“Gmmphr.... my ass hurts...”

The sun’s rays shined its way through the window, right onto the black colt’s face. Crimson cursed Celestia’s name under his breath, grumbling irritably. The colt winced, his body still felt a shot of pain every time he even budged, though it didn’t feel as bad as the day before. His eyes wandered around the room, as he spotted his Katana in its sheath against the wall and his belt of utilities on the floor next to it, which he completely refused to leave the hospital without.

“Next time I see that little bitch, I’ll...” He sighed, not having the heart to finish the rest of that sentence. Storm was once considered a friend, a friend he thought he had left behind and forgotten long ago...

The black colt, despite his battered body, stumbled to the bathroom. He was looking forward to another shower, or his early naptime. While relaxing in his shower however, he found himself thinking about whatever came to his mind. Crimson loved to gather his thoughts, it helped him gain a small amount of peace for once.

‘...I hope the guy doesn’t end up killing himself, little Vinsy would be crushed.’ went through the colt’s head, as steamy hot water ran down his sleek coat in a sudsy deluge. ‘That idiot always did overwork himself half the time I knew him, but he really has changed since the last time I spoke with him. He used to scold everypony, but he did it for everypony's safety and well being, even though it was annoying as hell.’

The black colt smirked as the nostalgia went through his brain. As his mind began to wander, he seemed to come to a sudden realization.

‘....Twilight seems to know more about Storm then she lets on...’ he thought to himself, his hoof resting on his chin, ‘Maybe she met him at some point. I wouldn’t be surprised; Celestia’s top student in magic and Celestia’s top guard would have had to meet at some point, right?’

As he started loosening up, Crimson’s mind drifted even further. ‘Pinkie Pie and Applejack have been acting a bit weird lately.... probably just a mare thing.’ he concluded with a shrug. If there had to be absolutely ONE subject he was completely ignorant in, it would have to be the female species, what with a lack of their company for most of his life and all. Though Vinyl might have been an exception to the rule had she not been such a tomboy.

As the water began to cool down, the colt finished up his shower, toweling his soaked coat off and making his way to the mirror once again, with another "Good morning, asshole." He wasn't exactly accustomed to mirrors, as he had had rarely given his looks a glance. Crimson honestly couldn’t rate his appearance, he didn’t know what ‘handsome’ was supposed to look like. Sure he was called cute, good looking, handsome, and a few names that made him cringe at the thought of them, but the colt had trouble believing any of it to be true, he just figured they wanted to see him trip over his hooves like an idiot. Jeez, his self esteem is pretty damn low, isn’t it?

Crimson just decided to brush it off as he put his cloak on and weapons underneath, making his way out into the open world. It was already about ten o’clock in the morning, so he figured the Apple family already partook in breakfast.

‘Whatever, not even that hungry anyways...’ the colt thought, as the only sound in the kitchen was a grumbling from below. That is, until Crimson noticed something on the table. 'French toast?' he thought to himself. ‘And it’s still warm.’ Crimson also noticed that there was a note folded to the side of the dish.

“Dear Crimson,” he read aloud, “Have a lot of work to make up, so me and Big Macintosh will be in the apple fields for a while. You weren’t awake yet, so I just decided to let you get your rest and made you some breakfast for when you finally get out of bed. Enjoy~ your friend, Applejack.”

‘Applejack...’ the colt’s face started to turn a bright shade of red. “Thank you...” Crimson took his first bite, able to taste of the apple cinnamon spread over the dish, savoring every flavor.

“Delicious~...”

He figured getting some training done wouldn't be the best plan with the citizens of Ponyville up and running, so he decided to just lay on top of a tree and relax. Once he climbed up - which was a bit difficult due to his bruised muscles, not to mention painful - he noticed the two Apple siblings were still working, observing them as they bucked their hind legs against the bark of the trees, each apples falling clean off the branch, landing into a basket that leaned against the trunks of the apple tree. ‘Heh, they must pack one hell of a kick...’

“Pheew!” the orange mare exhaled, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “Sorry Ah had to get ya’ll roped into this, Big Mac.”

Applejack was so far behind on her work schedule, that her brother had to join in on her shift and help her buck the trees. But of course Big Macintosh wasn’t upset in the slightest, she was his little sister after all. “Eenope. It’s all good, sis.” he reassured with his usual mellow smile.

“Need any help?”

The voice made the two jump, as they looked all around, but couldn’t seem to spot who it belonged to.

“Look up.”

In doing so, their gaze landed on a familiar cloak clad colt, just standing ontop of an unbucked appletree.

“Crimson, what in the hay...” said the dumbfounded mare. “An’ Ah think ya ain't supposed to be up and at em’, y'all jus’ came outta the hospital ya know.” Applejack said, her voice tinged with worry.

“It’s fine, I’ve dealt with much worse.” he reassured with a calm tone. “Anyway, my offer still stands.”

“Sorry Crimson, but Ah jus’ can’t let ya help, not when the doctor said that y'all should stay in bed!” she pestered, worried the colt might hurt himself.

“Eeyup.” the burly red stallion agreed.

“I’m fine!” Crimson said in irritation, as he begins to flail his arms repeatedly, keeping a straight face. “See, no pain! Now please just let me help!” The cloak clad colt could have sworn he just broke something, but he wouldn’t let Applejack know that.

The farm mare simply sighed. “Fine, jus’ don’t overstrain yerself, ya hear?”

“Will do!” the black colt smirked. This was going to be a piece of cake!

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

“....I really hate this forest...”

With almost no luck with finding any ingredients, Storm searched throughout the Everfree Forest, sulking the whole way through, his body coming close to giving way from exhaustion. This was one of the strangest places the colt has ever traveled, and seemed to be the most useless at that, too.

“I haven’t managed to find one fucking ingredient for healing aids... if it wasn’t for my fast healing, I’d be done for...” The unicorn was starting to lose hope, and slowly accepting the fact that he might starve and die in this forest...

