“Hey, Crimson? Are you okay? You aren’t... looking quite yourself...” Pinkie trailed off as Crimson continued to stare off into the distance, a small throwing star and a smoke pellet being tossed up and down in a dark hoof. “Come on, Red! Cheer up! … Please? Need a drink? I can get you an afterburner! Or a screwdriver? Or a mega drill breaker?” Pinkie’s smile became forced as she sat down in front of her friend.

Finally he looked at her, his eyes clearing of the murky, brooding darkness that had filled them seconds before. Pinkie visibly relaxed, and then held him in a small, friendly hug. “What’s wrong, Red? Your past coming back to haunt you?” The nice, warm voice became chilled and devilish as the hug turned from one of comfort to one of mock lust.

The voice’s sudden change caused Crimson to flinch back, and he saw two instances before his shattered vision. He pushed the mare away, and Terra laughed her cold, heartless laugh. Pinkie whimpered. “Autumn,” he growled, ready to kill the mare as he remembered how she’d forced him to betray his own heart.

“Autumn!!!” Autumn laughed, darting away as she prepared for a game of cat and mouse.

“Autumn? It’s not Autumn. It’s not even Summer yet!” Pinkie was looking at Crimson with fear in her eyes as he brought out his katana and charged after her, snarling. Autumn laughed. Pinkie cried.

It had taken him a while, but he had her cornered. Autumn was bloodied, beaten, and bruised, but not defeated. Not yet. He was going to savor this moment, the moment where he avenges the death of his sister, the cause of his remorse. Terra Autumn coughed up blood, spitting it in his face before chuckling. Pinkie coughed up blood, tears streaming from her eyes as she looked up at Crimson in complete and utter terror.

“Crimson...” the two mares said in unison. “Why?” Pinkie rasped, still crying. “Why do you hesitate?” Terra rasped, still grinning.

“I’m not hesitating, Autumn... Just plotting where on your body I should stab repeatedly before I let you die.” the colt snarled, his eyes full of hate and bloodlust. Crimson raised the sword above his head, letting out an inequine sound of fury.

Pinkie’s eyes widened in horror, knowing this was the end.

Autumn’s eyes widened gleefully, knowing this was the end.

Crimson drove the blade home, yelling in victory at finally ridding himself of the stain on his life that was-

… Pinkie Pie. “... N-no... No!”

The world around the hitcolt began to brighten as the sun rose in the distance, revealing to him what he’d done. Wild Card and Storm were splayed out, Storm’s head and Wild’s right foreleg missing.

Crimson turned away, gagging, his eyes blurred from tears he didn’t notice. “No...” Twilight’s head was hanging from a cord tied to the bottom of the Library’s highest balcony, her body crumpled on the ground below where gravity had left it after her fall. “N-no..” Crimson choked as he saw Applejack, her body held to the side of a building by dozens of shurikens and other thrown items, one pierced through her neck. She was still twitching as she slowly drowned in her own blood. “No.” Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. All he could see was a yellow wing, snapped off at the joint, attached by a bloody stiletto to a cartoon pony on a poster as if it were its tail. “No!” The tears were streaming down his face as he retched.

He looked up as the sun crested the mountains. Rarity, the beautiful and generous, was dressed in a suit made up of random viscera, and a tie made from her own intestines. She was draped in a mockery of a lover’s embrace across Spike’s motionless body, his eyes gouged out by twin hoof-and-a-half daggers. “NO!!!”

“CRIMSON RAYS!” A white, regal figure descended from the heavens, her Royal guards and armor giving the colt no reason to doubt who he was facing. He was clutching Pinkie’s body, trying in vain to staunch the blood flow.

“Celest-”

“Silence.” Crimson fell silent. Where once there had been nothing but burning fury, there was an insurmountable sorrow. “My student is dead.”

“She...” Crimson choked, spitting out blood. Were his hooves always this shaky?

“She was my student. Almost like a daughter. She, her friends, and-” the royal sovereign of the sun glanced to where two colts laid in dreamless death. “-my top soldier. They are all dead. It might not have been only you. I imagine ‘Blackjack’ there and Storm had as much to do with it as you.”

The princess turned her head away, unable to look at the colt before her. “Why?”

He had no answer. He looked into Pinkie’s eyes, now devoid of the fear he had placed in them. They were dull. Lusterless. He brought a hoof to her eyes and closed them, kissing her brow. He looked at the princess before him. “Please,” he begged. “Kill me. I’ve done something terrible. I don’t even remember what. But, please. I’ve killed everypony I’ve ever loved. Just let me die, so I don’t do it ever again. Please, just... just take away the pain...”

Celestia turned to the colt, the anguish, hurt, and confusion she saw in his eyes matching her own. She brought her horn to his head, and prepared a spell. “Good morning, Crimson.”

And in a sudden flash, the black colt's eyes shot open in terror and pain. Crimson had been sweating profusely, tears violently flowing down his face. He breathed in and out, trying to alleviate the sense of mortal terror that filled his heart and soul. Then, an orange hoof flashed out and sent his head spinning again. He struggled a bit as he looked around, identifying his sleeping place as the couch he’d been on the night prior.

'It was only... a dream?' the black colt found himself thanking Princess Luna with all of his heart, as he began wiping his eyes of the fluids that still poured forth. However, his face flushed a massive shade of crimson when he noticed when he noticed that he had some unexpected ‘company’. Thankfully, however, they were not conscious to hear the muffled screams that came from Crimson's hoof-covered mouth. 'For the love of Luna, please tell me we didn't do anything!!!'

As he squinted his eyes, Crimson noticed a bright pink mare on his right side, and on his left rested a soft orange mare, her forelegs swinging wildly -which explained why his head hurt every now and again- as she mumbled in her sleep. They both seemed to share a contented smile on their muzzles.

'Ohshitohshitohshitohshit!!! What the hell are Pinkie and Applejack doing here?!' the not-so-cloak-clad colt began to do something that was very uncharacteristic of him. He began to panic.

'Nononono, this is so BAD! Wait... Nah, nothing could have possibly have happened, right? I mean, those two would never do anything so unbecoming like that, especially with somepony like me.' Crimson sighed in relief, becoming much more relaxed. 'And besides, they're smiling, and I'd be terrible in bed- GAH! STOP IT, BRAIN!’ The colt clutched his head in his hooves, shaking all of his potentially perverted thoughts out of his head.

