Pinkie looked over at Applejack, her eyes poofier than her hair as small streams of tears ran down her face. “He’s gone? I can’t believe he’s just... gone...” Pinkie whimpered, draining her cocoa in one gulp, marshmallows and all.

“Don’t worry, Pinkie. I’m sure he can take care of himself.” Twilight took another sip of her own drink, trying to calm the normally spunky mare with a reassuring smile.

One that was quickly replaced by a wince as Rarity accidently poked her in the side with a pin. “Oh! So sorry, dear... I’m almost done.”

“You really don’t have to modify my dress from the wedding, Rarity,” Twilight said before cringing as another pin pricked her side. “It fits fine!”

“I’m sure it does, but, well... I just need something to do!” Rarity looked at the row of amethysts she’d been sewing around the waist of the dress before throwing her hooves in the air. “Ugh! I just can not concentrate! Why am I so worried?”

“Well, I believe that he’ll be jus’ fahne, Sugercube,” Applejack put in with a small smile as she patted Pinkie’s withers. “He’s a big colt. He can take care-a hisself, I reckon.” She looked into the fire, her eyes far away as she took a sip of her own cocoa.

Fluttershy trotted softly in, holding out a cup of tea for Rarity as she sipped her own. “O-oh, well, um, if you don’t mind my saying so, I think that he won’t leave, anyways. His things are still in his room, and he seemed so nervous about being in public without his cloak. He’ll stay long enough to get his new one from Rarity, if nothing else.”

At that, Applejack looked away, and Pinkie plopped her face down on her hooves. “I just wish...” Pinkie yawned, her words becoming softer. “I just wish that he’d tell me if he liked aprmblpie...” With that, she curled up into her blanket and began snoring softly.

“Y’know,” Applejack said as she yawned and stretched her back, “Ah agree wit’ Pinkie. Let’s sleep on it, n’ see what comes of it in the mornin’.”

Applejack stoked the fire so it would stay at a comfortable temperature before heading up to her bed. Rarity laid daintily upon the couch, the pillow she brought with her positioned just so for comfort. Fluttershy went up the stairs to take the other bed in Applejack’s room, and Twilight laid down on the floor next to Pinkie, a single question buzzing through her head before she too drifted off to slumber. That question was ‘What does him leaving have anything to do with apple pie?’

The clock chimed twelve times, and only one Apple was awake to hear it. The big red farmer trotted silently into the living room and picked up all of the cups the mares had left out, washed them, and went outside. “Ah know a good colt when Ah sees one, sis,” Big Macintosh drawled to himself. “An’ Ah’ll be damned iffin he ain’t.”

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

“So, let me get this straight...” the black pegasus narrowed his eyes, using his hoof to scratch at his chin while he tried to put everything together. “Boss increased the time I have to decide from a week to a month. And if I reject, he’ll label me a traitor, giving everypony in the org full permission to take my head, and the permission to do so without restrictions...”

According to the dark green colored colt’s gem-powered watch, it was getting close to midnight- which was good for Crimson, considering the fact that he wouldn’t be caught dead in public without his cloak. The horrifying scar that stretched all the way down his back, his Taurus shaped mark over his flank that’s turned him into an even bigger freak of nature than he was prior, and the only place he could escape the reality of his life, his mind, were three products of his past endeavors Crimson would never share with anypony. Sadly, only two of those things could be hidden by articles of clothing.

The black colt also had to admit that he rather enjoyed the company of his old pal, Glitch. He and Crimson were usually the two to almost always keep to themselves, though Glitch’s level of ‘lazy’ was sometimes on a completely higher scale than Crimson’s, and whilst Crimson was always easy to piss off at times, Glitch was fairly mellow, well... unless Wild Card was involved at least. However, both contain a great amount of common sense, a quality many ponies seemed to lack. The two had always had an understanding, and enjoyed each other’s silence. Sometimes they could even communicate without any vocal speech at all, but rather body motions, which left a certain brown colt feeling very left out most of the time.

“I’m afraid it’s all true, Red.” the green colt confirmed. “You were one of Boss’ favorites, and anypony who gets in the way of his path to you will most likely be murdered. So now do you see why I’ve been saying it’s a dangerous idea to get these so-called “friends” of yours involved? Wild won’t admit it, but we both came here to warn you about this dilemma for your own well being.”

“Sorry, Glitch,” Crimson responded without any haste. “but just like I told Wild, there’s no chance in hell that I’ll come back. Sorry to break it to you guys like this, but what Boss says doesn’t mean jack-shit to me anymore. However, you’re right about one thing...” the colt’s crimson eyes drooped, letting out a deep, hearty sigh. “Staying in this town for much longer wouldn’t be a good idea at all. Hell, look at what happened when Storm decided to show!”

“It will get even worse when you’re finally cornered and mutilated like a lab rat.” Glitch simply glared at the colt before him, scrunching up the bridge of his snout, feeling his calm demeanor slowly fade away. “Just face it, Red, if you don’t come back, you’ll either go down at Boss’, or Celestia’s hooves.”

There was an awkward silence you could cut with Crimson’s katana, but considering how he didn’t have it at the moment, he figured he’d do it himself. “....I’d rather die than go back.”

“What in the hell are you-”

“You heard me, Glitch! That bastard had my sister killed! And there’s no way in hell that I’ll work under the same roof as the bipolar bitch who really fucked Star over! She just had to enjoy my suffering for herself, didn’t she?!”

“You’re a bit hard on the girl, Red.” said the green colt, attempting to ease the cloakless colt from his shaking rage.

“Hard on her?!” The black colt couldn’t believe what his supersonic ears had picked up. “Oh, I’m sorry I’m just a little bit livid towards the mare who made me question why I was born just to live a life of complete disappointment and failure!”

“...Terra didn’t exactly have a say in the matter, you do know that, right?” Glitch continued. “Some nights when she’s Spring, she just says in her room sobbing her eyes out, looking back at some of the actions she’s performed over the years. And even Summer has a good cry about it every now and then...”

“I... so what, I should forgive her because she’s half sorry?!” growled Crimson. “I swear that even if she kills me, I don’t care which season I take, but I’ll make sure I take Terra to her grave with me...”

As yet another awkward silence ensued, Wild began one of his giggle-fits to lighten the mood. He never really could stand when his angsty friends got like this, which was unfortunately very often. “So, Red, how does it feel to finally know that you have mares swooning over you like this, huh? Come on~! Tell me, tell me, TELL ME!!!” Wild was suddenly leaning over Crimson, his manic grin right in Red’s face.

“G-get over yourself and lower the volume, Card!” Crimson spat in embarrassment, as he felt his face burn. “You may have mares kissing your hooves like you were a fuckin’ Alicorn or something, but not me.”

“Oh, how innocent you are when it comes to this subject, Red~! Well then, mister candy ass, will you please explain to me why that pink poof ball and the stetson wearing farm gal are always clinging and pressing against you, never even taking their gaze off you?” Wild Card winked. “Just admit it, Reddy~! You’re absolutely loving this!”

“I... I, uh.... have n-no idea what y-you’re going on about...” the flustered colt protested, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “Those two would never do that over somepony like me, let alone any other mare in Celestia’s fucked up world of Equestria. Just because you have experience with mares doesn’t mean you can read their minds!”

The brown earth-bound pony rolled his golden eyes, letting an overly dramatic groan slip forth from his lips. “Exactly how dense are you, man?! You and I both know full freakin’ well that I’m an expert on the field of mares, Red. Those two are completely smitten by you, and yet it all goes completely unnoticed by your lack of social skills. What really fucks with my head is that this is one of many cases, too... Stop acting like an oblivious fucking pussy and smell the coffee already!”

“You’re so full of shit, Wild!” Crimson snapped back. “How about you quit acting like a goddess damned know-it-all and drop it, because I absolutely hate know-it-all’s!”

“Just forget it, then... stubborn ass...” Wild sighed through his facehoof, though he retained his foxface smile when he turned his attention back towards the black colt, nudging his shoulder with an elbow. “Just curious, but who’s you favorite, loverboy?”

“GAH! Neither of them, you dumbass! The last thing I want is a marefriend! Romance is nothing but a big waste of time!”

“Snrrk, Ehehehe~! No wonder you’re alone, Red. You a coltcuddler, then?”

Wild Card’s frenzy of laughter towards the enraged colt’s embarrassment soon ended after a green hoof bonked him upside the head. “That’s more than enough, Wild. Quit acting so damn childish already.”

“Ow! The hell, you fucking dork?!”

“Dumbass, have you already forgotten?” groaned the green pegasus. “We promised those two mares that we’d stay out of a fight by any means necessary. And from what it looks like, you're doing a pretty shitty job.”

“Bite me, Glitch!" the brown colt spat, rubbing the now swelling mark on his scalp.

“Let's just get back on track and focus, please?” Glitch rubbed at his own head, the cigarette failing to relieve his irritation. “Red, I’m not trying to call you a monster or anything... but when you’re in the heat of rage, you have very little control of your conscious, and you fail to realize your own strength. It’s only going to get worse as time goes by, and you might end up hurting one of those mares you’ve started hanging out with.”

“....They drag me along with them, for your information...”

“Hah! You’re not proving my theory wrong, Reddy~!”

“GAH!!! Will you fucking idiots just FOCUS?!” Glitch roared, causing the two colts to straighten up. Although it was very rare, Glitch almost rivaled Storm’s twin sister when he snapped... The green colt cleared his throat and blushed, knowing that he might have woken a few civilians from their slumber.

“...Sorry about that. But you need to hear this, Red.” Glitch adjusted his glasses nervously upon his snout, a drop of sweat running down his face. He knew this wasn’t going to end well... And from what the black colt witnessed from the usually level headed colt, so did he. “As you know, Boss usually forbids us from hurting the innocent. However, Boss has ways of making us listen. If you don’t leave and come with us by May 1st, he may put a hit out on those six mares to get your attention, making it a birthday you truly wouldn’t forget.... Think about it, do you really want another Star Bright incident?” Glitch knew it was a low blow, something he’d usually never perform. However, he knew this was the only way to get that colt to listen.

“I... I...........” The black colt’s eyes widened in fear, knowing full well that Boss wouldn’t put it below him to perform such a twisted feat. ‘...Fluttershy.... Rainbow Dash.... Rarity.... Twilight.... Applejack.... Pinkie Pie.... Star.... sis....’ Crimson couldn’t stop shaking as he remembered the nightmare he’d had. ‘If I stay here, then... then that might actually happen.’ He could feel himself breaking down, but he couldn’t in front of these two. Using the last vestiges of his strength, he got up from the table and flew off into the night.

Wild looked at Glitch and shrugged. “Well, that was a bust.”

