Red looked Discord straight into the eyes. He wasn't kidding. Red sighed. "Son of a bitch..." Red walked over to a wall, and banged his head a few times. "Hm, Discord, have you ever done something and regret it as soon as you do it?"

Discord looked solemn, and said, "Quite a few times..." Red looked back at Discord is slight surprise. The former God of Chaos and Disharmony had regretted something he had done? Then Red realized how easily someone could regret something if they were reformed. Then, Red asked, "What was it?"

"I'd rather not say..." Discord told Red. Red just nodded. Red looked to the direction of the hallway Discord came from. At the end, were a set of double doors. Red realized that he saw those quite a bit. He began walking to the doors, but then Discord grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Discord turned Red, and looked into his eyes.

"Trust me. You don't want to go in there." Red looked back to the doors, and despite his curiosity, he nodded. "Good. Now, run along, I'm sure you have things you need to do." Red nodded again, and began to walk the way he had come. Discord watched Red go and muttered, "We're a lot alike, you and I..."

Red looked back to Discord and asked, "You say something?"

"Oh, just be careful, that's all." Red shrugged, and continued walking. He kept walking until he was back in the throne room. There, Celestia was sitting, facing him, smiling. She spoke, with ice in her voice, "Red, what are you doing back here?"

"Well, I'm here to kick you arse. And see if I can't find the real Celestia after."

"Hm, so it seems that your no longer fooled by this guise."

"That's right. Now,, i you don't mind, get ready, I'd rather prefer a fair fight than just killing you."

"What makes you think you can kill me?"

"The fact that you took a cheap shot at me the first time we met."

"Hm, nice observation. While it's true I'm not particularly skilled at taking an enemy head-on, that doesn't mean I'm completely defenseless." 'Celestia' stood, drawing a golden dagger from her side. Then, faster than Red could blink, she was charging toward him. Red managed to unsheathe his sword and block just in time, the dagger mere inches away from his eyes. 'Celestia' never stopped smiling.

"You know, I never realized how attractive your eyes were before now..."

"Hmph, thanks, I guess."

"And soon, I'll have them added to my collection."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Red angled his sword to have the dagger drag along the blade, missing him by a few inches. 'Celestia' used her magic to swing the dagger again. Red deflected it. Then, the dagger came back around, and grazed Red's side. 'Celestia' grinned.

"Is that the best you have to offer?"

"Without my powers, I'm afraid so."

"What a shame." The dagger whipped around, and Red suddenly felt a pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw the dagger, buried in the center of his chest. Red began to hear a thumping sound. It was rhythmic, almost like a drum. Or a heartbeat. Red realized he was hearing his heartbeat, and it was getting weaker. "Shit. Looks like it's my time to shine." Don't let me down, you crazy bastard. Then, after he heard his heartbeat stop, Red blacked out.

Then, the heartbeat came back. Red looked up, grinning. 'Celestia' looked at him in shock. Then, Red gripped the dagger, and yanked it out. Damn, it's been too long since I was able to kick some ass. Then, Red spoke, "Alright, here's what's gonna happen; I'm gonna kick your ass, kill you, then leave. Got a problem with that? If so, too bad. Red may have a sense of honor, but I don't. Call me Broken." Broken's voice was slightly higher pitched than Red's.

Broken, faster than 'Celestia' could blink, stabbed her in the side. Broken grinned. "Is that the best you got? If so, what a shame it would be to kill you, not even worth the amount of energy to swing this sword..." Broken slashed at 'Celestia's' throat, and felt the splatter against his face. 'Celestia' fell in a heap, bleeding to death. "Like I said, not even worth the energy of swinging this sword."

Broken sighed, then snapped his fingers, the hole in his chest, along with his heart, began to fill with smoke, materializing into flesh. He sighed again, then blacked out.

When Red woke up, he saw 'Celestia's' body, and let out a sigh of relief. Damn, it's a good thing that Broken's a lot more merciless than me. "Hey, it's what I'm good at." Red placed a hand over his heart. He hated when it stopped. It meant dying, then coming back. And that wasn't very pleasant. At least, not to Red.

Red got up, and began to walk out of the throne room. as he did, he saw that there was less grime on the walls. And that, there were guard slowly walking out, rubbing their heads, seemingly gaining consciousness. At the end of the hallway, was Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Cadance.Walking toward them, Red let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. Good thing the Celestia he killed was a fake, or he would likely be on the run for the rest of his days here. Next Chapter: Then and Now Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour