from the dull voice of a colt.

Apple Bloom quickly took notice of the strange pony. It was a white unicorn colt, who had a white mane with blue lightning-shaped streaks in it. He also wore a completely zipped down blue Celestial army jacket, hanging to his sides because it was oversized, also hiding his cutiemark. Storm got up in Crimson’s face, his breath short, the tension between the two palpable. “Red... You little ass. I’ve been... trying to find you.”

Crimson looked into Storm’s eyes with a faint smirk. “Come at me, brony.” Storm wasted no time as he propelled forward, snarling as a blade swung at Crimson’s neck.

The blade slammed into a tree, missing the winged colt by meters as he leaped out of the way, Apple Bloom hanging on to him for dear life.

“Apple Bloom, get somewhere safe, would ya? I’ve got a hot date with a lightning rod.” Crimson joked. Storm snarled in anger.

“Take our fights seriously for once! Yaaah!!!!” Storm threw more than two dozen daggers at Crimson, each one sparking with the telltale lightning energy. Apple Bloom ran into the bush, cowering in fear as the two colts continued on. Crimson dashed to the side, almost disappearing with his raw speed, dodging all the daggers thrown at him.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that, Blue.” Crimson mocked.

“You think so?”

Crimson glanced to his side, noticing the daggers still following him. He jumped back from the storm of blades, but was grazed by one. It was more then enough. Crimson dropped to his side, electricity coursing through his body. Despite the pain, he wouldn’t give Storm, or anyone the satisfaction of hearing him scream again.

“Heh... that’s a new trick...” Crimson grunted, slowly getting up.

“It is, nice of you to notice, but your compliments will get you nowhere! I just simply noticed that when I use the voltage spell on the daggers, its power stays active without my concentration. So using the levitation spell on the daggers, I can control anywhere they go, giving you no chance of escape!” the Unicorn spat back, giving Crimson a reaper’s death stare, his mane creating a shadow by hovering over his face, adding to his sinister look.

But all in all, those deep royal blue eyes were still visible, as they stared right through his pray.

“You think that’s going to help you?” Crimson glared, getting ready to evade the next wave.

However, the daggers split apart into multiple groups, hovering in every direction possible around the black colt.

‘...Shit.’ Crimson stared upon the daggers with eyes as wide as dinner plates, not with fright, but with amazement.

“Wow, I guess you really can be a badass at times, Blue!”

“You think that means anything coming from you, Red?” Storm sneered “Take your complements and burn in the pits of Tartarus.”

As the daggers were about to be launched, Crimson noticed that the first dagger was still fully sparking lively with its previous spell. He ran towards it with blinding speed, and grabbed the dagger by the handle, but Storm shot off the daggers.

“You’re too careless, Storm!” Crimson shouted with a smirk.

Crimson threw it at a single sparking dagger headed right at him, and as they collided, the two daggers started to glow while making an irritating humming sound, their spell fusing. Sparks then ignited from them, as they exploded into thousands of tiny sparks. They spread the the other daggers as well, setting off a chain reaction of small explosions. They all combined into a bigger explosion, creating a large smoke cloud as flying pieces of shrapnel rained from the sky.

Storm replaced his dumbfounded look with a furious one, releasing a powerful force of magic from his hoof, blowing all of the pieces through the cloud of smoke in an effort to hit the Crimson on the other side, and to clear his vision. Only one problem. When the smoke was blown away, the black colt was nowhere in sight.

He glanced to his left, as he barely managed to block a punch from Crimson with his forearm with his razor sharp reflexes. Crimson grabbed Storm’s arm, lifted off the ground, and attempted a right horizontal spin kick at Storm’s head. Storm managed to duck just in time, and noticed that while Crimson spun, he let go of his arm and was preparing a punch with his left hoof all while still in the air with no help from his wings. Storm saw through this, as he grabbed the airborne colt’s leg and swung him to the ground, leaving several cracks in the earth, and made his body bounce several times, leaving the two a good ten feet from each other. At the speed it all happened, you probably would have missed the scene just by blinking.

“You’re too careless, Crimson.”

“...Dammit.” Crimson let out under his breath, as he was on his knees.

Apple Bloom decided it would be a good time to scurry, the two colts were too preoccupied to notice anyway. The little filly galloped as hard as she could to get away, as she figured the only the only way she could stop this was to wake up her big brother and sister, the two ponies she thought she could depend on the most. However, it turned out that Big Macintosh was “sleeping over” at Cheerilee’s place, so Applejack looked to be the only hope.

“Applejack, Applejack!!!” shouted the frantic Apple Bloom in fear, making her way upstairs to her sister’s room.

She finally made it up to her floor, with Applejack already stumbling out of her room, looking like she barely knew where she was from the drowsiness. She wasn’t even wearing her trademark stetson.

“Apple Bloom, d’ya’ll even know what time it is?” the elder sister scolded, but didn’t sound too threatening, being half asleep and all.

“Ah know, Ah know! But ya gotta understand, sis’, somethin’ real bad is goin’ on outside!” she explained, as Applejack suddenly became alert.

“Wha’dya mean?”

“It’s Crimson!”

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

It was pitch black in the streets and nopony seemed to be awake, other then the farm mare that hurriedly galloped through the the roads of Ponyville. Apple Bloom managed to explain the gist of the situation, so she decided to get some help, figuring that this was too much to handle by herself.