Glitch looked off after the black colt as he disappeared into the darkness. ‘Damn,’ he thought to himself. ‘It’s those mares... If it weren’t for them, this would have been easy.’ Glitch shook his head and sighed, adjusting his glasses. “Come along now, Card. We don’t have all day.”

“Don’t you mean night?”

“ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!”

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

Crimson lit down on the small dirt path, the welcoming sight of Sweet Apple Acres in the near distance. His body trembled. He wanted to go there, and curl up on his bed. He wanted to run away and never look back. He wanted to find that bar and get another afterburner or twelve.

But, most of all... “C-Celestia dammit...”

He didn’t want to cry.

“Hey.” Crimson’s ears flicked. “Hey, Red. You’re not gone. Good.”

Crimson looked around, not sure where the voice was coming from. “Dash? That you? Where are you?”

“Look up, stupid.”

Crimson looked up to see a cloud above him. A pair of eyes looked out at him, and he could barely see the light blue tips of feathers poking out the sides. A smile formed. “Heh. Beep beep. I’m a cloud.”

For whatever reason, even with reality crashing down around him, covering him, drowning him... He laughed.

Dash jumped out of the cloud and laughed too. “Okay. Good. I was thinking I was gonna have to rain on you. Would have, too, if you’d decided to be all mopey.”

“What’re you doing out here, Dash? This late?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I heard some yelling. Saw you flying away from those other two. Grabbed the cloud I’d fallen asleep on and followed.”

“Don’t you have, like, a house, or something?”

“Eh. I wasn’t even s’posed to be asleep. Twilight wanted me watching the edge of town for any trouble, or for you in case you left.” Dash bit her hoof, chewing thoughtfully. “Pinkie and Applejack were worried about you.”

Crimson sat back on his haunches as she floated around him. “They were, huh....”

“Well duh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, still floating around lazily on the bit of cloud. “You just left out of nowhere with those two jackasses, what did you expect?”

“Look, I’ve had maybe six ponies total in my life that even gave two shits about my well being.” His voice grew stern. “Excuse me if I’m not exactly used to anypony acknowledging me as something other than a menace.”

“Well, looks like you got six more.” She mischievously smirked.

“Six more what?” Crimson pondered, as he scratched his head.

“Six more ponies who care, you big idiot! We here in this small town of Ponyville don’t abandon anypony in need. Because of that, we’ve managed to defeat the impossible! I can bet ya things’ll get a lot better for you now that you’re here. We’ll stick by you till’ the end, or I’m not the Element of Loyalty!” The cyan mare boasted, still maintaining a smirk of her own.

“I... wow...” After that little speech, the black colt found himself speechless. ‘This place is just so.... different.’

“Come on now, don’t go all silent on me!” She chuckled, completely ignorant of the vast amount of different feelings going through his body. If he stayed, he’d put all their lives in danger, but... could he just leave?

“Sorry, just... thinking about something...”

“Or somepony, maybe?” The mare’s smirk grew into a full on smile. “Oooooooh, I get it! It all makes sense now!”

“What are you getting at, Dash?” the black colt asked, furrowing his brow quizzingly. “And if the others are worried too, why did you only mention Pinkie and Appleja-.... Oh, please tell me it’s not this shit again...”

“I dunno, you tell me, loverboy~!”

“Not you too, Dash...” Crimson groaned through his hoof. “Don’t you even start.”

“Pfft... Bahahahaha!!!”

Trying to catch her breath in between laughs, Rainbow Dash dropped flat onto her back, her legs kicking the air as she struggled to form a single sentence. “You- snrrk sly- hehe dog-AHAHAHAHAAAHHAHA!!!~”

“J-just drop it, please?!” the red faced colt growled. “Not exactly in a good mood, in case you couldn’t figure it out on your own.”

“Hehe, fine, fine. Just don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

“Just so long as you don’t get your boxers in knot when I tell you that there is absolutely nothing between any of us.” he snarled back, already tired of this dusty old subject for one night. And for a lifetime at that, but then again that might be too generous.

“It’s a shame, really. It might have done a good job at getting rid of your sour attitude.”

“Yeah, well that’s not gonna happen... the dating part I meant.”

“Figured as much...” she sighed, but shrugged it off in order to let one more thing off her chest. “Just remember this...” As she lowered her cloud, Dash made sure that her intensified glare didn’t go unnoticed by Crimson. “...You break their hearts, I break your spine. Got it?”

“...Y-yeah, I g-got it...” Was every mare just downright terrifying when pissed off? Crimson just assumed the answer was ‘Hell yes!’.

“Good.” The mare sneered, retracting her nose from his. “You know ya might be able to sneak in without waking anypony up, just letting ya know. I won’t tell if you don’t.” She winked.

‘...Why do I have a bad feeling about this?’

The two made their way back to the Sweet Apple Acres farm house. When Crimson peered through the doors, he noticed a few of the mares in the living room, all fast asleep. ‘Okay, Crimson. Don’t sweat it, you’ve infiltrated much worse before. All you gotta do is not make a single sound. Hmm... or maybe I could go around and jump in through the windo-’

“HEY, GUYS, LOOK WHO I FOUND!!!”

“Why you lying little-”

That was all the colt could let out before he was tackled to the ground by a pink blur. ‘How did she even get up so fast?!’ was the thought that went through his head.

“Oh, uh... Sorry I was out for so long, just had a lot of catching up to do!” Crimson started nervously. He wasn’t technically lying, now was he? “Pinkie Pie, are- are you okay?”

The pink pony was not, in fact, okay. She had tears running down her face, as if they were fleeing a fire. She choked out a sob, then a laugh. She pressed her face into his chest, sniffing as her emotions went for another ride on the Moodswing Express.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine, Red... Now that you’re here...”

“A-hem.” Red looked up into an orange farm filly’s stern gaze and winced.

‘Yep... absolutely terrifying.’

“Um... Hey, Applejack. How are you doing, huh? Sorry I woke you?” Crimson grinned sheepishly while trying not to bring attention to how, ah, uncomfortable he was getting with Pinkie laying right on top of him, which didn’t seem to strike Applejack’s fancy either.

“...Ah’d start talkin’ iffin’ Ah wuz you, Mister,” Applejack said with a scowl as she trot down the staircase. “An’ fast.”

“...About?”

“Fer starters, how ‘bout with what’ve ya’ll have been doin’ out fer four hours?” She wasn’t going to make this easy for him, not till she got her answer.

“Excuse me, but I didn’t know that I had such a strict bedtime.” Crimson snorted, only adding fuel to the fire, which usually seemed to happen whenever he made an attempt to lighten the mood. He really needed to work on that...

“Cute.” the orange mare growled, “Now quit actin’ like a smartass and start talkin’.”

“I...” The black colt let out a heavy sigh as his heart felt like it was being strangled. “...Sorry, but I don’t really wanna talk about it right now, alright? I just want to go to my room and-”

“Ya’ll ain’t goin’ nowhere ‘til ya spill the beans!”

As Applejack’s frustration grew, the colt she was interrogating was feeling uncomfortably suffocated from everypony’s attention. The other three mares in the living room began to drift away from their slumber, the pale yellow pegasus poked a timid head out from the staircase. The cloakless colt realized that he and the farm mare were in fact, making a scene. As awkward as he felt, everytime Crimson was put on the spot, he couldn’t help but feel the need to defend himself from whatever was the source.

“You know, you’re starting to act less like my mother, and a little more like you’re my wife.” Crimson retorted, his stern tone of voice now rivaling Applejack’s. “Or is that what you’re trying to go for?”

The stetson wearing mare’s face grew red at the statement. “Why ya little- quit bein’ such a little brat an’ answer the damn question!”

“Whoa, chill out, AJ!” the cyan mare interjected, now feeling a smudge of guilt over her pride for starting all of this. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on the guy, he can hold his own like you said he-”

“The git was with not jus’ one, but two o’ those jackasses!” The mare’s voice kept rising in volume. Applejack, the voice of reason for her friends, was beginning to scream. Not only that, but she looked on the verge of tears. “Maybe if he’d jus’ gosh darn open his eyes, he’d see that we friends actually care ‘bout him! He’s been worrying us sick for hours!”

Crimson had finally lost it. “What in the HELL ever gave you the idea that I actually ask you to?! I’ve lived my entire life without anypony giving as much as a shit about me, and the ones who did hate my fucking guts! Why should any of you mares that I met only a couple of days ago be any different from them?!?!?!”

As he tried to catch his breath, he noticed the pink mare’s ears droop and eyes watering once more, as she faintly whimpered “...I thought we were all friends...”

Crimson looked at Pinkie, feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt. “We are friends… I guess… But, well, I’m just…” Crimson sighed, turning his head away from the mares surrounding him. “All my friends are either assholes or dead. And you aren’t assholes.” He closed his eyes against the burning sensation of tears, trying to not show the mixture of emotions threatening to spill forth. “You shouldn’t die because of me.”

He had not been prepared for it. He had never really thought it was possible. Fuck, she always seemed too happy to do something like that. But, Pinkie slapped him. Hard. “Stop moping, Red! We aren’t gonna die just because you’re our friend!”

“But that’s just it. You could die, just for being my friends. As of May 1st, my immunity will be relieved, and everypony from the Organization will have free reign. Once that happens, it doesn’t matter who you are. If you get between me and them, they’ll kill you. And they aren’t the only powerful organization out there, just one of many...” Crimson looked into Pinkie’s eyes, his own pleading. “Some might just kill you to hurt me. I don’t want that to happen. Dammit! I don’t want another Star!” He choked out a sob, clenching his eyes shut with a grimace. ‘Dammit... dammit... dammit...’

Tears still flowing freely, the pink pony wrapped her arms around the clueless idiot. Her clueless idiot. Well, not yet, but maybe someday... “We’ve been through life or death situations multiple times, what makes you think this is any different?”

“But... why get yourself killed over me?” asked the confused colt. He just couldn’t comprehend anything anymore...

“Because friendship is worth dying for, Red.” She smiled, easing the colt if only a little. “Everypony here had to learn this the hard way, but... we’re all glad we did.” Breaking the hug, she looked Crimson dead in the eyes, her sadness replaced with a look of hope. “Even if you don’t let yourself see it like this, you’re our friend, Red...”

“....Why’d you start calling me by that nickname?” All his irritation was lost at this point. All that remained now was flustered disorientation.

“It’s because that’s who you are. You’re Red! You aren’t just some hitcolt, or assassin, or whatever- you aren’t Crimson. You’re Red. The colt who likes spicy! The colt who has actually hung out with me an’ my friends! The colt who I li- who I’d like to consider a really, really good friend. You’re Red, and no matter how many times you insist on being called Crimson, I won’t. Because that’s not who you are.”

The black colt’s tears poured just as freely as the mare on top of him did, he wasn’t used to such kind, motivational words from anypony. For once in his life, he felt proud of that nickname. “T-thank you, Pinkie... I’ll never understand why everypony’s so nice here, but... thank yo-”

“Shhh, don’t talk...” The mare could feel her face warm up. She wouldn’t mind just sitting there, keeping her gaze into those crimson eyes for hours. Unfortunately, that would have involved ignoring the ever growing, misty eyed crowd around the two. Well, other than the three who were up past their bedtimes...

“Eww, Pinkie’s got his cooties now!” a white unicorn filly piped up from up the stairs, her double colored mane in perfect swirls, despite just being in bed. Alongside her was a bedhead Apple Bloom and another filly with a gomboge (just a light orange) coat. Her fuchsia mane was cut short, almost making Crimson mistake her as a colt, as she followed up with a “Eww, oh, that’s so gross!”

“A’ight, tha’s it. Get back ta bed, the three a ya!” Concealing a sniffle, the burly Big Macintosh began to lead the fillies back to their sleeping quarters.

Well, not before the little farm filly slipped through and squeezed the black colt with affection. “Ah never got the chance ta thank ya’ll fer savin’ me!”

Crimson couldn’t help himself but squeeze back. “Oh, it was no problem at all, Star- er, Apple Bloom.”

His slip of the tongue completely unnoticed, the filly raced off to follow her brother, who gave the black colt a simple nod. Crimson nodded back, exchanging an understanding between two quiet colts. His eyes saddened a bit as he watched Apple Bloom depart, feeling an old, but far from forgotten memory burn at the back of his scalp. ‘Sis...’ All he could do was simply sigh.

“Applejack, can I please just go to bed now?” Crimson pleaded, now directing his attention towards the teary orange mare, her head drooping low.

“....Jus’ get, would ya? Ah’ve had mah fill of yer excuses for one day.” Applejack’s harsh words stung the black colt’s ears, but none the less, he got the picture. Pinkie Pie awkwardly stumbled off the colt she had been laying on top of the entire time, her face redder than any apples in the orchard. Crimson exchanged his “Good nights” with the six mares and climb up the staircase. Once out of earshot -which was a completely different length compared to their version-, the unicorn with the mane of the deity status directed her attention towards the apple farmer.

“Applejack, how rude! Do you mind explaining why you had to act so uncouth towards the colt?”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Rainbow followed up, giving a glare of her own. “He had a perfectly good reason to be out for so long, and it’s not like he had a choice! So what the hay was that all about?!”

“.....Ah’m goin’ back ta bed. Night, girls.” Applejack trotted back up stairs without another word, leaving the five bewildered mares at a loss of their own words.

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

After what seemed like an eternity of constant rolling over and adjustments, the black colt knew it was going to be harder than he thought possible to get some shut-eye. Oh well, might was well gather his thoughts, he was sure he’d drift to sleep at some point.

‘.......Applejack hates me now, doesn’t she?’ He couldn’t help but a sorrowful exhale. One of the first ponies to actually accept him in this happy-go-lucky town hated him once again. ‘And the weird thing is that I don’t even remember what I did.... I wonder if it's that time of the month.’ Quickly shaking the rather disturbing thought, Crimson just rolled onto his back, finding the ceiling very alluring to stare at for some unfathomable reason.... ‘...Maybe it’s all just in your head, Crimson... I wonder where my cloak is...’

“Having trouble sleeping I see?”

Okay, that was definitely not in his head. He shot his torso straight up faster than you could say “Holy shit!”. It was hard to distinguish the color of the coat of the pony standing in his room, but the sheen from the glasses gave it all away...

“...Glitch? The fuck are you-”

“Sorry, but we never really did get to finish our little chat...”

The black colt looked all around, not finding a single trace of ‘moron’ in the room. “So....where’s Wild?”

“I honestly have no clue. Most likely raiding the fridge would be my guess.” The cloaked colt sighed in his facehoof.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. You should really keep that idiot on a leash.”

“Trust me, I’ve considered it.”

“Heh, wouldn’t be a bad- Gah, you need to leave, now. Go on, shoo.” Crimson spoke at a hushed volume, making sure his words never left the room.

The pair of floating glasses just adjusted themselves through the darkness. “Sorry, Red. You just left before we got a straight up-”

“I said no five fucking times. How many more do I have to get through your thick skull dammit!”

“Well, I wanted to hear your answer after that little... breakdown you had back there.” As his eyes began to get used to the darkness, Crimson could make out the sight of Glitch’s uncomfortable scratching to the head. “What I really want to know is how all of you got so attached in just a few days, you’re not making this easy for yourself, Red. Heh, or us for that matter.”

Were his ears playing tricks on him, or did Crimson just hear the monotone colt give a chuckle? He just went with his first guess and continued towards the subject at hoof. “I dunno, man. It’s just... You wouldn’t believe it here, Glitch. Despite the fact that they know all the fucked up shit I’ve performed in my past; the killings, beatings, rampages, etcetera, they still... accept me. Unlike Boss’ form of “acceptance”, I don’t have to live my life in fear when I’m here. I even keep up my training though the manual labor I’ve been getting.... this place is heaven, Glitch.” Crimson was finally able to admit it to himself. He loved Ponyville.

“... Is that so?” The green colt could already feel the sweat running down his coat. He couldn’t fail, not when he was so close to keeping the destruction away from the innocent. “Well, that heaven is going to turn into hell real quick in a few weeks. He won’t let anypony get out of keeping you from him alive.”

“Glitch, you have no idea what these mares have defeated.” Crimson smirked, knowing Glitch was going to get a kick outta this. “Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, fukkin’ Discord, man. Discord, the god of chaos that Celestia and Luna could barely defeat together.”

“Celestia damn, no shit?”

“No shit, man.” the colt chuckled at the now wide eyed green pegasus. “And as cliche’ as this is going to come off, they defeated them all with the power of.... friendship.”

“Uh... friendship?” Glitch tilted his head quizzingly, one eyebrow higher than the other.

“Well, that and the Elements of Harmony.”

“Ah, makes more sense now... sorta.” Glitch sighed. ‘Elements of Harmony... PAH! It goes against basic science!’

‘Damn, I can’t even remember the last time I actually had another decent conversation with another colt...’ Throughout the intense feeling of nostalgia rushing over his body, he couldn’t help but dread over an insignificant question. Yet the question was still managing to eat him alive. “.....When did you two get here anyway?”

“Hmm? Oh, sometime between you getting pissed off at the one wearing the stetson and that little speech the pink one gave you, all while laying on top of you, as you just proceed to sit there like a statue...”

“....Dammit.” The black colt hid his radiant red face into his hooves. Seriously, did he really have to go into so much detail about it? ‘Well, it is Glitch that we’re talking about here...’

“Don’t worry, Red. It was honestly rather heartwarming, to say the least...” Okay, who the hell was the phony?! Certainly it couldn’t be Glitch, right? “But moving on, I wanted to asked you something.”

“Uh, go for it, man.”

“Before we have to kill you the next time we see you, would you, me, and maybe Wild like to... hang out?”

Crimson was completely speechless, but his mind was just barely comprehending this either. ‘...The hell is going on here?!’

“You know, like we used to.” The green pony glanced in every direction but the colt before him. He was never really good with this sort of thing. “We could even go to a bar if you want, our treat. Hm... Wild’s treat.”

Crimson couldn’t help but smile to that. But there was a problem he found with that. He couldn’t just leave, not after what happened earlier that night... ‘I can’t just do that to them, not after... that.’ They just got done with worrying about whether or not the colt was even alive, but... he couldn’t just say no to one of the only times Glitch actually offered to have fun, could he?

“Don’t worry about those mares.” The green colt reassured. “We’d leave and be back before they ever knew we were gon-”

“Hey Glitch! you think there’s anything in this house to eat that doesn’t have apples in it?” The two colt’s looked at each other in dread, knowing that it didn’t come from the room. It sounded like it came from downstairs. “Gltich?! GLITCH, I- oof! Oh, hello there!~ Wild Card at your servi-”

The house was filled with a mixture of high pitched shrieks loud enough to shatter glass. As the two colts saw the same fear etched on each other's face, they only had one thought, and it was one they shared:

“....That son of a bitch!”

By the time Crimson and Glitch got downstairs, Twilight already had Wild Card strung up like a Hearth’s Warming tree. “Alright, I got him! He isn’t going anywhere!”

“Well, hello, ladies! So sorry to just walk in on you like that. Especially since you were getting your beauty sleep. But, you see, I’m looking for... ah, there you are, Glitchy! I was so worried that these fine young ladies had ravaged and tortured you- I mean, look! They seem to want to do it to me!” Wild Card cackled at his own joke before the lavender mare growled at him.

“Twilight, take it easy. I can take care of this, for now.” Crimson trotted towards the trio of ponies surrounding the crazy card colt. Crimson eyed the trickster warily, as Glitch came up beside him. He turned to Glitch and said, “Well, there’s your leash.”

Glitch, for his part, was able to keep his smirk to a thin line. “Quite, Red. Now, if we are going to at least try not to wake everypony up again, I believe that the back porch could sustain a high level of occupancy? Yes? Come along, now. And bring Wild, lest he eats his way through all the household’s wares.”

The group all fell in line behind the green pegasus as he walked out the door, Rarity hesitating only long enough to grab a blanket so she wouldn’t have to lay on the ground.

Fluttershy was in the three little fillies' room trying to get them to go back to bed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were most likely still sleeping since they were nowhere to be seen, so it looked like it was just the unicorn mares and pink earth mare for this one.

“So, what is it that you want?” Twilight asked Glitch as they all settled down.

“Well, the same thing everypony else is after. I want Red. And I’d rather take him with as little blood and loss of life as possible, but,” the green colt shrugged as he looked the group of mares over, “Red seems perfectly content with staying here for the next month. Doing that would sign a death warrant on the town.” At the blank looks in the two unicorn’s eyes, he sighed. “Everypony in Ponyville will be targetable by the Company; all Boss needs to do is give the go-ahead.”

“So, wait-wait-wait... Let me get this straight, mister glasses.”

“Glitch.”

“Whatever. You, and all your little friends, are going to set up shop as a... a butchery here in Ponyville if Red doesn’t leave?”

“No. If he leaves, then we’re ordered to destroy the village, ask the populace where he went, and kill them all. Chaos and Anarchy and death, and all that.” Glitch sighed. “Such a waste of resources, really. Only if he comes back to the Company will Ponyville not be harmed, but even that is something I cannot promise completely.”

