"Wow, you're pretty wild, aren't you?" The Earth pony colt looked down at the mare that he had landed next to.

Smiling his most charming smile, he said, "Card. Wild Card at your service, Milady. Sorry for, eh heh, sweeping you off your hooves like that. I usually try to buy a mare dinner before laying them out." The mare giggled, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Oh, come now. I'm sure you would love to ravage the ladies no matter what's going on." The mare winked seductively, pressing her body right up on Wild’s. THUNK. A small blade was embedded in the ground at his side, the mare staring at it in shock.

"As much as I'd love to stay and chat, well..." Shouts and running hooves could be heard as unicorn and earth pony guards crowded around the window he had jumped out of. "Well... Time for me to go! Ta, milady!"

With nary a backwards glance, Wild Card sprinted into the night, laughing as the ponies behind him lamented their luck, and the death of the Lord in charge of their paychecks. He had been wondering when the guards would actually get to the room.

Wild sped off, the only sure signs of his presence ever being there the blush on a mare's cheeks, and a Jack of Clubs. Blackjack had struck again.

You'd think that a pony like Wild Card would be the last pony able to blend into any crowd completely. His coat, while a dull brown, was usually a stand out amongst all the colors that were around him at any given moment, and had mid-length mane with yellow stripes. And seeing as how his cutiemarks were different, you’d think that would be a good indicator of who he was. He thinks so, at least. On one side, encased in a blue Gemini was an Ace. The top half of the card was of Spades, the bottom of Hearts. The other side was a red Gemini with a Joker inside.

“I can't believe how dense some ponies are,” he laughed, causing a few ponies around him to glance curiously, but nopony glanced twice. He was staring at the latest wanted poster for ‘Blackjack the Bounty Hunter’, and nopony could see the resemblance. The brown colt laughed again as he trotted away, finding himself wanting for a quick drink.

“Allllllright, everypony! I’ve jus’ finished mah twelth rum, sho, who wansta play a game o’ Blackjack?!”

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

“Mmrn... where am I?”

Crimson finally awoke, not recognizing anything but the pair of ponies, slumped in the corner. One pink, and the other orange. Crimson got up from the hospital bed he was in, wincing as a rib complained about its bruises. “Alright... Just... gotta get outta here... before Storm shows up... with the army. Heh. As if he’d let them help.”

Crimson froze when the bed groaned and creaked, now that it was free of his weight. The two mares in the corner shifted a bit, Pinkie’s head turning until it was facing the wall. Applejack shifted, her body falling forward until she was sprawled across the floor. Her eyes opened, blinking out of sync. “Ehh..? Huh? Oh!” Applejack staggered to her hooves, sleep forgotten when she saw Crimson standing, swaying gently as he got used to the motion.

“Crimson, ya’ll okay?” The orange coated mare reached a hoof out to touch Crimson’s face before hesitating, placing it firmly back on the ground.

He looked at her, blinking as his vision flickered momentarily. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, putting a reassuring smirk on his face. “I just gotta jet.” He turned towards the door again, the farm filly stepping in his way, glaring at him.

“Oh no ya don’t, Sugarcube. Yer gonna stay righ’ here an’ tell the others what this’ all about when they git in.” Her eyes softened, her stance becoming less aggressive. “We’re worried abou’ ya, Crimson. An’ we sure as hay can’t help ya if ya don’t tell us what’s wrong.”

“I... sorry, but no.” he responded, his face growing stern. “Now please, step asi-”

“Ah ain’t budgin’.” Applejack held her ground. “We honestly wanna help ya, Crimson. So jus’ please just tell us.”

“I don’t like talking about myself, especially to ponies I only met a few days ago.”

“Ya’ll told Pinkie, didn’t ya, so tha’s complete bull!” the farmer yelled, getting more and more irritated.

“Th-That was different!” Crimson sputtered. “After what happened, she deserved an explanation!”

“Ya’ll nearly get mah little sis’ killed, then almost destroy mah farm, an’ Ah don’t deserve an explanation!?”

“Well, when you put it that way...” the colt chuckled nervously, as he scratched the back of his head. ‘Well... fuck. She does have a point...’

“Okay, okay, fine...” Crimson sighed in defeat. “You win. I’ve never been much of a verbal fighter. I prefer swords, much less flimsy.” Crimson groaned as he slumped back onto his bed. “So... when are they supposed to get here, any-wah!”

“OhmyGOSH, Crimson, you’re aWAKE! Ohmygoodness, that was sooooooo scary! You were like FWOOM! But he was all Shoom! And then you were all Whoosh! And then he went all like Flubbabababababoosh! And then I thought you were dead and he disappeared, and-”

“Pinkie... let go... please... can’t. Breathe.” Pinkie ‘eeped’ and let go, Crimson’s face falling on the pillow once again. Flopping over onto his back, he looked around again. It was nighttime, that much was sure from the view - or lack thereof - through the window. The clock was no help; it seemed to be broken.

“Sorry, sorry!” Pinkie took a few steps back, blushing furiously. Applejack was studiously not looking at him. Before he could raise a question about either mare’s reactions, the door opened and a violet mare levitating a small, flickering candle walked into the dim room.

“What’s going on, you two? Why all the noise? It’s not like he’s gonna wake any time soon.” Twilight yawned, trying in vain to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Soon after, the others stumbled or fell into the room from the hallway, where they’d all apparently been sleeping.