“It’s not like it even matters, Princess Celestia isn’t going to be happy that her best soldier lost to a good for nothing criminal and his team of groupies. I’m just going to get fired for this when I get back to Canterlot anyway, leaving Vinyl and I even more to worry about. At least she has her Disk Jockey career to live off of, I’ll just be that pathetic shame of a brother that she has to take care of... Would it even matter if I died in the confines of this forest?” he asked himself, as he began to lose all of his confidence.

While his depression grew, he managed to hear a rustle behind the thick wall of bushes behind him.

“Come the hell out and show yourselves!” Storm growled. “You better have a good fucking reason to follow me, I'm in a really bad mood right now and-”

An enormous figure dove out from the bushes, shaking the ground with its weight as it landed. It had the body of a lion with a red mane around its head, the large tail of a scorpion, and a pair of wings that resemble those of a bat. The creature let out an ear piercing roar, it’s sharp row of fangs exposed from its mouth, which had foam leaking from it.

‘Oh shit. A-a manticore...’ Storm’s eyes widened in terror, he knew he wasn’t going to be much of a match for the creature in his current condition. ‘And to make matters worse, it looks like it’s rabid as well.’

The manticore wasted no time as it charged right towards the white unicorn colt. Storm managed to duck under its sharp claws, rolling to the side to prepare a counter attack. However, the manticore used a counter attack of its own, as it’s scorpion tail made a stabbing motion toward Storm’s chest. His horn began to spark, as Storm was able to conjure a wall of pure magic. It didn’t last long, as the pure force of the manticore’s attack shattered the spell.. ‘Shit, I’m too worn out to use my magic at its full power!’

As the entire shield shattered to pieces, Storm jumped back to avoid getting stung by the monster’s appendage. As a single hind-leg landed onto solid ground, he pushed his whole body towards the manticore at an incredible speed, and he spun his entire body and smashed his hind-hoof into the beast’s snout, breaking its nose with a loud crunching noise in the process. He kicked off using the manticore’s face, causing it to slide back a couple feet, as lightning started to form around Storm’s hoof. With a quick swing of his hoof, a barrage of needles made purely out of electricity shot at the manticore, impaling into its side. Even though all of the needles hit dead on, the manticore still stood, snarling ferociously.

‘Wow, the manticore’s rabies are so bad, that it’s gotten to the point where it doesn’t even feel pain anymore...’ Storm thought to himself. ‘I guess it’s up to me to put it out of it’s misery then.’

Storm charged full speed at the manticore with a dagger drawn to each hoof, impaling the beast deep into the shoulder blades. The manticore retaliated with a swing of its tail, smashing into the colt’s gut, causing Storm to fly backwards through the air, knocking down an entire tree before coming to a stop at another one. He slammed back first into the second tree, knocking the wind - and most of the life - right out of his body. The manticore aimed its tail, as it shot a rapid fire of purple needles at a quick succession. Storm managed to quickly regain his focus, as the colt shot his own needles in hopes of knocking all of the monster’s off course, but one needle managed to scrape against the unicorn’s shoulder.

He observed the needles that shot from its tail, noticing as they started to dissolve into whatever it penetrated. The grass, and even the tree he leaned on began to slowly rot and die. ‘It’s poison!’

The manticore finally made use of its wings, as it shot up into the air, and started to quickly dive back down towards the colt. Storm formed the last of his remaining magic and shaped it into a spear that began protruding from his hoof made from pure electricity, and as he swung his arm, the spear slashed clean through the manticore’s neck, decapitating it. The beast’s body landed near Storm’s, its head rolling off its shoulders. Its jaw began to open and close repeatedly for a while until it finally became completely motionless.

Storm tried to get up, but didn’t get far as his body completely collapsed onto the rough surface of the dirt. ‘Shit... the poison’s taking effect.’ He started to lose his breath, feeling the insides of his body start to burn. Just before his visions faded, he was able to catch a glimpse of a pair of hooves coming closer his way.

‘...Am I going to die here?’ Storm looked up, seeing a blurry creature running up to him. Its edges were fuzzy and indistinct, and as his mind began to succum to the poison, he could have sworn he heard a lullaby...

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

Crimson looked at the work he had done, impressed with himself. He’d bucked apples for half the day, helped Applejack “slop” the pigs - even though the food they gave them seemed to be the best of the worst, as she said - and shear the sheep. And all through the day, Applejack had stayed close at hoof, just in case his wounds acted up.

He was starting to get nervous about how close she was getting, when a pink pony popped up before him and gave him a card, before darting off again. “Pinkie..?” Was all he managed to get out before sighing with exasperation.

Looking at the card, he saw that it was an invitation to a party. Crimson sighed again, this time with a smile. “Applejack warned me Pinkie’d throw me a party one of these days. Looks like it’s finally that time.” He started making his way to the barn, the cart full of wool ready to be spun rolling on behind.

As he trotted, fear started to boil in his stomach. “But.... can I really do this?”

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

“Wake up my newfound friend. Today is not your story’s end.”

Storm struggled to rise, his mind in a fog. ‘Where am I? I feel... nothing. Nothing but warmth. Is this death?’

“My unicorn friend, whose gender is male. Please, stop dreaming, and tell me your tale.” A blurred outline that radiated with brilliant light entered his vision, and at first he thought it his Sovereign, come to take him to the Other. But... no.

Storm blinked his eyes and rubbed them to get the sleep out of them. He looked at the figure whom he had mistaken as Celestia, and found only a zebra smiling down kindly upon him, her brow furrowed with worry.

“Ah, he’s alive, that much is good. Now tell me please, why are you in this dangerous Wood?” The zebra seemed to speak Equestrian well, but apparently only in rhyme. Storm shook his head, trying to clear it.

The zebra smiled. “Your head is fine, I should think, lucky I found you, lest you be on death’s brink.”

Storm snorted, and laid himself back down to stop the room spinning. “What,” he managed, his voice sounding like sandpaper.

“Water, you should draught, for thirsty you are, no doubt. Lucky I know the spells of the druids, for a manticore’s poison steals all fluids. Jerky, you hear, is what you’d be if not for your spear.”

Storm nodded his thanks, hoping the minimal movement would be enough.

The zebra smiled warmly as she held a ladleful of water up to his parched lips. Knowing that he was in no condition to fight off this zebra, and deciding that a potionsmaster wasn’t a large threat, he sipped at the water and submitted himself to the zebra’s administrations.

A few hours later, he woke and looked at his benefactor. “What,” his voice rasped, but only just. “What is your name, oh Wise Mare, if I may be so bold as to ask?”

The zebra smiled and laughed, her voice tinkling in the air. “Ah, ‘Wise’ I am not, oh Warrior of the Sun, just an old zebra Healer with a taste for adventure and fun. I know my trade well, and not much besides, but the knowledge I have, many a pony does deride.”

“You seem wise enough to humble yourself, and recognize an officer even without my authority jacket.”

“You see many things in a forest so strange, but a pony who walks unwittingly in, is either strong or deranged.”

Storm chuckled as he closed his eyes. “I’m a bit of both, actually.”

Not a moment later, a small card floated through the open window, settling gently before the zebra. “Oh? What is this I see? A party invitation, for me?”

Storm chuckled. “What’s the party for? The Duke of Zebras having a birthday party or something?”

“Seems to be a welcome party, how fun!” she said in glee. “The party is for a pony named... Crimson.”

“Red...” the unicorn growled, his anger seethed. ‘That asshole commits thousands of murders, yet he gets thrown a party...’ He directed his attention back to his new striped acquaintance. “Tell me, are guests welcome to attend?”

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

“Crimson, wha’s got y’all so worked up?” The orange mare asked in concern, as she and Crimson sat on the bed in the colt's temporary room.

“Well...” the black colt started, getting more and more nervous by the second. “...in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the most... social pony.”

It was more than an understatement, Crimson was a very antisocial colt. He craved being alone, so naturally, he hated parties. The black stallion (heh, references...) was always so shaken up when he was the center of attention, not as bad as that pale yellow mare was rumored to be, but relatively close. Plus, Crimson always held a certain anger for everypony, even if he didn’t know them at all. This was mostly due to the traumatic bullying he received as a little kid.

“Neither is Fluttershy, but it seems like she’s goin’, too.” she responded, bringing up a pretty big point.

“...I don’t know, I just can’t stand the company of strangers.”

“Well, they won’t exactly be strangers once ya try gettin’ to know ‘em.” Applejack reassured.

“I’m not exactly keen on the idea of getting to know anypony... I don’t think I’m going to attend.” he replied, the irritation started to build up, as he started to get a headache. The colt put on a stern face, as visible sweat seemed to run down his forehead. ‘Gah, why doesn’t she get it?! Probably because everypony in this town is too damn happy all the time!’

“Crimson....” The mare placed her hoof over Crimson’s in an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure he was feeling. Instead however, the contact was causing him to grow even more shaken, a bright blush growing over the flustered colt’s face. “We’re all here for ya if y’all get a lil’ nervous.” she spoke in a comforting tone. “An’ besides, y’all will leave Pinkie absolutely heartbroken if ya decide not to attend her welcoming party; she’s throwin’ it just for you.”

“She... I...” the conflicted colt buried his face in his hooves, letting out a deep sigh. “...Fine, I’ll go.”

Applejack wrapped her arms around the colt’s waist, leaving his face completely red. “Glad to hear that, thank you... Uh... Crimson, ya sure y'all ain't comin' down with a fever?" the worried mare asked as brought a hoof up to Crimson’s forehead. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take!

“I’m fine, really!" Crimson reassured. "It’s just that it's a little hot in this room!”

“Well y’all would probably be a lot less sweaty if ya didn’t wear that heavy cloak all the time.” The mare smirked. "It's fine, there isn't anythin' under that thing that the girls an' Ah haven't seen."

'I don't think she knows how bad that came out...' Crimson thought to himself, as his blush gained more heat. The colt just decided to ignore that for now. “Sorry, but this cloak stays on.” His voice grew stern. “There are things under this that nopony needs to see; my scar and weapons would just scare the hell out of everypony. Not to mention how weird my cutiemark is. I've had this thing forever. Without it, I just feel so... naked."

“Ah know how ya feel, Ah'm the same way with my hat! It belonged to somepony real important to me." Applejack announced with pride. Though as the seconds flew by, a question seemed to linger in her mind. “...What exactly is yer special talent anyway?”

“.....You know what, I’m not exactly sure...” Crimson answered, as he stopped to think about his what response to that should be. "Can I get back to you on that one, maybe at the party? I'll probably have an answer then." he promised, as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Course ya can, sugercube!" she giggled, a smile growing on her face. 'Ya know... he's kinda cute when he gets all tensed up like that.' Applejack thought to herself, feeling a bit of color tinge her cheeks. This however, remained completely unnoticed to the colt sitting next to her, as she began to shake the thoughts out of her head. 'Con 'sarnit, Applejack! Ya can't go an' act this way, it's jus' plain stupid!'

"Um... you okay there?" the colt asked, a single eyebrow furrowing.

"Oh! Uh... course Ah am!" she responded, now her turn to chuckle nervously. "Well, Ah'll jus' go an' check to see how the rest of the family's doin'! See ya in a few!" she yelled, darting out the door.

Crimson looked after her with a look somewhere between confusion and amusement. “....Mares.”

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

Wild breathed heavily, smiling deviously down at the small town clustered against the Everfree Forest. He was going to meet up with an old friend - two old friends if his sources were right. Time to go, the fun's about to start. He could feel it.

