Back at Ponyville University the typhoon intensified, seemingly forming it's strongest winds specifically around the gymnasium where everyone was gathered to wait out the titan-like power of the storm. Whether by coincidence, or some unknown force acting upon it, the storm seemed to have formed it's eye directly above the University, and was causing more distortion directly outside it's barrier than anywhere else in Ponyville. The chaos riddled lightning slammed itself against the gargantuan shield surrounding the school, causing it to flare up dangerously and become a teal translucent field for a few moments, before fading from sight once more. Each bolt held enough power to warp reality where it struck, but the barrier surrounding the school was just as powerful, and resilient. It held each bolt without giving an inch.

While the lightning pounded the shield on the outside, a storm of another making was brewing within the gyms walls. Although the sounds of the wind were muffled through the barrier to those inside, the screaming pair within were causing enough noise on there own for it to hardly matter much at all.

"HOW CAN YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT?! WE CAN'T JUST ABANDON HIM AND SUNSET OUT THERE! THEY'RE OUR FRIENDS TWILIGHT!"

"SHE IS OUR FRIEND, RAINBOW DASH! NOT HIM! DAYBREAK HAS NO AFFILIATION WITH ANY OF US, AND HE CERTAINLY ISN'T OUR FRIEND! HE'S DISCORDS SON!"

"THAT HARDLY MATTERS! SUNSET WON'T COME BACK WITHOUT HIM, YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT! YOU PLANNING ON HELPING HER IN AND SHUTTING THE DOOR IN HIS FACE?! WHAT IF HE'S WOUNDED?! WOULD YOU REALLY JUST LEAVE HIM OUT THERE! LOOK AT IT...IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS OUT THERE!"

"Oh...my..." The barely audible noise seemed to draw the two girls from they're brief battle. Twilight rolled her eyes

"Fluttershy, its a figure of speech. It's not really raining cats and dogs."

"Uh...Actually Sugarcube...ya'll may wanna look again..."

Applejacks voice broke through the crowd, the muscled farm girl casually shoved her way towards her friends, carrying two large barrels full of sandwiches and casually knocking over anyone who didn't move from her path (mostly by accident of course). She dumped the barrels down next to Rainbow, who was covered from head to foot in blankets and shivering wildly on a small mattress the nurse had brought out for her. Rainbow gave a small nod of thanks and slowly reached for one of the little wrapped treats. After successfully engulfing her shaky hands around it, she slowly retreated back inside her cocoon to munch the snack. After wiping some sweat from her brow, Applejack turned and headed towards the curtains covering the gym's windows. With a mighty pull, she yanked open the curtains and revealed the monster-like storm outside. No light broke through the window, as the sun and moon still refused to show themselves, but the lights from inside the gym and the occasional flashes of lightning, were more than enough to ignite the scene outside. The sight was...difficult to digest.

Small cats and miniature sized dogs of every color seemed to be materializing from thin air and falling from the black skies above! As they fell they yipped and meowed all the way to the ground! Then, as they struck gravel, they would violently explode into a barrage of slush and water! Fluttershy grasped at her heart as she saw the horror through the window, and let loose a terrifying shriek of rage! Applejack managed to tackle her just as she began her sprint towards the exit!

The farmer brought her full weight down on Fluttershy as she plowed her down like a football player! They both dropped to the gym floor and wrestled for a few moments, each one trying to subdue the other. Fluttershy let loose an uncomfortable grunt as she hit the rubbery, padded ground. One could say it was lucky her chest was so large...it clearly helped cushion her fall when she hit the gym floor, and allowed her to fight back rather than start gasping for breath like anyone else who'd ever been tackled by Applejack would have. It was hardly a question of who would win though...rather...how long it would take. Applejack had Flutters from the beginning, but the sheer will Fluttershy presented in trying to scramble free and make for the doors, was impressive, if not terrifying in it's own way!

Eventually Applejack got Fluttershy back down on her belly and pinned both her arms behind her back. Just to be safe she sat down on her back as well, holding her arms down with the full weight of her muscled frame on top of them. Fluttershy struggled for a just a moment more, before sighing in submission.

"Ima stay on top of ya'll for awhile now Fluttershy. Can't risk ya going out into that terror, ya understand right?"

Although she gave a small whimper of protest, Fluttershy slowly nodded her head, brushing her face across the floor as she did so to remove so of the hair from her face.

Rainbow looked on out the window from within her small mountain of blankets. Choosing to sit up rather than lay down and rest, the blankets her friends had given her had formed a small mountain over top and around her body. The only part of her skin that was visible through the fluffy fabrics was her, bluer than usual cheeks, and vibrant hair. Even from outside the sheets, it was clear she was still shivering madly despite the blankets. She hardly moved, save for every few minutes, when a shaky blue hand would appear from within the abyss and inch it's way across the floor to the slowly shrinking pile of sandwiches. She would quickly swipe up the treats, then retreat back inside her mini cave like a trapdoor spider.

She looked back up at Twilight, whose arms were still crossed with that uncompromising look she always wore when she was sure she was right. She was starting off into space, possibly out the window, but clearly thinking hard about something. Rainbow's face dropped into a scowl

"You're not really gonna just leave him out there are you Twilight? You're better than that...right?"

Upon hearing the return to calm in Rainbows voice, Twilight let out a small sigh. She slightly uncrossed her arms and looked back down at her shivering friend.

"Look Rainbow, I'm not suggesting we leave him out there, I'm just saying we need to question him. If he really is behind the storm we need to know."

"That's hardly much better! The way you talk you make it sound like it'll be an interrogation. You can't even prove he did anything wrong, heck, you don't even have a single reason to believe he caused it other than you having no one else to blame! That's not fair, and that's not how you treat my friends Twilight!"

Twilight's eye gave a small twitch at the word "friend", and Rainbow did not fail to notice it. Twilight fully uncrossed her arms, and kneelt down next to Rainbow. She lowered her voice so that only Rainbow Dash could hear.

"I've been meaning to ask about that actually. Ever since you said he was your friend earlier I've just been wondering...how do you even know he considers you a friend? What if he's just using you to get close to the Elements of Harmony?"

Rainbows eyes briefly glazed over, as her mind shot back to her time spent with Daybreak. Particularly the day on the bleachers, out by the (still) ruined football field. The words he said to her...

"Rainbow...You're...the first friend I've ever had...!"

"I remember how he sounded when he said that...there was no way he was lying to me. He struggled to say that to me, I saw it...There's no way I could ever believe he's using me."

Rainbow poked her head out fully from within the blankets, while still keeping the rest of her body covered while she spoke. Her voice held a particular bite to it, at certain points.

"No Twilight! There's no way he's using me. Just because you can't move past whatever happened between you two back then, doesn't mean he hasn't. He's changed!"

Twilight heard the growing aggression in Rainbows voice, but her sureness only served to rile up Twilight even more. She puffed up her chest in anger when Rainbow mentioned her past with Daybreak.

"This has nothing to do with what he did to me back then! I'm just trying to protect my friends from being hurt like I was! He's not good people Rainbow Dash! I'm telling you, he'll use you and then cut you off just like he did me! I knew him! I know him! He hasn't changed, that's the whole reason I confronted him the first day I saw him, was to see if he had changed. I spoke to him, I saw what he's become! He hasn't changed at all!"

Despite her shivering body offering her no real strength to cause the usual intimidation she was capable of, she still managed to shoot Twilight a stare stern enough to make Fluttershy proud.

"Did you ever consider, that maybe you confronting him just brought out his old self, like a bad memory? I've spent days with him Twilight! Days! He's my fucking roommate for fucks sake! I'm with him practically all the time! I know him! Not you! And I say the Daybreak you claim to know, isn't him anymore!"

Twilight was up from kneeling now, her voice raised once again as her anger began to boil over.

"SINCE WHEN IS HE YOUR ROOMMATE RAINBOW DASH!? THANKS FOR SHARING THAT BIT OF INFO WITH THE REST OF US! HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN GOING ON!?...NO...IT DOESN'T MATTER...YOU LIVING WITH HIM DOESN'T MEAN YOU KNOW HIM ANY BETTER! HE'S A LIAR, AND A DAMN GOOD ONE, HE CAN ACT LIKE THE PERSON YOU THINK HE IS FOR DAYS! I SHOULD KNOW! HE ACTED LIKE HE WAS MY FRIEND FOR YEARS BEFORE HE FINALLY DITCHED ME! I'M JUST TRYING TO KEEP THAT FROM HAPPENING TO YOU TOO! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TRUST HIM, HUH!? WHAT COULD HE HAVE POSSIBLY SAID TO YOU TO MAKE YOU SO TRUSTING!? TELL ME! I REALLY WANT TO KNOW RAINBOW DASH!"

Rainbows mouth opened, the words jumped to the forefront of her lips. She wanted to scream to Twilight about what her and Daybreak had said and done together. She wanted to yell it to everyone that she was dating the son of chaos, if only just to make them all leave him be...but as she looked around, at all the ears now leaning towards them from within the mass of students...all the whispering that was now occurring...she knew she couldn't. She'd told him she wouldn't tell anyone, and that meant she had to keep that part quiet. She knew the things they'd shared together, and the things he'd said to her, were important to him. If her friends knew, then they would understand why they should trust him, no doubt. But Twilight was too smart, if Rainbow revealed anything, she'd figure out everything somehow, that's how she was with things like this. Plus, considering how much she clearly hated Daybreak, there's no way she'd let the problem rest if Rainbow hinted too strongly she knew things Twilight didn't.

Knowing this, Rainbow tried to pick her words carefully.

"I-It doesn't matter what he said Twilight...I...I trust him...fully. That should be enough for you. I'm asking you to trust me with this. He's fine Twilight."

Twilight stared hard at Rainbow Dash, her piercing gaze held the same effect as the headmistresses. It gave off the impression that Twilight was x-raying her, maybe even just looking straight through her. Rainbow could tell she knew, she knew Rainbow was hiding something, and that meant this likely wouldn't end anytime soon. Luckily for her, before the situation could escalate, the twin entrance doors burst open from the outside!

Twilight's body whipped around quicker than anyone's, she gasped, hands jumping to her mouth. Her exclamation was followed by many others within the crowd of students as everyone turned towards the doors. There, standing in the entrance and barely supporting one another, were Sunset Shimmer and Daybreak. Each one seemed half conscious, it was difficult to discern who was leaning on who for support. A cat hung loosely to end of Sunsets hair, before exploding into a confetti of water seconds later. Sunset's hair was a frizzled mess and charred black in several places along the tips of her follicles. Her clothes were clearly soaked straight down to her skin, which to anyone who hadn't been outside yet, seemed weird considering she'd left with a barrier up. Had most of her body not been leaning over and around Daybreak, much of her skin would have been visible through the wet clothes. It was a factor several boys in the crowd did not fail to pick up on, as they slowly started trying to lean over top each other to catch even a small glimpse.

Daybreak looked worse off than her, there was mud and slush dominating the majority of his formerly emerald hair. His left arm was bent, tightly pressed against his chest, and straining to hold some kind of sack within his clothing. His raincoat and pants were torn in several places, and blood ran down the sides of his face and knees. With all the water rushing down his body, it was nearly impossible to tell where the stream of red was originating. Although judging from his shredded knees, that was definitely one of the spots at least.

Applejack, along with a mint green girl whose hair matched the color of her skin, with a white streak lining the front of her locks, quickly rushed forward from the crowd to catch the two as they started to stumble forward. Neither Daybreak nor Sunset made it much past the entrance upright, both were clearly unable to support each other for more than a few steps, and collapsed forward just as Applejack and the mint girl reached them. Applejack made it to Daybreak before he could fully lose his balance, managing to catch him at the chest and keeping him mostly standing. But the mint colored girl, who wasn't nearly as fast as the farmer, was unable to get there in time to keep Sunset on her feet, and ended up letting her simply collapse back into her arms.

Applejack slowly turned her and Daybreak around, to begin making a slow walk over to one of the mats where he could sit and rest. Sadly, they never got to start...seconds after Applejack had Daybreak fully upright, a blinding flash of color zoomed by Twilight (along with several pairs of blankets trailing behind), leaving her spinning on her heels and headed straight for them! It flew past Sunset and the mint girl quick enough to take them both off balance and put them on their rears, with Sunset's back landing in the mint girls lap and leaving them both seeing stars! AJ prepared herself for the inevitable, and familiar, gut wrenching pain that would soon come as the wall of vibrant color slammed into her and Daybreak!

Applejack felt the wind leave her body as both she and Daybreak were sent skidding several feet, nearly back out the twin doors, as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around them both and squeezed the life from their bodies!

"Daybreak! You look like shit! Are you alright? What happened to your hair? What happened to your clothes? What happened to your head!? What are you clutching under that coat? Are you covered in blood?! Why are you always covered in blood?! Come on and answer me dammit!"

Rainbow hadn't even come to a full stop before she began firing off questions into Daybreak and AJ's faces. The sheer power of her squeeze was enough to even cause Applejack a few twinges of pain, she had no idea Rainbow could hug quite so...anaconda-like, until now. AJ was forced to release her hold on Daybreak in order to break free of Rainbows grasp. Dash turned and caught Daybreak in her arms without missing a step, seemingly losing all interest in Applejack and fully turning her attention on him.

Even through the torn coat, Rainbow could feel his body quivering worse than her own. She wasted no time removing the remaining blankets from her body (the few that had survived the trip over at least). She draped each one over Daybreak, doing her best to wrap him up like a marshmallow...similar to how she had been a few moments prior. Twilights jaw was on the floor in disbelief.

"Rainbow Dash! What are you doing?!"

"Uh...helping my friend...duh...he's obviously freezing to death here." Rainbow didn't even turn to look back at her, she just kept her eyes focused on Daybreak as she went to work dabbing the smaller blankets at whatever parts of him remained wet. Having still not changed out of her own wet clothing despite extras being brought over to her, her bra and undershorts were almost fully visible through her clothing. Despite her having had more time to dry herself off, Rainbows visible skin was still showing even worse than Sunset Shimmers, but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered to her right then, was warming up Daybreak. Gingerly running her fingers through his muddied hair, pulling out both twigs and bits of garbage along the way, she looked at his face and smiled.

"How ya feeling big guy?" She kept her voice low so as not to let the others around overhear, but the softness in her voice was apparent even to those far away...and drew back in the curious ears. Slowly, she dragged the towel through his hair, trailing it behind her fingers, drying and cleaning as much of it as she could. He seemed barely able to speak, his lips were a shade of dark purple and nothing about him felt warm to the touch. Even his breath seemed to come out cold as he attempted a chuckle.

"H-hey t-there Dashie...I...I s-see you f-found F-Fluttershy ehehehe...oww...b-brought her b-back a p-present..."

The sack under his arm slowly dropped from his grip, making a wet splat sound as it struck against the floor. Rainbow looked down and gave a slight start when the bag jumped after briefly touching her foot.

"What's inside of it?"

"A...A b-baby gator..."

Eyebrows up and curious, Rainbow leaned down, using her free hand to slowly open the bag while keeping her other on Daybreaks chest to support him. Slowly, as the zipper came down, a small scaled head popped out of the bag...the head of a miniature green gator. Without a warning, it flung itself from the sack and latched it's toothless jaws onto Rainbows head. Daybreak expected her to shriek in fear, or at least violently tear the predator off her head...but she didn't. In fact, she didn't even look surprised...rather bored instead. She simply stood back up and cupped her free hand over her mouth.

"HEY PINKIE PIE! DAYBREAK BROUGHT YOU A PRESENT!"

"N-no Dash...I s-said it's f-for F-Flutters-shy..."