'Alright alright, I need to calm down. I didn't have anything to drink last night, so I know that nothing could have happened. So... what are they doing here?' the black colt pondered the ever so confusing question to himself for a moment, but figured it’d probably be better as a question left unanswered. And besides, the two mares most likely just stumbled into his “bed” on accident.

‘Yeah, that’s it!’ Crimson was one hundred percent certain that he had figured out the problem of the century, as he proudly went over the situation in his head. ‘Pinkie must have gotten up first, since she probably slept on the couch across from me, and Applejack must have gotten up at some point to do... something. However, the two mares must have been so tired, that they ended up going back to the wrong beds.’ The black colt smirked. ‘That’s gotta be it... right?’

Sighing in defeat, the colt decided not to go all detective as to why he’d wake up to two absolutely gorgeous mares cuddled up next to him in his sleep, figuring there was no point in driving himself crazy over the answer he’d never know. ‘Wait, did I just call them.... I need to stop doing that.’

Crimson carefully extracted his body from the couch, trying his hardest to do so without waking either of them up. Then he scooped the orange coated mare in his forearms, surprising himself at how light she was. When he felt the texture of her body over his, he blushed at the first thing that popped into his head; a very warm, soft marshmallow. ‘Goddess dammit, Crimson!’ Placing Applejack’s body gently onto the opposite couch, he found himself staring at the pure beauty of her features, eyes locked in astonishment at how peaceful the mare appeared in her sleep. Well, among other things...

‘Nononononononononononononono!’ Crimson quickly trotted back over and picked up Pinkie Pie who, while softer than Applejack since she didn’t do as much arduous work, was still surprisingly firm, and... ‘I need to put her down NOW. Now now now now now!’ His face redder than ever before as he placed the pink pony back on his couch and turned to dart outside.

His plans failed him as his legs did, getting caught in his cloak. He landed on the floor with a solid thump. Pinkie seemed to be the only one affected, however, since she sat up, yawned, looked down at him through half shut eyes, and laid down on top of him, snuggling into his neck.

As she fell back into untroubled slumber, Crimson couldn’t help but feel a fluttering sensation in his heart, her breath flowing hotly along his neck, rustling his mane and causing his ear to flick unconsciously. He shuddered, but not from fear or horror. It felt... good. So warm...

It was like he was in marshmallow heaven...

“Oh... Criiiiiimmmmsssooooon!” A very happy voice tickled sweetly in his ear. His face developed a blush as he woke, feeling the warm body of the pink party pony pleasantly pressed upon his. Then, she nibbled his ear.

Now, many of you might not know what it sounds like when a man- or, in this case, a colt- moans (or rather, squeals) in delight, fear, ecstasy, and pure embarrassment. The sound is akin to the yelp or yip one might let loose if startled suddenly by having a hoof (or hand, etc.) slap your rump while someone(pony) licks one’s neck. It is not exactly the same, as it is higher in pitch, carries a definite squeak, and is used by a yellow pegasus whenever anypony asks her what her name is. That is the sound that escaped Crimson’s lips as his wings popped out to full mast, and he swore he could hear ‘Reveille’ playing. Thump-click. The song stopped playing, and much groaning emanated from upstairs.

“Why in Equestria do you have an alarm clock that plays military songs, Twilight? It’s not ladylike at all! A Lady should be getting beauty sleep, not getting up at such an ungoddessly hour- unless you have an early trip to the spa planned.” Rarity’s voice wafted down from above as Pinkie continued to nuzzle along Crimson’s feathers. Then, she bit one. His eyes already as wide as possible, he realized that she was preening him, and... it felt great...

Crimson sighed, his wings staying fully erect as he laid back down and succummed to Pinkie Pie’s careful administrations.

“There we go!” All too soon, Pinkie was done preening his feathers, and, one quick nuzzle later, was bouncing towards the kitchen to help Spike with breakfast preparations.

“.....What in the pits of Tartarus just happened?” I wish I could tell you, my fine feathered friend, but even I'm not sure what the hell just happened, and this is my story... (editor: Lol, fourth wall = shattered)

Crimson sighed again and stretched, feeling better than he had in months. Four months, to be exact. He gave his wings a few flaps, the motion sending eddies of air flowing past his feathery appendages. He lifted off, and he realized that he didn’t have to correct for ruffled feathers; they were all nice and neat. Maybe... Maybe he should ditch the cloak, for once...

“Nah...” Crimson picked up the cloak, but wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sweat-soaked stench. He dropped the cloak and looked at it. It was old, ratty, and slightly faded. It had holes and stains from his long time on the road and his many fights. He rarely ever got to wash it. He usually did so in rivers or streams.

“Ugh... Nevermind. I think I’ll just take a shower and leave it at that.” Crimson trotted away, leaving the crappily cared for cloak lying on the floor where, not five minutes later, an orange hoof picked it up, brought it to an orange snout, and, after a deep intake of the musky scent of a stallion, it was placed in a saddlebag and taken out of the library, down the street, and to a farm, where a certain mare spent a good hour just laying in the shade, basking in the musky scent of an assassin. An assassin who had stolen her heart.

Pinkie watched as Applejack trotted quickly out the door, frowning slightly since she had planned on grabbing the cloak. Oh, well... at least she had the real Crimson with her still! Giggling like a schoolfilly who’d just gotten her cutiemark, Pinkie hopped upstairs to tell her ‘crush’ that “Breakfast is ready, Reddy!”

The meal was amazing, the pancakes cooked to perfection. Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy sat at one end, eating plain pancakes, while Spike- seated next to Rarity -Crimson, and Pinkie were tackling a mountain of Panferno-cakes, as Pinkie called them. Literally, Pancakes that used hot sauce as well as water to mix the batter. Everypony was happy with the meal.

Until Twilight asked a question, that is.

“So, Crimson... How did you get that scar? Did Storm give it to you in one of your fights?”

Crimson chewed the bite he was on slowly, trying to think of a good enough excuse to not answer. Swallowing, he decided that the truth couldn’t hurt any worse than anything else.

“...Well...” the colt took a deep breath and exhaled, knowing this wasn't going to be a pretty explanation. “It all happened about eight years ago, back when Vinyl was fourteen, while Storm and I were fifteen...”

"Guys, can we please stop and take a break, we've been walking for HOURS!"

In what looked to be the middle of nowhere, three small ponies walked down the only available road in sight. The trio consisted of two colts and a filly, who couldn't quite keep up with the pace of the other two.

"Well maybe if Red didn't get us kicked out of the only available motel for miles, we wouldn't be in this mess!" The white unicorn colt spat, directing the hours of pent up frustration towards the black pegasus colt walking right next to him, who felt obligated to defend his stubborn pride.

Out of everypony in their little trio, Storm was the only one to have his cutiemark, a royal blue Leo symbol from the astrological zodiac signs. He attained it about two years ago when he was tasered while trying to escape the orphanage, but the shock from the 30,000 volts of electricity coursing through his body didn’t affect him in the slightest, and actually ended up with him earning his cutiemark, though nopony ever figured out what it actually meant, even to this very day. However, since that incident, Crimson never had been given a better reason to take his jealousy out on his so-called “friend”.

"Put a sock in it, Storm, you had just as much to do with it as me!"

"I'm not the one who tackled a kid for beating you in a game of chess!"

"Hey, that little bastard cheated and you know it! And he was a good bit older than us, so don't go and make me look bad by calling him 'kid'! Besides, you're the one who sucked their entire generator dry!"

"I told you it was an accident, you prick!"

"Guys, will you please just SHUT UP?!" The filly screamed at the top of her lungs, the two colts keeping at a respectable distance from her. Vinyl didn't have them often, but she could be absolutely frightening when she had one of her outbursts. "Thank you. Now if you two would stop your constant arguing and pay attention for once, you'd see that there's what appears to be a town just up ahead." Following the direction of which way her hoof pointed, the two boys saw that she was right.

"Oh, well..." the black colt started, racking his brain for an excuse. "He started it..."

"And I'll finish it if you keep acting like such an immature asshole! Now shut up and keep walking!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" The frightened Crimson replied, doing all he could to stay on her good side. 'Jeez, Vinyl really isn't taking our shit today, is she. Wait, wasn't she the one who wanted to stop...'

After about a ten minute trot, the gang finally made it to civilization once more. However, something was very peculiar about this place...

"Sis, this isn't a town at all." Storm said to his twin with a deadpan tone of voice, as he took in his surroundings with his keen observation skills. First off, the white colt noticed how every home was a bit small, they had no paint, and a few holes through their roofs and windows. Second of all, almost nopony was even outside when it was only sometime in the afternoon, though the sun was just setting. But lastly was that there were no plant in sight, no grass or anything. Not even one flower peeked out through the dead wasteland.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Vinny, but it looks like Storm's right." Crimson was next to speak up. "This place just looks like a really small village. Small and rundown. It doesn't look like there's going to be much of a point staying in a town that looks like it can't even take care of itself."

"Don't throw out all hope just yet, boys." said the little filly determined to keep her brother and her only friend from giving up all remaining hope. "We could still search the town to what we could manage. Maybe the ponies here are friendly."

Crimson decided to keep his mouth shut, as he watched Vinyl trot off on her 'mission'. ‘Heh, optimistic lil' Vinyl, always looking on the brighter side of things...'

"We searched and searched and searched, but every pony was either too poor, or too bitter to let us spend one night, or even give us any food or water. Though I couldn’t say I blamed them, they needed all they could to survive, they wouldn’t just give any up for a couple of kids they didn’t even recognize. Though I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched....”

“Hey, asshole, quit following us, would’ja!”

“Crimson, quiet!" Vinyl pipped up. “Sorry for my friend here, he’s a bit socially challenged!”

“Heh, a bit?” the white colt chuckled.

“Knock it off, Storm!” his twin snapped back.

Out from the shadows came a full grown stallion. However, well fed was another story. He was a very skinny colt, but he didn’t look quite as famished as most of the other citizens in the village, so he must have managed to get some source of food.

“What are you three doin’ here, on my street?”

“Oh, sorry, mister. You see, Crimson, Storm, and I-”

“That ain’t my question, sweetie.” the strange colt sneered, slowly inching his way towards the three. “But I’ll tell ya what, if you guys give me everything ya have, maybe I’ll consider letting you three go with your tails still attached to yer asses.”

“You and what army, asshole?!” Crimson growled, he and Storm getting ready for another fight. Though what they didn’t expect were two more stallions to walk up behind the first. “Oh. Well... a couple more ponies aren’t going to do you any good-”

Before Crimson could even finish his sentence, he found himself pinned to the ground, one of the stallion’s hooves crushing his windpipe. Not a moment later, Storm was put in a very similar fate when the second of the two stallions placed the white colt in a chokehold, unable to even let out a single grunt from his throat as his lungs were being cut off. As Vinyl witnessed the scene in pure terror, the third one, who they guessed was the leader, slowly began to creep his way toward the filly, glaring at her with his dull, empty eyes.

“Looks like ya got nothing for me, dearie.” As his eyes scanned up and down the filly’s body, his face curled into a truly twisted smile. “Hm... maybe you’ll be some use to me after all...”

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!” screamed the filly, as her body began to quiver in a mixture of fear and disgust.

“Oh? Now why wouldn’t I? Sure yer a bit young for my taste, but I’m not really all that picky.”

Crimson began to repeatedly slam his hooves into the arm of the stallion that held him down, but it turned out to all be in vain as his vision started to fade, his consciousness beginning to slip away. That is, until he heard a scream.

“What happened next is... well, anypony’s guess, really. Vinyl said that after she screamed, I was suddenly in front of her. The thug who’d been holding me down was dead, a small hoof-shaped indent in his windpipe. The one holding down Storm held a similar fate. The boss, on the other hoof, wasn’t so lucky.” Crimson smirked sadly, staring off into space. “Storm and Vinyl said that I beat him to death. After that, Vinyl tried to approach me. I almost attacked her. Another one of that bastard’s little gang came at me, though. I started attacking wildly at anything that got close to me. Until Storm jumped on my back. He was just trying to send a small jolt of electricity into my body. Only enough to paralyze me for a second. He couldn’t quite control his magic at that point, so he always needed something metal to channel it. The closest object at hoof was his dagger. Overloading somepony’s pain sensors with a blast of lightning isn’t something you should do with a dagger. When I jerked backwards, he slid off me, the blade cutting into my back as it went down.”

The enraged colt let out a terrifying roar; a roar that did not sound like it belonged to a pony at all, but a roar more fitting for a monster, causing the unicorn twin’s bones to feel like jelly. As he continued to shout towards the heavens, a faint but noticeable aura began to emit from Crimson’s entire body. The strangest part was that the aura resembled that of small flames, making the black colt appear as if he was on fire. However, as the flames began to die down, the roaring began to cease as well. Not only that, but the colt completely lost consciousness, as he collapsed onto the rough dirt road.