Pinkie blew the noisemaker with a shrill fweeeeeet as Crimson trotted through Sugarcube Corner's front door. "Surprise!"

The colt of the hour’s heart nearly stopped. Looking around, Crimson put on an innocent smile. “Where? I don't see her. Are you hiding, Surprise?” There wasn't a pegasus alive who hadn't heard of the prankster of the skies. Come to think of it, she looked like a bleached Pinkie Pie...

Pinkie giggled, knowing all too well who he was referring to. "No, silly! This is your party! I invited everypony, and the resident zebra!" She put her hooves back on the ground. "Cranky said that he and Matilda would've come, but they were 'busy'. So... Not everypony's here, but just about. Oh! Come on, I'll introduce you to everypony!"

Pinkie took his hoof and dragged him into the wall of ponies, introducing new faces left and right, all who congratulated him for his courageous corralling of the 'storm'.

And then he saw Storm, sitting in the corner beside a zebra, looking pretty shaky. He trotted over. “Storm. You're not dead.”

“That I'm not.”

“What are you-”

“Save it, asshole.” interrupted the unicorn colt. “I’m not here for you... this time. Your new “friends” almost didn’t let me anywhere near this place, but your pink lady friend didn’t see me as a threat for some reason...”

‘I take it asking is out of the question...’ the black colt’s eyes rolled. “By the way, the hell happened to you? Manticore get ya?”

“...Shut up.” The white colt spat, turning his head away in embarrassment.

“Tch, sorry that happened. I might've pissed it off. Just a bit.” replied Crimson, desperately trying to stifle a laugh from his mouth.

“Well, I'm fine now.”

“Good to hear. If you had died, Vinyl would've killed me.”

Storm smiled. "No, she'd have cried and called you an asshole. You would've gotten all emotional because she hated you, and then you'd have slipped up, and either end up killing yourself, or giving the honor to some wannabe assassin."

“.....Y'know, you're right....” Crimson smiled back. ”Glad to have ya back.” He raised a forehoof, Storm was reluctant to accept, but he just sighed and shook it.

“I’m still gonna kick your ass when I can feel my legs again.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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

As time went on, many ponies were either flailing around - or “dancing” as they called it - to the obnoxiously loud music playing the pink mare confirmed to be the genre known as ‘House’, or helping themselves to the incredibly wide variety of snacks left out by Pinkie Pie for the guests to enjoy. Well, except two of colts of the party, the two that were probably the least social of the bunch. The duo of angst, Crimson Rays and Storm Scratch.

The two had been sitting on opposite corners of Sugarcube Corner’s walls, not moving an inch since the party even started. Every so often somepony came to talk to one of them - Crimson more than Storm - and see if maybe one of them wanted to either dance, converse, or enjoy some of the baked goods. Needless to say, each request was denied, the white colt’s being the more cruel of the two.

‘... This is torture...’ As stated once before, the hearing ability of the black colt was very strong, so he obviously experienced the disadvantages through very loud noise. ‘What’s Storm doing over there, he hasn’t moved in a while...’

As if on cue, the unicorn’s head tilted to the side. ‘He’s asleep?!’ the black colt screamed in his head. ‘But.. how?! He must have been more worn out than I thought...’ As thoughts wandered his mind, Crimson stumbled upon an idea. ‘...Maybe I should try to take his oh-so-wise advice... Kind of how he always wished I had.’

The black colt’s position began to shift, as he tried to make himself more comfortable. However, before he was about to doze off, he noticed a very familiar pink pony trot up to him, a hint of distraught apparent on her face. “...Do you not like the party I threw you?”

The black colt sighed. “No, it’s nothing like that, Pinkie.” Crimson reassured. “I... I’m just not the kind of guy who mingles, y’know?”

“It’s fine, really. I just thought maybe you’d enjoy it...”

‘...Celestia dammit...’ Crimson scooted a bit to the side, giving the mare enough room to squeeze next to him. He hated seeing Pinkie act like this, he became almost as heartbroken as last time she acted like this...

“...I’m really sorry, Pinkie.” the black colt said genuinely. “It’s just that I have fucking terrible social disabilities, so it’s always been hard for me to talk to others... I’m honestly surprised I made any friends at all in my life...” Crimson tried to continue, but he found that he lost his words when he found himself being hugged by the pink mare, as he felt his cheeks burn. ‘Dammit, why are mares so damn touchy-feely?!’

While quickly trying to distract himself from the embarrassment, he noticed a certain lavender mare secluding herself from everypony else. She must have been in her own little world, too. “Hey Pinkie, what’s wrong with Twilight?”

“Huh? What do you...” her eyes wandered, until Crimson pointed a hoof in the right direction. “Oh, I dunno... Hey, Twilight!” yelled Pinkie Pie, gaining the attention of the studious mare, noticing her pink friend waving her over. Crimson scooted over more, allowing enough room for an extra pony, as Pinkie motioned with her hoof for Twilight to sit next to them. Pinkie was still leaning on Crimson, and he was starting to get as red as his name.

“Hey, guys!” greeted Twilight, putting on a deceiving, but warm smile.

Crimson sighed, knowing he might as well get it over with at some point... “....How exactly do you know Storm?”

“What?! Who ever said I....” Twilight stuttered, the colt looked to have gotten her to drop her guard. “...Fine, you got me...”

“.....Did you guys have sex or som-”

“N-No! Nonononononono!!!” she screamed, as her entire face began to redden. Luckily, the music drowned out most of her panic.

“Crimson, don’t ask questions like that!” scolded Pinkie Pie.

“...I used to admire him a little, alright?”

“You don’t say...” he smirked. “So you had a crush on him, huh?”

Twilight just stayed silent.

“Thought so.” the colt said with a smug look on his face, receiving a painful elbow from the pink mare.

“Twilight? Are you feeling alright, darling?”