The loudest gasp in known history, followed by the sounds of people being toppled over like bowling pins, traveled throughout the crowd before he ever finished his words! The next thing Daybreak knew, there was a flash of pink, then he found himself being crushed between two large, squishy balloons covered only by a t-shirt, while something with the force of a freight train crashed into him! Instantly deprived of breath and unable to tell what just rang all the choir bells in his head, Daybreak started to crumple backwards, only to find his new captor refuse to allow it. A crushing pain rocketed up his arms as something began to squeeze the life from his lungs, cracking his arm bones in the process. A high pitched, and obviously way too hyper voice, broke through the comfortable volume limit on his ear drums, and sent his head ringing with more pain.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you! I love presents and I especially love getting presents from strangers it's the perfect chance to make new friends and I'm always trying to make new friends in fact there was this one time an old cranky man named Doodle came to Ponyville looking for his long lost lover and I greeted him with my standard Pinkie Pie Welcome To Ponyville Party Canon he didn't like that too much but when I gave him a new and sexy looking hair piece to wear he seemed to mellow out then I kinda ruined his most prized possession and ended up finding his old flame for him so everything was alright in the end but now you're here in Ponyville and I haven't thrown you a party yet you just gotta let me throw you a party cause parties are my life and even though Twilight says your a big meanie I'm willing to give anyone a chance cause I love making new friends and I'm just dying to know how you and Dashie became friends you can tell me all about it at the party once you've had a bit to drink of course and-mmmmmmph!"

Breath exploded down his throat and flooded his lungs as Daybreak found himself miraculously released from the death hug he'd been given. He crumpled to his knees the moment he was free and only looked up once he'd drawn in several deep breaths of oxygen. He gazed up to find Rainbow Dash with her hand clasped around the mouth of his former captor, and the baby gator now missing from her head. Rainbow smiled at him sheepishly

"Sweet Celestia Pinkie Pie, take a breath for goddess sake. He just got in from being out in that . Give him a minute. Ok?" She gestured out towards the window with her head. The girl known as Pinkie Pie had her eyes darting about in her head, from the window, to Daybreak, then back and forth a few times, before she slowly nodded. Rainbow released her, and extended a hand to him. He took it, still shivering, and allowed her to pull him up. They both slowly re-gathered the blankets that had fallen off him while he'd been attacked by Pinkie, and began wrapping themselves up again. Pinkie smiled, blushing lightly at him as the baby gator that had been attached to Rainbows head, now crawled it's way up her arm and to her hair, nuzzling itself into her poofy head like a nest.

"Guess the gator is hers...or something...I don't even care anymore...I just wanna lay down for awhile and nap...maybe forever..."

"hehehe Sorry...I just get so excited when I meet new friends."

"We aren't friends. I just met you." His voice was strained by exhaustion, shivering cold, and a mild annoyance at having the life squeezed out of him for the third time that day. He half expected the madly grinning girls smile to droop, or for her to show some kind of negative reaction to his blunt words. Instead of any of that...she just kept smiling.

"Silly, just because we just met doesn't mean we can't already be friends."

"If your smile doesn't stop exceeding your facial limits...I'm calling the psyche ward"

Daybreak stared at her hard. Her smile was abnormally sincere...he could see it in her eyes. Everything about her grin screamed an overabundance of cuddles. Taking the few free moments he had while re-blanketing himself to get a good look at her, he studied her appearance in depth. This girls name was Pinkie Pie, he'd heard Rainbow call her that. She was almost as tall as he was, and with her overly poofy (and obviously uncontrollable) pink hair, she equaled his height if not surpassed it. Her skin was the perfect shade of pink bubblegum and radiated with an aura that seemed to call out a promise of hugs...endless hugs. She wore a sky blue t-shirt that loosely flapped in the wind each time she moved. Instead of jeans or pants, she wore a light purple skirt that extended down to her knees and was decorated all over with an uncountable assortment of party balloons. Even if her shirt hadn't been as loosely fitted as it was, he had a feeling it would still give a significant bounce each time she jumped. There was no way any shirt could have held down the amount of cleavage she had beneath her fabric. He'd felt it when she squeezed him, her chest must have been almost as large as Fluttershy's. Yet somehow she'd managed to move at such an unnatural speed before she'd tackled him...that was a terrifying thought. On top of her ridiculously large boobs and overall cuddly body structure...her smile seemed to radiate sunshine. Not literally of course, but her smile made him want to smile, if only slightly. It wasn't like the happy feeling he felt when Rainbow hugged him, but more like a feeling welling up inside him that would brighten a normal person's day.

He had an idea of what significant role this smiley girl played just by the uncomfortable, but also slightly warm, feeling he got from her. With a painful strain, he blinked into his magical sight and found his suspicions quickly confirmed. If he looked past the surface of her bubbly aura, towards her core like he'd done with Rainbow and Fluttershy, he could see the same, warm, pulsating waves of energy within her.

"This chatter box is an Element of Harmony? Do they just give these things away?"

A firm pat on his back from Rainbow brought him back to reality. She was helping him slowly shuffle his way over to a mattress lying on the gyms floor, some fifteen feet away. Pinkie seemed to have gone off in her own little world after he didn't answer her back. She was now playing with the baby gator, allowing him to clamp his toothless jaws upon her hands, then gently flipping him over in her opposite palm and tickling his underbelly. It was, admittedly adorable.

He and Rainbow made it to the mattress, walking right by Twilight without a word in the process, and he collapsed into the remaining pile of blankets Rainbow had left over from her sprint to him. He was tempted to shoot Twilight a sneer, just to piss her off, but he was too tired to be an asshole and simply allowed his exhaustion to overwhelm him.

"Ah yes...sweet sleep, come to me. Preferably in form of my egotistical, but still hot, girlfriend...wait...why did I just think that..."

Sheets flew everywhere as Daybreak fell onto the mattress, like a sloth suffering from sleep deprivation. It was a full minute before Rainbow was able to sit down beside him and fully cover her own shivering body as well. She sat close, but not so close it seemed like she was trying to cuddle him, despite her deep desire to do just that.

Once they were both settled and mostly comfortable, Twilight and her friends surrounded the mattress like vultures. Sunset Shimmer showed up a moment later, accompanied by the mint colored girl and shivering as madly as Daybreak. Twilight took one glance at Sunset, and snapped her fingers. Purple sparks exploded forth from the gym floor as a mattress identical to the one Daybreak and Rainbow were on, materialized before them, complete with several more blankets.

"Here Sunset, lay down on this. I've added a heating spell to it. You'll be fine in no time."

The mint girl helped Sunset onto the mattress, then as soon as she was covered in her own set of sheets, took a quick glance towards Daybreak and scurried away like a frightened kitten.

"Thanks Lyra!" Sunset attempted to yell after her, but she was already lost in the crowd of students. Pinkie embraced Sunset in a warming hug "I'm sure she heard you".

Sunset nodded, if she intended on replying, she wasn't given the chance. Twilight quickly stepped to the front of her friends and looked down at Daybreak, literally and figuratively.

"Look, I'm just as thrilled as the rest of you that Sunset is ok, really I am. But we need to get a few things straight before we start handing out the warm hugs anymore-"

Pinkie Pie looked visibly disappointed at this notion and slowly shrunk back into the circle with her friends. Twilight gave her a sympathetic smile, then turned and narrowed her gaze down at Daybreak again

"-starting with you Daybreak. I have some questions for you and I better get some answers."

Rainbow unconsciously scooted closer to him upon hearing the sharpness in Twilights voice. Daybreak felt the slight shift in the mattress and realized what Rainbow was doing. He smiled to himself...if that was how Rainbow felt on the matter, he might as well have a little fun. Although he was still visibly weak and shivering, he summoned up the strength to be a smart ass.

"And if I don't feel like answering, then what? Will you lecture me on the importance of being honest with your friends?" His mocking smile caused Twilight noticeable enragement, but even she couldn't see his slowly balling fists beneath the sheets.

"Then I'll have you arrested the moment you can walk on your own, maybe even before that, for casting this magic chaos storm over Ponyville!"

"Twilight..."

Twilight looked to her left as a gentle tug on her sleeve briefly distracted her. She hadn't even realized it until now, but her palms were starting to glow a dangerous purple. Fluttershy was gently holding onto her sleeve and looking at her with a soft, but saddened gaze. She felt another, more powerful hand gently set itself on her right shoulder. She knew it was Applejack even before she turned to look at her.

"Listen Sugarcube, ya'll think maybe ya outta let us handle this here 'questioning' of yours? I think it'd be a lot better for everyone."

"I'm perfectly capable-!"

Applejack held up her hand, Twilight went silent instantly. Daybreak was actually a little impressed.

"Is this other girl really so terrifying that she can just silence Twilight like that...or maybe they have some level of respect I don't understand...either way I wish I could do that...like...all the time"

"I'm sure you are capable hun, but ya'll aren't as observant as I am. You're stressing him out just as much as he is you. Why else would he be clenching his fists tighter than one of my lasso knots under that there blanket?"

Instinctively, Daybreak unclenched his fists, noticeable shock jumped to his face for a moment. He was unable to hide the movement of his hands from those surrounding him, so he just tried to play it off normally, even as Twilight let a small smile sneak onto her lips.

"Well, of course she's stressing me out. I just got back in from walking through the fucking ocean falling from the sky, animal crossing addition, in case you haven't noticed, combined with enough wind to turn the Leaning Tower of Pisa into the Laying Tower. All to find a girl who turned out to be here all along! Then to add on to those pleasantries, I got ambushed by a bunch of furry animals who seemed intent on sacrificing me in a massive black cauldron-" He shot Fluttershy a brief glare, he watched her quickly dissolve into blushes, obviously understanding what had happened to him.

"Well that at least that proves she knows they set those traps...what in Tartarus could her house possibly need that for...?"

"Then after escaping from nearly being cooked alive and eaten by a toothless gator, I got to walk back through the storm, again! And that's not even the best part! No, the best part is on the way back, I actually managed to discover whose behind this storm of the dark ages! Only to have my ass handed to me by said saboteur, and have to be rescued by Sunset Shimmer! Then I get here to be lectured by the Princess of grudge holders over there! So yeah! I'm a little stressed out!"

He'd kept his cool at the beginning, but towards the end he couldn't help but let his anger start to flow through. He was tired of being blamed for things that weren't his fault, or his doing, or within his control to stop. Twilight seemed to be making it a habit of doing all three, and it was actually starting to piss him off, despite how he reacted.

The girl who'd stepped forward and silenced Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Twilights impatience for answers seemed to get the better of her. She quickly dropped to a kneeling position so as to be eye level with him, and stared at him hard

"If that's true, and you really did see who did this, then tell me who, now!"

His eyes narrowed with growing rage.

"How dare you presume to order me Twilight!" He could his anger coming to a boil again.

"Ask politely and I'll think about it."

"I'd sooner jump off the top staircase without magic than ask you (bold) for anything! Now tell me!"

"Bite me Princess

"Why you little shit-!"

"Excuse me Princess, but I need a moment of silence while I get into a meditative state where I block out any and all irritating white noise...I call it The Twilight Zone."

Rage didn't begin to describe the feelings of pure hate that seemed to be literally fuming out of Twilights ears! Especially when Daybreak actually did cross his legs, shut his eyes, and began lightly humming to himself.

On the outside, Twilight absolutely lost her mind, she started screaming words at him she didn't even know she could use! Whatever anger she had been suppressing during their conversation likely came out right then. Pinkie Pie had to physically cover Fluttershy's ears for her, while Twilight unleashed the full force of her verbal arsenal of insults!

However, in Daybreaks mind, he was hearing nothing but the sound of waves crashing against a craggy coast, birds chirping, and the ever so subtle sound of a cocky friend calling to him. He was tempted to actually attempt touching Rainbows mind and speaking to her for real, if only to pass the time. Though, considering how weak he already was from the storm and his "fight" with Famine, and that he'd never successfully attempted telepathy before...he decided it was best to just stay in his "Twilight Zone".

A few minutes passed where Daybreak enjoyed the sounds of his own thoughts and the bliss that came with blocking out the world, but eventually he found himself being given a light shake, by none other than Rainbow Dash herself. She wore an expression of held back laughter, mixed with slight concern. Though it was clear that suppressing the giggles was causing her more of a struggle than the concern was. Clearly he'd missed something funny. Looking around, Twilight was no where to be found, and the girl who had silenced her with just a raised hand, was now kneeling down in front of him, also wearing a small smirk, though hers had a more subtle hint of seriousness to it.

He couldn't help the raised eyebrow that came when she slowly extended her hand to him out of nowhere. He eyed it for a moment, as though studying it for booby traps.

"What are the chances there's a hidden blade or something stashed under her sleeve, ready to stab the shit out of me when I shake her hand?...Well she's not Twilight...or my mother... so I should be good...I guess there's no reason to be rude...yet."

Slowly he extended his right hand from under the blanket, and took hers in it. Upon the moment of contact, he regretted his decision. Whether on purpose or not, there was no feeling like having your hand flattened into paper during a handshake...and this girl did just that. There was enough strength and power in just her grip, to make him quiver in fear.

"This girl...could literally tear me in half...and then in half again...and still probably not break a sweat...is she even human?"

He doubted she could tell what he was thinking, or that he could sense the amount of power she was holding back so as to not break his hand, but it didn't seem to matter. It took every shred of self-taught discipline he had not to cry out in agony, even as his eyes attempted to water. Once the pain began to show on his face, the girl smiled more sincerely than before, and released him. He made sure never to utter a single whimper of pain, he wouldn't let her make him feel weak.

"My name's Applejack, I think we all may have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Yer past with Twilight is ya'lls business, and I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt before I judge 'em. So I'd like to start off right."

He looked upon her like he had Pinkie Pie, after quickly pulling his throbbing hand back under the blankets to rub profusely until it ceased to be a pancake of course. She gave off a feeling that was nothing like what he felt from Pinkie. Where as the Hug Machine a few feet away had an aura that practically tasted of joy and free spiritedness, Applejacks aura, although just as overwhelming to be near, was stern. He felt a strong sense of duty and honor radiating from her when he extended his perceptions. He also felt a deep seeded sense of pride, for herself and her family. Though that would normally be a weakness to exploit, this girl gave off the feeling that it was her strength. He didn't bother with his magical sight this time, he'd pretty much deduced that she, and the white skinned girl that had yet to identify herself within the crowd, were the last of the Elements. Nevertheless he was curious, and resolved to check her aura later when he had his strength back.

Her magical aura aside, Daybreak took note of her actual appearance next. This girl clearly worked on a farm, there was no doubt in his mind. If there was a book of stereotypes written about farmers, she likely met every single one. Even without her accent, her clothing alone gave her away. Atop her blonde colored hair was a large brown "ten gallon" hat, which he'd only ever spotted worn atop the citizens of Appleloosa, or on the farm folk that lived in the outskirts of Equestria. He was tempted to ask if she had any family in Appleloosa, but he doubted the answer would surprise him much. Her hair, which was long enough to extend wildly down to her back if she hadn't tied it with a tiny red bow at the bottom, was lain over the side of her right shoulder and nearly touching his feet as she knelt in front of him.

Complimenting her hat and hair, was a loosely tucked collared shirt. Lime green on the top and bleach white towards the bottom with buttons leading down the center of the shirt. Her bottoms were tight fitting jeans, but they only seemed tight because of the bronze colored belt that was strapped around them, squeezing the jeans against her waist. At the point where both parts of the belt met in the middle, there was a bronze apple shaped belt buckle just above her zipper. Considering her most likely job, the reason for the belt was probably to loosen the jeans if they ever became too tight while she worked in whatever field or orchard she was responsible for.

Moving past her clothes, he took care to admire the smoothness of her skin, compared to the roughness of the calices he'd felt on her hand when she shook his. It was a remarkable feat to keep ones skin so smooth while working on a farm all day, but she seemed to be pulling it off well. He couldn't get a proper read on her chest size from the angle she was squatting, especially since her shirt was so loosely tucked. He didn't really care about something like that on this girl though, she had an aura that commanded respect...and he respected her for that. Though it was nice to finally see someone other than Rainbow Dash whose chest wasn't clawing to be free of their owners shirt.

Satisfied he had enough info on Superwoman to work with, he gave her a small smirk and nodded.

"Ok, fine. Let's say we do start over then, what now?"