“Heh, hello there.” Crimson smirked, as the mare almost lost concentration on her magic a second time.

“I... didn’t-”

“Expect me to be awake?” he chuckled. “Please, like Storm could really mess me up THAT badly.”

“Well...” the mare felt the awkward silence creep in. “You did kind of worry us there for a while.”

“....I guess.” Crimson admit, his pride feeling like it was ripping in half. “Thank you and all, but... don’t do it again.”

“.....” Twilight couldn’t even muster a sentence.

“I like my fights fair, it makes me feel like a weakling when somepony has to lend me a hoof, as if I looked like my ass was getting kicked. And besides, I’ve been alone all my life, and I’d honestly rather die in battle then take somepony’s pity.”

“....Wow, such a typical colt.” the lavender mare shot back in a bitter tone. “They’d rather die than have their “masculinity” threatened from accepting help when they need it, especially if it was from a mare’s.”

“Like you would know.” the black colt huffed.

“When did all this start, anyways? Why all the hate between you two?” Twilight inquired, cocking her head to the side as she leaned in close.

Crimson groaned. “Do you really want to know?” Six mares nodded their heads. “... And nothing I say will or do will get me out of this, huh.” It wasn’t a question. Six heads still confirmed it, the answer was ‘no’.

Sighing, he laid back, eyes closed. He breathed in deeply, letting the breath out slowly as he prepared himself. “Okay. This first part doesn’t have much to do with Storm, but... it all plays towards that. Everything played towards that...”

Well, folks, would you look at that. Our first flashback! Feel free to get some snacks, popcorn would be great for this!

Crimson looked around warily. He wasn't scared. No, what scared him wasn't the cruel teachers, nor was it the other children at the Orphanage. Just another day in this dreaded hell-hole that was called fifth grade. No, what really scared him was that dream... It was the dream that kept haunting him. His parent's deaths. After that... nothing seemed frightening anymore.

He soon spotted an empty desk. Three, to be exact. All at the very back of the classroom.

He trotted towards them, and then sat himself down. He was determined to get out of there as soon as he could. But first... a little education never hurt nopony.

Crimson's eye was swelling, the ring of black surrounding it tender to the touch. The other colt wasn't so lucky. "Don't make fun of me. If I want to learn some goddess damned math, then I'm gonna learn some GODDESS DAMNED MATH!" He pivoted on his forehooves, driving his rear hooves right into the gut of the bigger kid. He trotted away, not caring what the others whispered about. They'd stop eventually.

Crimson looked to the back of the classroom. There was somepony at his desk. "Hey! That's my desk!"

The white unicorn filly flinched, whimpering into the side of a colt that could have well been her twin. "You leave my sister alone. She didn't know! Excuse us for being new!"

The colt helped his sister over to the desk opposite of the black colt, the one on the right. He glared at Crimson. Crimson glared back. He hated that ass already.

“Alright, brats, listen up!” the teacher yelled to his students. The overweight stallion looked like he hadn’t slept for days. Crimson also identified that cow manure scent to belong to him as well. “There are two new students attending this class, but their names matter as much as yours. Nothing! Now don’t go off an torment the new kids on their first day, save it for later. But for right now, you little shits better focus, I won’t be repeating myself twice!”

As they finished up, as recess - or what the ‘school’ tried to pass as recess - began. The kids took part in their usual pastime. And, as usual, the “teacher” was on one of his ‘don’t give a fuck’ naps.

"Shut up, you whiny little Bitch! I'm playing with that. It's. My. Toy." Crimson watched as the white filly was bullied by a big colt who already had his cutiemark. It was of a Teddy Ursa that had all of its stuffing ripped out. Isn’t that just precious?

‘Hmph, Dreadful ass.’ Crimson thought to himself, as he apathetically witnessed the event at hoof.

"Don't touch my sister, you big jerk!" Ooh, brother to the rescue. Crimson drank some more of his juice. This would be interesting.

The white unicorn fought well. No effort was wasted. If he missed an attack, he improvised. The bigger pony was down in less than a minute.

Crimson walked over to the crying filly. She looked up at his approach. Fear filled her eyes. They were a good color. Red. Almost Crimson. He stifled a snicker at his own joke. "Don't be such a baby. Stop playing the damsel in distress. It's stupid if no one gives a shit about your game."

Her brother was pissed to put simply, as he started to paw at the ground. Crimson turned his head towards him, giving him a lazy smile that had gotten him in and out of trouble many times before. "Just saying the truth, Sprinkle."

"My name... is Storm."

"Whatever, Raindrops."

"Grrrgh!" The white colt stomped off, his sister lingering for a second or two before following after.

Crimson looked up at the faces around him, all of them quiet. Fluttershy looked like she just wanted to run and hide, but she was curious. Oh so curious to know. He took another breath.

“This next part was by no means the first fight between us, but it was one of the biggest of our childhood. Classes had just gotten out at our ‘school’ for the noon meal...”

Finally, after their dreaded classes were over, lunch was next. Crimson was glad, he was starving; plus, he needed some time to gather his thoughts, and to be alone, which he has been getting a lack of lately. He was one of the last in line to get some food. He didn't bring a bag lunch from his 'home', so he would have to suffer through the dreadful slop that Hayseed Valley Elementary called 'lunch'. As he sat down, he took in the details of his lunch: a classic Daffodil and mustard sandwich. It didn't look too bad for the lunch the school usually serves, so they must be getting a little more money, or just decided to use it on somepony other than themselves. But if there's one thing Crimson learned, he learned that looks can be deceiving.