Completely terrified, Vinyl and Storm rushed over to their friend, but their path was blocked by a strange looking earth filly that appeared seemingly out of thin air, who looked no older than Crimson. “Wow, what a guy. So inexperienced, yet he actually managed to take out my hit for me...”

She had a leafy-green mane that hung just below her jaw, and a matching tail that had been cut a bit short as well. Her coat was white, with dark brown spots around her coat, like the one under her left eye, making her coat pinto. The filly wore a black cloak around her body. And while she looked rather fragile, she trotted over to Crimson’s unconscious body and flipped him onto her back as if he weighed as much as a feather. ‘Darn, Boss probably won’t give me a paycheck today, but at least I can say I helped recruit a new member...’ She turned her glance towards the twin unicorns, offering them a shy, warm hearted smile.

“Don’t worry, you two. I’m not going to hurt your friend, just take him somewhere safe to get him looked after by our doctors.” the strange filly reassured in a very meek, but kind tone of voice. “You were pretty impressive, too... Using lightning magic at such a young age is a very admirable feat.”

“....Who are you?” was the only thing that managed to slip through the white filly’s mouth.

“Oh, silly me, I never introduced myself.... My name is Terra Vita, and you two are welcome to follow, I mean... if that’s okay... with you...”

“Now, Terra was always a strange one. You see, she’s bipolar... times two...” he looked around at the confused faces at the breakfast table, knowing he obviously failed to get the point across. “Okay, maaaybe that was a poor way to explain it.”

“Gee, you think so?”

“Alright, fine! Let me try to rephrase that...” the colt grumbled, his irritation growing from the cyan mare’s sarcasm, as he began to rub his chin in his hoof. “I guess bipolar would be the wrong term to describe her... so I’d say Dissociative Identity Disorder would be a better way to put it.”

“Ah, you so you mean she had a split personality.” the studious mare spoke up.

“Heh, bright as usual, Twilight.” Crimson smirked. “However, she didn’t have just one split personality, but four; the kind and gentle Spring, the saucy and seductive Summer, the twisted and sadistic Autumn, and the harsh, cold Winter. Though, when her personality changed wasn’t always triggered by seasons, sometimes it just... happened... And on certain occasions, Terra would actually only store specific memories in specific personalities, depending on which one was in control at the time. Like, she couldn’t kill bloodily or violently if she was in Spring. She’d be given a ‘hit’, but would only use painless poisons, making their passing easy. Autumn loved pain, however.”

“Hey, Red? You awake yet?”

The colt groggily groaned to himself, the lids to his eyes feeling incredibly heavy and sore, but opening non the less. Just as his eyes began to adjust to the light, Crimson noticed he was in a completely different place than before. He was in a small room, the walls painted black, but still very well lit. He honestly kinda liked it; it was simple. That and Crimson was a sucker for the color black, which was something he was always picked on for at the orphanage since everypony liked the bright and distracting colors of the rainbow. Not that there was anything wrong with Red, of course.

The colt also happened to notice Vinyl and Storm standing next to his hospital bed. A blush formed over his face when the unicorn filly wrapped her forelegs around his torso, her eyes almost at the brink of joyful tears. “Thank Princess Luna you’re okay! After what happened a few days ago, I wasn’t sure you’d make it...”

“A few days ago?” the black colt asked. “What happened, anyway?”

“Well- uh... you see...” Vinyl began to stutter. Even she wasn’t exactly sure what happened. However, her brother spoke up in her place.

“You saved us, Red.” Storm smiled. “If it weren’t for you, Vinyl and I would have been goners. By the way, check your flank. You might just notice something new.” the white colt couldn’t help himself from smirking like an idiot.

“Dammit Storm, I thought I told you to shut the fuck up about my- woah, shit!” As he took a gander at his rump, he indeed noticed something different. He had finally earned himself a cutiemark.

“But... what does it mean? What the hell is it, anyway?” the room got quiet, as nopony could come up with an answer.

“It’s a Taurus, the second astrological sign, which is ruled by the planet Equis.” The three’s attention turned towards an earth filly in the corner of the room, who had a rather odd smile painted across her face. She had a pinto coat, along with a sunny yellow mane, though she was without her cloak at the moment. “Haven’t you ever heard of a zodiac symbol?”

“Oh! We forgot to introduce you to the pony who saved you, not to mention the pony who brought us to this place!” The white filly’s face immediately beamed. “This is Terra, she carried you all the way here on her back, she even refused to put you down when Storm offered to carry you.” As she observed the filly, Vinyl could have sworn that there was something different about her... ‘I don’t remember her ever being this upbeat when we first met her. And I could have sworn her mane was a different color...’

“Pleasure to meet you, handsome~!” Terra let out, causing the black colt's face to glow a shade of his name's sake. Pointing at her flank didn't make the situation any better either. Crimson finally got that she was really pointing towards her cutiemark, which just looked like a curved 'H'. The top tips were green and yellow, while the bottom were red and white. The line in between however, was the color blue. Was she a good speller or something? "My cutiemark is the symbol of Pisces, the twelfth sign, ruled by the planet Neightune. It's pretty nice, isn't it? But enough about that, how does my cutiemark look~?"

Needless to say, that joke hit the black colt like a ton of bricks, but he decided to ignore it the best he could and get straight to the point. "Okay, well what exactly is my special talent then?"

Terra simply giggled. "Beats me, sweetie." she responded, apparently finding his question to be a humorous one. "The only thing I do know is that it usually grants the holder a unique power. Haven't you noticed your friend has one of his own? His looks like it's a Leo, the fifth sign, and ruled by none other than the Sun herself. We three aren't the only ones here who have one, Glitch, Notch, and... Wild Card!~<3" she sighed dreamily, but quickly avert her focus from her fantasies and back to the matter at hand. "Ahem... My point is that they're all great co-workers here, and each have their own zodiac cutiemark, as well."

'Wait a minute, Glitch and Wild are here? No way...'

As he looked back up, he noticed Terra closing in, getting a bit too close for his liking. Crimson’s face reddened to the point where it covered his entire face, as the two were nearly touching nose to nose. "Hehe, you really are cute~!"