“Please, don’t let me finish too late...” Applejack was hauling flank, making her vision blurry, so she couldn’t stop herself before she slammed into a hot pink wall.

“Owww! What in the- Pinkie?!” exclaimed the farm mare in surprise. “What are ya doin-”

“APPLEJACK!!!” Pinkie Pie’s bone crushing hug managed to cut her off the mare. “We’ve gotta hurry, something scary’s in Ponyville, and I... I think it wants Crimson!”

Applejack could see that the mare was in complete panic; some of her hairs were out of place on her mane, and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Wait, how would ya’ll know that?”

“M-my Pinkie Senses have been giving me a horrifying shiver every now and then!” She explained. “It started two days ago, and even Crimson seemed to be able to feel them! It was getting stronger and stronger, but this time it was the strongest one yet, and that’s what woke me up! So I galloped down here to check if he’s okay!”

“Well....” the farm mare tensed up, watching Pinkie’s worried eyes, the two seemed to be feeling an equal amount of despair. “He’s in trouble alright, somepony’s attackin’ him!"

“WHAT?!” the pink mare began to shake Applejack in desperation. “Who- what- WHY?!”

“Ah’m afraid Ah can’t answer any of those questions mahself!” the farm mare admitted.

“Well then we’ve gotta hurry up and go!” Pinkie said, as she was about to storm off to the farm.

“Hold on there, sugercube!” Trying to keep a leveled-head, Applejack put her hooves on her friend's shoulders in attempt to calm her down and keep her still. “Now before we can do that, we gotta wake the others first. This looks to be too much for all us to handle by ourselv-”

A loud snoring came from the cloud just above the two mares, as Applejack was once again interrupted.

“Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Applejack shouted up at the cloud. “We’ve gotta hurry up an’ wake the others before it’s too late!”

“Nmemrrph..... five more minutes, mom.....” Applejack facehoofed.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, somepony’s about to perform a double-Sonic Rainboom!” Pinkie shouted.

“WHAT, HUH?! WHERE?!?!” the Pegasus immediately jolted up, awake and alert, turning her head everywhere to insure that this was true.

“Good, now that we got yer attention, get up an’ help us wake the others!”

“Do you see how late it is?! What could possibly-”

“Crimson’s being hurt by a big ol’ Meanie McMeanerson, and we’ve gotta wake the others before something terrible happens!” Pinkie Pie yelled, panic being very evident in her voice once more.

“Wait, what?!”

“JUST COME ON ALREADY!!” the two mares yelled in unison, as the Pegasus scrambled to stay on her bed of cloud.

“Girls, what’s going on?” asked an entirely different voice.

“Twilight, what are you doing up so late?” asked the bubbly pink mare.

“I could ask you three the same, but right now I’m tracking these strange magic signatures, and they appear to be coming from Sweet Apple Acres.” the brainy Unicron explained.

“And she thought it was a good idea to wake me up...” said a groggy dragon, lying on top of Twilight’s back.

“Sorry, Spike, but this is much more important than sleep!”

“More important than sleep, are you kidding me-”

“Gah! We’re losin’ time here!” yelled the frustrated apple farmer.

“Then will somepony please explain what’s going on?!” the now irritated Twilight cried out.

“Ah’ll explain along the way, but right now we need to go an’ wake Rarity and Fluttershy!”

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

“So you’re telling me that somepony’s trying to kill Crimson?!”

Now with the fashionista and animal lover in tow, the six mares galloped as fast as their legs could take them, excluding the rainbow maned Pegasus, who almost never seemed to be on the ground. Applejack was trying her hardest to explain the situation, all while trying to keep up a pace.

“Yes, Twilight!” confirmed the farm mare, “And if we don’t get back to Sweet Apple Acres in time, that killer pony might actually succeed!” she said with fear and dread in her voice.

“Please don’t say that!!!” the pink mare pleaded, tears flying back as she kept galloping forward.

“It’s okay, Pinkie.” Fluttershy comforted her friend, her soothing voice seemed to have the power to calm anypony. “We’re almost there.”

And she was right! Sweet Apple Acres was just up a couple feet away.

‘Please tell me he’s okay...’ Not only went through the mind of Pinkie Pie, but everypony else shared the thought as well.

Once they got to the farm, a loud THUMP was heard in the distance, birds scurrying away from the scene. It sounded like it came from the orchard.

“Come on, girls, this way!”

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

The two stallions continued their battle over dominance, neither looking to be breaking a sweat, even though they’ve been fighting for almost an hour now. However, the two decided to stick with hoof-to-hoof fighting, as both of them fought on an equal ground.

“Are you sure you’re not the one getting rusty, Blue?”

“Shut your mouth already, Red!”

Their high kicks smacked into each other with equal power, making an ‘X’ with their two legs, and forming a mini shock wave with the pure force of strength and with an incredibly loud THWACK. As they retracted their legs, the colts launched at each other, hooves colliding with their once again equal power, forming yet again, another shock wave. No matter what they did, they always seemed to come out with an equal result.

“How?!” Storm growled. “No matter how hard I try to get stronger, we’re always equal!”

“What, you think I’ve been slouching since I left the organization?” responded the smirking Crimson. “Nothing’s changed, I still train every chance I get! You’ll never get the better of me, not even in your dreams.”

“I’ll make you choke on your words, you asshole!”