The voice compelled the three to look up, finding none other than the beautiful Rarity towering over the two. She didn’t appear to be alone, as Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash stood right behind her.

“Somethin’ just looked like it was botherin’ ya, Sugarcube.” the worried orange mare said.

“Are you okay, Twilight? I-if you don’t mind me asking...” the skittish young mare asked, looking incredibly cute as she shied back.

The lavender mare sighed, figuring now was just as good a time as any to tell her best friends. Even Crimson deserved to know, considering his friend is a part of this story.

“...Before I met you girls, when I lived in Canterlot,” Twilight started, “-I didn’t exactly have many friends... and I always put my studies before them. It was two years ago, I was eighteen, and I was still in Celestia’s School for the Magically Gifted.” the rest of the mares sat around the lavender unicorn, each one offering their undivided attention to her. “A colt walked through the library one day; a very handsome colt. He saw me peeking up at him past my book, and he smiled and winked. I didn’t stop blushing for a week. I wanted to know more about this colt, so...” Twilight talked for a little while longer, but left her friends still wanting for an explanation. After getting a promise that she’d explain it better later, the group dispersed, leaving Crimson to try and get comfortable again.

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

Pinkie was hopping around the party, checking up on the guests when she noticed something was... off. She looked around, and finally saw what was different. The bright red banner she’d put hung from the ceiling was gone - now, there was a blue, red, and yellow banner with three names on it, and only two of them were names she recognized!

“Nice banner, innit it?” Pinkie turned to see the colt who was speaking. She didn’t recognize him. “It’s funny,” the colt continued. “Nopony’s noticed me at all yet. Not even with my name hanging proudly on that banner.” He drained another mug of cider.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she took a second to read the third name, “Card... I didn’t notice you over here, in the middle of the room... eh heh...” Pinkie blushed, pawing at the ground, frustrated at the failure she had already performed this evening.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Miss. I’m hardly noticeable. Really, though, nopony even saw me switch the sign." The colt chuckled at that, draining another mug. “Great party, by the way! I love parties!”

Pinkie was starting to get creeped out by this new colt. All he seemed to do was smile. But, his were different from the smiles she brought on pony’s faces. His smile.... looked like it was for the wrong reasons. Though he looked innocent enough, Pinkie knew there was something eerie about the strange colt.

“If you didn’t already know, I’m actually good friends with the Red and Sprinkles! I just wished that they still saw it that way!” the mysterious colt said with a chuckle. “But I’m not moody like those two, so you don’t have to be scared of me, ‘kay?” he reassured. Pinkie Pie smiled, not quite convinced. The colt smiled warmly, drained another mug of cider, and stood up. "Aaaaallllright, fillies and gentlecolts. I've knocked back a buck-load of Cider. Who want's to play Blackjack?"

Storm was... he didn’t know. He’d rarely had any fun since he joined the Company, and even afterwards when he joined the Guards, he’d still had very little fun. This party wasn’t what he would call fun, but... it made him feel off. He shook his head. He was just recovering from being mostly dead. It was only due to his natural healing that he could even walk. He twitched slightly, but it wasn’t from the loud music. He’d heard a word, crystal clear.

Crimson had heard it, too. They looked at each other and began walking towards the center of the room.

Blackjack. They only knew one pony who would show up and ask to play that game, and it usually meant he’d completed a job.

They were right. Already situated at a table with a few other ponies sat Wild Card, their old friend. Crimson spoke first. “Got room for two more, Wild Card?” He and Storm sat down across from each other, with Wild evenly spaced between them at the circular table.

Wild smiled mischievously. “Red! Sprinkles! What a coinky-dink!” Storm and Crimson glared at the wild-eyed Earth pony.

“It’s Crimson/Storm.” they shot back at the same time. “Wild. Outside. NOW!”

“Yeesh, talk about party poopers!” the strange colt chuckled. “Well, goodbye, ladies! I have some catching up to do!” He blew a kiss to the mares at the table, practically making them melt in their chairs at the charming little devil.

They walked out of Sugarcube Corner with a killing intent, but little did they know that they’d have an uninvited guest...

The younger sister’s moon had already taken over the sky, the streets completely empty. Well, aside from the three colts anyway. It was almost pitch black outside, perfect for the colts to “catch up”.

The widely beaming colt was the first to speak up. “So, how’s life been, fellas?” The only answer the colt received was the intense glare from two pissed off colts. “Okay okay, I get it...” he chuckled.

The white colt growled, “Red was my first target, but it looks like I get to kill you first, Wild Card!”

“OOooOooOooo, I’m so scared.” chuckled the brown earth pony, now known as Wild Card. “Look at you, you’re a wreck! It wouldn’t even be fun toying with you.”

“Just shut up and tell me why you’re here, Wild.” the black colt sneered, getting straight to the point.

“Oh nothing! Boss just wanted me to send you an awesome message!” Wild clapped with joy, further irritating the two colts. “He’s giving you an invitation back into the group, Red! Isn’t that just great? Doesn’t look he gives a shit about you though, Sprinkles. What a shame.”

“Do you really think I care, you little psycho?” Storm spat. “I plan to make Boss grovel at my hooves.”

Wild just giggled again. “You? Beat Boss? You sure that manticore didn’t give you brain damage, too?”

“...Your lucky I’m this worn out, or I’d electrocute you until your eyes popped out of their sockets.”

“And you’re lucky that I haven’t killed you... yet anyway.” Wild Card snorted. “Now let me finish, cause you’re gonna love this part, Red! If you don’t rejoin us, well... I’m afraid you’ll have to be killed. Now I don’t want it to come to that, but- Whoa whoa, take it easy, man!” the colt warned when he noticed the black colt reach his hoof inside his cloak.

“Do you really think I’d go down without a fight?!” Crimson growled.