“Alright, alright, Glitch... we get it, we get it...” Crimson sighed into his hoof. “If I leave, they get tortured and killed and destroyed. If I go crawling back to Boss, they get to live nice and happy, just like this never happened. And if I stay, then we all get to suffer through a to-the-death showdown between me and the entirety of the Company. Only three of them could ever hope to beat me when at my best, and I haven’t been slacking off since I got here, not counting my days in the Hospital.” Crimson stretched and flared his wings, flapping them a bit to release some energy. “So, since I won’t leave and let them suffer for my cowardice, and since I won’t go crawling back to Boss, I guess I’ll just need to beat the shit outta everyone they throw at me.” Crimson gave Glitch a confident smirk, but Glitch frowned in return.

“Even the Griffon Twins? Not gonna lie, they’re looking forward to putting you in a tin can. But you shouldn’t have to worry about them yet, at least. Your biggest worries are Terra, who’s gotten the go-ahead for an assassination attempt in a few days; a week at the most. She was Winter when I last saw her, be careful, ‘cause she might have cycled through to Autumn again, if she sticks to the natural order. Notch is also eager to get at you, but he won’t be troubling you for a while, at least. I could get a better list of the whens and hows if you want, but it’ll be a bit hard.”

The lavender mare looked at Glitch, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. “Wait... I thought you were from the Company?”

Glitch smiled faintly. “I guess you might insinuate that I am affiliated with them on business terms, and I’ve killed before, but I’m not an actual part of the Company, Miss Sparkle.”

“So... aren’t you Crimson’s friend? Are you going to tell us your life’s story, now? About how your life sucked on the streets, and you found your way into the “caring” hooves of an assassin company or whatever, and had adventures with Crimson along the way? Or how you killed your brother or something over a triviality like a game of chess?”

“Actually, it was checkers.” Glitch glared at Wild Card, his look promising an early end to his sex life. Wild Card, to his credit, shut up.

“No, I didn’t kill a family member, or anypony of import to me. In fact, it was because my father was the head of the Company’s weapons facility that I even knew about it. My mother was Celestia’s weapons specialist. While neither ever told their respective bosses about the other- they loved each other dearly, for some stupid reason- the dinner table some nights was a literal firefight as explosives and boobytraps were common appliances on the salt shaker, the oven, and the pantry. The make-up sex was quite... over-excessive, in my opinion.” Glitch cleared his throat, his neck a little red from embarrassment. “So, I do not work directly for the Company. I work with them, as I work with Celestia. But,” here Glitch looked at Red, his glasses gleaming in the dim light, “it was Red who has given me much of his money. If it weren’t for his bits, my SHIELD runes would still be only a prototype, and I would have been hurt by that rainbow-maned mare who almost rammed into me on my way into town.”

Glitch looked directly at Crimson again, his eyes filled with a smirk his lips could not quite carry. “I owe you quite a pretty fortune in bits, but as I recall, money is quite worthless to you.”

“Yeah, I only like it when I need a drink.”

“I assumed as much. I have with me a pretty small amount of that debt; maybe enough to buy all of Ponyville enough booze to make everypony drunk for the next day or so, but I’m sure you can handle carrying that much. And, as an added benefit of my indebtedness, you have my entire armory at your disposal. The only problem is, after the month is done, I will be supplying Boss’ army. You can take what you need before then, but at that point, you’re on your own.”

Crimson nodded in understanding, thankful that his friend could bend the rules at all to help him. “Thanks, Glitch. That’s more than enough, coming from you.”

Glitch turned back to Twilight, and once again the ghost of a smile graced his lips. “By the way, Miss Sparkle, you may want to tell your brother to visit me soon. As I am aware, Celestia is preparing for a major assault on a certain shadow in four weeks time, and he’ll want to facilitate the proper arming of the Royal Guards, I’d presume. I’d just get Storm to collect the armaments, but he’s too busy chasing Red around. I hear he hasn’t even gotten his elite group prepped yet. Seems like he wanted to find and kill our little boy blue on his own.”

“Yeah, it’s too bad I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.” Crimson smirked, but deep down he wasn’t too sure. He figured he’d just keep that thought to himself, lest he dampen the already dreadful mood.

“You sure getting cocky’s a good habit, Red?” The green colt raised an eyebrow. “Especially when you’re a trained killer who literally everypony in Equestria wants to beat to death in the worst way imaginable, and not to mention turn you in and live the rest of their lives rich as hell. Well, other than maybe Storm, who just wants to beat you to death just to beat you to death. A-hem! No offense or anything...”

“Nah, I think Sprinkles would at least use some of the money for little Vinny’s sake.”

“I think he’d gut you just for calling him ‘Sprinkles’.” Glitch faintly smirked, triggering a bit of giggling from the brown colt that had been surprisingly quiet this whole time.

The black colt used all his willpower to stifle his own laughter threatening to burst through his lips. “Snnrk haha, yeah, you’re probably right.”

Most of the mares were a bit too appalled to speak. How could anypony have so much enjoyment from a conversation as sick as this one? They were joking on Crimson’s life, and they were... laughing?! “What in tarnation’s goin’ on out here? Ain’t anypony got a lick a sense?”

“Of course not, AJ... They’re colts,” Rainbow Dash snarked as she landed beside the farm mare.

“Heh, yeah... Tha’s true enough, innit?”

“Oh, come on, Applejack! It’s not my fault that Glitch is a sneaky ninja bastard who’s possibly my only bestest friend that isn’t trying to kill me!”

“... And him?”

“... He was... along for the ride?”

“Awww~ Love you too, man!” The overly ecstatic clot laughed, a smirk now on his face. “And I’ll have you know that I was the ride!”

“Heh, a likely story, Wild Card.” As he got up and stretched his back and joints, showing off a devious, toothy smile down towards Glitch. “So, about your offer?”