The two continued on, their focus completely held onto each other. Crimson tilted his head to avoid Storm’s punch and delivered an uppercut to the Unicorn’s chin, lifting him off the ground. Storm flipped backwards, but managed to regain his balance as he pushed off an apple tree and threw a dozen daggers down towards the black colt. Crimson successfully backflipped away from the blades as they stuck into the ground.

As Storm landed, a group of kunai knives propelled at his head. He dove to the right to avoid being punctured by them, and the knives stuck neatly into the tree behind him. Storm lunged once again at Crimson with a powerful punch aimed towards his head, but was blocked none the less, as brought his hoof back and unleashed a barrage of kicks at him, each displaying a wide range of skill from his part. Dodging each kick, Crimson crouched and sweep kicked the other colt off his hind-legs, but Storm managed land one of his front hooves on the ground and balanced his whole body with it, as he pushed himself back with the power of a single arm, following with a series of backwards hops as he retreated from Crimson’s reach.

“This is complete bullshit!” yelled Storm. “It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way! You were supposed to-”

“Quit whining and give it a rest.” the black colt interrupted with an irritated tone. “Don’t tell me what I was and wasn’t supposed to do! I heard enough of your mouth from when we used to work together, so just shut the fuck up and fight already!”

“THAT’S IT!!!”

The colts charged at each other at an incredible velocity, each preparing another punch. That is, until a familiar rosy arua lifted the two off the ground.

“That’s quite enough, boys!”

The aura belonged to a lavender Unicorn, who was accompanied by five equally pissed off mares... and a baby dragon?

“Twilight, stay out of this, it doesn’t concern you!” growled Crimson.

“Apple Bloom could have been killed, and this is Applejack’s orchard you two are fighting in!” spat the lavender mare. “Plus, you’re our friend, right? Friends are supposed to help each other when they’re in trouble!”

‘...Friend...’

“How pathetic.” Storm sneered.

“I’ll show you pa- wait...” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “I know you! You’re Celestia’s top soldier, Storm Scratch!”

“Lieutenant Scratch for your information, kid.”

“You know this jerk, Twi?” asked the purple dragon riding on Twilight’s back.

“I...” she started, clenching her eyes shut in order to brush it off. “We’ve... It doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that we need him gone!”

“You think it’ll be that easy, huh?”

“More or less, you are looking at Celestia’s top pupil in the field of magic!” she spat, confidence noticeable in her tone of voice.

“Oh? Then you must be Twilight Sparkle....... sorry, but I have direct orders from the princess herself, stating that I may do whatever I please to anypony that I feel is getting in the way of my assignment. And you’re no exception to that rule.”

“I...” Twilight stuttered, feeling some of her confidence fade.

‘Now!’

As the thought raced through the patient black colt’s head, he launched a kunai right at the mare’s hooves, as she leaped backwards in panic, losing her concentration on the spell, releasing both the colts from her grasp.

“Sorry, kid,” Storm started. “But we don’t share the same field of magic. I specialize in the ‘Battle’ class, which you’re much too oblivious to be acquainted with.”

“Ow...” Spike rubbed his bruised head, he apparently had fallen from the mare.

“I’m sorry, Twilight...” Crimson tossed a marble sized pellet at the mare, which burst into a purple tinted gas. “But stay out of it, and don’t worry, they’re only ‘Magic Disruption Grenades.”

“Magic... disruption grena-”

“A smoke bomb which releases a gas that robs the victim of their magic for thirty whole minutes.” he answered, causing the mare to shriek.

“Well, why didn’t you just use it on him then!” she screamed in fury.

“Storm would just dodge them, so there’d be no point in trying.” the black colt explained. “And besides... I want this to be a nice, clean fight by all means.” he smirked.

“I’m going to guess that you told them absolutely nothing about yourself, am I right?” the white colt butt in.

“.....”

“Thought so. You see, ladies... and dragon, you’ve been giving shelter to a very wanted criminal, one that I’ve been sent personally by Princess Celestia of Equestria to capture.”

There was only silence, but the fright in the air was louder than any words. Storm continued on with his explanation.

“Don’t worry, I won't place an arrest on any of you, considering that none of you knew about this.” he reassured, making the pink mare shift uncomfortably in place, catching the apple farmer’s eye.

‘Pinkie Pie? Please tell me ya’ll didn’t...’

“He on the other hoof,” Storm continued, pointing a sinister hoof at the cloak clad colt. “-is charged with working with illegal organizations, theft, and first-degree murder on over ten thousand different cases, giving him the title of ‘The Crimson Shadow, demon of Equestria’. He’s a legend among hitcolts and other low-life scum, the reward for his head is sixty-six point five million bits. Once Crimson’s caught, he will be due for an immediate execution!”

Needless to say, you could probably cut the horror in the air with a butter-knife, as the tears ran down Pinkie Pie’s face.

‘Did she... know ‘bout this?’ wondered the blonde mare.

‘....Dammit, just when I thought that this might be the town. And to put the cherry on the shit sundae, this was the last town I could find...’ the cloak clad colt sighed.

“Well, now that I lost this town as well, how about we give these mares a good show...” Crimson drew his black katana from his cloak, sparking even more fear from the six mares, pointing it straight at the white colt. “And show them how real trained soldiers settle their differences.” he finished, showing off his trademark smirk.