“Well you wouldn’t be much of one, considering how Sprinkles kicked your ass.” Wild giggled to himself. “Look, you don’t have to decide today, I’ll give you until the end of the week. That way you won’t be too sore to come back, alright?” He asked, keeping his twisted, fox-faced grin. “Though I can’t guarantee there won’t be any casualties if you decline.”

Wild Card quickly leaped backwards, just barely avoiding a swing from Crimson’s blade. “I think I’ve made my point.”

“Well, if that’s your point, I’d like to see you sharpen up!”

Storm jolted at Wild’s face, his hoof connecting to the brown colt’s forearm. “Gonna have to do better than that, Sprinkles!~” Card knocked the unicorn’s hoof away, slamming his hind leg into Storm’s stomach, throwing him back at least fifteen feet before skidding in the ground.

Storm curled on the ground, clutching his gut in pain as blood leaked from his mouth. ‘Grrk, that bastard! He must have known I took blow from the manticore’s tail in my stomach! But... how could he have...’

As the black colt made an attempt to slash at him again, Card reached into his cloak and grabbed a tantō. As their blades clashed, he managed to divert Crimson’s aim upwards, and Wild Card quickly spun and smashed his front hoof into the black colt’s face. The blow managed to throw Crimson, as he slid across the ground, but he managed to cartwheel into the air with one of his hooves and land back on his hind hooves. While still sliding, Crimson reached into his cloak and threw out a four-bladed shuriken throwing star toward the colt with great force, as the weapon began to constantly grow and grow until it was at least the size of an actual full grown stallion. Just when it was about to hit its target, Wild Card made a horizontal leap just over the surface, spun in mid-air, and stabbed his tantō through the center of the shuriken’s hole and dug into the surface of the ground, trapping it as it’s spinning began to come to a stop.

‘Jeez, looks like he hasn’t lost any of his skill...’ Though the black colt was impressed, his rage managed to slip through. “You’re just gonna have to tell Boss that I ain’t comin’ back. He practically killed my sister, Wild! She was like a Sister to me! Don’t you have any sense of family or honor?!”

Wild Card’s face grew solemn. “Why, yes, Crimson. Which is why I don’t see why you’re making me have to kill my brother~” Wild whined as he approached the black colt. Crimson threw a small pellet of gunpowder at Wild, causing him to jump back.

Wild giggled fiendishly as he threw the playing cards he’d had hidden at the cloak clad colt. “Here, Red! You’re the King of Heart-less! You’re a real Ace when it comes to Clubbing your friends and coworkers upside the head!” Crimson dodged out of the way as the King of Hearts and Ace of Clubs dug into the ground, causing a small explosion.

“You’re silly card games won’t get you anywhere, Wild!”

“Ha-ha!” The earth pony exclaimed. “You’ve activated my trap card! Gooooooooo Spades!” The ground beneath Crimson’s feet rumbled as a giant Ace of Spades shot forth, breaking through the cobblestone and showering the three combatants with rocks. “Yes! The only card I need! Hahahaha! I always keep an ace in the hole!”

The card, which was about as thick as two bits, opened up to reveal a long sword with cards emblazoned along the blade. “Not so fast, your cardboard cutouts are no match for my superior skills!”

Out of the sky descended a pink pony with a poofy mane, her face turned into a cute but ferocious snarl. “Oh, Pinkie Pie, my dear! Don’t you want to hear my tragic backstory first, so you can love and tolerate me like your lover-boy and Sprinkles, hmm?”

Pinkie snorted. “I don’t need to hear it from you. I’ve already-”

“-read the bios, I know, Pinkie Pie. I read yours, too.” Wild Card smiled deviously as Pinkie seemed to shrink back in horror. “You see, we’re not so different, you and I. I love fun, you love fun, we all love having our friends close by. The only difference, is that when I experienced my psychotic break, I didn’t become happy, no, I’d already been like that before hoof. No, what happened was that I killed my twin brother after a game of blackjack. We were always even. I’d beaten him once again, and I was suddenly the victor for once. Usually, I was the one playing catch-up. Then, he beats me. He’d cheated. So, I got angry. Really, wonderfully angry. And I killed him with the cards he used to cheat.” Wild Card giggles like a schoolfilly, his body shivering as if in waves of ecstasy. “Oh, how wonderful that day was. I got his cutie mark, as well as my own.” He showed off both sides, one side bearing a black Jack and an Ace in a red Gemini, the other showing a red King and a red Joker in a black Gemini.

Wild giggled wickedly as he advanced on Pinkie. “So, you see, since you aren’t crazy enough to want to kill, you won’t kill. You can’t kill.” His face suddenly hardened, and he yelled as if in outrage. “YOU CAN’T KILL, PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! AND WHY NOT?! YOU HAVE THE CAPACITY! THE ABILITY!!!” He grew calm once more, his voice so rich and sweet, like the aroma of freshly baked brownies. “But, you’ve got loving friends, friends who love you for who you are, even if you do eat a few too many cupcakes for their liking.”

Pinkie was laying on the ground, hooves covering her head, whispering something to herself. Crimson pricked his ear forward, barely catching what she was saying: “... it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit STOP IT!!!!”

Crimson and Storm each took a step back at the sheer volume of her yell. “My. Name. Is. Pinkie Pie.” She panted heavily, her eyes filled with rage. “My name hasn’t been Pinkamena for years! I got rid of her! She was MEAN! She was never happy! And- and- she almost killed my Dashie! She wanted to, I could feel it. She wanted me too when I thought that they abandoned me. Oh, but I’m so happy I didn’t listen to her. But, there’s one thing that she and I can agree on. We. Hate. Bullies. And you are a big bully.” Pinkie was suddenly right in Card’s face, who chuckled nervously, his golden pupils shrinking, as he tried not to stumble back.