"Terra, knock it off! Keep your fucking hormones in check!" At the corner of his eye, Crimson saw a unicorn mare walk into the room. She looked about eighteen-ish, sporting a dark grey coat, as well as a lengthy mane of the same color. Her eyes were a light blue, and he noticed a trail of stitches running down from her right eye almost to her mouth.

"Aw, Stitch! You're no fun~!" Terra pouted, still keeping her full attention on Crimson face.

"Bite me, Terra." she responded, pushing through the filly to get a closer look at Crimson's back. "You're lucky I managed to stitch that up, the cut was pretty damn deep, not to mention long. But of course, stitching is my specialty, so there's nothing to worry about!" the mare announced with a prideful tone.

'Wait, stitches? Why did I need...' the black colt thought to himself, "What do you-"

"Sorry, Red." Storm said, cutting Crimson's sentence off. "To get you to calm down, I had to electrocute you with my dagger... I couldn't exactly keep full control of it and... well..."

“... What the hell did I do when I was out?”

Stitch decided it was her time to speak up. "From what Terra had told me, you lost control of yourself and practically went on a killing spree, or something to that extent."

"I... what..." Crimson muttered to himself, unable to fully comprehend what he was being told. 'I... killed ponies?"

"Stitch. Boss said he's ready to meet them." came from another voice that walked in, once again, a unicorn filly. She had a dark grey coat, slightly darker than that of the other mare's, and had a matching mane, but it was cut much shorter as well. Her eyes were also a shade of violet. The filly could very well be Stitch's twin, but she looked maybe around the same age as Crimson.

"Hold on a sec, Raven!" the mare replied. "Come along, you three. Boss is ready to meet you. I’d tell ya ‘good luck’, but it won’t amount to shit."

“I met a lot of ponies along the way, and learned a lot about each one.” Crimson began to chuckle to himself. “Like how Terra had the cutest little crush on Wild Card.”

“Wait, so who are these ponies? Stitch? Raven?” Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion as she tried to place all the pieces of Crimson’s life into a nice looking puzzle. Her only problem was she couldn’t see the full picture, and she kept finding pieces she didn’t know about.

“Oh, don’t worry about them, Twilight,” Pinkie admonished with a wave of her hoof. “They won’t show up for a good few chapters, if they even show up at all.” She considered this, then smiled again. “Well, unless we ask somepony else about their life and that story has to do with them!” Pinkie giggled as the others at the table decided that ignoring the outburst would be for the best. This was Pinkie Pie, after all.

“... Oookay, then. What about your boss?”

“Boss.”

“Yeah. That’s what I said. Your boss.”

“No. That’s his name, as far as anypony can tell. He calls himself ‘Boss’. There’s no ‘my’ or ‘your’ or anything before Boss. He’s just Boss.”

“Ugh, fine. What’s he like?”

“Well, he’s actually a bit scary. Well, mysterious, and he was definitely scary the first time I was in the room with him. Now almost nothing can scare me, but if there has to be one, it'd be Boss.” He glanced at the other end of the table, at a timid yellow pegasus, quickly glancing away as he mumbled “and Fluttershy...”

“....Terra, what in Equestria is this supposed to be? I run an organization for highly trained assassins, not a babysitting service...”

Crimson’s gaze was directed towards the shadowy stallion, who was directing his voice towards the young filly, his voice voice deeper than the darkest abyss. He sat on a “chair”- which looked more like a throne, to be honest. He wore a purple mask that resembles that of a pony’s skull, which concealed his entire head. The only thing visible was his mane, which was jet black and spiked downwards all the way down his neck, and his yellow eyes, which had pupils going down in a thin vertical line, so they looked like they belonged to a reptile more than they did a pony. He was completely wrapped in a black cloak, hiding every little part of his body. Crimson couldn’t help but feel a jolt of fear run down his spine; it was almost as if the stallion’s body emitted death.

“Very sorry to interrupt you, sir.” Terra bowed, trying to keep her cool in front of the colt that very well held her life in his hooves. “You know I wouldn’t be bringing him to you if I didn’t think that he had potential...”

“Oh really... And exactly what is stopping me from grinding your bones to dust for disobeying my orders, hm?” the stallion chuckled, causing the pinto mare to shiver.

“I- I...” the mare came close to losing her mind, her eyes threatening to tear up. “N-no please, Boss! I didn’t-”

“That bastard stole from me, and I did say that you were supposed to be the one to kill that stallion... Yet you claim this mere child did it for you? If that’s the case, then what exactly does that tell me...”

“Please, Boss... Control yourself.” Since all of the terror was directed towards the head honcho, nopony even gave notice to the large figure on their right, directly next to Boss’ throne. It was another black-cloaked stallion; the colt wore his hood to hide his face. He was one of the tallest ponies Crimson had ever laid his eyes on, not counting Celestia of course, and the stallion had a very respectable build as well.

“Orion, you dare take her word over mine?” Boss’ voice seethed.

“Beg your pardon, sir...” The cocky stallion spoke in a demonically deep, raspy, yet calm and collected voice. “But Terra might actually be onto something this time. Do you see it? That cutiemark, it holds quite a resemblance to the second sign of the zodiac symbols, doesn’t it? It’s the Taurus symbol, which means that if that colt has the power of an angry bull’s raw strength, he could be of some use to us...”

“...I see... well then, I’m sorry to have doubted you. I guess you’re not one of my top three assassins for no reason... That’s why I hope you don’t end up disappointing me.” Boss turned his attention towards Terra once more, letting his glare torment her with every passing second. “Alright, Terra, I'll let this one slide. You did bring us a potentially powerful force to our humble little company, and for that I thank you. However, since you failed to kill your target, the young colt will receive your pay instead."

"I... I understand, Boss..." Terra's head sunk down in sorrow, but relief at the same time. 'I figured as much, but at least that colt's safe. And, well... I got out of this alive, didn't I?'

"This isn't over just yet, Ms. Vita." As the stallion spoke up once more, the filly could feel her heart creep up into her throat, and wouldn't have been surprised if it just burst. "I never called the fate of those other two..." Boss sneered as he directed his gaze towards the white coated unicorns, whose bodies were scared completely solid. "If what you told me was correct, the boy can use lightning magic to some degree, not to mention he has a Leo cutiemark... But the girl, what possible use is she?"