“You’re no soldier by any means... but I accept your terms.” Storm replied, concentrating a large amount of lightning into his left hoof, tearing right through the ground with its dancing tails, as screams of static came from the ball of electricity he held with his magic.

Hmm...

Storm threw his javelin-shaped bolt of lightning at the pegasus, but Crimson was ready. Bringing his sword to the horizontal, he took the magic head on. Grunting as the shockwave started to force him backwards.

Lifting the sword slowly, he brought the point to a vertical stance, and the lightning that now coursed through his blade released- straight up.

BOOM!

The ground shook as the sky above reacted from the strong energy. The clouds churned faster, then grew darker. Lightning and thunder sparked, flashed, and rumbled through the heavens, as the wind roared down upon the land, screeching through the trees.

Storm snarled, smiling wickedly, and a flash of thunder hit the ground right behind him. “You FOOL! I’m now perfectly within my element!” He laughed crazily. “I’d have thought you’d at least put up more of a resistance!”

Crimson stood silent, smirking at his opponent. He tossed his mane to flip it out of the way of his sight, his smirk becoming a hearty smile. “Yes. I’m pretty resistant. But... Are you?” With that, Crimson thrust his wings towards the ground, throwing himself skyward.

“Ugh, he’s getting away!” Rainbow Dash prepared herself for launch, when suddenly dozens of small bolts of lightning criss-crossed like a spider’s web and flew at her, trapping her to a tree and an orange earth pony. “Argh! What the h-”

“Please, miss. Shut up. I’ve killed twelve so-called ninjas at once. And as much as I’d like to kill you as well, your pretty little mane reminds me a bit of one of my sister’s fans.” He grinned. “Can’t kill off little Vinyl’s fanbase, hmm?”

The unicorn’s face got deathly serious, and extremely cold as he leaned in real close. “Besides,” he growled, “this is my fight.” Dash gulped. “Do you understand?” After she nodded, he said “Good,” and turned to follow after his true opponent.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack growled at the retreating unicorn, his mirthless laughter grating against their ears. A sob however, snapped them from their rage.

“No... nonono, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” Pinkie broke down, now full on bawling.

“Pinkie....” the orange mare started in. “Ah know how ya’ll are feelin’ right now. Ah was finally seeing the good inside him... ‘till a storm came an’ made mah vision of him all cloudy again.”

“It... it doesn’t matter now, we know what he really is!” choked Rainbow Dash. “Not like that other dickhead was any better! I mean, his eyes were just so...”

“...Cold...” Fluttershy finished, her small voice now being heard clearly through the silence. “He honestly seems to be the bigger monster than Crimson, but still... Crimson did all of those bad things...”

“No!” Pinkie cried out between her sobs. “W-we talked about this. He was sick of it. He told me! He wanted out, but... but... now he can’t live anywhere! Wahhh-hahahahah!!!!” Pinkie let out a loud wail before Twilight brought her hoof to Pinkie’s mouth.

“Come on, everypony. We can’t lose focus. If we can help Crimson out in any way, then we should. Now-” Twilight cut herself off when she noticed Pinkie was sucking on her hoof. Twilight pulled it away, exclaiming “Eww! Pinkie, that’s gross!”

Pinkie sniffed, just looking at the ground. “I’m sorry, Twilight. But, I don’t have a thumb, and I was scared...”

“It’s okay, Pinkie.” the mare sighed. “As I was saying! Ehem! Now come on, girls, we’ve got to see what happens next, it could get ugly...”

“Uh, there’s just one problem with that...” the cyan mare stated.

“Me and Rainbow Dash ain’t goin’ nowhere ‘till this here net wears off.” the other bound mare joined in.

“Twilight, what if you tried to dispel the net?” the shy mare shared.

“That’s not a bad idea...” assured Rarity “If there is anypony that could out-magic somepony else, it’s you, darling!~”

“Well, I’ll give it a shot!”

As she tried to channel her magic into her horn, the rosy aura appeared... and faded as fast as it came, losing its magical fuze.

“I’m sorry, but that smoke bomb he threw cuts my magic off for a good thirty minutes...”

“THIRTY MINUTES?!” Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped, “There’s no way we have that sort of time!!!”

“Ah hate to say it, but... she’s right...” the second bound mare began to tear up. Her farm was in danger, and she couldn’t do anything.

“Come on, Twilight!” Spike nudged the mare persistently. “You’re Celestia’s start pupil for a reason! No unicorn shares the same talent with magic as you, and you know that!”

“No unicorn... other than Storm...” the lavender mare’s head dropped in defeat. “I just have to face it... he’s better then me. I’m worthless, just like he knows I am...”

“No...” the dragon’s eyes started to water. “NO!!! I refuse to believe it!” he yelled, catching everypony’s attention.

“Spike, wha-”

“I won’t believe it, Twilight!!! I don’t know what this Storm guy did to you, but he’s nothing compared to you!!! You’ve saved Equestria twice, you earned the interest of the Princess Celestia when you were just a foal, you hatched me... You’ve been taking care of me all of my life. You’re like my sister, Twilight, and it kills me to see you act like this...” tears now visible in Spike’s eyes. “That’s why I won’t let you act like this! You can do it, Twilight! In my eyes, you’re the smartest, nicest, and the most unstoppable pony I’ve ever known, so you can’t give this up without a fight!!!”

