Red sighed. I swear, this can't end any worse than what I can think of. Red turned to Masky, and told him, "Masky, I'm putting you in charge of the others. Make sure they don't scar anyone for life, okay?"

Masky nodded, "I'll try."

"Good. I'll go speak to Celestia about the situation." Red walked over to Celestia, and asked, "Princess, may I have a word with you, in private?"

Celestia nodded, "Lead the way." Red walked over to the side of the throne room. "Now, Red, what is it you want to talk about?"

"Well, it's about the entire scenario. With the way things stand, I'm not entirely sure that we can win. My friends may be capable of holding their own, but I know their limits, and so do they."

"What are you getting at?"

Red sighed, "I'm saying that if they're close to dying, get them someplace far away, along with everyone else. I'll be fine on my own."

"But, Red, even you have your limit."

"I know what my limit is. I've known for a long time." Red looked back to his friends. "Just make sure that everyone's safe."

"But-" Celestia didn't have time to finish her sentence. Suddenly, the entire castle began to shake.

"What the hell? Is he here already?" Red snapped his fingers, and his skin turned pure white, and his eyes turned pitch black. He teleported to the front gates of the castle. Looking up, he saw more changelings than he had thought possible. "Well, looks like we're fucked." "You don't say?" Red pulled out the black sword, sighed. "Looks like we just can't get a break." Suddenly, a large beam of purple magic shot into the air. The magic spread out, creating a barrier around all of Canterlot. "What the hell?" The changelings looked at the barrier, confused. They put a hoof against it, and pushed. Then, they began attacking it. "Hm, well that's pretty damn convenient."

"Yeah, looks like I got here just in time." Red turned, and saw Shining, in full armor. "Those changelings are gonna have a pretty tough time trying to get through that." Suddenly, a black tentacle pierced the barrier, shattering it.

"Well, shit. That didn't last long." The changelings began to fire their magic on Canterlot. Red teleported, in front of one of the changelings firing magic. He slashed it throat. He teleported again, stabbing a changeling through the head. He kept teleporting, killing as many changelings as he could. The changelings fell like rain. But the changelings kept coming. Dammit, how many of these things are there? Eventually, Red had to relent. "It's like there's no damn end to the things."

Red saw that the changelings began to descend, all across Canterlot. For fuck's sake. Red sighed. Within seconds, he was surrounded. He looked around, and grinned. Time to show these bastards what I've got. Red teleported, stabbing one of the many changelings surrounding him. Then, teleporting behind another, decapitated it. Red kept teleporting, and in a matter of seconds, the changelings around him were dead.

Red teleported again, to one of the locations where he saw changelings landing, the front gates of the castle. There, he saw Jeff and Liu, slashing changelings left and right. Well, looks like they have this place under control. Red teleported again, to the center of Canterlot. There, he saw Changelings terrorizing civilians. As soon as he was about to move, Pinkamena jumped over him. What? How did she- Oh, fuck it. Red teleported again, this time in to the castle garden. He was surprised to not find any changelings. Any changelings that were still alive, anyway. Hm, I wonder who could have killed them all so fast. Red heard a twig snap behind him. Turning, Red's left arm erupted in black flames, and aimed his hand to the direction of the noise. Red's eyes widened when he saw Masky, covered in blood.

"Oh, uh, hello Red." Masky waved faintly.

"Masky? You did this?" Red asked, dumbfounded.

Masky rubbed the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah, well, I saw that Princess Celestia was surrounded by those things, and I sort of lost control."

Red's arm returned to normal, and he lowered it. "Jesus Masky, I never knew you were capable of something like this."

Masky looked at the ground. "I've never had a reason to be."

Then, Red heard a scream, coming from inside the castle. Oh no... Red teleported again, where the scream came from, the throne room. There, was Slendermane, standing over Celestia and Luna's unconscious bodies. Red teleported, and kicked. Slendermane disappeared before Red's foot even reached him. Red turned around, facing Slendermane. "What've you done to them?"

"Don't worry. They'll live."

"Answer me!"

"Hmph, fine. I sent them into their minds to relive their darkest moments again and again."

"Why? What have they ever done to deserve this?"

"They are two of the three beings that can challenge me. The other being Discord."

"You counted wrong. There's four that can challenge you. The last one would be me."

"Ha! That's rich. You're nothing compared to me."

"Oh really? Well, let's see just how wrong you are." Red sheathed his sword.

"You have no chance against me." Suddenly, Red was knocked away from the princesses. Then, a tentacle wrapped around him, and threw him out a window. Red got up slowly, but before he had a chance to recover, Red was knocked back by a tentacle. Then, an a barrage of tentacles began to whip at Red. Each hit felt as if a knife dug into his body. When the onslaught ended, Red was breathing deeply. His vision was blurry, the pain beginning to overwhelm his consciousness. He dropped to his knees, coughing up blood.

"D-dammit. How is he so fast?"

"Like I said before. You stand no chance against me." Red looked up, and saw a single tentacle poised, ready to impale him though the chest. Red's eyes widened. Then, the tentacle shot toward him. He closed his eyes. Then, he heard the tentacle pierce flesh, but the didn't feel anything. He slowly opened one eye, and saw Pinkamena, in front of him, on her hind legs, with a tentacle through her chest. Red's eyes widened again.

"No..." The tentacle retracted. And Pinkamena fell back to the ground, limp. "No..." Red crawled to Pinkamena, ignoring the pain he felt. When he got to her, she looked at him, and smiled.

"R-red, you c-can beat h-him. I know y-you can." She lifted a hoof, and took hold of him scarf. Then, she pulled it off. "W-win. Please."

"Pinks..." Pinkamena put a hoof around Red's neck, and pulled him close, until her mouth was next to his ear.

"I love you." Pinkamena whispered. Then, she took her last breath.. Next Chapter: Solemn Hour Estimated time remaining: 8 Minutes