Applejack stood up, turning her head back she gave a small nod to Fluttershy, who retreated backwards out of sight as though she'd been commanded. After a moment of silence, where he could swear he felt Rainbows hands crawling ever closer to him under the sheets, Fluttershy returned...pulling a very grumpy looking Twilight Sparkle with her by the arm. Realization quickly dawned on Daybreak as he saw the pair slowly reenter the circle.

"So, she must have stormed off...or maybe they made her step back? Either one works for me..."

Twilight stood amongst her friends with tightly crossed arms and a sour expression glued to her cheeks. Clearly she was unhappy about something.

"Maybe she wanted to punch me while I was ignoring her and they wouldn't let her...that would certainly sour my mood if I was her"

Applejack tuned back to face him once again

"Now that's Twilight's back, and everyone has had a few moments to calm down, we can have a real discussion about what happened to ya out there. Alright?"

He nodded hesitantly, a cold shiver snuck it's way up his spine as he spoke "Y-yeah...sure. Just gimmie a minute to think about everything ok? My head's still a little hazy from everything that happened..."

"Are you cold dude? I could run and find AJ's granny real quick. She could fix you some of their family soup, it'll warm you up like lightning, never fails. I'm sure she's probably handing some out around here anyway, since we're stuck here. Maybe she has some cider barrels too..."

Glancing her head around the gym excited by her own words, Rainbow slowly stood up, dragging several blankets up with her. She looked to be carrying a bedspread with her rather than sheets as she quickly took off into the crowd, excitedly chattering her teeth (even while she sneezed every which way). Fluttershy stepped forward and motioned in the direction Rainbow had just gone.

"Maybe I should go with her, just in case she hurts herself even more. We all know how she can get when she thinks there's cider around...and she looks pretty sick already, I 'd hate to let her drink anything that could make it worse..."

The others around her nodded, and no one tried to stop her when she quickly jogged off after her sneezing friend.

Applejack smiled after them, then looked back to Daybreak. She could see on his face, the moment Rainbow Dash had left, his knuckles tightly clenched around the sheets. He had visibly shrunk back into the blankets, more so than before. She smiled brighter

"It's all right Sugarcube, ya can tell me what happened. I can promise ya Twilight will be on her best behavior while you speak, and we'll all listen with open minds. Right Twilight?"

Twilight merely grunted her reply, and jerkily nodded her head. Although seeing Twilight being scolded did give him some form of pleasure, he was still shaky about being around Rainbow's friends...without Rainbow here...while he was so weak.

Truthfully, he'd have had no real issue explaining what had occurred out in the storm in the first place if Twilight hadn't be so presumptuous the moment he got back, and tried to threaten him. With a quick glance to his side, he saw that Sunset Shimmer was close to fully asleep on the mattress opposite him, her eyes fluttered dangerously as she tried futilely to stay awake for his explanation. Twas a fate he wished he could share right then. He felt his eyes start to weigh down...but he knew he had to at least warn these people of what was coming, before he surrendered to his own exhaustion. He closed his eyes, attempting find some clarity for this situation within his thoughts

"Trying to handle something like the Four Horsemen on my own...would probably be foolhardy...I couldn't even feel Famine's aura...she's unlike anything I've ever faced..."

"What the fuck do you think you're thinking?! You...WE...are the Prince of Fucking Chaos! How dare you even consider asking for the help of others! Have you not always done things on your own, have you not always succeeded on your own?!"

The darkness witin his eyelids erupted into a familiar sight. A mirror image of himself, wearing scaly black armor covered in flames and a long fiery black cloak, appeared and took up his vision. It was as if he was looking himself in the face, but instead of emerald green eyes, he saw a bright sapphire blue, slitted like a snake. His other self smiled at him, revealing serrated teeth.

"...You again...Why are you back? If you try and invade me like before I'll-!"

"Relax...I don't need to take you over in a situation such as this, you're body is too weak to handle it right now anyways. Besides deep down you know my next words are true...We have always done things on our own. Although you've ignored me all these years since you first faced The Mirror with Father, I'll always be around until you go back and finish what you started...But that's not why I'm speaking up now. The time for the Mirror will come, but it's a talk for another day. I'm here about what you're about to tell these people...these humans. The Apocalypse. Why warn them at all? You and I both know that the world is rotten, just like Famine said. Why not join her and end it all to start anew?"

"First of all, you and I have argued about this topic since before I came to this school. My opinion will always remain the same. Destroying the world is not the same as saving it. And secondly, she made it pretty clear she needs my soul for the Apocalypse. So joining her is guaranteed suicide, and lately, I actually want to live. Plus, don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. If I give up my soul and die, you'll be instantly freed from the Mirror to wreak your havoc upon the world. But if I just die normally, you die too. My soul is your leash, and I intend to keep it on you forever."

"...Fine if you insist on stopping the Apocalypse, at least do it on your own. You've tried relying on temporary allies before, and we've seen how that turned out through the years. Remember the Griffon Empire? The Dragons? The Siren that you encountered crossing the sea? Ouizotal and his followers? There is a reason you always failed when you went with some half assed allies, and you always succeeded when you forsook companions...You are the exiled prince. You fight alone. You work alone. You win alone. And you live, alone. Except it. The sooner you do, the better of we both will be"

"Not anymore. I don't have to be alone anymore. Rainbow Dash isn't like anyone else, anywhere. She knows who I am, what that means, and she still wants to be with me. ME! The Exiled Prince of Discord and Celestia. She wants to be with me!"

"She doesn't know about me...You ever think of that? She's only caught a glimpse of me during your duel, and although I thoroughly enjoyed the epic ass beating I gave her, I highly doubt she'd be so willing to stay with you if she knew you really are as bad as Twilight makes you out to be. At least on the inside. Why do you think she never mentioned it afterwards, she's afraid of what answers you might give to her questions? She doesn't know about those times you thought about leaving her when you first met, or when you tried to walk away. There's still plenty this girl doesn't know about you, and there's a reason for that. If you truly believed she was one hundred percent different from everyone else, you'd have told her, at least about me by now. I mean, you've already stolen her first kiss, you've done things. You've done things together that you have never experienced before. And judging from what's swimming around in your head, you're planning on doing alot more with her. So what are you waiting for then? I know, and let's face it, you know too."

"...Just stay out of my thoughts, those aren't yours to watch like in some in house movies...and stop acting like you wanna help me. You and I both know what you are. You're my Mirror. My darkness. That means you're also my opposite. I know what that details, as my opposite, you'd want the opposite of what I do. So destroying the world is definitely on your to do list if you're ever free. So trying to tempt me with Father's Mirror is pointless. One free wish isn't worth the risk of being defeated by you and watching you start an Apocalypse of your own."

"Even if you can wish for anything? I still don't think you truly understand what that means after all these years? No drawbacks, no literal translation of your wish. You get exactly what you want. That means you can have Rainbow Dash forever if you want. World Peace. Unlimited knowledge. Immortality...well I guess you've got that covered...You could make Rainbow Dash immortal and be together forever....You do realize that's how your parents-"

"Enough already! I told you I get it! And Father already told me everything back then, so I don't know why you ever bother repeating it. I know that's how my parents became practically gods. I know that's how Celestia is able to make other people Princesses too. And I know that's why Father stole the Mirror from her. I know it all, and I don't care. Because the risk is too much for someone like me. In order to gain my one wish, I have to defeat my own mirror half. That's you, and that's the deal breaker. My parents, my aunt, they weren't all powerful when they fought their mirror selves, they were mortal. Had they lost, their Mirrors would have been free, true, but they would have been defeatable....I'm different...You, are different. I was born from Celestia and Discord after they had become gods. They made me after they'd already done their trials. That makes me a demi-god by blood, and an Immortal according to Father (all I have to do is choose it). I'm already the most powerful sorcerer of my own age, anywhere, and that will likely continue as I grow...That means you are all those things as well. I can't risk an immortal, more powerful and darker version of me walking free. So no I'm never going back. I tried once and barely escaped you. You can stay in limbo for eternity as far as I'm concerned."

"...You are a coward Daybreak. Truly. You should have finished our fight with honor back then. And even after that, when you found out I was in limbo within True Space after you escaped, you never reached out and excepted me. You have a chance that no one, not your parents or anyone before them has ever had, because of your decisions. You could join together with me and realize true power. It would be so easy and risk free, if you have the will to gain mental dominance when we fuse that is. You'd have the best of both me and you, plus you're one wish at the mirror, because I'd be gone. Yet you refuse. Our fight with Rainbow Dash was proof that, when sharing a body, no one could stand up to us.. You're just too afraid of me to try. Too afraid of yourself, just like when you were a child. Coward."

"Call me a coward all you wish. But I'll never let you out. I don't want your help and I don't need your advice. Stay in the True Space and stay out of my mind."

"...One day you will regret saying that when you need me most...Fine...You don't want me around, consider me gone...Oh and before I go, you should know...I gave Rainbow Dash my name in ancient text. It's on a little piece of paper that she still has. Have fun with that."

And then, there was silence. But not a silence he was used to. For once, his mind felt quiet, like there was nothing to disturb his thoughts anymore.

".......................Is he gone?........I don't feel another mind anymore...Actually...I don't sense him at all anymore...Did he really just...go back for good?...Finally, at peace with my own thoughts. Wow...I feel...different all of the sudden...what's this warmth in my chest...It's growing hotter..."

"Daybreak?"

A soothing warmth seemed to be flowing through his chest, like a subtle wind you barely notice until you think about it. It was lukewarm, and spread like smooth silk. It felt like a tiny river was slowly making it's way around his chest, warming him from the inside.

"Daybreak?"

There was a voice...a voice was calling out to him...but from where?

"I can hear it...a voice...it sounds so...so nice...but where...I don't see...Wait! My eyes are closed!"

As soon as he thought it, his eyes shot open and his head flew forward. He sat up, tangled in the blankets he'd laid down with! Rainbow Dash, who had been kneeling over him, was knocked back as he rapidly sat up, nearly head butting her and sending the bowl of soup she'd been cradling in her hands spilling onto the floor, with the bowl shattering upon impact.

Momentarily confused as to how he'd ended up on his back, he turned towards the sound of the shattering pottery and casually waved his hand. Before the pieces of the bowl had even finished spreading on the floor, they all jumped into the air, along with the liquid that had previously inhabited them. Everything hovered still for a moment above the floor...then...with a small flash of green light...it was fixed. The bowls pieces were back together with no traces of any cracks in it's structure, and the liquid within was once again lightly steaming from it's own warmth.

Daybreak slowly looked around, blinking quickly as he tried to remember what had happened before he'd apparently passed out. Applejack was still kneeling, so it couldn't have been that long. Although she was a bit farther back than he remembered, and Rainbow Dash was now right beside him. She slowly plucked the hovering soup bowl out of the air and went back to gently cradling it in her arms. She gave him a warm smile as he looked at her.

"It must have been her voice that I heard when I was out...great...and I thought that voice sounded sweet and alluring...I'm so far gone with her...

"You ok there dude? You fell asleep for a few minutes according to AJ, and she just decided to wait until you woke up to talk. Guess you must be pretty tired from that whole storm if you fell asleep that quickly. I just got back with her granny's soup a minute ago, and thought I'd try feeding it to you in your sleep, like pouring it in your mouth and stuff-"

"Which Ah found very adorable by the way." Applejack shot him a wink. Rainbow's face slightly flushed when she saw it, and she quickly coughed to change the subject

"...well...hehe it's uh...pretty obvious how well that worked out...ow."

For a moment, Daybreak thought she was only referring to the spilled soup he'd magically fixed a moment ago, until he looked down at Rainbow's legs and pelvis...covered in a few remaining hot noodles he hadn't managed to charm back into the bowl. Eyes widening, he quickly cast a spell over the noodles, cleaning them off and returning them to their bowl, which he gently took from Rainbow and set down beside the mattress. Without thinking, he grasped ahold of Rainbows legs and cast a light aura over her skin, cooling anything that might be burned. He practically lifted her backside up into the air by her legs, causing her to mildly blush as he gave her legs a quick once over for burns, not even realizing how this might look to others.

"You ok Dash?...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spill it on you."

"Uh...y-yeah...no prob...umm...dude...they're kinda...staring at us..." Her voice came out shaky, and not just from her cold skin. He could tell from her voice, she was struggling to control a large amount of embarrassment.

"Huh?"

He looked around, Rainbows friends we're indeed staring at him, and it was only then he realized how inappropriate what he was doing to her, actually looked. With blood rushing to color his cheeks, he quickly released her legs. She crumpled back into the blankets with a light thud and quickly gathered the sheets back around her. Twilight looked absolutely livid, and only got worse when Daybreak quickly grabbed hold of Rainbow, pulling her into a tight hug within the mountain of blankets. He flashed her an unusually warm smile

"Thanks for the soup Dash...ya know...even though I kinda made you wear most of it..."

"I feel so different...almost like without feeling Him in my head anymore...I feel...good...definitely better than usual...even though I feel so weak, it's like I can just feel happy for once with Rainbow...weird"

Once again, Rainbow herself, was blushing even brighter than before "S-sure dude...you'd have done the same."

It was like her words lit up a light bulb in Daybreaks mind. He smiled brightly at her "You're right, I would." He reached back around the mattress and picked up the soup bowl in his left hand, while weaving his right through the air. After a quick moment, two spoons popped into existence, fizzling with green sparks in Daybreaks outstretched hand. He handed one to Rainbow, which she took with a puzzled expression.

"Uh dude, what are you doing?"

"Sharing the soup you got for me, duh. You're sick too, aren't you?"

"...Well...yeah I guess, but..."

"Then shaddup and drink."

He slowly dipped the spoon into the warm liquid with an eager look in his eyes. With a tender grace, he stirred the spoon around, taking extra care to gather as many of the ingredients into the center as possible as he did. Then, with doctor-like precision, he swiped the spoon through the center of the bowl and gathered up a large swath of its broth and noodles, along with some other unknown contents. After eyeing the spoon to ensure it had an acceptable amount of fluid in it, he gently guided it up to Rainbows lips. Her eyes extended wide as he gently pushed it against her, clearly not expecting him to actually feed it to her like a child...or a boyfriend. Despite the surprise, she did not resist, knowing full well it likely wouldn't do any good, on top of that, she knew how tasty Granny Smith's cooking was. She excepted the spoon and happily slurped up the liquid, practically inhaling the contents with a happy grin.

"Aww...now ain't that just the cutest thing I ever saw. Found yerself a boyfriend have ya there Rainbow?"

Half tempted to turn and confirm her suspicion, Daybreak opened his mouth to reply...until a large stream of warm soup sprayed him in the face. This was followed by the sounds of a choking Rainbow Dash.

"D-Don't be *cough* ridiculous AJ...that's...not funny..."

Hearing Applejack snicker told him that Rainbow's spit-take had probably done what she intended, nevertheless, he wished she hadn't had to use his hair as a target. Broth and noodles were lining his face, he'd just about given up hope of successfully cleaning out his hair without a shower now. He sighed aloud

"Thanks Dash...I needed a shower anyways..."

He felt the soup bowl being pulled from his grip and set aside again, as she did this, Rainbow leaned close to his ear and quickly whispered

"You dork, you almost blew our cover...I'd like nothing better than to tell...be more careful what you do in public."

Before he could respond, Rainbow roughly gripped him under the armpits, and pulled them both to their feet. Applejack followed them up, helping Daybreak stand when he slightly stumbled.

"Hey look...I know everyone wants to hear what Daybreak saw out there, and who's really behind this storm, I wanna know too...but do you guys think it could wait just a little bit longer? Daybreak needs a warm shower...and now that I think about it, me and Sunset could probably use one too..."

At her name being mentioned, Sunset Shimmer sat straight up on her mattress, and looked Rainbow dead in the face, with an oddly serious expression

"Dooooooon't you speak for me Rainbow...I remember what happened the last time I showered anywhere near you...never again!"

"Oh come on Sunset, It was just one snow cloud...it was funny."