“I- Spike...” stuttered the lavender unicorn, tears now rolling down her face. A small white twinkle blinked on her horn. It quickly evolved into a spark that engulfed her entire body, with the light shining from her eyes as well, turning them a full white. Her horn began to spark stronger and stronger, until it released a powerful ray of light that disintegrated the net that bound the two mares in a flash. As the light faded from her body, vanishing into thin air, Twilight almost fell to the ground in exhaustion.

“.... gIrLs, whA jUs hAPPeNed???” Twilight asked, completely delirious, but came back to her senses when the five mares and Spike embraced her in a group hug.

“I... thank you, guys...” she said, as she began to tear up even more, held off to the best of her power, and tried to focus. “Though, I couldn’t have done this without your inspiring words, my number one assistant!” she proclaimed, snuggling her face up to his.

“Anytime, Twilight!” he proudly responded. “Although, would you please not tell the guys back in town I said that...” making Twilight giggle.

“Now,” she exclaimed, a huge confidence boost was apparent from the tone of her voice. “Let’s go and catch up two those numbskull colts!”

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

“You won’t get away from me, Red!”

“How in the-"

The white colt had finally caught up with Crimson, now in hot pursuit. He was chasing him by riding on... is that a cloud?

“No getting rid of you, huh?” joked the black colt.

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Storm spat back. “Do you know how many sleepless nights it took for me to perfect the cloud-walking spell?! I mastered it to prove that there is nothing you can do that I can’t!”

“Wow...” Crimson started with a smirk. “You really are obsessed.”

The two shot through the air at great speeds, Crimson trying to dodge every lightning bolt the Unicorn through at him. However, it was starting to get more and more tiresome for both colts.

“Try dodging this!”

Storm conjured and sent out five different katana, all made from a high content of electricity. As many times Crimson dodged, the swords would keep on his path, even ripping through clouds to get their target. Knocking them away with his sword didn’t seem to do the trick either.

‘It’s not like with those daggers from earlier, these are much too stable to destroy!’ Crimson thought, as he formulated a plan in his head the best he could. ‘Hmmm... it’s worth a shot.’

The black pegasus shot straight up, as the swords made almost a 90 degree turn up to follow him. Crimson grabbed a lone black cloud and put it right in front of himself.

‘I hope I still remember how to do this...’ he prayed... to nothing in particular. The only gods that he knew wanted him dead.

The swords were nearing their mark. ‘Now!’

Crimson kicked the cloud as hard as he could manage, and judging from the size of the lightning bolt that shot out, it must have been a damn hard kick. The swords were hit by the jolt. They overcharged and combusted into quite the explosion, blowing Storm a couple feet back.

“Bastard, where did he-” Storm was cut off by himself when he looked up, his target right above his head, standing on a cloud.

Crimson stomped on the cloud he stood on, as lightning shot out and electrocuted the colt. However, it didn’t effective in the slightest, as the unicorn came out unharmed.

“You idiot.” Storm sneered. “I’ve had an affinity with lightning since I was just a little foal... why exactly do you think I’ve specialized in it all my life?!”

“I... didn’t think it applied to lightning this strong-” Crimson was cut off when a hoof slammed into his gut, and he coughed up blood.

“Well, then. I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did...” Storm growled as he pushed Crimson off the cloud, sending him racing downwards. “In fact, it actually gives me a temporary adrenaline rush, making me even stronger depending on the power of the shock!”

The impact of the punch was too great for the colt to regain his balance, as he plummeted down towards the ground. ‘Well, it doesn’t look like I’m getting out of this one...’ he thought as he felt dread overcome his body. Crimson will probably live, as the body of a pegasus was made to handle crash landings. However, there was no way he was coming out conscious through a 1000 foot drop, leaving him easy pickings for Storm.

As Crimson braced for a pain induced impact, he never felt it come. Instead, what he landed on felt very soft and bouncy. He opened his eyes as he bounced up and down a good five or six times.

“... Holy shit.” was all he managed to get out. “Pinkie..”

“Yepper-Pepper! It’s Pinkie Pie’s Posilutely Practically Painless Portable Bounce-House!” Pinkie giggled, a slight blush coming to her face. “I... couldn’t think of a word for bounce-house that had a ‘p’.” Crimson just sighed in exasperation.

“Pinkie... You saved my life!” Jumping down from the giant balloon building’s bulbous roof, he gave her a small hug before pushing her away. “Get outta here! I don’t want Storm to hurt you.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’s, Pinkie! I need you to- duck!” Crimson pounced on top of Pinkie right as a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground. “For Luna’s sake, Storm! Civvies are in the way! Just give them a Goddess damned break!”

Storm’s lip curled up into a sneer as he magicked his cloud closer, his eyes filled with an unnatural, sparking-blue light. “I already said it once... Anypony who gets in the way of my mission is fair game. Now. Let’s play “Pin the Pony on the Tree!” Storm stomped on the cloud, kicking another lightning bolt at Pinkie.

Holding her hooves in his, he pulled her close, leaning back as he slid to the side to avoid another bolt, set Pinkie spinning in a pirouette as he leapt backwards to dodge another. Then, just as Pinkie was about to fall over from dizziness, he swept her up again, dipping low to duck beneath another blast of electricity, his snout brushing against hers in the brief second that he was leaning over her.

Not a moment later, and she was in the bushes, forty feet away, her cheeks flushed from their close contact. Pinkie giggle to herself as she rubbed her snout dreamily. “He’s such a good dancer...”

She was still giggling and blushing when Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy finally caught up. AJ had gone to find some rope and wake her brother, while Dash went to get as many pegasi as possible to keep the storm clouds over Sweet Apple Acres. They couldn’t risk letting civilians getting hurt, whether it be by wandering into the fight, or from wayward storm clouds drifting into the town proper.

Crimson was feeling tired. Haggard, even. ‘Dammit! Storm’s not letting up.’ Crimson caught his breath as he hid, for the moment, inside a small cluster of clouds. ‘Well, at least it’s not getting any-’ drip. “... Huh?” Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip drip dripdripdripdripdripdripdridridridridridri- “Ah... Fuck me.”

The rain got heavy, fast. So fast, in fact, that quite a few Raindrops of Unlikely Size were formed, hurtling at the ground at speeds that would have impressed a certain speedster, had she not been busy. As it was, they were too heavy to pull out of their dive in time, and landed upon the ground, splattering the grass, trees, and ponies all alike in their wet, watery lifeblood. Or, it was just raining so bad that it was getting everything soaked.

Crimson’s wings were soaked to the bone. They were drenched; waterlogged. He was going down. The ground was getting too close for the wet pegasus’ comfort. But too his luck, a bit of Southern Comfort came to his rescue in the form of a lasso wrapping around his hind legs, and pulling hard enough to break his nose dive. As he landed, the rope loosened and he stepped out of the loop. “Thanks, Applejack,” he called as he shook his wings and head to get rid of some of the water. “I owe ya one!” He took off again, flapping his wings as hard as he could to keep water from collecting between his feathers. He never noticed the farm filly’s blush as she had watched him shake. She sighed as she wobbled a bit, before trotting off in a daze, trying to find her friends. A rainbow streak speed by, joining the mares... and dragon.

“Hey guys, what’d I miss?” the cyan mare asked the apple farmer first. “Are they still going at it? ...And why are yours and Pinkie’s faces so red?”

“Rainbow Dash, did you-”

“Course I did!” she exclaimed proudly, as she cut off the lavender mare. “These clouds aren’t going anywhere, the magic of a pegasus pony!”

“That was..... surprisingly quick.” said the impressed Twilight.

“Well, I’m not called ‘The Fastest in all of Equestria’ for nothing, now am I” she continued to boast, much to everypony’s dismay.

Storm watched the sky intently, eyes narrowed as he struggled to get more juice from the cloud he stood on. Snarling when it was unable to channel anymore lightning, he took a running leap at another piece of black cloud, swooping down low as he took the power of the cloud’s electricity and augmented his own.

"Just give up and come quietly, you haven't a chance in the world!" he snarled, feeling the electricity flowing through his veins. It felt like a drug, and was most likely addictive as one too. "And hey, maybe if you do, I'll ask the princess if she can book you in for a less painful death!"

"... What happened to you?" asked the black colt, feeling a sadness rush over his emotions, the sky weeping as if it felt his pain. "You seemed like a better pony when you were actually a hitcolt. Now, you're just crazy with power, and obsessed with seeing my blood spill. I can't say I'm much better, but at least I still recognized you as a friend."

"Don't be ridiculous, like we were ever friends..."

"We were best friends, you fucking moron!" Crimson shouted in fury."We grew up in the same orphanage together, me, you, and Vinyl! We became best friends with Wild and Glitch as well, we stuck together through thick and thin, don't you even care?!"

"....NO." Storm replied, increasing the sorrow bestowed upon Crimson. "I can't say I do care, Red. Because I severed my ties with you scum years ago, and I'll make sure I hunt down and destroy every single one of you!!!" Storm charged up his magic once again, the charge on his horn sparking mad with power and energy. The rest of his body also sparked with electricity of its own every now and then.

"...If that's how you see it, then I have no choice but to end this here and now."

Storm sneered at Crimson's comment. "I'd like to see you try."

The unicorn colt disappeared in a flash of light. It wasn't a teleportation spell, it was his pure speed, which now even trumped Crimson's. He reappeared behind him and swept the black colt off the ground with a powerful low-kick with his hind legs, spun around and prepared a powerful kick to the now upside down colt's gut. Crimson managed to cover his stomach before he was hit, but the pure augmented power of Storm's kick sent him flying through the air, giving Storm enough time to flash behind him and smack Crimson in the back with a powerful punch, sending him dragging through the ground. As the colt rolled backwards while skidding in the dirt to regain his balance, Crimson tossed a marble sized steel ball attached a chain on his weapon belt. However, as the ball rushed through the air, it started to grow larger and larger, and had spikes protruding out of it now. As soon as it stopped getting larger, it was already three times the size of the colt wielding it, now resembling an enormous spiked wrecking ball on a chain, darting straight towards the white colt. As Storm managed to jump diagonally, avoiding getting smashed, Crimson grabbed hold of the chain with both hooves, as he swung and threw it to the side in attempt to hit Storm.

"That weapon Crimson's using is enchanted by magic!" Twilight yelled, watching the Crimson swing at Storm with very little effort in awe.

"You think so?" her dragon assistant asked.

"I know so, Spike!" she answered matter-a-factly. "Objects like weapons can perform many different feats when given a specific enchantment!"

"But he's a pegasus, he can't perform magic!"

"It doesn't matter! Even without magic, he can still use an enchantment depending on how it functions! For Crimson, it looks like the only thing he needs to do is throw the chained ball at a great enough speed for it to triple in size!"

"And judging by how easily he's swinging that thing, he must be incredibly strong." Rarity added, as she watched in amazement.

“You’re telling me, that was aweso- I mean!” Rainbow Dash coughed. “He’s not that strong...” Applejack just had to smirk at the flustered pegasus tripping over herself.

"Imagine how difficult it must have been for him to gain that strength...." Fluttershy added quietly, showing great astonishment as well.

"You have no idea how hard life has been for that colt..." stated Pinkie Pie with a sorrowful tone. "It's always one bad thing after another for him, it's so sad... Listen, I'll ask him to explain how rough it's been for him, but right now we need to stay strong and keep watch for what happens next... I know he can win this!"

Crimson swung the enormous spiked wrecking ball repeatedly with no avail, as the unicorn lieutenant dodged each attack with ease. Storm decided to end their little game of tag and face the wrecking ball head on.

'What in the hell is he-'

Before Crimson could even finish his thought, Storm brought back his hoof and smashed it into the incoming steel, causing it to shatter in front of his face. The pieces of the wrecking ball flew many different directions, leaving a certain black colt to watch the scene in horror. Storm levitated the spikes and some of the other remaining debris from the ball with his magic, chucking them at a much higher velocity than the black colt had expected, barely managing to dodge without even bloodier cuts on his body.

'That lightning he absorbed must have augmented his magic power as well...' Crimson thought to himself, as red liquid dripped from his cuts.

“Hmph, you’re lucky you even made it this far, Red.” Storm mocked, as he charged his magic once again. “But all luck runs out eventually.”

Storm conjured a lightning sword, just like the ones before. However, unlike the previous times, he decided not to launch it at the colt. Instead, he grabbed it in his left hoof, as he prepared to use close combat on Crimson.

The unicorn’s speed was blinding, even to Crimson, but he managed to unsheath his katana and block the sparking sword at the last second. However, the power of the slash was too much for the cloak clad colt to hold off, as he shot backwards through the air. Crimson tried to stick his blade into the ground to cease his movement, but the ground was too soggy from the rainwater. He finally came to a halt when he smashed into a tree. It made a blood curdling THWACK noise once his back made contact with the bark, leaving the wood surface cracked from the impact, knocking the air right out of Crimson.

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the rest of the mares started to feel more and more uneasy...

Just as Crimson regained his focus, he quickly darted away from his position, as Storm missed and stabbed right through the middle of the tree. He hit the the crack lines too, and Storm, not feeling a need for his sword anymore, simply let it fade from his hoof. As his sword disappeared from inside the tree, the crack grew around the whole tree, making it give way and split in half, smashing into the mud.

‘A second later and that would have been me...’ Crimson thought, despair now starting to take over his body.

It looked like Storm wasn't finished just yet, the spark covering his horn growing more powerful. As Storm spread his forelegs wide, a current of electricity spread across the ground, covering everything within a 15 by 15 foot radius with the current. Crimson, already familiar with this technique, leaped forward over the stream, keeping his sword prepared in an attempt to strike Storm down. “You left your guard down, it’s my turn!”

“...Don’t be too sure, you zealous fool.” responded the white stallion, a grin growing around his face, and unnatural pressure covering his right hoof.

Storm easily dodged his slash and smacked the sword a couple feet away with his left hoof, disarming Crimson. He then placed his right hoof just above Crimson’s stomach, and it caved in from the pressure. Crimson threw up, a large amount of blood was mixed in, his pupils fading, as he propelled into the air and slammed into the mud.

The mares screamed in horror, as they fled their hiding spot. Spike couldn’t keep Twilight from storming off in time, so he decided to lay low in the bushes and watch out in case... well, something happened, he figured. The six mares galloped towards Crimson’s motionless body. Well, they tried that is.

“And where exactly do you think you’re going?”

Storm flashed from his current standpoint, reforming directly in front of the mares, arms crossed.

“What did you do to him?!” Twilight growled.

“Don’t worry, he’s just unconscious.” the white colt reassured, not that it helped any. “All I did was create a strong magnetic force around my hoof.” he explained, as if it were nothing.

“In other words... telekinesis...” the mare said in complete trepidation.

“Well, I guess you could say that, you could also think of it as an augmented push spell.” he sneered.

“J-Just Get out of the way already!” she screamed, getting more impatient by the second.

“.... Why?” the confused colt asked. “Why d’you give so much as a shit about that damn murderer!”

“... Because, that’s not what we see him as.” the pale yellow mare actually said first.

“Fluttershy’s right, out of all the things we saw him as at first, a murderer wasn't one of them.” Rarity continued.

“He may be kind of a dick, but he’s actually shown some good in him!” Rainbow Dash started next, throwing all of her stubborn pride aside.

“An’ besides, he’s proven to be much better then ya’ll have made out yourself to be!” Applejack’s comment threw the white colt back.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s our friend! And if you actually stayed true to your friends, you’d understand!” Storm snarled at Twilight’s remark.

“So that’s what you think, huh?!” Strom growled. “If you knew even half of his wrong doings, I guarantee you would think twice! Has he told you about how he slaughtered anypony in his way in rage? Or how about the time he killed that little bitch because she was a key to a power he couldn’t access for-”

In the blink of an eye, a lone hoof smashed into the white colt’s cheek, a hoof that belonged to none other than Crimson Rays. He exerted his entire body into his punch, as Storm skyrocketed, the unicorn just barely managing to get back on his hind legs.

“Talk about her again and I’ll fucking destroy you!!!” screamed the enraged black colt.

“Heheh-hahahaha.... I forgot about that little “gift” of yours.” Storm responded, as sparks danced around the edge of the bruise now on his face. “The angrier you get, the stronger you get. You could grow twice your strength and speed when you got really pissed, that always kind of scared me...” he said, now a bit uneasy. “You even managed to pierce the electricity around my body.”

Storm flashed out of sight with his terrifying speed, reappearing right behind the black colt. “However, it won’t get you anywhere!” he growled, preparing a punch to Crimson’s head. However, what he didn’t count on was Crimson blocking his hoof, not even moving an inch this time, fueled by by nothing but his pure fury.

“Just shut up already...” Crimson growled back. “You’re getting on my nerves!”

Crimson grabbed Storm’s foleleg and tossed him over his head. As Storm dragged through the earth, he didn’t exactly expect a kick from a colt that just threw him., as he tore through the ground once again. When he finally ceased sliding, Storm shot several small needle shaped lightning bolts at Crimson, but he vanished into thin air.

“If you think I’m going to just let you win, you’re dead wrong.” spoke the black colt, now right behind Storm.

“...So," Storm began. “What exactly do you think you're doing, Red?! Settling down in a small town like this? Just to protect your precious little head?”

“Just shut up, Storm! You lost any right to call me 'Red' a LONG time ago!” Crimson spat back.

“Oh, and your last contract? That sweet young filly?” the white colt smirked.

Crimson’s eye twitched. “Grrk, Shut UUUP!!!!”

Crimson grabbed hold of Storm by his jacket and threw him into a nearby tree, making him and the tree fall to the ground.

“You are the worst, Strom.” He began. “Fine. You're right. I hate myself. I... I couldn't let them take her away from me... I couldn't let Boss kill her. If he, or anypony else did it, she would have suffered. I-” Crimson choked back a sob. “She was like a sister to me, okay?! Think of Vinyl! Would you rather have a bloodthirsty asshole kill her, or somepony who'd at least make sure she died peacefully do it?!

“Don’t you DARE bring her up!” Storm growled, slowly but surely making his way back on his hooves.

“Would you take the life of your own sister while she slept-”

“...Shut up...”

“Or would you let somepony else torture her for FUN?! WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?!”

“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

A lightning strike shot off, illuminating the stormy night sky. Storm’s body started to glow, a royal blue aura surrounding his entire body. The clouds in the sky began to swirl around, as they began to fuse together. One final lightning bolt shot to the ground, as it struck the white unicorn with an immense amount of raw power, disintegrating his entire jacket, exposing his cutiemark. A blue Leo Symbol.

Storm’s body began flashing, sparks cracking around every fiber of his body. “Damn you, Crimson! I’ve had enough of your pathetic excuses! I! WILL! END YOU!”

Storm threw himself at Crimson with enough force to shatter the tree he’d been knocked against, the dirt ripping apart as he blew past the sound barrier. All the pressure was concentrated around one hoof as he went to slam it in Crimson’s face. A hoof that slowed as if it were moving through petroleum jelly as a violent aura covered it. With the sudden decrease in speed, Storm’s velocity bucked him in the face, snapping him backwards and through three consecutive trees. “Oh, please,” Twilight said, “I’ve learned my math, and I’m more magically inclined than you. Now... let’s get things back to normal.”

Twilight concentrated, trying to use a spell that had failed her once before, but would work this time, she was sure of it. She released the failsafe spell.

Almost instantly, the rain disappeared as the clouds were rent asunder, the trees that were knocked over picked themselves back up and were stitched together again. The long gouges in the ground zipped together, grass and small flowers re-planting and re-growing in the blink of an eye.

“Woohoo! Yeah, Twilight! Good job! Alright!” Her five friends gathered around her as she stood panting, but smiling at her work.

“Thank you, Twilight. I owe you one.” She turned to Crimson, still battered and bruised. He smiled at her, and then his eyes crossed and he slumped to the side.

“Crimson!” Pinkie Pie draped her forelegs over his body, pressing her ear against his chest. A few seconds later and she relaxed, her eyes tearing up, but a big smile on her face. “Oh, thank the stars. He’s just sleeping.” Sliding his body onto her back, Ponyville’s premiere party pony headed off. “Now, we gotta get you to the hospital, don’t we you wittle sweepy head? Yes we do! Yes we do!” She giggled to herself as she made sure the colt stayed on her back.

“What about the other one?” Fluttershy eeped as she found herself the center of attention.

Twilight looked pensive for a second, before sighing. “We’d better take care of him, too...” She trailed off as she saw that the white unicorn was no longer where they’d left him. “... Where’d he go?”

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

Storm slumped against the tree, no longer one of the apple trees. He was getting deeper into the Everfree Forest. He knew how to create magical healing aids, and all he needed were some ingredients.

“This isn’t over, Red,” he muttered to himself. “Not by a longshot, old buddy. Not by a longshot...”

_________
Editor’s Note: Next chapter, possibly my favorite character of this guy’s cast: Wild Card! Woohoo! Also, a lot of editing done, but not as much as the first chapter. Now, onwards and outwards, my friends! To new heights, new nights, and new fights! Allons-y!