As he was about to take the first bite, he noticed out of the corner of his right eye that those unicorn twins were at the matching red table and chairs next to him. He bid them no mind, hoping they would do the same. He started to hear some of their conversation, nothing out of the ordinary, until it became a little interesting...

"...I'm gonna try to talk to him."

"What!?"

The colt, Storm, was surprised to hear what came out of his sister’s mouth. Had she forgotten how cruel the black coated colt was acting last time they spoke to them?

"Did you forget how much of a jerk he was?! What if he hurts you, like those bullies almost did?"

"Look at him, he looks... alone," the unicorn filly said, while her gaze landed upon the black and red colt.

Crimson started to get nervous; he was getting the feeling that HE was the colt they were talking about, but he couldn't jump to assumptions just yet. His eyes remained unfocused, only paying attention with his ears so they wouldn't notice. He always did have strong ears...

"...not lonely enough if you ask me..." Storm mumbled under his breath, with an angry look on his face to match.

"Brother!" the filly squeaked, a surprisingly stern look on her delicate face. “How could you say something like that?! You know, he's not much different from what you used to be. You were just as cold to everypony before..." She stopped in mid speech, a sad look in her red eyes.

‘Before what,’ Crimson thought silently to himself. He continued to listen to the siblings' conversation.

Storm’s eyes began to sadden as well, but he put a stern look on his face to cover it up.

"...Fine." the colt said under his breath, obviously not happy about this decision.

"Really, you mean it?!" his sister almost yelled in surprise. Her eyes immediately widened as she gained a new joyous look, and a big hearty smile.

"Yeah, yeah… I mean it." he said with disgust in his voice as his sapphire eyes wandered the opposite direction, but quickly shot back at her with a serious look in them.

"But if he says or does anything out of line, I'll fix him myself." The thought of his sister talking to that guy made him sick to his stomach.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!" is all that came out of the filly's mouth, her words clustering together as she bounced in place with delight, her sapphire hair bouncing along with her.

She hugged her brother tightly, then trotted directly to the black colt, leaving Storm to immediately regret his decision.

"Please tell me you know what you're doing. I hope he's not as bad of a pony as I thought. I hope you're right about him." Storm quietly whispered to himself, getting himself nervous.

Crimson was on the verge of panicking, feeling sweat drop at every hoofstep he heard coming closer and closer...

Crimson squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Maybe if I look like I don't notice her, she'll go away and-‘

"Hello?"

‘Fuck...’

It was the only word he was able to think in his head, and it seemed to fit the situation perfectly...

"Hi, my name is Vinyl Scratch!" the filly spoke up, showing a friendly face to the strange colt.

‘So… that's her name...’ is what went through Crimson's head. He never did catch her name. He sighed, and allowed his eyes to slip over to her.

Her coat was snow white, and her mane, which was sapphire with light blue sections, was very shaggy. Her tail matched her mane. She had red eyes, almost crimson, and he noticed that she was a 'blank flank' as some ponies called it. She was actually a very pretty filly and-

‘Wait a minute, did I just think she was pretty!?’ screamed through Crimson's head, as he felt a blush creep up on his snout. ‘Why would I think that? Fillies are insufferable!’ He could feel sweat drip down his forehead. Quickly, he took control of his blush, whipped the sweat from his face, and gained control of his thoughts and feelings while putting on a bored face, much like he always does. All in all, it took about maybe ten seconds, as he prided himself subconsciously.

"What is it that you want," Crimson asked, with his bored look.

Vinyl got a little flustered as she tried to explain her reason, but something about the strange colt made her lose focus on her words.

"Oh, right! Um... my brother, Storm Scratch, and I wanted to know if you'd sit with us at our table." she explained with a nervous smile and a small blush on her face.

Crimson doubted that her brother wanted him over with them, but Vinyl herself sounded sincere, as if she did. Almost as if she were... concerned... But how could that be? Nopony had EVER been concerned for him since his parents...

"Why exactly do you care?" the young colt replied with a rude tone. Vinyl was getting very nervous now, as she searched for the right words.

"Well... you looked lonely over here by yourself, and I couldn't stand it."

‘She is concerned for me? No. I- I bet it's an act...’ Crimson thought, still unable to accept that somepony might be nice to him just to be nice.

"I wasn't lonely,” he scoffed. “I like being alone; It helps me gather my thoughts and relax for once. But obviously you can't tell the difference, so I'll have to ask you to leave me alone." Crimson averted his eyes, closing them tight while trying to still look bored.

It came out harsher than Crimson had planned, but he had to prove a point. That's who Crimson Rays is; a cold, quiet, ruthless, stubborn, tempered, fearless, bold, sadistic, and emotionless (mostly) young ten year old orphan colt. He's dealt with hardships most ponies would never even come close to having to go through, but it had given a more solid, calm demeanor for it. His near genius IQ, strong, fast, and agile body, and analytical mind made him what he was. However, his detachment to the world around him had made him a very antisocial, hateful, and dark colt as well.

"But- but everypony needs a friend... right?" is what Vinyl managed to slip out of her throat. She was on the verge of tears, but was still hell-bent on trying to help this colt out through his problems. Crimson, however, caught on to this.

"I don't know how I can be any more blunt about this than I already am right now, but how about this? Fuck. Off. NOW." Crimson tapped his hoof on the table thrice as he said the last three words, to spell out for her.