The green colt simply adjusted his glasses. “It still stands, Red.”

“Offer?” the lavender mare tilted her head. “What exactly are you three planning?”

“Yes, Crimson.” Rarity arched a single brow. “Care to explain what you are planning with these two... gentlecolts, using that term loosely of course.”

Oops, maybe he should've been more discreet about that... ‘Well, no getting out of this one, Crimson. Might as well explain.... and hopefully you don’t wind up dead. ’ As he spoke, he couldn’t find the nerve to make eye contact with any of the mares. “Well, uh... Card and Glitch were gonna take me to a... bar, so-”

Crimson’s “explanation” was cut off by a good, loud “WHAT?!” from each mare in unison, which actually managed to make the three colt’s shoot backwards. Yeah, they were dead. Only five of the mares were outside to scold him at the moment, Pinkie just staying uncharacteristically silent. Sadly, the mares that spoke up were well known for their arguing prowess... Starting off with Twilight.

“Are you kidding me, Crimson!? Like we didn’t have enough to worry about! You just get back and you idiots already want to get drunk, your logic just astounds me!”

Then Rainbow Dash...

“You think this is funny, huh?! Leaving as soon as everypony stopped whining about you, you... asshole!!!”

Then Rarity...

“Really, darling! Everypony’s been worried sick since we had no way of knowing if you were okay, especially Pinkie Pie!”

And last, but not least, Applejack...

...was silent. The black colt hoped maybe she had nothing to say... But then again maybe he should have saw it coming this time. He didn’t expect it until he felt a powerful hoof collide with his snout, stumbling back from the pure force of impact. It didn’t help matters that this was the same spot that he was smacked in by a certain pink mare only hours ago, unfortunately it was no smack this time. It was a punch.

‘Celestia DAMMIT! What kind of mare can throw a punch like that?!’ The black colt fell flat on his flank, completely astonished as small river of red liquid flowed from the side of his mouth.

“Applejack! Why’d you do that to him?” Pinkie helped Crimson back to his hooves. “He’s just hanging out with a friend! Would you hit Dashie for going clubbing with Gilda, or Rarity? Would you hit me for hanging out with Vinyl? Or would you buck Twilight for wanting to spend time with one of her friends from Canterlot?”

“I, well, tha’s different! These ‘friends’ a his are dangerous! Tha’ one’s already tried ta kill ‘em, right? I’m still not sure Ah trust that Royal Guard pony tha’ attacked him. Why should Ah trust this one?”

Crimson stepped forward. “Because, unlike the others, I’d trust him with my life, if necessary. He’s not a killer. He’s a scientist, an inventor, and a Luna-damned good pegasus. If I can’t consider him a friend, then I wouldn’t be able to see any of you as my friends.”

Applejack stood there, looking flabbergasted. “I... Well, fine! Then Ah’m comin’ too!”

“Me, too,” Pinkie cried.

“I’d like to talk about those runes, if possible. So you can count me along,” Twilight said, sounding mollified by Crimson’s declaration.

“I’d go, but I’ve got to catch up on my work, dear. And I don’t think Fluttershy should go, either.”

“Can I-”

“No, Wild. You can pay, but you aren’t coming with. I want this to be a friendly meeting, and so help me, after a few drinks, I might be liable to take your head and mount it on a wall.” Glitch adjusted his glasses as the others stared at him, Crimson with a smirk. “Well, just because I’m not a fighter, per se, doesn’t mean I can’t. Dammit, I’m an inventor, not a pacifist.”

“It’s true,” the black colt smirked. “This guy could send Storm running for his life if he wanted. Glitch is easily one of the best fighters I’ve ever met.”

This just recieved a yawn from the blatantly unimpressed cyan mare. “Coulda fooled me, to say the least... But I’ll stay here just incase that other idiot starts any funny business.”

“An’ fer that matter, how in the hay is tha’ s’pose ta convince me he ain’t dangerous?” the farm mare gave a scowl.

“Because Glitch knows when it’s necessary to make use of it.” Crimson deadpanned. “I only fight when I think it’s necessary, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy a challenging brawl. Glitch here knows when, and stays professional when he does. So honestly, he’s probably less dangerous than myself, and yet you somehow find it in your hearts to trust me... you do trust me, right?”

Applejack was thrown back by this sudden question, most of her anger finally depleting. “Well, ‘course Ah do, but-”

“Then trust me when I say you should trust Glitch... If that makes any sense.” Crimson laughed, and for the first time, revealed a hearty smile that stretched ear to ear. It even rivaled one of the pink mare’s casual ones, causing both her and Pinkie to blush heavily. Unfortunately for them, it left as fast as it came. “Now no more questions. To the bar... we go!” The black colt pointed towards... no particular direction, as he began walking right behind the green colt. Well, not before swapping the black cloak right off Wild’s shoulders. “Sorry, but I’m not going anywhere without some cover... don’t look at me like that, you’re not even going anywhere!”

At that moment, the two mares showed more determination in their eyes then ever before. They would make him their own, if anything, just to see that smile one more time...

And the five were were off! On the trot towards the bar, the black colt couldn’t help but notice that Pinkie Pie and Applejack were brushing up against him a little too close for his liking...

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

“So, what do you absolutely stunning mares like to do to pass the time? How about a nice game of blackjack?”

“Rainbow, darling. Would you be a dear and fetch me the rope?”

“Ooooh~, something tells me I’m gonna love where this is going!~”