“I-I'm not exactly s-sure yet, Boss..." mumbled Terra under her breath. “L-look at it this way, Boss! She’s a blank flank, r-right? S-so doesn’t that mean she has the p-pote-”

”Out with it girl, you’re drying my patience...”

The filly clenched eyes shut, shaking to the bone. As she was about to continue, Terra witnessed the same black colt she’d been trying to save push himself in front of the white filly. “Touch a damn hair on her fucking mane and I will end you!” Crimson snarled, keeping his gaze focus on nothing else but Boss’ demonic eyes....

‘Y-you idiot! Do you want to get yourself killed?!’ the pinto mare panicked to herself. However, the reaction she expected from her employer never came. Instead, Boss started laughing, which still brought a chill to the room. ‘What’s with Boss today... Even his laughs are terrifying...’

“Hahahahahaha! Whew!~ Beg my pardon, young colt. I usually am much more professional when it comes to my work.” he tried reassuring, hoping maybe he’d get the colt to ease up a bit. “Heh, I like you, kid. You’ve got guts. Guts that I wish more of my employees shared.” His yellow eyes flicked to Terra, causing her to flinch, before returning to Crimson. “Keep on impressing me like that, and we’ll get along just fine....”

It looked as though the black colt didn’t quite buy it, as he puffed air from his nostrils, keeping his eyes on Boss’. “And why the hell would I want to impress someone like you?” Crimson growled.

Even Boss couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “You don’t exactly have to, but it might be a good idea if you’re going to stay here, don’t you think? After all, it doesn’t look as though you have any place better to be....” Crimson had to admit, he had a good point. “And besides, it might give me more of a reason to keep you around. I hate it when things get boring around here.”

Crimson narrowed his eyes, before dropping his gaze. “Yes, sir...” the black colt sighed in defeat.

“Please, call me Boss.” he chuckled. “By the way, I don’t think I ever caught your name, young one. After all, you do work for me now.”

“....Crimson Rays....”

Boss directed his attention towards the speechless young pinto filly once more. “Terra, please show Crimson to his sleeping quarters.”

“Y-yes, Boss!” she yelped, pushing Crimson impatiently, unable to stand being in the stallion’s presence a second longer.

“Rest assured, Crimson. I’m not going to hurt your little friends. We’re just going to have a little job interview is all.... Oh, and one more thing before you leave.”

Crimson’s ears flicked.

“....Remember who’s in charge. If you don’t, well... things might not go quite your way during your stay here. I am your Boss, and while you stay here, the law. And my law is not something you want to fight, because it has a very funny way of fighting back...”

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

As the two trot through the dark hallway, Crimson couldn’t keep his mind of the two ponies he had come to know as his friends. He figured that his dread must have had some way to communicate with the strange filly leading him on, because she came to a complete stop.

“Don’t worry, Crimson. Boss won’t harm them unless given a reason, the two will join you shortly once they finish negotiating plans with him.” Terra spoke up, not even so much as giving him a glance.

The two finally made it to one of the spare, black-painted rooms. It was already filled with a large king-sized bed, a dresser, and a restroom. It occurred to Crimson that he had absolutely no idea where he even was, or what they even did at this so called ‘business’, but he just figured the answers would come sooner or later. Crimson really hope sooner.

“This is where you three will be staying. Don’t worry, you'll all get your own rooms eventually, just have to get comfy until then." Crimson simply groaned. Why did he always have to share a room with them? "It also might be a good idea to keep on everypony's good side, or you-" Terra stopped.

"Or I'll..."

Something about the filly instantly grabbed the colt's attention. Her mane, it was... wilting. It was going from a bright and lively yellow to a dull, lifeless white. "You okay there, Terr-"

The filly turned around and smashed her hoof into Crimson's jaw, sending him flying a good few feet into his new room. 'Damn! She's a hell of a lot stronger than she looks!' He stared wide eyed, astonished at the filly's raw power. He also noticed that Terra's demeanor was vastly different than it was a few seconds ago. Now, she just gave him a glare that was colder than the winter's harsh snow...

"You prick..." Terra started, even her voice sounded a bit more raspy than before. "I hope you're happy, because you made me look like a fucking pitiful embarrassment in front of the stallion who holds my life in his hooves!" she growled, turning away to leave the room.

The black colt charged at her in a blind fury, and he swung a hoof aimed straight at the filly’s face. Terra easily dodged the punch- it was as if she had eyes on the back of her head- and she swept Crimson's legs from right under him, before sending a kick to his stomach, his body slamming, not to mention leaving a crack, into the black concrete wall. In the blink of an eye, she had Crimson pinned to the wall by his still sore neck with one of her forearms, as something that looked like tree bark began to coil around her arm, pointing an astonishingly sharp end at his face.

"You honestly think you can take me? You don't even have a years worth of training under your belt, and you already think you can take me?!”

“......F-fuck you...” the colt grunted, not knowing when to quit. She just pushed harder and harder on his windpipe. After what seemed like an eternity of hell, 'Terra' finally retracted her arm, leaving Crimson's body to fall to the floor. He lay there trembling, gasping for what little breath he could find.

“How pathetic.” Terra snarled, turning away once again to leave. "Come back once you actually know how to fight, otherwise I'll just take the pleasure of killing you myself, you weak little mule!"

“She called you a mule?” Twilight’s eyebrow was arched more than the Golden Gate Bridge at this point.

Crimson looked away. “Well, what she actually said was a lot worse, but I think Fluttershy’s already heard enough of that language for today.” he said, referring to the pale yellow mare under the table, quavering. Barely audible, she responded by saying “No, f-for this l-lifetime...”

Rolling his eyes, the colt pointed to the mark on his flank, a yellow circle with horns on the top. "In case any of you were wondering, this is the zodiac symbol for Taurus. Every pony has a zodiac sign, mine just happens to be on my flank for some stupid reason." Crimson grumbled to himself. "Taurus ponies fall under the dates of late April and the rest of May, and considering how I was born on the first of May, that would make me a Taurean, as weird as that name sounds."

As he continued to explain, Pinkie made sure to create a mental note on his date of birth. "The qualities of a Taurean are that they are patient, stubborn, creative, simple and practical, solid in mind, easy-going, but don't do well with change, can be lazy, but make up for it with their incredible persistence, drive to complete hard work and overcome the impossible, and are generally very down to earth ponies who do well in the field of business. Their zodiac animal is the bull; calm most of the time, but when provoked, will inflict their wrath upon you in a heartbeat, for they can have quite a nasty temper, and usually tend to hold a grudge. They also happen to have the quality of keeping things to themselves most of the time, but are considered very loyal towards the ponies they love, and will do all in their power to protect them."

The rest of the mares - and dragon - could have sworn he had just described the orange farm mare perfectly. I guess they figured out what Applejack's sign was, then.

"So wait, hold a sec..." the Pinkie started. "From what you said in your flashback, you joined them at fifteen years old? I thought you told me at the bar that you joined at eighteen?"

"I..." the black colt's head sunk, feeling a hint of sorrow beat in his heart. "...I lied. I've actually been in the business for a good eight years. Sorry for lying, Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie’s eyes drooped and her bottom lip trembled. Her friend... lied?

“I just... You aren’t really supposed to be able to work in any business like that until you’re eighteen, so I was technically eighteen for 3 or 4 years.” Crimson couldn’t keep contact with Pinkie’s eyes. “I had nowhere else to turn... I was half starved, mostly dead. If it weren’t for the Scratch Twins, I’d be dead or feral.” He let out a hoarse laugh, tears visible in his eyes for a brief second as he averted his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Crimson looked back at his pancakes, pushing the last few bites around listlessly. He wasn’t feeling hungry anymore. Picking up on his mood, the pink pony beside him leaned over and licked his plate clean, not leaving a single crumb, or any syrup.

“Geez, Pinkie!” Crimson laughed at the mare as she licked all the sticky sweetness from her lips.

“What? It’s good! And you weren’t eating it!” Everypony chuckled a bit at that. Pinkie’s antics helped clear a bit of the gloom that had set in before Crimson remembered something.

“Where in all of Tartarus is my cloak?”

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

Glitch slammed the hammer down, the nail gliding into the board smoothly. “Damn him! Hoo, boy, Glitch! Damn him to the deepest pit of Tartarus! Hahahaha!”

Glitch grumbled as he looked at Wild Card, who was busy throwing what seemed like an endless supply of cards at a poster of a crudely drawn black pegasus. As another card slammed home, Card let out another gleeful giggle.

“I’m starting to feel sorry for saving your ass, Wild.”

“Aw, shucks. You’re making me blush, Glitchy!”

“Oh, shut the fuck up and do something useful, Wild. Why don’t you figure out where the heck he is? I think it’d be better if I talked to him this time. I can at least do so without getting myself blown out of a fucking cannon.” Glitch turned away, hiding the gleam in his eye as he thought about it. ‘Oh, if I could only have something like that in my armory... I’d be set for life!’

Already planning on figuring out the pink mare’s secret to her machine - like how it hadn’t left a hole in the ground, nor any debris from the night before’s pyrotechnics- he headed towards the town, Wild Card tucking away his card game before following suit.

As soon as he crossed into the town’s borders, he was almost hit by a blue blur. ‘Almost’, of course, being the operative word.

“Oof!” Rainbow Dash rebounded off the sudden appearance of a Strategic Hexic Isolation and Energy Disruptor (SHIELD) and landed on the ground, sliding. “Ooh, what the hay was that?”

“That would be my Strateg-”

“Nopony cares, Glitch. They already know. Sup, Dash.”

“Wild?! What the hay are you doing here? We thought you were gone! Hell, we were hoping you were dead!”

“Eh.” Wild Card shrugged. “I got better.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled as she got back into the air, rubbing her head with a forehoof. “Yeah, well, no more funny business, ya got that?”

Glitch stepped forward. “Don’t worry, miss. We only need to talk to Crimson once more. We’ll be...” as he paused to think of the best way to phrase it, his glasses gleamed in the light. “Quick, and bloodless. I promise you that.”

Still with some major doubt, and wondering how he’d gotten his glasses to shine in the shadows like that, Rainbow Dash backed off with a muttered “Yeah, okay. Whatever.” Then she disappeared into the sky.

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

“Oh come now, darling! You simply must let me make your new cloak! I do say, though, that the pattern seemed perfect on you; such a shame to lose one so right! But... I do believe that I can create one of spectacular quality- maybe even better than the original!”

Crimson tried to speak, but was cut off. “Let’s see... Oh, my, you certainly have quite the build, especially for a pegasus. Hmm... I think your new cloak shall have wing-slots, so you can fly without discomfort and still wear it. Maybe sleeves on the sides to tuck your wings into so they don’t get wet in the rain, or maybe a stylish saddle, but don’t worry, I won’t do any glitter, you should have seen the disaster that became, and oh, your body is so sleek! I just love how supple, yet toned you are, the perfect specimen! I’m not sure Rainbow-”

Finally, Rarity cut off. But it wasn’t because Crimson’s look had finally been registered by her. No, it was because she didn’t have a SHIELD- let alone a shield spell- for instances where a spectral blur comes rocketing through her front door.

“EEK!!! RAINBOW DASH!” Rarity shrieked. “Can’t you at least ACT like a proper lady and walk through doors like everypony else?!”

“Sorry, Rare, but this is urgent!” The cyan mare was practically sweating. “That goon Wild Card is back, and he isn’t alone this time!”

Before an awkward silence could even ensue, a knock was heard at the boutique door. That and a whole lot of bickering about how unnecessarily loud and cheerful the knock was. “...I wonder who that could be at this hour...” the white unicorn mare spoke up, knowing full well.

Even Crimson was lost for words. ‘...I think I might have a clue...’

Well, he was half right. When Rarity finally found the nerve to open the front door, she found two well built stallions at the door, both completely cloaked in black. One had a dull brown coat, a matching brown mane with yellow tips, golden eyes, and wore a wide grin, as if perfectly happy and not remembering what had happened the night prior. The other was a dark green pegasus, who sported a shaggy, jet black mane with green outlines around the edges that matched his coat. His face was completely void of any emotion, and behind his thin rectangle glasses resting over his muzzle were his bored green eyes. It also happened to be quite rare when his face actually revealed a smile.

“Excuse me, sir, but we happen to be closed for the night.” Rarity greeted, trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

“Sorry to bother you, Ma’am,” the green colt spoke up, not even noticing Crimson laying on the couch. “but you see, we’re looking for a stallion with a black coat and possibly wearing a cloak much like ourselves. We were told by the civilians here that he was brought to this shop-” A brown hoof was planted over his mouth, successfully cutting him off.

“You’re doing it all wrong, Glitch! Let me show you how it's done!” The brown colt took a long, deep breath. “YO, RED!!!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing everypony to cover their ears. “COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!!! WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE, DON’T PLAY DUMB!!! OR MAYBE YOU CAN’T PLAY WHAT YOU ACTUALLY AR-”

Not a moment too soon, the green colt had his hoof shoved into the formers mouth to finally shut his partner up. “By Celestia’s bloody mane, I will fucking kill-”

“I’m here, I’m here! Ya fucking happy, dammit?!” The two diverted their glares from each other, placing them on just the pony they’ve been looking for. That is, until they heard a -quite frankly- pissed off white mare clearing her throat.

“Excuse me, but I’m afraid I must ask you to please watch your mouths! At least try to act like you colts have a civil bone in your body.” she trotted back inside as she let out a stressed, and a bit overdramatic huff. “I swear, you colts are all the same. At least a mare tries to dignify herself through style and-”

She didn’t get to finish. At least, not before the black colt was yanked back inside by his tail by a certain rainbow maned pegasus. “...Grace.... nevermind.” she groaned through her facehoof.

“Dammit, Dash! Lemme go!” The black colt growled, desperately pulling at his tail in attempt to free it.

“Are you kidding?!” the cyan mare protested surprisingly fluent with a black tail pressed against her clenched jaw. “We all know what those two want from you! What’s stopping us from slamming the door on their noses?!”

“The fact that they could easily break it down, maybe.” Crimson groaned. “These two are just as strong as Storm, and I just barely even came out alive from that one.”

“Oh yeah... that’s true, isn’t it...”

As Crimson popped his tail free from Rainbow Dash’s mouth, he made his way to the door. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, darling?” asked Rarity, worry visible in her azure eyes.

“Heh, don’t sweat it, Rares.” Crimson smirked reassuringly. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to now, I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”

“Against two hitcolts?! I’m sorry, Crimson, but you just recovered from your fight with Storm...”

Glitch found it to be a good time to intervene. “Nopony said anything about fighting, miss...”

“Rarity.” the mare scowled. “Then would you mind explaining just where you will be going with my friend, and exactly what you’re going to do with him?”

‘There’s that word again...’ Crimson thought to himself, stunned that one of the mares that used to hate his guts a few days ago would actually call him that. Was he really their friend?

“Don’t worry, we just wanted to chat with our old friend.” the green colt reassured. “I’ll have you know that us assassins don’t always negotiate through fights. Wild Card here just happens to be a very bad example...”

“Now why do I find that very hard to believe?” Rarity muttered, glaring down the two strange colts.

“Well think about it this way, miss Rarity.” he began calmly, adjusting the glasses on his face. “You’ve noticed that your new “friend” here is a bit deeper than just punching every pony he sees in right in their face, correct?”

“Well, of course, but-”

“Correct.” Glitch confirmed, a beam of light reflecting off of his lenses, almost completely covering up his eyes from the glare. “And from what you probably already know, Crimson here used to be one of us as well. Correct?”

“Used to. He doesn’t associate himself with you’re organization of brutes anymore.” the mare spat back. “Green, such a hideous color.”

Glitch couldn't hold back an annoyed sigh. “Look, the key words here are ‘used to’ and ‘anymore’,” he continued. “Like it or not, Crimson is one of us. He belongs with us, Akuma Tenshi, far more than he belongs in such a happy, peaceful town. If you let him stay, even I could predict how bad it would turn out for everypony. Red is much too dangerous to live his days in such a town.” the colt concluded, not even noticing that he slipped by calling Crimson by that name.

The mentioning of the company’s name made the black colt cringe, as he noticed that Glitch’s statement clearly ticked off the two mares in the building, their faces burning in Crimson’s namesake out of pure anger. He however, knew full well that every word that came out of Glitch’s mouth was the truth.

Crimson didn’t belong in the mystical, happy-sappy wonderland known as Ponyville.

“WHY I OUTTA-” the two mares growled in unison, cut off by a loud, stern “Stop!” from the black colt in the middle of all of it.

“Like it or not, you two, but there’s no available way out of this.” he mellowed down, as did the atmosphere emitting off the five ponies.

“Crimson...” the white mare sighed in defeat, knowing it was pointless to argue over a battle she couldn’t win, let alone participate in. “...Just promise me you’ll be safe?”

“Rarity! You’re just going to let him go like that?!” the blue pegasus yelled, calling out one of her best friends.

“...Yes, Rainbow. I am.” she faintly responded, leaving Rainbow Dash wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry, Rarity.” Crimson smiled softly. “I’ll be just fine-” Before he knew what hit him, Rarity buried her face in Crimson’s chest, wrapping her arms around the colt, effectively cut him him off. Not to mention reddening his cheeks. He finally gave up and returned the favor by hugging back. As the hugs finally broke, the three colts trotted away from the boutique, fading away in the darkness, leaving the two mares to fear the worst.

“Guys, what’s wrong?”

The two mares directed their gaze towards a very familiar voice, noticing the one and only Pinkie Pie walking down the stairs, her mane soaked to the point of appearing straight, along with a towel wrapped around her waist. “Sorry I was in the shower so long, but I thought I might have heard yelling. Is everything okay?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Of course, that is unless you don’t count Crimson getting abducted- Ow!” The cyan pegasus yelped, rubbing her now sore rib cage from the white unicorn mare’s elbow.

“It’s not abduction if he went willingly, Rainbow Dash!”

In the midst of the two mare’s bickering, Pinkie’s eyes were growing wide eyed in horror. The pink mare galloped straight out the door, and as many times as she called out his name, it appeared as if nopony was ever outside at all....

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

“You know those cancer-sticks will be the end of you one day, right?” Wild Card pointed out, still proudly showing off his fox faced grin.

“I know, I just stopped caring a long time ago.” Glitch shot back, as he began to light a cigarette in his mouth. He lazily took a drag from it. “Besides, most of it is stress control because of you, Card.”

“Alright, cut the bullshit you two. As good as it is to see you, Glitch, what exactly is it that want from me?” Crimson asked in a oddly nonchalant tone of voice. If there had to be at least one pony he parted ways with on good terms, it was Glitch. The three colts were all standing around in a circle formation on top of one of the only flat roofed houses in Ponyville.

“Red...” the green colt glared, his voice keeping its same stern tone, puffing smoke from the side of his mouth. “I’d get comfortable if I were you, buddy. After all, we have a lot to discuss.”