He felt pretty terrible about what he had said to this filly, but brushed it off immediately to prevent having any emotions come from it. He also didn't get much time to think when a lone hoof smashed down on the table he was sitting at, making an incredibly noisy pound surprising both Crimson and Vinyl.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU JERK!?!?!" screamed an angry voice that belonged to a young colt near them.

It was Storm Scratch, and his face was red with anger. You could almost see the sparks that were in his blue eyes.

"Well, well. It's that 'knight in shining armor' brother of yours." said Crimson, who had already regained his bored look, not even bothering to sit up from his chair. He took a look at the unicorn colt in better view. He had a matching white coat of that of his twin, he had semi-long hair, much like Crimson, but instead of black with red stripes, Storm's was white with blue, zigzagging, thin, sapphire lines, and the same color as his eyes, going down his hair, almost resembling lightning bolts. He had a solid, slim build for his age and no cutie mark, much like Crimson. And his eyes, they were like Crimson's in almost every way, not color wise, but filled with hatred.

"All she wanted was to be your friend, to help you, was that really so damn hard to give her?!"

Many of the kids, even the teachers, had their full attention glued to this scene. Crimson wasn't liking the attention, but that wouldn't distract him from the problem at hoof.

"Being a moody ass and treating others like shit isn't going to help you in life you know." the white colt went on.

"Piss off! Don't preach to me on how I should live my life. Now, how about you focus on your own life, and get your big ass nose outta mine!" Crimson retorted, getting angrier.

“You were being a complete asshole to my sister, otherwise I wouldn't give two shits about your life; you self-centered prick." Storm’s voice was much calmer, but he still had the same fury in his eyes. Cold fury.

"Well maybe if you're sister would mind her own damn business, we wouldn't be in this mess, you fucking idiot." Crimson’s voice was full of pure hatred.

"Don't you DARE blame Vinyl for ANYTHING! Maybe if you lightened up your attitude, random people wouldn't have to give out pity to you! How pathetic is that!?" Storm regained his heat as he yelled at Crimson with anger seething in his words.

"I'm not the one who feels he has to show off in front of his sister to make himself seem less pathetic. Here's a better idea. Keep your fucking sister in check and put a leash on her, then, you can go cry to your mommy and daddy about your shit problems, because they're the only two people in Equestria who could possibly give a fuck." Crimson responded, giving his infamous half smile that seemed to always complement his dark personality.

Storm finally lost it and started shaking from the anger he was feeling. He used his foreleg to punch Crimson straight in the jaw, sending him flying out of his chair and slide face first onto the floor. Crimson Rays got up without even saying a word, wiped the blood from his mouth and proceeded to just stand there. Finally, Crimson spoke up.

"You're dead." Crimson proclaimed in an almost hissing, whisper-like voice, an enormous, toothy smile across his face. His eyes were angry, dull, lifeless, and his pupils were noticeably shrunken; and filled with nothing more than the animalistic instinct to tear Storm to shreds. Crimson had finally snapped, putting it lightly.

Storm felt a jolt of fear crawl down his spine, however, he instantly brushed the fear off, getting ready to fight. He looked to Vinyl next to him, the fear she was displaying was unbearable; she was shaking, her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her pupils were dilated, and she had tears streaming down her face like rivers. She was paying nopony attention but Crimson. Storm had even more reason to fight now. Storm had only one thought going through his head: ‘I have to fight this, for Vinyl. And nopony is going to stop me!!!’

Crimson lunged at Storm with an incredible amount of speed, Storm barely managing to block a punch with his forearm. Although he was able to guard the attack, that single punch was enough to make his arm almost completely numb.

‘Nopony has ever managed to hurt my arm this badly!’ the shocked white colt thought to himself, still trying to avoid every swing that was thrown at him. ‘He’s really strong, and he’s swinging at me completely unpredictably...’

Unfortunately, Storm’s luck had run out, as a kick slammed into his gut, followed by a hoof to the chin that smashed him to the hard linoleum floor.

As she witnessed the event with a heart pounding terror, Vinyl finally managed to snap herself out of it. Her brother, the single pony in her life who had ever bothered to stand up for her, was being beaten to a pulp in front of her eyes, and nopony even bothered to help. They all just watched the horrifying display of violence run its course, boredom or laughter in their eyes.

‘No, he’s protected me all this time, but he’s in over his head this time! Now’s the time to return the favor to him!’ Vinyl galloped as hard as her legs could carry her, in order to save her brother from his beating.

“No, stop it! Please, I beg you, STOP!!!” screamed the little filly, as she got in between Storm and his pulverizer.

“Out of the way, kid! I’m not done with him yet!” Crimson growled, showing off his smile that was almost the epitome death itself. Vinyl locked eyes with the black colt as she gulped, but bravely stood her ground none the less.

“Vinyl, get out of here, I don’t want to see you get hurt!” Storm grunted through his pain filled body.

“No, if he wants to get to you, he’s going to have to get through me first!”

“Alright, that’s enough!” screamed the school administrator, acting as if he had given a shit the whole time. Probably to keep from being sued from the parents of some of the kids watching. “Break it up, it’s time to see the Principal!”

“But Vinyl didn’t even do anything!” Storm growled.

“Doesn’t matter, she was still involved in this little incident.” he put emphasis on little, as if this was no big deal.

The three were dragged off by the authorities, leaving Crimson and his sandwich torn apart from each other.