"Only to you! You weren't the one who kept getting it dumped on you every ten seconds"

"Every ten seconds flat, on the nose. I made sure of it."

Sunsets eyes narrowed into daggers. Rainbow gave her a light shove in the arm while holding back a barrage of chuckles.

"Come on Sunset, a warm shower makes everyone feel better. I promise not to mess with you this time alright?"

"...Alright fine...but only if everyone else is ok with waiting too..." Rainbow smiled, she was sure she could see it on Sunsets face. She wanted a warm shower too now that Rainbow had mentioned it. Sunset slowly turned to face Applejack

"Are you ok with waiting awhile longer AJ?"

Rather than answer, Applejack took a quick glance at Twilight. Although she gave no voice to her opinion on the matter, her thoughts were clear by the grimace on her face. Applejack paused and thought to herself for a moment.

"There really ain't any harm to waiting awhile longer is there? And it can only improve Daybreaks current opinion of us if we let him wash up a bit. Ah highly doubt what he saw can be all that urgent if he can take the time for a shower, and all this talk. It wasn't like he was rushing to tell us what he saw neither, not that I would've either, considering the welcome he got...but Twilight...Twilight swears he's not a good person. In fact, I can see she downright hates him, with a passion. I've never known Twilight to bluntly lie about someone like this before, and she seems so sure. She's only ever gotten like this once before...and that was a long time ago...with Cadence, and she turned out to be right when none of us would listen to her...She said he hurt her real bad when they were kids, that might explain why she could be jumping the gun on him now...But he don't seem bad ta me...and Rainbow clearly cares about him alot. Rainbow Dash...Ever since that time we saw her with Fluttershy, its been excepted among us that her barn door swung a different way. Fluttershy always swore that we mistook what we saw, but I still don't see how something like that could be mistaken. Now though, I'm starting to think she might have been telling the truth, and not just too shy to admit the truth. I can see the way Dash's looking at him. I've never seen that before..."

Applejack chanced another quick glance back at Twi, who still had not changed her scowl-like expression. Clearly her opinion on the matter was certain, that left the others to ask. It was only fair to ask everyone, AJ was sure of that much. She placed her hand on Daybreaks shoulder, and noted how his eyes momentarily darted to her hand as it touched him. Whether it was discomfort or brief fear she saw in his eyes, it didn't matter. She expected that much after their opening handshake.

"Ah got no problem with you washing up ta feel better partner, but it's only fair we ask everyone before ya go. I ain't got no issues with ya just yet, but if everyone here thinks what you saw is too urgent to wait, I gotta insist ya tell us before ya go."

Whatever look Daybreak had held in his eyes from her touch, it vanished at her words, and was replaced with an ever so subtle sneer that even AJ could barely detect.

"I think I detect her weakness now. She's prideful, that's true, but that's not her flaw. Not technically at least. But rather, her pride for whatever code she obviously has and lives by, demands she treat everyone fairly. That's why she's taking such care in how she goes about this whole situation. In an weird way, she's trying to please and be fair to everyone at the same time. Oddly enough she seems to know what she's doing, which tells me she must be like this all the time. Huh...I bet her friends don't even realize how stressed that must make her, being fair and reasonable to everyone...I think I know her Element now...I also see how I can make this work to my favor. For now though, I might as well just play along, it'll get me away from this crowd quicker...plus I need to talk to Rainbow alone...I gotta tell her about the Shrimp in my house"

His sneer holding, Daybreak held up his right palm and slowly shook his head.

"No need to debate, Applejack, was it? I don't mind sharing what I saw at all. Just as long as Twilight behaves and doesn't try to order me around like I'm one of her subjects again, I'll gladly share."

Twilight's scowl darkened, she opened her mouth to retort, but made quick to catch herself when Applejack turned and shot her a menacing look that warned "Shut the hay up and deal with it for now"

As soon as he saw Twilights jaw close, he snickered to himself.

"Instant karma eh Twi? Now I can tell my little tale uninterrupted"

He sat himself back down in the sheets, finding little point in wasting what precious bit of energy he had left standing, when he could sit in the warm blankets. He patted the space next to him on the mattress. Milliseconds later, Rainbow plopped herself back down beside him and recurled up in the sheets, practically right next to him like a kitten. She was easily within arms reach, and he made sure to keep that in mind as he politely motioned for AJ and the others to sit as well.

"I'd prefer if everyone was at my eye level, if that's alright with you."

Applejack gave a light nod back, and followed his lead, sitting herself down in front of the mattress. The others quickly followed suite, and then Twilight, once she was the last one left standing, also conceded and sat. She crossed her arms and legs in such a tight manner, Daybreak wondered if they'd ever come apart again.

With a deep breath, Daybreak began.

"Well...this whole thing started when Rainbow came to me this morning..."

It took the better part of ten minutes for Daybreak to explain everything that had occurred to him since waking with Rainbow Dash that morning. He left out as many private details and unimportant things as he could, not wanting any of them to get too good a picture of where he lived, or how his days went...or what he might have done with Rainbow. He also didn't feel the need to share that he now had an orphan living with him, instead he skipped over that whole portion of his tale and described his return home as him retrieving a forgotten item. The only parts he stuck to the story one hundred percent on, was the parts involving Famine.

Although he did agree with his Mirror half, at least in the aspect of taking on the burden alone, he still felt like he should warn those he could about the possible future. There was no point in sending the world into a possible Apocalypse unprepared, it would only add to the casualties. He made his description of Famine as detailed as possible when he recounted what he'd experienced, hoping that at least one of them would show some kind of recognition or knowledge of who he was describing before he gave her name...but he was met with disappointment. He hadn't expected any better, not many knew any legends or mythology before Equestria's time...and he had the only book still in one piece. He'd mostly been eyeing Twilight during his description, to see if she knew...but just like her friends, before he gave the name, her expression remained confused. This confirmed that he had indeed stolen the book from Celestia before (bold) she'd granted Twilight access to the Restricted parts of the Royal Library. A fact he made sure to mention during his tale, and a fact, that made Twilight even more livid than she already was.

That fact gave him a small bit of satisfaction, because it meant he was the only one among any of them who held the knowledge of the Four Horsemen, and how they may be defeated if such a way existed. There was nothing stopping him from misleading the group and going on this quest by himself, he now controlled the flow of future events. He didn't expect it to be that easy though. So it was of little surprise to him that, when he gave the name and described what she said she wanted, both from him and for the world, he was met with mixed reactions from the group surrounding him.

Twilight reacted almost exactly like he predicted, complete denial. Rainbow Dash...was more accepting of the truth, but the moment he mentioned that this Famine wanted and needed his soul, he felt her hand grip his under the sheets. Almost jumping in surprise at her warm touch, he felt her worry just through her tight grip, and wanted to reassure her but knew he couldn't without making Twilight and possibly her friends, suspicious.

As for the others, he barely knew any of them so he couldn't gauge their reactions much, but that didn't make them any less interesting to see. Fluttershy gave a small squeal of fear at the world ending, and attempted to hide within her hair. Pinkie Pie...well...reacted rather odd... and nonchalantly, seemingly unworried by the news, and instead taking it upon herself to pull a white canvas from within her giant pink cloud of hair, and begin creating a sketch of Famine as per his description. Applejacks face showed a look of hardened concern, she was no doubt already attempting to work on some kind of solution to remedy the situation.

The final girl, the white skinned one whose name he'd yet to identify, gave a gasp as her hand flew up to her mouth. Although she showed some genuine concern during his description, afterwards she seemed more interested in the type of fabric that apparently had to have made up Famine's robes to move the way he'd described and create the illusion of her feet never touching the ground. He took only a brief moment to catch her description, undoubtedly he'd have time to learn more about her later, so a brief observation would do for now.

Her hair was obviously well kept and combed to a certain precision. It gave off the impression that ninety percent of her time in the morning was spent making sure she looked divine, before she actually bothered with anything else important. It was a dark velvet purple in color, much darker than Twilights and curled up along the right side of her head in two separate spots. Despite the neat and tidy appearance that seemed to literally radiate from her hair and complexion, Daybreak suspected (or hoped rather) that there was more to this girl than just her appearance. If there wasn't, he was going to be every disappointed. If there was one thing he'd come to expect from Twilight's friends at this point, it was that they all had such unique and complex personalities. Having someone who was so shallow she only cared about her appearance, as part of this little group would be such a waist, especially as far as Elements go.

Passing her curly hair, he moved his eyes down to her face and let them linger for a singular moment to take in her appearance. Her skin was marshmallow white and her cheeks showed obvious signs of make-up, further adding to his "hour to get ready in the morning" opinion. Her deep ocean blue eyes showed a sparkle of creativity he'd hadn't seen in many people in a very long time, and especially not at first glance. They also showed obvious hints of mascara and her eyelashes were either elongated as fuck, or fake, he'd except either one as truth.

Her clothing had to be (sadly) the most interesting thing about her at first glance. Although her starch white top looked simple on the surface, seeing as the only thing on it other than its own color was a triplet of gleaming blue gems placed in an intricate triangle about the center of the shirt, it was clear to someone like him it was actually very meticulous in it's design. Even without his magic sight active, he could see that there was power etched deeply into each fabric of her top. Each little fiber had been enchanted to keep certain effects of the environment around her from harming her clothing. He had a hunch that if he threw a chunk of mud on this girl (and lived to tell about it) her clothing's enchantment would protect it from any real harm.

Her bottoms were just as interesting as her top. She wore a slightly longer dark purple skirt that extended to her knees and almost past them, creating the illusion that it was a dress but maintaining the freeness and flexibility offered by a skirt. Just like the top, the skirt was decorated in gemstones of varying sizes and, very cleverly in Daybreaks opinion, each of the stitched gems was where her enchantments were stored. Each full gem seemed to hold a different charm, Daybreak could see it each time her clothing touching light in the right manner, it caused a slight sparkle of color to catch his eye.

With his brief analysis of her appearance over with, he moved on to gauging Sunset Shimmers reaction. Out of everyone, hers was not only the most interesting, but also the most surprising.

Once he'd finished his tale he watched everyone absorb what he said, and as everyone reacted as they did, he noticed that Sunset Shimmer was the only one to show seemingly no reaction to what he'd said. Briefly, he wondered if she'd even been paying attention, but before it occurred to him to ask...Twilight decided to throw her opinion around.

"Why should we trust any of this, just on your word? I've never even heard of these 'Four Horsemen' before. You and I studied with Princess Celestia for all those years together and never once did I see you go into the Restricted Section during study hours. How would you have even known about the book in the first place?"

He had expected this from Twilight entirely, if she'd believed him right off the bat, he'd have thought an alien had replaced her or something. Nevertheless her childish question irked him, and he made sure to show it.

"Because Princess despite what you may think you know, you weren't aware of every little thing I did when we studied together. Me and Celestia did occasionally share a conversation or two, not particularly long ones mind you, considering my overwhelming anger at her for tossing me out the streets at birth tended to bleed into the conversation!...but you get the picture...we talked. During those talks, she once mentioned a large stone slab book that she kept in the back of her Restricted Section. I always was more open minded than you when it came to mythology...DON'T DENY IT!-" he briefly raised his voice when she opened her mouth to retort "-Anyways, she knew I was willing to accept more mysterious things, rather than only what I could see and touch. So she told me about the book and how it described a time, a world...pre-dating magic, Equestria, multicolored skin, anything we have now. I was enthralled by something like that, you can imagine I'm sure?"

Twilights eyes narrowed slightly "Yes I can. You frequently voiced your opinion about the world to me when we were young. Which is why this whole situation makes me uncomfortable."

He snickered, he knew the answer to his question before he asked it, but he wanted her to say it aloud. In front of all her friends.

"And why is that Twilight?"

"Because, if I assume you are telling the truth about who and what you saw, that means you are literally the key to ending the world. A world that you've frequently stated you wanted to see changed...or 'saved from humanity' as you used to say. I think...I think you might actually do it. In fact I think it's a real possibility that you might go along with this...Famine, and help her achieve her goals......If you're even telling the truth that is-"

It was then that Daybreak learned a fun, and slightly dismaying, new fact about Sunset Shimmer, and why she had not reacted to his tale like the others.

"He's not lying Twilight."

They all turned to her. She was sitting up in her blankets, and her expression looked sterner than Applejacks. Which, given the brief time he'd spent with Sunset and AJ, was saying something. Twilight looked the most surprised out of her friends though.

"How can you be sure Sunset...none of you know him...He's more than clever enough to-"

"I've read the book too Twilight. I was a student before you, remember? I went into the Restricted Section as well, and made copies of much of the material there. Although much of my old stuff got destroyed back when you and I were enemies, I still remember alot from my old texts...The Four Horsemen are very real...but I don't recall Famine being female, that's new."

Saving his personal shock for a later time, Daybreak found a light smile scratch his lips. Having someone to compare knowledge with, who wasn't a total dick to him was tempting, but it could also prove and obstacle to him.

"Yeah...that threw me off as well. But I know what I felt when she grabbed me. It was like...emptiness...like nothing was inside me and all I could feel was this deep, deep hunger. Now that I've had time to think about it...I'm sure she was Famine"

"Hm...if that's different, then her abilities may be more different than you and I are aware of too...Daybreak...I don't mean to impose, especially considering what we discussed the last time we spoke. But, would you mind comparing notes with me on this...just me? I only remember so much, and you have the actual book. I'm not demanding to see the book, I'm not even asking to see it. But I think if we work together on this, you and I can figure out a solution to this problem before it begins. Would that be alright with you?"

Before he even considered her offer, Daybreak took a chance glance at Twilight with just his eyes, and what he saw made his day. She was completely red in the face with anger, but also doing a very good job at suppressing it. It wasn't likely that anyone but him, and maybe Sunset would detect how upset the thought of them two working together made her.

"And I bet I know why. Little miss perfect over here and Sunset probably have a secret thing going...Actually...that makes alot of sense. Sunset did mention Twilight was her 'mentor' and they're roommates now, as I recall last time I passed the roster. They're close to the same skill level...at least in magical power. I could see how Twi might swing the other way for this girl. Plus Sunset isn't bad looking either and she's got some similarities to me in terms of the way she thinks. If I'm right, then her suddenly wanting to work with me, and not involving Twilight, must really piss her off. I gotta give Sunset credit though, she knew exactly how to word her 'request'. She made sure and say it would be just me and her, no one else. She also specified that she doesn't need to see the book, which would have been another deal breaker. Does that mean she already suspects my plan to mislead the others and deal with this on my own? That would be the only reason I wouldn't want to show her the book, other than the fact that I'm an asshole...but I doubt she'd be that specific just off me being a dick...Sunset Shimmer...Maybe I didn't give you enough credit when we first met, you're very clever, you've picked up on my preferences with only a few encounters. Add onto that I know next to nothing about you...you could be an even bigger threat to me than Twilight...Which is why I'm going to accept your offer."

"Fine Sunset, I'll work with you on this, but I have one other condition beside what you've already specified-" He purposefully glanced at Twilight and her friends in an obvious manner before saying "-and you have to keep it to yourself, otherwise the deal is off."

"Now I'll see how badly she wants in. If she accepts this deal, then I'll already know I control the whole situation regardless of her knowledge"

Even Applejack looked discomforted by this suggestion, but Sunset didn't allow anyone time to intervene.

"That's fine, what is it?"

Slowly, Daybreak motioned for her to come close. She obliged and casually scooted onto his mattress. It took little effort for him to slowly brush her hair aside, taking an extra second to catch Twilight's eyes as he gently brought his lips next to Sunset's ear. He saw Twilight's face showing pure rage, and that's when he whispered

"Rainbow Dash comes to all our meetings too."

He quickly removed himself and sat back to watch her instant reaction. Her eyes flared for a brief second and she showed the expected amount of surprise...but then he saw it. Acceptance and understanding. In that moment, with those words, he'd conveyed something very important to Sunset.