Pinkie smiled sweetly, and whispered to him. Crimson could only hear the words ‘trap card’ and ‘just desserts’ before the ground opened beneath Pinkie and Card. Card and Pinkie stood still, floating in space above the opening. Then, Pinkie reached up and honked Card’s nose. He fell in.

Giggling, Pinkie jumped to the edge of the hole and picked up a remote with a great big, shiny red button. “Hey, Red... I don’t normally let other ponies play with my fireworks, but since he is your friend... Wanna do the honors?”

Crimson smiled as a giant cannon rose out of the hole, the other ponies from the party streaming out to see the event. Crimson smirked and looked at Storm. “Truce?”

“...Truce.”

Crimson took the button from Pinkie and walked over to Storm. He set the button down and, with a nod, the two of them slammed down on the button.

As the fireworks went off, filling the air with amazing colors and light formations, Pinkie leaned against Crimson, smiling up at him through teary eyes.

He smiled down at her, only dimly aware of the fading scream of an earth pony being vaulted through the night sky. He had only one thought as he gave Pinkie a gentle hug.

‘... Mares...’ He smiled. This was getting strangely... comfortable.

“Crimson, you’re holding a teensy bit too tight.”

“Oh! Sorry...”

“It’s alright. Your muscles feel good.” Pinkie giggled as Crimson’s face took to his name once more.

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

“So Crimson, do you mind telling me what exactly JUST HAPPENED?!” the confused librarian mare yelled.

After that odd... incident, the six mares and the two colts decided to cool down and relax at the most quiet home that came to their heads, Twilight’s library. Crimson lounged around on her couch, Storm leaned against her wall on the far side of the room in order to keep as little contact as possible from everypony else. As for the mares, Pinkie Pie sat on the left side of the couch, while Applejack sat on the right. However, through some strange coincidence, both happened to sit right next to a certain black coated colt.

Across from the three were Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity, seated on the opposite couch. In the corner of the room near the books labeled under ‘Adventure’, Rainbow Dash was sprawled on the floor reading a book titled “Daring Doo and the Draconequus Tomb”. The book also seemed to really keep the tomboy mare’s attention.

“Well, remember how I told you about the orphanage?” There was much affirmative head shaking. “Well, me and Storm decided that we were fed up with that place. So, we grabbed Vinyl and made a break for it. We ran into a kid only a year younger than us in an alleyway not far from the Home. He told us to stop, relax, and play a game with him. He wanted to play blackjack...”

“Now, it wasn’t unheard of for the smaller kids to run around town, trying to get into the gangs, but this wasn’t one of the Hayseed kids. He was wearing nice clothes, and had a new deck of cards, not a grubby one with cards missing. We soon realized that he wasn’t going to let us go until we played him a game, so we sat down and got it over with. I won the first round, Storm won the second. The younger colt one the next three rounds. Storm won again, and I won once more. We played and played for a long while, before he finally laughed. He flipped over his cards, crying happily, ‘Blackjack!’ But me and Storm flipped over the cards we had face down. We’d each had a King dealt to us. Our facedown cards were Jokers.”

Crimson grunted in mock disgust. “He was pleased with himself. He told us that we were cool, and that we could go with him. His name was Wild Card. At that point, it had been a little over a year since he’d killed his brother, I guess. I didn’t know about that. I only knew that he’d done something to do with his cutiemark to get a job in the Company. Soon, Storm, Wild, and I were hanging out like we were the oldest of friends. Wild was... weird. For some reason, being around him made life more bearable. Me and Storm stopped fighting over everything. We only fought over the important things. Like when Vinyl and him found their mom.” The others leaned in expectantly, waiting for Crimson to continue. He opened an eye and looked curiously at the crowd. “What? I’ve said my piece. That was Wild Card. We met him in an alley. He loves card tricks. He’s an assassin, like me, and like what Storm used to be. We became friends, me and Storm joined the Company, Storm left, I became a depressed and angry asshole, instead of a normal angry one. I was sent to kill a filly after Wild screwed up, and then the rest is history. I left. He’s here to either recruit me, or kill me. Same as Storm.”

Everypony looked at Storm Scratch, who was watching the proceedings with an impassive look in his eyes. “... What’re you lookin’ at?”

The six mares, cloak clad colt, and baby dragon continued to stare at him expectantly. Where was Owlysious? Who the fuck cares, he was probably eating a mouse or something.

Storm grumbled, before rising to his hooves. “I should go. The forest is a dangerous place at any time, especially at night, and I need to get to Zecora’s home so I can rest. Good-”

“Wait!” Everypony (and baby dragon) turned to look at Twilight curiously. “Well, um, d-don’t you recognize me, Storm?” She tentatively took a small step towards the unicorn colt, who stared back at her quizzically.

“You are the Princess’ student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes, yes, but do you recognize me?” She started to prance slightly, a nervous blush appearing on her face.

“I... No, I guess not. I believe I’ve seen you beside Celestia at times, but you have been absent from the Courts for over a year, I believe.”

“I-it’s been closer to two years, now. But that’s beside the point! I-I’m talking about a few years ago, the first time you and I met. We were in the library. I-I was the filly in the corner, with all the books piled around her. You walked in, I guess I must have made some sort of noise, because you looked at me and winked!” Twilight’s face was now flushed a deep red, her eyes screwed shut. “A-and after that, a-at the Gala where you received your title of Guardian of the Court, you took me aside, and t-told me to meet you in the garden.”

Storm’s eyes widened at what he was hearing. ‘No... No, this can’t be that mare, c-could it?’

Twilight looked up at Storm, her eyes starry. “You held me close under the stars, keeping me warm. You... you stole my first kiss, and told me such sweet things. And then, you... you ignored me. For the next two years, you kept getting promotion after promotion, until you reached the highest rank attainable, and at such a young age! You and I were on the same tier - we were both tied directly to Celestia herself. Me in academics, and you in Militant rank. You... I asked you to the Gala after you reached that rank, but you never responded to my letter. You never answered your door when I came by. You were the first colt to ever show me love, and you only did for one day.”

Twilight sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Maybe it’s clouded judgement. Maybe I’m not thinking straight. But, of the two of you, Crimson’s been the true gentlecolt. He helped out at the farm, even though he should have been resting. He’s rarely complained, and he actually was sorry for destroying part of Applejack’s orchard. You? You did the exact same thing you did to me years ago. You breeze in. You attack your target. And you melt into the shadows.”

Rarity gave Storm a reproachful glare, and he winced back, finding fear where there should not be any. “Ugh, how vulgar! Savage, is what that is! Playing with a mare’s heart, just to toss it away like a broken toy! Now I see why the term is handsome devil. Hmmpf!” She turned her head up and away, all the while holding Twilight in a friendly embrace. “Oh, there, there, Twilight... Remember, I was an idiot too, when it came to love. I thought that a stallion of Nobility would actually be noble, but see how that turned out? I think that Canterlot elites like him are missing out on such a cute unicorn like yourself, Twilight.” Twilight giggled, tears forgotten as she pushed away from Rarity.

“Oh, stop!”

“See? Feeling better already.”

Storm groaned. ‘Why do they have to be so... so... Girly?’

“Jeez...” Crimson couldn’t help but facehoof. “I knew you turned into a dick, but... wow.”

“Like you have any room to talk.” Storm retorted, giving the black colt a glare. “Because going around Equestria like you own the place and killing ponies that your boss tells you to is sure a hell of a lot better!” the white colt spat with sarcasm in his voice. At that, Crimson began to chuckle. However, after a while, he started laughing hysterically, completely surprising everypony (and dragon) in the room. “What the fuck did you find funny about that!”

“Oh nothing at all...” he responded, trying to keep his giggles at bay, and regain his lost breath. “I just found it extremely ironic that what you said can actually be applied to your case better than it can to mine.”

The white colt’s face started to glow a little red in sheer rage, but he just let out a sigh, trying to keep calm. Storm figured the Princess wouldn’t take it lightly if he ended up hurting one of her star pupil’s friends if he went out of control on attempt to kill the ex hit colt.

“....Piss off, I’m out of here.” he replied, making his way towards the exit.

“You know you’re not gonna last long in your condition, right?” the cloak clad colt asked his former friend.

“...Mind your own business, Red.”

“Wait!” the lavender mare yelled. “Storm, hold on! You can’t-”

“Just save it.” the white colt spot back at the mare. “However, I will give you some advice.... Ditch the asshole. He’s dangerous and unstable, I wouldn’t put it above him if he killed you all in your sleep. Oh, and Red...” Storm directed his glare towards the black colt. “I’ll be back, you’re still my target after all. You’re finally going to receive your Divine punishment, I’ll be sure of it!”

And with that, the white colt slammed the door shut on his way out, leaving behind a very awkward silence for the rest of the remaining ponies.

“Well!” Crimson said, a bit too cheerfully for the threats just pointed at him. “Who thinks we should go to sleep? I’ll sleep first, in case you think Storm’s got a point, heh heh.” He winked, causing two of the six mares to blush, but luckily they weren’t noticed.

Crimson was made to sleep on the couch, Applejack and Rarity shared the spare bed like last time, and Twilight and Fluttershy shared the main bed. Dash fell asleep on top of the bookshelf that held the Daring Do series, and Pinkie... well, when Spike walked downstairs the next morning to make breakfast, Pinkie and Applejack were snuggled up against Crimson, all sleeping peacefully.

Spike shook his head. “Why can’t I ever wake up with girls all over me? Like... Rarity...” He drifted lazily into the kitchen, propelled by the urge to make the best pancakes he’d ever made, specifically for his ‘secret’ crush.

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

The fireworks were spectacular. Totally amazing. Riveting and awe-inspiring. But while it was fun to have a front row seat to such a display, a seat in the sky was not the best place for an earth pony.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-oof!”

“Geez, Card! Can you get any heavier? Try losing a few pounds, why don’t you?!”

“Oh. Heh. Sorry, Glitch. Didn’t expect to be falling for you.” Glitch loosened his grip on his somewhat friend, who then clung tighter. “I’ll be good! I’ll be good! Just don’t drop me!”

“Fine, fine. It’d only serve the purpose of getting my head wanted by Boss, as well.”

“Yeah, well, thank you anyways.” As Glitch flew away from the small town of Ponyville, Card looked back, smiling warmly.

“What’s on your mind, Card? That smile’s the most honest thing I’ve ever seen you wear - unless you count that one mare’s baby when you were carrying it on your head.”

“Oh, nothing... Red’s a lucky dog, though.”

“Why is that?”

“He’s got at least two locals chasing after him, and one of them’s like me.”

“A card player?”

“No,” Card smiled. “Absolutely, deliciously, crazy.” Card laughed maniacally, before sighing.

“But, we’re too much alike, so I guess they’re a good pair. Blegh. But, there’s a cute unicorn who’s got her head on more than just magic, apparently. She might do good with you.”

“Fuck off, Card. Stop trying to play matchmaker.”

“Oh, fine. But just wait ‘til you see what I got planned for tomorrow.”

“What’re we gonna do tomorrow, Card?”

“The same thing we do every day, Glitchy. We’re gonna run Crimson right out of another town! Ahahahaha!”

It’s Glitchy, it’s Glitchy and the Card, Card, Card, Card, Card!

“And that, my dear friends, is how we’ll un-make Equestria.”

“Stop talking to yourself, Card. It’s getting annoying.”

Card just winked.

Super Big Mac: OH GOD RUN IT’S ANOTHER FOURTH WALL BREAKER AHHH!!!!!!
lol, that aside, I love Card. Don’t you? Not much to add today. I think things are about to get interesting! Uh, interesting-er!

Tell me if I missed any mistakes!