“My sandwich...”

“Shut up, this is all your fault.” Storm snarled.

“Calm down, this is just another harmless trip to that office for me.” he smirked. “And besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Their punishment given to them by the Principal was to clean the lunchroom and gymnasium for an entire month. The rest of their punishment was said to be told after they cleaned up their immediate mess.

“This could happen maybe, you idiot!”

“Just shut up and keep cleaning...”

As they finished, they were sent back to the office to receive their final punishment.

The school was divided into four different sections; the Elementary school classes, Middle school classes, High school classes, and the dormitories. The orphan children were given a place to stay at the school in their own dorm by themselves, with very little supervision. So the orphan children had to live at their own school, every kid’s worst nightmare. Well, Crimson was already experiencing a worse nightmare, so it didn’t exactly apply to him in specific. The three made their way back to the office, ready to have their eardrums bleed from the yelling once again.

“So, have fun?!” their Principal stallion sneered, making a complete ass of himself. “Did you clean every single speck from the lunchroom and the gymnasium?”

“Yes...” the three answered in unison, speaking in monotone.

“Good,” the stallion smirked. “-Now time for you to be issued your next punishment!” he said with glee. “You are all aware that you live in the school dorm rooms, right?”

‘No, I was not aware of this, you fucking prick!’ Crimson sneered in his head.

“Well guess what?! We’re being clogged at the moment in the dorms lately, so we’ve now been assigning kids with no blood relations in the same dorm rooms!”

‘Oh Celestia, please no...’

“You three are being assigned to the same dorms, so pack up your shit, you’re all moving out!!!”

“WHAT?!” the three shrieked in unison once more.

“Have fun!~” the Principal waved in delight, “Oh, and shout in here again, and you’ll get a month added on to your cleaning duties!”

As they left, Crimson’s stomach started to growl profusely at its master. He never got to eat that sandwich...

Crimson finished off the delectable sandwich that Pinkie Pie had given him. Thank goodness for that, he’d been without food for almost two days, what with him being in the hospital and all!

“Thanks, Pinkie! This next one’s the story of how Storm and I started to hate each other a little bit less, maybe you could consider us friends...”

“Hey, asshole, it’s your turn to wash dishes tonight!”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll do it in a minute, Sprinkles...”

The two colts were about to have another pointless argument, one that involved Crimson’s laziness and Storm’s strictness colliding once again. It had been almost a month since they had fought about who slept where in their new rooms, with the little filly always on the sidelines begging the two to cease their fighting. Crimson was relaxing -or trying to- on the top bunk of the room’s bunk bed -which wasn’t even his-, while Storm barked orders at him, feeling like he was shouting at a brick wall.

“My name is Storm, you idiot! Now quit being so goddess damned lazy and do your share of the housework!”

“Alright, Stormyouidiot, I’ll start once you go away and stop nagging me about it. Jeez, it’s like I’m living with two fillies.” the black colt groaned.

“Say that again, you lazy asshole!” Storm threatened, his face burning up as he about to lose himself in another fight. “I fucking dare you!”

“I’m living. In the same dorm room. With two. Little. Annoying. Twin fillies.” Crimson smirked, like a true smartass. “There, now maybe your brain will finally comprehend something for once. And fucking quit calling me lazy!”

“Guys, stop it!” Vinyl yelled. “I don’t want us to have to go to the Principal's again after what he said last month.” she tried to talk reason into the colts. “We’re almost done with the first punishment, why add to that one, right?”

“Then tell your brother to quit bitching at me!” Crimson grumbled.

“Then tell this asshole to actually pull his own weight!” Storm snorted back.

The filly sighed, preparing to leave the room in frustration. “Fine. I guess there’s way to talk sense into a couple of foals...”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING FOALS!!!” the colts yelled in unison, their muzzles as red as apples. The two glared into each other's eyes, as Storm ran off to catch up with his sister.

“...Fuck this shit...” the black colt decided to just get it over with, jumping from the bunk and heading to the kitchen. About fifteen minutes in, he was finally close to finishing up. Well, until he saw what was going on outside. It was a two story dorm, so he could see almost everything. “What’s this now?”

“Stay the hell away from her!” It was Storm’s voice. He was right in front of Vinyl, as they were surrounded by about sixteen different colts, all towering over the Storm. Five of them were already laying on the ground, looking to be unconscious. However, Storm looked like he was almost at his limit.

“Not a chance, you little bastard!” one of them snarled at him, He was the largest one of the group, so he was probably their “leader”. He also had the cutiemark of a Teddy Ursa with all of its stuffing ripped out. “I didn’t forget the last time we met, punk! Now you’re going to pay for it, you and your sister!”

Three of the bullies charged at the smaller white colt. Storm kicked one in the stomach, and then smacked another in the chin with an uppercut, but the third pony got behind him, putting Storm in a choke hold.

“Haha, you’re not as tough as you say you are, punk!” the ringleader snorted, as the other kids began to laugh as well. As he walked closer to the white colt, he proceeded to jab the colt repeatedly in the stomach.

“Brother!” Vinyl shrieked in terror. “Please let him go, I’ll do anything!”

“You think begging’s gonna help you?!” the bully scoffed. “Ha, you’re next after we’re done with-”

The colt met with a hard kick to the face, a hind leg that belonged to a certain black colt, and he landed on the ground, the bully flying through the dirt.

“Jeez, what’s with you two and getting your asses kicked?” he smirked.

“C-Crimson?!” the filly couldn’t believe her eyes. “Did you just jump out a two story window?!”

“Duh!” He flapped his wings proudly, as if to say ‘pegasus, remember?’ Then he turned his attention towards the group of bullies. “Now, drop that pansy before I drop you...”

The one holding Storm sneered. “You think it’ll be that eas-” the colt was cut off by Crimson’s hoof.

“Looks like it.”

As the colt stumbled back in pain, Storm started to get to his hooves.

“...Need any help?” the white colt asked with enthusiasm.

“She’s your sister, so I don’t see why not.”

Storm smiled as the bigger colts all gathered around the two of them. They stood up on their hindlegs, back-to-back as the bigger kids tried to overwhelm them. “You’re gonna get your ass kicked, Crimson.”

“Whatever you say, Sprinkles.”

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

“Stop grinning like an idiot,” Storm muttered, a big smile plastered on his face.

“Oh, go bugger your mother, Raindrops. I haven’t had that good a fight in a while,” Crimson smiled back. The two colts laughed as they waited for the Principal to deal out their punishment.

“Whatever, Red.”

“Red? Heh. I like that.”

“Yeah, really? You’re an ass.”

“You too, buddy.” The two colts laughed again as they trotted into the nervous principal’s office. They walked out with their current punishment lifted, a black-eyed stallion shaking on the floor behind them. Life was... bearable.

“And that,” Crimson said with a flourish, “is the story of my childhood. It’s a work in progress.” He yawned, feeling a bit sleepy.

The six mares all either stared at him, or shifted uncomfortably. It’d been a long winded story, that’s for sure. “Um...” Twilight bit her lip, then pressed on with her question. “What happened to give you that scar?”

Crimson laughed mirthlessly. “That, my dear friend, is a story for another time. No. Instead, I think I’ll tell you about a filly who I’d grown close too. A filly I had to kill. The filly who helped me open my eyes to all the shit I was letting ponies like Boss shovel down my throat, because I didn’t know any better. Heh heh heh... I may be smart, but I’ve been stupid for my whole life.”

“Red! Red! Red! Look at me! Look at me! I can fly like you, Red!” Crimson watched the young filly float around, her horn lit up as she performed backflips and pirouettes and loop-de-loops. She was a pretty good fly-thunk-er, ouch.

“Heh heh, y’know, you’re clumsy, Bright. C’mon. Climb on my back. I’ll show you what flying’s all about.” Crimson hefted the young filly’s weight onto his back, and jumped easily into the air. She barely weighed anything as he pulled off different stunts and maneuvers. Nothing like the Wonderbolts. Flashy. Silly. Amateurish. No, he pulled tricks he’d learned especially from Boss’ best fliers. He did a Broker’s Backflash. A Stinging Winger. A Bladed Blowout. A Barrel of Laughs. Just because they had funny names, didn’t mean they weren’t deadly if done with weapons.

Wild Card had been sent to kill a magical prodigy by the name of Star Bright. This filly. But, as luck would have it, he thought he was supposed to kill Far Bright. Her father. He succeeded in the hit, but didn’t get the right deader. So, Crimson was sent in. What he found was... surprising. The filly knew. She knew he was there for her life. She just asked if it’d be okay to say goodbye to mommy first. Crimson’s resolve... crumbled. He couldn’t do it. Deaders were supposed to beg. Plead. barter, wager, attack. Those were normal. But... asking to say goodbye. Acceptance. That... You couldn’t fight that.

“And then what?” The sun was beginning to peek through the curtains. Crimson took another sip of water and cleared his throat.

“I gave in. I took her to her mother. She told her mother that she had to go. Her mother begged. Pleaded. She made me angry. Her daughter... the one who had the contract, the one who, by order and law of Boss had to die, was accepting of her fate. Her mother... I almost killed her mother just to get that mare to shut up.”

“Please, don’t hurt her! Please! Not my baby! Take me instead, please! I’ll do anything! Anything!” Crimson snarled at the sniveling mare. She flinched back.

“You insufferable bitch. You do realize that I could easily kill you, go downstairs, make myself a pot of coffee, butter up a slice of toast, and read the Goddess damned newspaper and still have enough time to kill your daughter before anypony noticed? Throwing your life away is stupid. All it does is make there be one more body.” Crimson’s demeanor shifted a bit. “Now... I have to take care of her. Boss ordered me to. So... I’ll take care of your daughter. I promise. I... she’s smart. Knows when to accept fate.” He chuckled sadly. “Fuck, she can probably read the future or minds or something. She... she knew she had to die, and she’s willing to face it. This is goodbye, madame. For now. If you so much as tell a soul about anything I did or did not do while here, I will come back and finish off this family. Does that sound fair enough?”

The mare gulped and nodded, still shaking like a teacup in a foal’s telekinetic grip. Crimson smiled, his entire face relaxing. “Okay, Bright. let’s go. I should ‘take care of you’ before anypony becomes the wiser. But first... got any toast?”

“So, you took care of her? You’re boss told you to... be her parent?” Twilight asked, face contorted with confusion. Crimson massaged his temples with his forehooves for the umpteenth time.

“... Twilight, have you ever heard of double entendre?” Twilight blinked with incomprehension. “... Okay, let me give you an example. If I were to try to break into a house by using a key that was too big for the lock, a natural thing for me to say would be “it doesn’t fit”-

“That’s what she said!” Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, who was snorting at her joke. Crimson smiled.

“Exactly! That sentence that I said could be said in exactly the same way, but under different circumstances. Like, during sexual intercourse, where a stallion is too big to fit inside a mare. But in this case, the phrase ‘Take care of her’, as said by Boss, meant ‘kill her’. As I said it to her mother, I meant ‘keep her safe’. Double entendre. It’s Fancee, I believe.”

Twilight’s eyes sparked as the gears in her head seemed to click. “Oh! A double meaning! Why didn’t you say so?”

Crimson groaned. “I did.” Shaking his head, he said, “Now... where was I?”

Crimson had taken her to one of his numerous safe houses. In specific, it was his Thursday house. So named because he only used it on Wednesdays. He let the filly down, and she started trotting around, looking at everything he had. He had spears and flails and swords of all sizes hung proudly on the walls. “Wooooowwwww.... you got a lot of cool stuff, Mister!”

“Crimson.”

“Huh?”

“My name. It’s Crimson.”

“Aww... but that’s a long name! I’ll call you... Red!”

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

“Look at me, Red! I’m getting pretty good, huh?” The white filly was twirling around a Bō staff like an expert, smacking it against the practice dummies with enough force to create a thwack with each hit, but not much else.

“Yeah. You’re doing great. Keep practicing.”

“Okay, Red!”

Crimson smiled, but then frowned. Boss had found out. It’d been only four months, and Boss already knew. Bah. Now it was down to a choice. Kill Star Bright, or let her suffer? Kill the one piece of happiness he’d ever had, or let somepony else kill both him, and it? He... he couldn’t decide.

That night, he stood over her. Watching her chest rise and fall, filled with life. A heart that beat. Blood that ran hot with love and laughter, kindness and sweetness. She was not big for her age, still just barely old enough to have earned her cutiemark. Her cutiemark was a starburst with a constellation formed in front. The constellation was in the same shape as his own cutiemark. He understood. It came to him or her. Every fate had decided that.

“... Red? What’s the matter?” He looked down at the filly, her eyes filled with sleep. In the moonlight, her white coat was illuminated like a ghostly apparition. Her cotton candy pink mane was ruffled, not in its usual pigtails. Her eyes cleared, and a look of knowing filled them. “He found out, didn’t he?”

Crimson didn’t have to answer. The tears running down his face were answer enough. The filly nodded to herself and closed her eyes, laying back on the bed, a small smile on her face. “I’m ready to go, Red. I’m sure my father would be happy to see me.” Crimson stood there, trembling. He pulled out his katana, the black blade not reflecting any light as it was lifted into the air above his head.

Crimson sniffed. He rubbed the tears out of his eyes, only for more to replace them. “D-d-dammit, Crimson. Y-you’re fucking this up. Sh-she can accept it, so why can’t you? CELESTIA DAMMIT!” Crimson slammed his sword into the door’s frame, the blade sticking fast. He bucked at the wall, whinnying in sorrow as he tried to pull himself together.

He felt warmth surrounding his left foreleg. He opened his eyes to see Star Bright looking up at him, hugging his foreleg comfortingly. “It’s okay, Red. I know you don’t want to. But you have to. It’s your job. And good ponies don’t stop doing their jobs because they don’t wanna do it.”

“No. Good ponies wouldn’t have this job in the first place. I deserve to die.”

“We are sad to hear that. You were... cute.” came from a completely different voice. Crimson turned around, the fear taking its place when his eyes found where the voice had come from. It was Terra... “Boss told us that if you failed, we’d get to take our own sweet time. We have some wonderfully slow toxins. And we have two wonderful volunteers to help us.” the mare smiled, her voice not quite frigid.

“No... it’s Autumn...” Crimson growled through gritted teeth.

An earth pony mare stood before him, her head covered in a hat made out of brown and golden cloth to make it look like leaves. She didn’t appear to be wearing her cloak today, showing off her Pisces symbol for a cutiemark.

Vines snapped through the floor, wrapping around the two helpless ponies. Terra laughed again as another vine brought a vial to her, the contents a decidedly unpleasant green.

“Let’s start with little Mr. Tough guy,” Terra exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to see your powers of endurance.”

With that, the vial was carefully poured into a syringe and sent racing through Crimson’s bloodstream. Crimson was calm. Like the Taurus he had for a cutiemark, he was more powerful when angered. But when calm, he didn’t go at normal speeds. He tended to be a little... sluggish. This was due to his brain trying to speed up its processing time while using less blood. Then, Terra was gone.

After a minute of struggling, Crimson finally got to his hooves and, draping Bright on his back, he limped to his poisons station. He was no master at the art, but he was sure he could make a cure.

“C-come on, nnrgh-now, Crimson... j-just fix up an Argh-antidote!” Crimson’s legs crumpled beneath him, almost making him drop the vial clenched between his teeth. He looked at Star Bright. She was convulsing on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes. But she made not a whine nor whimper. She was strong. He had to be strong for her, and get her an antidote.

The antidote was ready. He tried to feed it to Star, but his own convulsing made him rethink his plan. Crimson knocked back the slightly bitter concoction, his spasms becoming more controlled, until he was only slightly shaking. There was only enough left for one dose. He prayed to whatever higher powers that were out there to please let him do this one good. That’s all he wanted. He didn’t want Bright to feel pain any longer.

It happened before Crimson could blink. Star Bright’s hoof shot forward, slamming the glass containing the cure from his mouth, the cure becoming nothing more than a stain on the carpet. He stared at it in shock, then at the filly. Her eyes, though contracted with pain, had a smile in them. “D-do it, R-Red. It’s th-th-e only way.” Bright’s face contorted as the poison seeped through her bloodstream, boiling away her life from the inside out.

Crimson shook, but not from the poison. He shook from the power of his emotions, his infinite sadness. He plodded back to his weapons room, each hoofstep ringing like the Reaper’s call.

He stood over her twitching, flailing body. Her face still had that pained smile on it. He couldn’t look as he drove the dagger through the vein right above her heart. “I’m sorry,” he said, tears running hotly off his face. Once he pulled the dagger out, she’d be dead. “I... I love you, Bright.”

The filly lifted her head a little, before slumping back to the ground. Crimson leaned in to hear what she had to say. chu~ She kissed his cheek, before saying “I love you too, C-cri-son...” He pulled the knife out slowly, kissing her cheek.

“Goodnight, Star Bright. Rest in dreams away from fright. I- I hope you... you...” Crimson broke down, crying, over the filly’s body. Her eyes were closed, lips curled into a soft, relaxed smile.

Crimson laid still in the hospital bed, tears streaming down his face. “It didn’t matter what happened to me after that. I grabbed as much of my bits as I could, and left. First, I went to her mother. Told her what had happened. I think... For once, she believed me. Somepony believed me. She helped me, hid me in her house while I cried and suffered. Soon, though, I had to leave. Storm had tracked me down. Then I went to Hoofington. Big, big place. Thought I’d be able to blend in. Glitch gave me some new weapons and gadgets, then called in our old friend Notch. Glitch wasn’t one to leave a friend in need, but he also wasn’t gonna die just to let me have a moment’s break. Notch encased more than half of the city in diamond. Everything was diamonds. Apples, trees, buildings. Everything. I tried Las Pegasus. Only Glitch had wings, so I thought I’d be safe. I was wrong. Storm had been there a week, using a cloud walking spell to stay aloft. He was weak from having to recast the spell every six hours, so he wasn’t that bad that time. But.... No matter where I went, I was driven out. Boss doesn’t want me. And what Boss wants, Boss gets.”

Crimson wiped the tears from his eyes, looking at his audience. Fluttershy was bawling softly into Pinkie’s side, Applejack was hiding behind her hat, Rarity was wiping at her eyes with a dainty hoofkerchief, to no avail, and Dash was facing away, rubbing furiously at her eyes. Twilight was looking at the ground, her tears falling undaunted to the floor.

“Crimson... I- I- WAAAAH!!!” Pinkie jumped atop Crimson, crying into his chest. “I’m so sorry that that happened! I’ll do anything to help you! Just tell me what it is, and I’ll help you!”

“We all will, sugarcube.” Applejack looked into his eyes, knowing that every word the colt had said was true. And if there was one thing she understood, it was the truth.

Twilight reached over and hugged Crimson and Pinkie tight, her eyes squeezed shut against the tears. “Crimson, I...”

Next came Rarity, trotting around to the other side to get a better hold. “You poor, poor dear!”

Fluttershy joined in next, mewling and sniffling as she squeezed her friends gently.

Rainbow Dash, eyes red and raw from tears, stood next to Twilight and wrapped her forelegs around Crimson’s midriff. “Y-you a-ass...”

Applejack was last, squeezing past Rarity and wrapping her forelegs around his head, cradling it. “We understand, Crimson. Ah do, prolly more than most. Mah own parents are dead, y’know...”

Crimson’s heart filled with warmth. His tears continued to flow, but now he found the courage to smile. He was surrounded by friends. Good friends.

“Ahem.” There was also more than one of them laying directly on top of him, and the doctor did not seem to think that was proper medical procedure.

Crimson blinked in the bright sunlight. It wasn’t quite noon, but the day was warm nonetheless. The doctor told him to not mess around with storms, and to let the pegasi trained for weather control take care of them next time. Crimson chuckled at that. He limped back to the farm, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie keeping him steady, each one pressed up against him.

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

Wild Card looked up at Boss, or what little he could see of him. His smile went wide, his eye twitching in barely contained glee. “Track down Crimson, you say? Oh, of course, your Boss-e-ness. I’d be delighted to! Heeheeheeheehee!” The earth pony galloped out of the chamber, not even seeming to touch the ground in his haste.

Boss settled back in his chair, puffing out a plume of smoke. His mouth opened, showing his sharp teeth in an evil cheshire smile. “Crimson. Expect company - My ‘Company’ - shortly.” Boss chuckled, his tail rasping along the ground. “Very shortly. We’re having a company picnic in Ponyville, Ahahahahahaha!”

Editor’s note: Woohoo! We sure surprised you with getting this one done early, didn’t we? Well, that’s all because we had the flashbacks written up beforehoof. So... everypony give Wolfie a big round of applause! *clops forehooves on the ground repeatedly* Seriously, guys - this author is so modest! I edit and add stuff, but he always thinks he doesn’t do much. Buck, if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be writing for him in the first place! XP

And of course, Thank me for being a crazy ass. Did you cry when Crimson killed Star Bright? I did, and I wrote the damn scene! TT~TT

I still find it funny that I get a more powerful vibe from working on this than my own fic. Completely and totally weird.

Anyways, we love you guys so very very much! ~ Super Big Mac