"By telling her that Rainbow Dash will attend all our meet ups, but also demanding she say nothing about it, I've already implied enough for her to understand. This way, she not only will get a feeling of Rainbow's importance, but I'll also learn how much she's willing to do to work with me. Plus, as an added bonus of having Dash there, I'll know anything Sunset goes back and tells Twilight about our meetings. They won't hide anything from Rainbow, as they don't suspect her of anything more than my friendship right now, but I have a good feeling that if Sunset breaks our deal, or says something she shouldn't, Rainbow will tell me immediately. The real question here is whether or not Sunset herself picks up on this, and if she does, if she'll still go along with it. This way I can learn how clever she really is while we work."

He waited for a moment for Sunset to respond, letting his eyes glance to each of Twilights friends while he did. He noted that each one looked noticeably more suspicious and less comfortable than before. An acceptable side effect, he didn't ever intend on gaining their trust. He was more than content with just Rainbow as his friend...she was more than enough in his life anyway. After a moment of awkward silence, he heard Sunset exhale, possibly a bit more loudly than necessary.

"Fine...I'll keep that to myself."

"And like that, victory is mine"

He watched, all at once Twilight, Applejack and even Fluttershy, opened their mouths to surely protest. But fate seemed to have other plans in mind. At the moment they went to speak, a blinding flash of sapphire blue covered their vision! Lightning painted the sky outside in a streamline of color, those who didn't look away found their eyes watering in pain! A high pitched wail, seemingly inside the very walls of the room, screeched throughout the hall and shattered several thin glassed items. Nearly everyone in the room save for Twilight, her friends and Daybreak, grabbed at their eyes and ears, in agonizing pain and dropped to their knees. Then an all too familiar, feminine voice that sent deep chills throughout Daybreaks body, seemed to hiss across the sky, igniting it in a blinding blue as her voice swam through the barrier, like it did not exist at all. The voice carried over all sounds, regardless of pitch or volume. It was as though the sky itself knew her words took precedence over all else the world could hear at that moment.

"HEAR ME CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, FOR I AM THE FIRST OF FOUR. BY THE EMERLAD FLAMES OF TARTARUS I BRING UPON YOU ALL THE BLIGHT OF HUNGER. FROM THE WITHIN YOUR HEARTS SHALL YOUR WANTS GO UNFULFILLED, FOR DEAD HAVE YOU MADE THE WORLD THROUGH DESIRE. NAUGHT SHALL YOU FILL THE HOLES IN YOUR HEARTS WITH LOVE OR LIFE, FOR YOUR OWN GREED IS ENDLESS AND ALL CONSUMING. FROM WHAT LAND SHALL YOU HARVEST, AS YOUR GRAIN TURNS TO ASH ON THE COMING OF THE SECOND. AND FOR NOW UNTIL END SHALL YOU BE DENIED THAT WHICH MADE YOUR LIVES WHOLE. SO IT SHALL BE, FOR I AM CALLED FAMINE."

Her voice faded with the lightning, but not like a subtle thing. As her voice dimmed from existence, the barrier around the school ignited bright and alive with shimmering power! But only for an instant, as if to taunt them. Then it sizzled. Like cherry bomb firecrackers on the ground, the barrier began to pop all over and within itself. Little fizzles of energy seemed to flitter and fall off and disintegrate on the ground, melting away into nothing as the Universities first line of defense was rendered, nonexistent.

Both Daybreak and Sunset found themselves on their feet and walking towards the window, seemingly enthralled by what they were seeing. Together they spoke in ominous tones, their voices echoing the deep feelings of dread now swimming within their chests.

"And then will come Famine, riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty, And great will be the horsemen's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger shall seep out and poison the land...and all shall perish in his blight"

At once they turned towards one another, a noticeable shiver traveled through both of them. The true weight of Daybreaks new mission began to reveal itself upon him as he watched the barrier around the University become nothing but fizzling ash. He clenched his fists, but knew full well he could do nothing in his current state of weakness. Sunset and Rainbow both seemed to sense his concern, but Sunset, being closer, made it to him before Rainbow could manage the strength to get up. She placed her hand upon his shoulder, her eyes showed her concern.

"We should get started as soon as possible...I didn't even sense her aura when she was gripping you earlier. Which means tracking her by it will probably be impossible. So the first thing on our to-do-list should be finding a way to track her so we know what she's up to...that's at least a start."

A sigh escaped his lips as he lowered his gaze away from the window. "Yeah...then we can work on finding something that can kill her. You and I both know who comes after Famine...We can't let it get that far so we need to end her asap."

The words kill seemed to draw the attention of the others, Twilights voice cut across Daybreaks thoughts.

"Umm excuse me?! Kill? We don't kill Daybreak. The Elements of Harmony don't kill either. There's always another way to defeat an opponent, rather than just putting a sword through their heart. I don't know how you did things all these years when you encountered a problem, but around here, we consider every alternative, especially before concluding on something horrid like that!"

Daybreak rolled his eyes, he was getting tired of having Twilight throw her opinion at him, especially on something this major. He turned his head so fast it might have spun off his neck if it were possible.

"Twilight do you have any idea-!"

He paused instantly when he saw her eyes....eyes that were likely to be the subject of his future nightmares...they had completely changed shape and texture...were glowing a sapphire blue...and slitted. His breath caught in his throat, and he struggled not to choke. He gave a light tug on Sunsets arm, who immediately turned to face him. Without looking at her, Daybreak slowly motioned towards Twilight with his eyes. No words were need to convey Sunsets reaction, Daybreak could easily feel the energy start to flow throughout her body while he was this close to her. The bad news about that was, he also felt how weak she currently was. If a fight broke out right now, neither of them had a chance against a full power Twilight. The storm had drained most of their magic from them, and he doubted Sunset was as proficient at hand to hand combat as he was, so for the moment, they were utterly screwed.

That is, until Twilight responded to his half spoken statement.

"Do I have any idea, what, Daybreak?"

He swiftly struggled to recompose himself and think of some kind of response. He'd nearly forgotten what he was about to say the moment he saw her eyes and had no idea if he was even talking to "Twilight" right now. Sunset however, came to his rescue.

"He was probably just going to point out that the Four Horsemen aren't like any other enemy any of us ever faced before, Twilight. For all we know the Elements might not even work on them. We don't know enough about them right now to be making any conclusions at all...but we also have to face that it may come down to actually destroying them, and if it does, I'm actually glad we've got Daybreak with us."

"I'm just supposed to ignore that quip aren't I? Do you people just assume that I'm so willing to kill, just like that? Yes we will probably have to end the Horsemen, permanently...but that doesn't mean I'm cool with the notion of killing..." He only kept his opinion to himself because Sunsets statement seemed to disarm Twilight, who, upon hearing her friends words, seemed to decide taking a moment to consider what was said was a better idea than arguing. She didn't apologize, of course, but the glowing blue did fade from her eyes while she silently thought to herself...leaving Daybreak both relieved and confused. Once again, Sunset seemed to have a quick answer to his unspoken question. This further irked him as it proved she was beginning to understand the way he thought about things more and more, which he found unacceptable. She lowered her voice, so only he could hear

"I think I know what happened just then. Remember Famines' words? Want. Hunger. Desire? I think she's going to use her powers to cause peoples desires to run beyond their control. It would make a sort of sense if you think about it. I mean, famine refers to more than just food. People 'hunger' for alot of things. Twilight probably 'hungers' to prove you're guilty of...well...everything right now. So her eyes sparked blue as that hunger surfaced when she started in on you again. That's just my theory for the moment though. I'll discuss it more with her and you later if that's alright. For now, you should probably just go wash up while you can. I doubt this magic storm, or whatever will last forever. I mean, now that Famine's made her little speech and broken our barrier, there's no real need to keep it going. It's obvious she can affect people without them being in contact with the rain, so she'll probably just end it. When that happens, classes are gonna start up for everyone, and that includes you. The headmistress won't cancel school...not even for the end of the world. So I'd wash up now if I was you."

He stared at Sunset Shimmer for a moment. "It's no wonder Twilight likes you, you're as clever as she is, and more willing to except extremities which adds a difference in opinion, that I'm sure she enjoys conversing with. You also came up with a reasonable and logical theory to Famine's plan of attack quicker than I did...which bothers me a little. I definitely discarded you too quick when we met. Having you around will certainly be beneficial in the future. But for now...I kinda want that shower."

"I agree. At least with most of what you said. After we get through today we can talk about when we can start our meet ups, to discuss dealing with the horsemen. Until then though, I'm gonna head to the showers like you said. I'm still plenty filthy from my trip here, despite Rainbows best attempts I can still feel the dirt and grime in my hair." He returned his voice to normal volume, knowing that would tell Sunset to do the same, he also wanted Twilight's friends to know he was done with the questions for now, and wanted to finally wash up.

At hearing her name being spoken, Rainbow sat up straighter and seemed to suddenly remember the world around her existed "Hey! I did what I could!"

"I wasn't complaining, I was just saying I need a shower"

He watched as the words jumped to the forefront of her lips, but she held them back. He smirked. She had been about to say "I could join you if you want?" or something of that nature, he just knew it by her look.

"Luckily she's not that impulsive...at least maybe not in public." Either way, she held her tongue and simply replied with a

"Cool, I'll make sure you got something to change into when you're done."

With a nod, he began to make a slow walk past Twilight's friends "I'd appreciate that Dash, thanks"

"Just hurry the fuck up dude, you reek!"

"Right, cause you're a basket of fucking daisies right now I'm sure..."

"Well maybe I'll take one too, if you hurry your ass up at least..........Why are you still here!? I can see your stink clouds growing larger above your head, get going before I decide to join you!"

"I give you too much credit...you couldn't resist letting that slip could you?"

Luckily, even as he swiped up two white towels from his and Rainbows pile and walked past Twilights friends, none of them seemed to care all that much. That left him to assume that they were used to her commenting in such a manner. With that in mind, he began to think that he might be able to get away with a few himself, at least to Rainbow, without making anyone too suspicious.

He passed by Twi's friends without incident...although when he looked back while walking away, he caught Pinkie Pie shooting him a quick thumbs up. He had no idea why, but kept walking until he was lost within the crowd.

Working his way through the horde of huddled students within the gymnasium was more difficult than he expected. With all the excitement of the morning, he'd briefly forgotten that just twenty-four hours prior he'd revealed to the whole school who he was via loudspeaker. This left him slightly baffled when students seemed to be going out of their way to make his journey out of the gym difficult, at first. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on, especially once he was completely out of range of Rainbow or any of her friends.

The light whispers he heard as he passed students, turned to normal voiced insults, hidden to all but those within a few feet by the sheer mass of people. He heard all manner of things whispered and said to him as he delicately maneuvered his way through people, trying his best not to lose his patience and simply shove everyone out of his way. Although no one dared put their hands on him, once he was directly in front of the twin doors that led to the male and female locker rooms, several students deliberately stepped out of the crowd and blocked the doors. A quick glance over their faces confirmed that he hadn't encountered any of these people yet, and so had no preconceived notion of what they might do, this alone put him on guard.

Out of the crowd of...maybe ten students...a single boy stepped forward to face him directly. His hair was short and spiked towards the front, similar to Rainbows but, more standing up straight rather than laying down over his face. His hair was as black as tar, except for the single yellow streak that traveled directly down the center of his hair, creating a lightning bolt like image if one were to look at him from the ceiling. His skin was a similar color to the three idiots who had bothered Daybreak his first day at the University, except it looked more well kept and was less gray...more a pale white. His clothes were nothing special either, except that he seemed to have a similar style choice to Daybreak. He wore a long sleeved black shirt and long black pants. In the center of his shirt was three bright lightning bolts, all turned separate directions but connecting in the center. They looked like an awkwardly shaped star made out of lemon colored lightning.

It was his eyes though, that caught Daybreaks attention. As the young man stared him down, Daybreak looked him directly in his hazel colored eyes. His eyes...they swam with hatred. Deep seeded hatred. It was a kind he'd only seen a few times before. Even Twilight didn't look at him like this boy was. Like his very existence made him angry. Oddly enough, there was something eerily familiar about this student, and he was getting a strange sense of Deja vu from looking at him. He could feel a memory trying to tug at his mind...but it escaped him for the time being.

"Such a deep hatred just in his eyes...you'd think I'd remember something like that."

Realizing there were only a few ways he was likely to get through, and one of them involved yet another fight for him in this school, he decided to break the ice, so to speak. Since the other students seemed content to just stand back and stare, he directed his attention solely on the boy before him, struggling to keep his own aggravated attitude in check. He failed, miserably of course. But to his credit, he was already fed up with these students and their insults before he ever reached the doors to the locker room. Now to have them deliberately blocking him when he was already exhausted...he had no patience left to give.

"Is there some reason you're blocking my path? Hoping I can help you with something perhaps?"

The boy thrust out his right arm, extending his thumb, pointing it back towards the center of his chest and nearly jabbing himself in the process.

"Do you know who I am? I know who you are, Son of Discord."

Daybreak felt his left eye twitch. "Would it kill these people to use my fucking name rather than some stupid title..."

He shook his head slowly, keeping his eyes moving between all of the students blocking the door, in case any one of them made a more aggressive move on him. But it wasn't their unfriendly movements, or their whispers, that seemed to be pissing him off more and more by the second. It was the way all of them we're looking at him, especially the boy in front. It was just like his days back in Canterlot...when he was a child.

"No, I don't know who you are. Are we done? I'd like to take a shower if you don't mind. In case you didn't hear, I've had an exhausting morning and frankly...whatever reason you have for hating me (and I'm sure it's a great one considering the way you're looking at me), I don't care right now. You're not the first to look at me that way, and you won't be the last. You're all the same to me at this point. Hating me on sight. I don't care anymore. Now step aside."

He took a single step forward, and several of the students moved from the doors quick as roaches in the light, clamoring over each other like seals to get out of his way.

"Pathetic."

The boy however, did not move, and he also took a step forward, bringing him now within arms reach. Daybreak almost smiled. That would make things easier if this situation escalated. The boys hazel eyes seemed to grow darker, Daybreak could seem him grinding his own teeth together within his mouth before he spoke.

"My name is Stormchaser and I-"

"Don't care. Now step aside." Daybreaks eyes had narrowed into a glare, almost daring the boy to challenge him.

"I can take one arrogant boy without trouble, magic or no magic. I could use a stress relief after the ass kicking I got in the rain earlier anyways...maybe I'll get lucky and he'll actually take a swing."

To Daybreaks mild disappointment, he did not take a swing. Instead he glared back at him...and stepped to the side. His group behind him followed his lead directly after, and unblocked the door, but just as Daybreak passed the boy by, he heard him emit a low growl.

"Remember my name."

Daybreak visibly chuckled and kept walking as the doors swung shut behind him, but he made his voice audible until the moment they closed "Why? You're just another boy full of hate, wanting to prove himself on some quest to avenge some tragedy that I'm sure was caused by my father. I don't care. I don't care about your epic quest, and I don't care about my father, so you're both in equal standing in my eyes. Not worth my time."

He gave a small glance back before the doors had fully shut behind him. He reveled in the effect his words had, the boy looked like Daybreak had just slapped him. His fists were clenched and his teeth were visibly gritted together in his jaw, almost to the point of chipping, his whole body shook with anger. The only thing Daybreak found unsettling to his barely existent conscience was...the small stream of tears he saw gleaming down Stormchaser's face as the doors closed.

For a singular moment, Daybreak almost felt guilty

"Maybe that was a bit too harsh? I could have heard him out I guess? Maybe reassured him that I don't support my father...after all I'm sure he has a reason for...wait?...What am I even thinking about this for? I don't care. I'm tired of everyone always taking their hate out on me for my fathers actions, and I stopped feeling pity for them a long time ago, I won't start again now. That boy out there is just like the rest of them. He hates me without giving any thought as to why. I'm not responsible for what my father caused, and I won't feel pity for the people who ruined and destroyed my chance at a semi-normal life out of misplaced anger. That boy, Stormchaser, he's just as bad as the rest of them. He got what he deserved...Probably not enough."

Despite his own self reassurance, he still felt a small twinge in his gut when he thought about seeing the tears on his face, even if only briefly. It did say something, that Stormchaser was willing to allow his group to see him like that. As he walked towards and opened the door to the male locker room, Daybreak felt a brief warmness in his chest...but unlike previous times...it was slightly uncomfortable. He casually itched the spot on his shirt where the warmth seemed to be radiating from, and moved on towards the showers, not even bothering to think about the oddly convenient location of the "itch" on his chest.

The last time he'd been inside this room, he remembered he'd pretty much refused to shower. Normally after every gym class with his and Rainbow's Minotaur instructor, Iron Will, the students would pour into the locker rooms to shower and change back into their normal clothes for the rest of the day. Daybreak however, was a little different. Every time he came in after class, he found the showers flooded with students, and privacy nearly impossible. Now, he wasn't self-conscious about his appearance or being seen showering...it was more along the lines of comfort. He disliked being around others just under normal circumstances, so things like showering, where he had to be completely exposed to anything around him...that was even worse. He felt vulnerable when he was like that...so he found other alternatives to cleaning himself if he was kept waiting too long, namely in the form of magic. Usually he'd just wait until everyone cleared out and was dressed before he'd clean himself, since his sports class was at the end of the day it didn't really matter if he stayed a little late anyways...but there was one time where some students decided to linger, for an especially long time afterwards, he'd lost his patience and simply left. He'd cast a cleanliness charm over himself afterward of course, but he still preferred the actual feeling of warm water, soap and shampoo on his body, to the tingling and very brief feeling of being magically cleaned in seconds.

Now though, he was completely alone and able to take his sweet time as he pleased. With everything that had happened to him just this morning, combined with the now added stress of a cold he could practically feel trying to take hold inside of him, he planned on taking a very long, and very steamy shower. As he passed by the benches of the locker room, he quickly stripped down and flung his damp clothes inside the locker nearest him, not bothering to shut it. He wasted no time in entering the large, open room that housed the many tiki-like shower heads.

"Would it have killed the headmistress to invest in a locker room with separate stalls for each shower...having them all in the center like this just adds unnecessary discomfort for anyone showering with more than a few people in here."

Unlike the rest of the locker room, which was built around several benches and lockers to allow for maximum privacy outside the shower, the actual shower room itself was very large, very open, and offered nothing in the form of privacy. It was one giant, steel gray, rectangular room, built around four separate cylinder, dome topped tiki's. Each cylinder held twenty rotating shower heads that could spin about the tiki horizontally and vertically, creating a steamy water vapor around the whole room in moments. It was great for cooling off after a work out or sports day, as it was commonly used for...but not so great if you were someone like Daybreak, who wanted to use it for a real shower...while thirty plus people were in there with you.

Luckily for him, with no else around this time, he was able to use the steam system of the showers to his advantage, for once. He switched on three of the tiki's and set them to rotate, so they could fill the room up with steam for his quickly stuffing nose. Then he switched the fourth to a casual shower setting, allowing the warm water of nearly twenty separate faucets to flow over him, washing his stress away. To a point at least.

He felt the warm stream travel down his body, feeling an ease, a peace, as the dirt and grime came slipping off him. He reached into the chest high mouth of the tiki he was currently showering under, and opened his palm. In seconds, he retrieved his hand to find a bottle of melon scented hair and body wash in his palm.

"Gotta love magic showers...Yet they couldn't spring for separate stalls...I gotta ask about that the next time I see Shicvala"

The bottle flipped open with a smooth pop , it was almost as refreshing to simply feel the suds of soap form along his aching, tired muscles when he applied it to his skin, as it was to know he was finally freeing himself of all the grime that had clung to him from Ponyville streets. He ran his fingers through his thick and muddy hair, relishing as he felt the slime and twigs fall from him. He knew he needn't worry about any of the slush and where it may end up, since the drains were just as magical as the rest of the room, instantly absorbing any kind of filth that hit the wet floor.

Reaching inside his tiki shower a second time, he withdrew a luffa from within its jaws. With a delicate care, he slowly rubbed the sponge along his chest and down his legs, allowing the soap to gather inside then squeeze out into his skin. Maybe it was just him, or maybe he was weird that way, but a warm shower was one of the few things that he'd never taken for granted. It was probably because he'd lived without one for so long when he was little, always dreaming of what it must feel like to have his body instantly cleansed of all things dirty and disgusting. Somehow the feeling of everything just being washed away with a comforting rub of a sea sponge doused in some weird chemical that made you smell like a fruit was just one of his favorite things...ok...yeah he was just weird...but it still felt nice. Not to mention, the effects of the steam flowing throughout the room were doing wonders for his sinus. The sniffles and cold he'd thought he felt forming, now ceased to exist within his nose. He doubted it would last forever once he was finished rinsing, but it was nice to know this was an easy fix for awhile. At least until he got his full strength back and could just charm it away.

As he ran the sponge over his chest for a second time, he felt its coarse and soapy underside grinding the ever persistent dirt, fully from his chest. After three passes, he felt satisfied that he'd thoroughly scrubbed his body clean, and moved on to his face. After retrieving a separate sponge from the tiki, he loaded it up with soap of its own and went to work on his forehead. He first went for the long gash directly under his hair, at the top of his head. It had made the hair directly above it sticky with blood, and although most of it had already been washed away, he knew the gash itself wasn't fully healed yet. Without his magic at full capacity, he healed much slower than usual, and so was not surprised when he brought the sponge to his head and released a pained gasp into the water.

He felt the soap from his sponge seep into the wound as he passed it over, it burned and stung like fire...but he knew it could only help with his healing. He tolerated it and moved on, scraping at the dirt across his face and allowing the streaming water to run down him, taking the filth with it. Just as before, he made three passes across his face then forehead with the sponge, and once he was free of any remaining discomfort, he allowed the water to remove the last bits of soap. He "looked" up into the faucet with his eyes shut, he felt the tiny droplets rain down onto his face with a ferocious intensity, pleasantly warming his body and relaxing his muscles.

He was so caught up in the enjoyment of it all, he took no notice of the twin doors to the locker room briefly opening and shutting. It wasn't until he heard the small sound, the barely audible sound, of sandals striking standing water that he stopped and froze in place. Instinct told him to power up right away, but he had so little strength in him at the moment, flaring up for anything but a minor spell could cause him to faint.

Instead he slowly reached up and turned off the faucet, but kept the other three on for continued steam throughout the room. After the few leftover water droplets from his tiki were released, Daybreak slowly opened his eyes and observed the shower room. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but something in the back of his mind told him he was not alone. He attempted to reach out with his perceptions, not using his own magic but by attempting to draw on the minimal energy already present in the room, to extend his own senses. There was little effort involved on his end in terms of magic use, and it was a simple task to manage. It merely relied on the energy already present in the surrounding area, making it one of the most useful simple spells out there. It was just, most magicians overlooked such a simple ability due to there being so many better ones out there, with a far more superior casting range. However for him, with little to no magic to draw on at the moment, it was the perfect spell.

Sadly, it seemed to be a waste of time. Although there was magic present in the immediate area, due to the tiki heads, it seemed that beyond the showers the rest of the room was ordinary. Meaning it was devoid of anything that would allow him to sense beyond the room he was currently in. With his eyes still shut, he took advantage of the small range of "vision" he had and focused on the spell. Like an echo, he sent out as small a wave of his magic as he could manage, without making it pointless of course, and waited for it to return. As he waited, bare naked and leaning against the warm metal of the tiki shower for support, he again heard the sounds of the locker rooms twin doors opening, then quickly closing.

His magical echo returned just as he heard the doors swing shut, and with it he felt out the room. Like a black and white picture painted across his mind, he studied the details of the shower room, attempting to discern if anyone who may have entered was near him, or if they were even still in the room. Having only sent one small wave through the area, it was a quick and simple image to study, and therefore did not take long for him to discern that whomever was in the room (if they still were) was not currently in the showers with him. This told him that if he wanted to maintain any form of privacy, now was the time to exit the showers, and quickly.

He ended the spell and opened his eyes. A single step forward reminded him of how little magic he had left in him, as his knee's wobbled under their own weight and threatened to buckle. Keeping his slowly approaching limit in mind, he shuffled over through the waterlogged floor of the showers and, stepping over the ankle high metal block that separated the showers from the locker area, set his feet upon the bare tile. Were it anywhere else, he'd never dare set his newly cleaned feet upon an obviously unclean floor, but his locker was a mere few feet from the shower and if necessary he'd cast a cleaning spell on his feet later. Right now his priority was getting dressed, before whomever might be in the room saw him butt naked.

Bearing the thought of another person possibly in the locker area with him, the first thing he snatched when he reached his locker was one of the white towels, and swiftly wrapped it around his waist. Next he went to work drying himself with the second towel he'd brought. He scrubbed his hair with the rough fabric, it wasn't painful or anything, but were he not in a rush he'd have been more gentle with his scalp for certain. He felt the softness returning to his emerald hair as he roughly dried it, rubbing his face around inside the dampened cloth like he was head banging to rock music.

It only took him a moment to hear it...but in the end that second made all the difference. Once more, the twin doors opened, he heard it clearly this time as he was now in the locker room with his back to the doors. This time though, he did not hear the doors close quite as quickly as they had before. He knew what that meant even before he'd removed his head from within the towel. Though, no matter how sure about the situation he was...one can never truly be prepared to see some eight people staring at you, as you've just finished coming from the shower. Granted he'd been out for a few minutes now...but still the point stood. It was uncomfortable...and not just because it was the same group who had blocked his path to get in to the shower room to begin with.

His eyes narrowed, and fell upon the boy, Stormchaser, who was once again at the head of the group. Though it appeared to have shrunk some...possibly by two, since earlier.

"Which means they're either guarding the door, or they chickened out of whatever's about to happen here."

He glanced over the students faces once again, they were indeed the same ones as before...but this time, one more caught his eyes other than just the boy. There was a young girl, obviously the youngest among the group...probably too young to even be at this school, standing more towards the back and doing her best to hide herself amongst the small crowd. Her hair was a lighter blue color than Rainbows skin, but that was all he could really tell about her from his current angle. She was doing well at hiding most of her body from being seen, but it seemed she couldn't help standing on her toes to look over her group at him. It was like she needed to see him or something.

He smirked

"Stormchaser was it? Ya know, this is a boys locker room. I'm pretty sure that means your friend hiding back there isn't allowed."

Stormchaser smiled back at him. His smirk was very unnerving considering Daybreak had watched him start crying not much earlier.

"You think one less person in here will help your situation. Even if she leaves, it won't change what's about to happen here. Besides, she's here for the same reason I am, and she needs to see it."

"Well, I should have known it was too much to hope they were all in here for shower. Great...of all the rotten timing."

"And what, pray tell, is about to happen here that she needs to see?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question, don't you?"

Stormchaser motioned with his head, gesturing in Daybreaks direction. As soon as he did, the group of seven behind him began to spread out and attempt to form a large circle around Daybreak. To do this, at least three of them had to step inside the steamy shower area, giving Daybreak a small idea of how to, at least slightly, change the odds in his favor.

After encircling him, they stepped back, extending and spreading the circle as widely as possible. The three in the shower area even moved back enough to be inside the standing water of the steamed room. This struck Daybreak as odd, considering if they were about to jump him, one would think they'd wanna be as close as possible. Regardless, he had more important things to currently worry about than their plan of attack. He had to think fast if he wanted to avoid this situation getting anymore hopeless than he already felt it was. He focused on keeping his calm look, and making sure his confident smirk did not fade from his face, or Stormchaser's line of sight.

"So, what then? This is your biiiiiig revenge, or something? Jump and corner me while I'm half naked in the showers. Hardly impressive. In fact, I'd call it downright cowardly."

"My best option here is to stall and keep him talking until I can think of a way out of this mess. With next to no magic to call on and even less strength, if I get into a fight right now I'm likely to get the shit kicked out of me...huuuum...and Rainbow Dash promised I'd be left alone. Although, I can't blame her for not being here to help like she promised...even I didn't really see this coming so quickly. I mean, I've been back what...like an hour?"

Stormchaser's right eye twitched slightly. "I'm not here to get your approval for how I go about my business. I'm...we, are here to make you pay for the things your father has done-"

"Oh here we go again! With the whole speech about my father and his crimes and how I'm evil and I should pay and blah blah blah blah blaaaaaah. Do you have even the slightest idea how many times I've heard this speech. Seriously, do you? Cause even I have lost count at this point. Oh and f.y.i, everyone before you thought they had me cornered too. Notice I'm still here."

Although his words did not seem to phase Stormchaser, they clearly had an effect on some of the others. A few looked around at each other, one even moved a bit farther back from the rest, making their circle around him lopsided. Daybreak chuckled to himself.

"Looks like they're afriad of me, and clearly they don't know I'm running on low battery life at the moment. Maybe...just maybe, I can get out of this with sheer luck and intimidation...though...it looks like Stormchaser didn't even flinch...I hope I've got enough stamina for at least one fight, it may come down to me and him if I can scare away the others."

Stormchaser seemed to also notice his group stirring at Daybreaks words. He practically snarled as he looked around the room.

"Come on all of you! He's bluffing! If he were really so unphased by us, he would have swatted us aside with his magic the moment he felt threatened..." He turned back to face Daybreak and pointed at him "Your not running on a full charge at the moment are you? You're weak right now, I overheard your little talk with Princess Twilight and her friends."

"Dammit!...Well...there goes my best chance at walking out...I gotta salvage this somehow..."

"You know..." He raised his voice slightly, making sure everyone in the room could hear him and making sure that his bravado showedr through his words. You'd be surprised how hard that is to do, when you're standing in the middle of a room surrounded b angry teens, and wearing only a towel. "Princess Twilight's friends have gotten to know me pretty well, especially Rainbow Dash. Her and I are good friends. I think you already know that Stormchaser, that's why you waited until I was alone to try anything. Imagine how Rainbow might react when she finds out what you're trying to do here."

Again, the students stirred, this time much more so than before. Daybreak even saw the girl, who was the closest to Stormchaser in the circle give an obvious shift of discomfort, and look away from him after he spoke. He smiled as he watched Stormchaser's face turn red with anger.

"Oh please! You think any of Princess Twilight's friends will lift a finger to help you? I saw and heard how she was talking to you. It's extremely obvious to anyone with eyes that our princess hates you, probably more than anyone else. Not that I can blame her, you're a wretched person, I can't even imagine what you might have done to her. You deserve what's about to happen, and if Rainbow Dash has a problem with it, she can take it up with me afterwards!"

"I really wish you'd stop talking...he's making this much more difficult than I can deal with right now...If I can deal with Stormchaser, than I'm pretty sure I can make the others back off. They don't seem as set on this as he does. And then there's the girl...why is she even here? Other than this being a male locker room, (and I have no idea how she just walked in here unnoticed like that) she looks the most uncomfortable with this whole thing...and the most innocent. It's clear she doesn't want to be here...something's amiss."

Stormchaser's words clearly had the opposite effect of Daybreaks on the group. Where as Daybreak's words made them reconsider what they might be about to do, it seemed Stormchaser's reassured them. That was a problem. Sadly Daybreak didn't have many good solutions for it. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"So...If you're so set on doing whatever it is you're gonna do. Why not tell me what this is about then? It must be pretty important if you're willing to risk all these students being expelled for it."

The word "expelled" seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the circle, in a vary alarming manner. Suddenly everyone seemed to be shifting in their places, and the girl actually turned to leave the room. Before she could make for the doors though, Stormchaser's voice rung throughout the locker room.

"YOU STAY PUT FLITTER! I TOLD YOU! YOU NEED TO SEE THIS! WHAT WOULD YOUR SISTER SAY?!...ALL OF YOU STAY PUT!"

"Flitter...so that's her name. Seems people around here are very worried about getting kicked out. It figures, since this place is so well known and liked, being expelled from here can't be appealing to anyone...and yet still this boy..."

His voice rang with anger around the room, shocking everyone still in there places. Daybreak was about to smile at his inevitable victory...when he spotted a sight that made his blood run cold. As he looked back into Stormchasers eyes, preparing to give his signature, ever mocking grin of victory at the unrest he had caused...he saw them...his eyes.

They were Sapphire blue and slitted like a snake.

Fear. Pure, unadulterated, cold, mind numbing fear. That was the feeling that traveled up Daybreaks spine as he looked into Stormchaser's gaze. He struggled not to panic, but he was unable to maintain his false smirk under the weight of his own fear.

"F-Famine...she's affecting them too?...Of course...she's making everyone act out on their own deep desires and wants, randomly it seems. This boy hates me for some reason...he has a deep desire to make me pay. I have no idea what kind of other changes having her influence coursing through him may cause...but I've no chance of easy escape now..."

Stormchaser's eyes narrowed as he watched Daybreaks smirk falter and vanish. He found himself smiling, further increasing the menacing affect his eyes had upon Daybreak. He struggled to hold back laughter

"That's it was it...that's what you were trying to do. You must really be weak right now to resort to trying to scare us away..." Stormchaser threw his hands out wide, as if he were trying to embrace the room "My friends! You don't have to worry about anything after all. Daybreak has no strength to fight back! He's just been trying to scare us away with his petty threats this whole time! You all followed me in here for a reason! Now is not the time to back out! If we back down now, from what we all agreed was justice for what was done to us, how will any of you live with yourselves. This is our chance. Discord took away our friends, our families, our loved ones, Some...he took much more. Now here, in this room with us, is his son, who as you all have seen, doesn't care a bit for out plights. Not one shred of pity or remorse for what his father has done. Princess Twilight hates him, any of you who were close when he came in saw it for yourselves. Princess Twilight has never treated anyone that way before...there has to be a good reason. And we all know what it is. He's as bad as his father. Discord isn't here for us to bring justice on...but his son, who is clearly just like him...is. Let's let him feel our pain, the pain of being deprived of our lives!"

It was like his speech brought out the worst in those surrounding Daybreak. All at once, everyone's fear of repercussion, or retaliation seemed to melt into the air. The students around narrowed their gazes and clenched their fists. Except oddly enough...the girl, Flitter. She looked terrified all of the sudden, but she dared not move from her place. Daybreak knew it was too late now for her to make any difference...for him to make any difference.

"Tch...Damn...Well...guess that means I've got no choice now. With Famine's power in his head like this there's no way talking will help anymore. And his little war speech certainly seemed to pump them up. With things the way they are, it's likely that they might get the blue eyes soon too. I've got no chance of victory here...and they are blocking the only door. And to add a cherry to the tip of this cake of shit...I'm still only in my towel...fuck my life..."

Despite knowing the futility of his situation, Daybreak dropped into a low fighting stance regardless. Stormchaser let loose a low chuckle, none but Daybreak could recognize the second voice that seemed to echo along his own, like both Famine and Stormchaser were talking along the same pitch.

"You really think you can fight your way out of this? You're as overconfident as your murderer father."

Despite the urge to correct him in the fact that Discord himself had never actually taken a life, his army had...Daybreak resisted and instead glared at Stormchaser.

"What? Were you expecting me to except my situation and roll over for you. You know nothing, stupid boy. Just like you know nothing of real pain. Whatever tragedy you wanna blame me for, can't even compare to my pain. Don't bother with some retort now, I've already seen there's no more point in talking with you...let's just do this."

Stormchasers lips curled into a menacing sneer. His hair and body began to fizzle with tiny yellow sparks of light. The golden streak of color that traveled through his hair ignited in a radiant light as his aura sparked to life around him.

"With great pleasure."

Despite his plentiful experience in fighting with the odds against him, Daybreak knew he had next to no chance of winning this fight. Knowing that, he excepted the reality that he was about to receive an epic beating. With that thought now formost in his mind, he was sure he was prepared for what would come when Stormchaser attacked him...and that was his mistake. He expected Stormchaser to attack him first, and that cost him dearly.

From behind, someone struck the back of his head with a fist, sending his senses into a spiral and sending him stumbling forward. Wet floors, combined with no shoes and him being only in towel, spelled disaster for Daybreaks balance. So it was hardly surprising when he fell face first to the ground from such a simple punch. Nevertheless his pride was wounded from being made to look like such a pathetic weasel, especially when the punch hadn't really hurt that much, despite sending his eyes spinning in their sockets.

Two boys from the crowd closed in on him, both made to kick him in the ribs while he was down. Refusing to allow such a humiliation to occur a second time, he quickly reacted. Pushing on the ground with his hands, he spun his legs around on the wet floor and swept the first of the two boys' legs out from underneath him, which sent him dropping to the ground, and fortunately for Daybreak, right into the other boy. Daybreak instantly took advantage of his small opening, and jumped up from his back to his legs with one, sit-up like motion. Spinning on the wet floor to face the boy who went down under the other, Daybreak swiftly side kicked his face just beneath his jaw line, knocking him unconscious instantly. His face hit the wet ground with a satisfying plop.

"One down" He thought, hopnig the rest would be that easy.

He was hardly given time to enjoy his brief victory though. As quickly as he'd dropped that one, the other was already back on his feet, followed by everyone else in the room surrounding him, save for Stormchaser and Flitter. Both of them stood at the back of the room, Flitter seemed to be cowering near the doors, while Stormchaser just seemed to be watching, yellow sparks of energy continuing to gather around his body.

The boy who he'd sweep kicked a moment earlier, grabbed his arms from behind, and attempted to put him in a headlock. He was successful long enough for another student to land an underhanded punch to Daybreaks gut, but that was it. After that, a burst of adrenaline shot through Daybreaks body, and he quickly retaliated. With a burst of fleeting strength, he pushed off the ground with both his feet, propelling him and the boy currently head locking him backwards on the slippery floor. With his captor off balance, Daybreak took his chance and planted his right elbow in the boys gut, which, combined with the wetness of the floor, sent him tumbling back, pulling Daybreak down with him.

Daybreaks elbow landed in the boys stomach a second time as they both hit the ground, knocking the wind out of his captor and causing him to release his hold. Quickly scrambling to his feet, Daybreak brought his head up in time to receive a firm fist to the face. He leaned back in pain, but his instincts guided his hands up to his attacker, and allowed him to grasp him just under the elbow while his arm was still extended. Using the very fist that had hit him for support, Daybreak yanked hard on his foes arm, pulling himself up and pulling his enemy right up to his chest.

For a singular moment both their eyes met, and Daybreak was able to see the fear that was now swimming in the younger boys eyes. But, even though they were not glowing sapphire, Daybreak no longer cared. With wrathful and merciless force, he jerked the boys elbow up, and slammed the center of his palm just under where his two joints met, then shoved his elbow bones further straight up, while chopping downwards with a knife hand strike higher upon the boys arm with his other hand! There was a loud cracking sound...and then an even louder snap! as the boys arm completely dislocated along his elbow! Daybreak wasn't done with him yet though, as the boy cried out in pain, Daybreak took his chance to immobilize him for good.

On the same arm he'd just dislocated, Daybreak grabbed him by the wrist and gripped tight. Tears of fear swam to the surface of the boys eyes, somewhere in the distance, Daybreak heard him cry out for mercy...but again...he no longer cared. With ruthless fury, Daybreak twisted his wrist a full ninety degrees, and slammed another open palmed strike down where the joints met, but this time, instead of it simply dislocating, he heard the boys wrist bones break like a tree branch!

Fortunately for the boy, Daybreak had no time to finish him off, for before he could plant a rib crushing kick in his...well...ribs...Daybreak was tackled to the ground by two other boys, and found his arms spread and head pinned to the floor. He snarled out like a mad beast and tried to call forth some kind of spell, any kind of magic he could bring out...but his batteries were spent...he was out of power. His last bits of stamina had been wasted on mutilating the boy now whimpering on the floor, he was now at the mercy of Stormchaser and his gang. The ones who were still standing at least. He was pretty sure he'd knocked out two...and crippled one.

Stormchaser himself now approached the scene, fizzling full of bright yellow light and energy. Without a word he approached Daybreak and planted a firm palm jab in his gut. Although Daybreak felt nothing, he was instantly aware of what had been done to him, and what kind of magic user this boy was.

"Great...another weather caster...as if I wasn't already screwed enough as it is."

His whole body went instantly limp as several volts of lightning hot electricity coursed throughout his nervous system. The two boys holding him also collapsed to the ground in small spasms, but they seemed only mildly effected, as they could still move afterwards. Whereas Daybreak, Daybreak was now completely helpless...and Stormchaser knew it.

Knowing victory was his, the young weather caster let his lemon colored energy fade and fizzle out. He motioned to the remaining members of his small group.

"Pick him up and put him on his knees, make sure he's looking at me. Spread his arms out like wings, I need his back fully extended for this part."

That hardly sounded like good news, but sadly for him there was nothing he could do about it. He felt himself being grabbed by the hair and several pairs of hands pushing and pulling him to his knees, then spreading his arms out just as Stormchaser had commanded. Miraculously, his towel had managed to stay in place during this ordeal, and one of the boys even took the liberty of making sure it was still tucked in properly at his waist when they drug him to his knees.

"Guess they only need my back bare...or maybe no one wants to feel awkward holding down a naked dude...as if this towel really makes my situation better. Though I suppose I prefer it on at least..."

As his neck hung low like a limp piece of meat, he felt a firm hand grasp hold of his hair and pull his head up, forcing him to look up at Stormchaser in the eyes. Although he wanted nothing better than to avert his own, so as not to give his new enemy the satisfaction of seeing his defeated expression, he knew he should keep looking. If only so he could see what was coming next. Plus, looking Stormchaser in the eyes also helped him to confirm that they were still glowing sapphire. Not that it made him hate the brat any less, but it was still knowledge to have.

Stormchaser's lips parted in a smile of satisfaction that looked like it could light the streets of Las Pegasus. There was way to much joy in his smile for Daybreak to not be worried. He crouched down, bringing his face level with Daybreaks.

"You know, you said you don't care who I am, and I believe you. But...and this is the part that kills me...I do. I need you to know who I am, to remember me. Or rather, remember my father. And remember what yours did to us. To my family!"

In a surprising fling of anger, Stormchaser lashed out and struck Daybreak across the face with his fist. It was a quick punch, but that didn't make it hurt any less. He'd struck him just below the jaw, nearly dislocating it. Daybreak slowly opened and closed his mouth, testing to see if it still worked, then hacked up a wad of blood and spit it at Stormchaser's feet.

"Go fuck yourself, stupid weather brat." HIs lips dripped with blood as he stared at his new enemy, meeting his hateful gaze with one of his own.

He expected his defiant attitude to earn him another strike to the face, but instead Stormchaser merely smiled. He reached forward and gripped Daybreak by the jaw, perfectly cupping where he'd just struck him. He leaned close to Daybreaks face, so close he could almost smell Stormchaser's breath. But all he could really focus on was his ice cold blue eyes, staring deep into his soul.

"It feels more like I'm staring at Famine again, rather than this boy" The thought frightened him greatly. Being able to influence someone was one thing, but if Famine could actually posses people...anyone with a Desire or Want could become his enemy.

"My name-" the boy continued, drawing Daybreak from his thoughts. "-is Stormchaser. My father's name is Stratos, and my mother was Pollenpoint. They were an ordinary, loving couple, they worked in the weather factory for years during the thousand year war...and were later parents of a one year old boy...Until your father's final strike on Canterlot!"

Daybreaks eyes flared briefly. "The name...Stratos...it sounds so familiar..."

For a moment, he recalled...a stormy night in the Canterlot streets. The sounds of a young boy being pounded into the muddy pavement echoes through his mind. He remembered...

A large man with black spiky hair and yellow streaks streaming through the center of his head stood over a collapsed child. The boy lay, unconscious in the mud, his normally emerald green hair stained with the stick of his own blood and the grime of the street, while his assaulter stood over him, confronting another man who had come to stand against him.

"I'll say it again, get lost. You and I both know what this brat is, he deserves every second of it!"

The man that had come to the boy's aid slowly lowered his hood, revealing a rainbow assortment of hair that shimmered in the dark light of the stormy setting.

"He's not the one that killed your wife Stratos...let it go. He doesn't deserve that."

The memory stood firm in his mind. Daybreak remembered, he remembered the face of the man who had caused him the most pain as a child. The man's features blazed across his vision...especially...his hazel eyes...so full of hate. That was Stormchaser's father. Daybreak slowly raised his eyes back to Stormchaser's.

"I know who you are."

He watched Stormchaser's sapphire eyes narrow with rage "Oh do you?"

"Yes..." Daybreak knew his situation was hopeless now. It was like he was reliving his childhood all over again. "Your father, Stratos, was a citizen of Canterlot that used to know me when I was a child."

He heard Stormchaser give a grunt of satisfaction. That ignited a spark within Daybreak, that he couldn't help act on.

"Actually...maybe 'know me' isn't the correct way to put it. I should be saying: he was the main citizen who used to beat me and assault me every day and night of my life as a child. From beer bottles to bricks, or maybe just his own fist, he and the other Canterlot citizens made sure I never knew a day of peace as a boy. He blamed me for your mother's death, took his anger at my father out on me for years...and he was a monster!"

That time Stormchaser struck him, hard. Daybreak felt his nose snap out of place, then warm blood began to trail down his face, pooling at his toweled and soaked knees. Although no one moved to help him, he did notice several of the boys shift uncomfortably when he mentioned his childhood.

"The only monster here is you! Do you have any idea what your fathers men did to my mother. I was too young to remember at the time, but my father saw the whole thing! And the pain I remember in his gaze, for as long as I've been alive, that I will never forget!" His gaze swam with tears of anger and hate.

"So what? I should pay for it? I wasn't even alive at the time, yet you're blaming me for what my fathers men did. As if I had some influence over them? You're just a stupid brat whose so obsessed with his own self pity, you can't look past your own pain to see others. Hence, my statement from before stands, you aren't worth my time."

Another fist found his face, and the steady stream of blood that had been running from his nose, now poured down him like a dam had broken inside him. Stormchaser took a step back, waiting for the two boys gripping Daybreaks hair, to raise his head. As they did, Stormchaser reached into the right sleeve of his shirt. Before withdrawing his hand, he curled his lips into a sinister sneer.

"Tell me Daybreak. Do you know some of the tortures your fathers men used to inflict on the subjects of conquered nations and cities? I did a little research before I confronted you today, and thought of all the things that I should do, that you'd deserve. But...even as I read through some of the worst atrocities ever created in war...I just kept coming back to my mother...and the pain my father described her in. So I decided, for a bit of poetic justice, I'll do to you, what they did to her."

As he finished, he withdrew his hand from within his dampened sleeve, and Daybreak saw that he was gripping a small hilt within his closed fist. As it came into the dim light of the locker room, Daybreak found his eyes resting on a small ridged blade. It was the size of a kitchen turkey knife, but shaped nothing like it. The hilt alone, was ominous. It was clearly carved from some kind of animal bone and looked like the blade had been forced onto it, almost painfully. The blade itself, held teeth on either side, razor sharp and lining its entire length. The blade shimmered in the dim light, but not a silver color. Despite the blade itself being silver in color, when light struck across the thin sides, a reddish flare flashed off its shiny surface. Daybreaks heart skipped a beat.

"A cursed blade...I thought all of them were destroyed by my mother after the war...How can this weather brat posses one?"

Stormchaser watched his eyes enlarge with fear. He smiled, his eyes glowing brighter by the minute. Soon he would be a suitable replacement for a lamp if his eyes became any brighter than they were now.

"You recognize what this is I take it?" He chuckled, twirling the blade along his fingertips. "After many battles during the war, Discords men would drag all manner of people out into the streets and carve them up with these cursed blades. Of course they never killed anyone with them, at first. They just took them out into the most public place they could find, stripped them of any clothing covering their backs, and carved vile words into their skin for all to see. Usually things that fit the supposed 'crimes' the person had committed against Discord. The cuts from this blade can never fully heal, leaving very visible scars that last a life time..."

He turned away from Daybreak for a moment, his voice faltered as he looked over to Flitter, still cowering near the entrance.

"Your...Your fathers men...they came and took my mother. Took her for no reason, out into the street and carved the word Whore into her back...For an entire day, my father had to watch her suffer about the house, in unending, agonizing pain as the curse inflicted from the blade refused to allowed her bleeding wounds to heal. Then, when it seemed she could bare no more, the soldiers returned the next day. They took her out into the streets again, and tried to rape her...in front of everyone. But she fought back...and...and then they...they..."

Daybreak could see the scene in his mind. A woman, looking similar to Stormchaser...maybe sharing his hazel eyes and yellowish hair, being dragged out the Canterlot city square, where the most public events took place. He could almost see his fathers men, tear the back of her shirt, and begin carving into her skin with the blade that was now before him in Stormchasers hand. Then he pictured them returning later, dragging her out again and...even he felt the need to look away at the coup de gras.

"They killed her? Is that what happened?" Daybreaks voice lacked sympathy, for he felt none. However he was curious.

Stormchaser turned back around, his hand gripping the bone hilt of the blade so tightly his knuckles were whitening, more so than they already were. His eyes faded back to hazel for just a moment, as tears began to form in them. But only for a moment, then the sapphire was back, along with the rage.

"Yes they killed her. Ran her through with the cursed blade when she resisted them. Because of that...because they killed her with the blade..the curse never faded. Her body did not stop leaking blood until she was completely dry...and the words carved into her back were their until my father burned her body. Do you have any idea what that's like...Having to burn the body of the person you love? Having to watch them keep bleeding endlessly, even after they're long dead?...Well do you?!"

Daybreak watched Stormchaser grow angrier and angrier off his own words, staying silent all the time. He was pushing his rage beyond the point of return...until he finally snapped! With a shriek he walked up and roughly placed the blade against Daybreaks neck

"I'd kill you right now, if I thought that was punishment enough for what you've done to me! But it's not! You deserve to suffer forever for this!...Hold him still! Just in case my spell starts to wear off."

Making sure to kick him in the ribs as he passed, Stormchaser walked around Daybreak and stood directly behind his back. Even without looking, Daybreak was able to hear the swift fwoosh of the blade as Stormchaser flipped it around in his palm. Now he was holding it like he intended to slam it down and stab a table. Stormchasers breathe tickled across his ear as he whispered to him.

"Now you can experience the same pain she did, before his men took her from us!" His voice hissed with venom.

"This...This is going to hurt..."

No amount of training, no amount of reading, studying or build up...could prepare someone for the kind of pain Daybreak felt next. The moment he felt the warm tip touch his skin, before it ever pierced him, it felt like his body was on fire...and it only got worse. For a moment, the blade simply lingered upon his back as if testing his skins toughness. Then, all at once, he felt it push down...and it split his back like it was cutting butter.

The pain was unimaginable, it burned and froze at the same time. It was like he felt nothing all over the rest of his body, but his sense of that singular impact point was magnified a hundred times! All of the training and endurance Daybreak had gone through until now, all the pain he'd experienced throughout his life, it all left him. He could think of only one thing, one singular thing as he crushed his own teeth down on his lower lips to keep from screaming out in agony!

"I have to get away!"

New found strength, second wind, adrenaline rush he didn't care, he drew on anything and everything he had left in a desperate attempt to fling off the two boys holding him down. With a roar of primal rage, He jerked both his arm forward, feeling a surge of strength, and feeling freedom...for a single, fleeting moment.

Then reality crashed back down when, possibly a hundred volts of energy surged through his body, turning his arms and legs into limp noodles instantly. Half way to his feet, Daybreak collapsed back to the soaked floor, which was now starting to flood from the three showers still going off in the next room, making the room almost hazy in sight. His face now half soaked, he had no strength to resist when he felt his body dragged back to it's previous position.

Stormchaser actually had the nerve to laugh at him "Ya know...That wasn't a bad attempt...and if I hadn't been here, it might have worked. But sadly for you, I am here, and I'm better."

Daybreak didn't know what was worse, being caught and tortured like this, or having to hear this brats obnoxious voice. He didn't get much time to think though, for seconds later, he felt the blade reenter his open wound...and push deeper. He couldn't tell how deep it pushed, it was like his eyes bulged so big, they broke. He nearly blacked out...and even that didn't dull the pain. He felt every, agonizing, slow inch, ripping through his skin layers as the blade buried itself deeper and deeper in his back.

After an eternity, he felt it stop pushing. Daybreak hoped at least some of the pain would subside temporarily now that the blade was no longer moving...but it did not. Now it only felt worse. Because now, with him no longer focusing on the pain of the blade pushing deeper in him, he was able to focus on the pain the curse was inflicting upon his wound. He felt every fiber, every nerve, being lit on fire, then frozen over, and ignited once more. It was never ending, and he knew it was just the beginning. Then he heard Stormchaser whisper words that would have chilled his blood, if that weren't already happening anyway.

"That was the first cut, two inches deep. Now we can start carving the letters. Both of you-" Daybreak realized he was talking to the two boys that must have been holding him again. He wasn't even aware they were there. The whole rest of his body had gone numb, all he could feel was the leaking of his own blood down his back and the burning, endless icy pain in the singular wound that had been inflicted upon him. "-Hold him tight. It has to be one continuous cut from here on out, or else the curse won't take full effect. The next time the blade leaves his skin, I need to be finished. He shouldn't be able to move now, with my magic, and the blade's, inside of him...but just in case, be ready."

Only two of his words really had an impact on Daybreak. But they hit him hard, as he realized just how much more of this Tartarus level torture he must endure.

"T-that...that was one cut...one?! That was the worst pain in the world and all he did was poke me...I can't...I can't take this..."

Whether from shock, or the sheer level of pain coursing through his body, Daybreak felt his eyes go black and his world go dark.

"Why...why does this always happen to me...No matter where I go.....No matter what I do, I can't ever escape from this. I thought for the first time...I thought I'd finally found somewhere I could be peaceful...Why...Why is always me who suffers..."

His thoughts were jarred away as a new tidal wave of pain coursed throughout his body, extinguishing all else but itself. His eyes, bloodshot now and tear lined, shot open as he, once again bit down on his lips to keep from screaming. He pressed so hard he felt his lips tear open. The taste of his own warm blood flooded his tongue as he felt the blade, once again begin carving into him. This though, it was even worse than before. How that was possible, he had no idea, but it was. It felt as though it was being dragged, like a hand going against shark skin, or someone shaving their face against the grain rather than with it. His skin no longer split and cut like butter...now he felt each slice, like it was being force to pushed through his skin, or like the blade was dull instead of razor sharp.

"Good, that was the E. Now we can move on to the next letter." Stormchasers voice barely even registered to him anymore. Too much pain dominated his body to leave room for him to think or feel anything else.

It occurred to him that, this feeling may just be another effect of the curse that the blade held within it. He had only limited knowledge on many of his fathers war weapons, and even less on the war weapons his army had. Many of his men had just been common thieves or bandits before joining. Very few...sane people, had been in his army. After all, what sane person, would follow the Lord of Chaos unless they were desperate?

He suddenly choked for breath as the blood pooling in his mouth found a way to the back of his throat. Sputtering, and gagging, he was lucky one of the boys holding him momentarily leaned him forward, so he was able to throw it all up. He was only held like that for a brief second though, and all the time, he still felt the presence of the blade in his back...never once being lifted. He could feel it now, being forced through his skin, like it was attempting to turn around a curve, ripping and tearing at his raw flesh.

Another electric surge of pain coursed through his spine. At first he thought it Stormchaser sending more of his magic into him to keep his muscles from waking...but then he realized it was worse. Stormchaser was turning the blade, as if trying to trace something along his back. Daybreak felt the teeth dig into the sides of his skin as the blade attempted to make sharp curve, but take his flesh with it. With one long and painful-to-hear riiiiiiiip the blade made its full turn...and Daybreaks restraint over his cries finally broke...all his anger, frustration, internal and external pain came flooding out in one long agonizing and bloodcurdling scream!

Stormchaser barely seemed to hear it. Instead he looked down upon his work with a grin.

"Now we've made the X. Your new title will be finished before you know it. Then I'll let you go, so that the entire University can see what you are." Daybreak hated him, he was certain somewhere in his mind he hated him, underneath all the suffering that dominated his mind he knew he hated this boy. Yet, even deeper than that, he could detect the hints of sadism in his voice that had not been there before. This boy was being pushed to the brink of his desire to cause Daybreak pain for what his father had done. It was all Stormchaser's doing...but he had to remember that Famine was at some level, also responsible for this. The problem was...it no longer felt that way...or served as any comfort to him.

His eyes rolled up into his head, and he passed out again. This time however, his mind retreated him so far inside himself...even the horrendous pain of the cursed blade could not wake him. On the outside, his body continued to yell in cries of agony...but they were unconscious yells. He wasn't there anymore.

"Why...Why me..."

"It's not fair..."

"I've never...I've never hurt these people...why am I being punished...again"

"I just wanna go home...I don't ever wanna come back here...Never ever again..."

Inside, he felt like nothing more than a child once more. His days in the streets of Canterlot had returned upon his life. It seems there is no escaping them. For every time he went to a new part of the world, or returned to an old. His past waited for him. Sometimes, it took months, once, even a year. Here, it took barely a week. But no matter where he went in the world. His identity brought him pain and suffering. Gryphons to Dragons, Zebra Tribe to Centaurs. Everyone hated him and everyone knew of him. Discord was too far known in this world for his thousand years war...for his son to ever find peace.

"Rainbow Dash said she'd keep this from happening...and I believed her...just like stupid child believes his parents when they tell him the tooth fairy exists...or that his goldfish went to a better place. I believed because I wanted it to be true, even though knowing all along it wasn't, and never was."

His mother, his father...because of them, he'd never be able to live anywhere happily.

Because of them...

"I thought I'd excepted that a long time ago. Then I came here and that lowly spark of hope from my child life found me again. Rainbow Dash truly made me believe for the first time that I could fit in somewhere. She's meant more to me than anyone ever has. But now I see the truth...out there...where my body is being mutilated for a crime I wasn't even alive for...as long as this world that hates me exists...I'll never be free...this world...the people ruling it...governing it...needs...to..."

Thoughts faded into whiteness as his mind slipped deeper within himself. Shielding him from the endless and eternal pain that the curse was gifting upon his body. He wasn't even sure he wanted to wake from it. Eventually dreams would find him in here, and he could dream of the only thing that had made him happy...the only thing he could ever remember making him happy, and the only real reason he didn't think this place had been a waste of his time...Here, eventually Rainbow Dash would find him.

Meanwhile, outside the twin double doors of the locker room, another conflict was making itself known throughout the gym. As Rainbow Dash struggled while her friends attempted to force her back onto her mattress, she flailed her arms about, attempting to free herself from the grip of both Applejack and Rarity and nearly punched the latter in the nose. Rainbow was attempting to rear up on Twilight, who was also being held back from attacking Rainbow Dash herself, by Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy. Both girls had different forms of enragement flowing through their veins, but in that moment, it seemed like each one wanted nothing more than to clobber the other!

Twilight struggled against Sunset and Fluttershy, attempting (poorly) to muscle her way past them rather than stoop to using magic on them. She flailed her arms about, and like Rainbow, nearly whacked one of her friends upside the head. Sunset Shimmer ducked just in time to avoid the swing, fortunately.

"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION RAINBOW DASH! WHAT IN TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT NECKLACE?! AND WHY DO HAVE ONE OF YOUR OWN AROUND YOUR NECK! I WANT AN ANSWER, NOW!" Her voice rang with an authority almost equaling that of Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot voice!

Bits of purple aura sparked and jumped from her skin as she felt parts of her clothing begin to tear while she attempted to claw her way towards Rainbow, through her friends. Rainbow was just as persistent, but instead of trying to claw her way towards Twilight, she was trying to force her way past her friends and towards the locker room doors. Somehow, someway...she knew Daybreak was in trouble.

Her necklace had glowed all sorts of colors before, and she'd come to understand (at least partially) what some of them meant. Rainbow, Emerald, Violet...she'd seen countless colors like this appear within the lightning bolt cloud chain he'd given her...but never before had it burned against her skin. Not just some mild heat either, it had actually hurt keeping it against her chest. And never before had she ever felt his own necklace do that as well and start buzzing in her pocket like a cell phone. Both had been glowing a bloody red when she withdrew them from her neck and pocket. (Truthfully, she'd forgotten she even had his necklace with her until it heated her hip, and was now reminded that she needed to return it to him once he was out of the shower).

She knew, in her heart, something was wrong and he needed her help. But then Twilight had spied the necklaces...and for some reason had lost her mind. Now she was desperately trying to attack Rainbow and kept demanding to know where she'd acquired them from. Rainbow wasn't sure if she should answer honestly, or lie. But Twilight clearly recognized them, so she wasn't even sure if she could lie. Truthfully, she wasn't really sure Twilight wanted the explanation, it looked to her like Twilight just wanted to hit her in the face right now.

She had no interest in hurting Twilight, but her friends seemed convinced that once Twilight had lashed out at her, and she attempted to push past them, that she was trying to get to Twilight as well to retaliate. Now they were holding both friends back, from the other, and Rainbow could feel the necklace burning more and more by the minute. She could feel that she had to get in there soon. She wasn't even sure why, but it felt like she had to.

"He's been in there way too long anyways. It doesn't take over an hour to take a simple shower...something is up and I need to get past everyone and find out what. Come on Rainbow think...you're smarter than this...just simply pushing and shoving isn't gonna work here...how can I get out of this?!"

She'd spent most of her life just rushing into situations head on, full throttle, and that had always worked for her...with some minor consequences along the way. Now though, just like with the magic duel, she had to remember what Twilight had been teaching her up till now. She had to think, she had to have patience. She knew she could think of something. If she just focused.

She relaxed in the grip of Applejack and Rarity. The end to her resistance was so sudden, both AJ and Rarity nearly fell forward with the amount of force they'd be using to hold her back. Realizing that Rainbow had relaxed and stopped fighting, both of her friends lowered their hands and stood up straight. Rainbow put up her own hands, in a mock surrender stance.

"Look guys, I'm not trying to fight Twilight here...I just...I gotta get into the locker room ok? Something's wrong with Daybreak in there."

Applejack, still did not move from her path, but her gaze did soften slightly. It was like she was suddenly sympathetic, but Rainbow had no idea why. "What makes ya think that hon? Why all of the sudden? Why the moment Twilight starts getting all worked up do ya suddenly gotta go check on him...there something your not telling us Rainbow?"

"YES! THERE IS PLENTY SHE'S NOT TELLING US APPLEJACK! THAT NECKLACE SHE'S WEARING THAT'S-!"

"SHUT UP TWILIGHT!" Rainbow yelled, cutting across her before she could finish her sentence. She locked eyes with AJ, and slowly brought her hands back up, not necessarily hostile...but she definitely showed intent.

"Look AJ, get out of my way. We can discuss my necklaces later, we can talk about whatever Twilight wants...later! Right now I need to get in there. You have to trust me please! I know how it sounds, but I just know there is something wrong going on in there, and Daybreak might be in trouble. So let me by!"

For a moment, AJ and her locked eyes. Something unspoken passed between them. Perhaps she understood what Rainbow was truly trying to say, or perhaps she just recognized that she wasn't gonna get anywhere with trying to stop her for long. Stepping aside, she said

"Alright Suagecube, I'll-"

A cloud of dust motored past her, engulfing her lungs and cutting her off before she could finish as Rainbow Dash bolted past her! It was also at that moment that Twilight managed to outmaneuver Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy by backing up two steps, then feigning to the right, and teleporting past them. She too, bolted after Rainbow Dash, but no where near fast enough to catch her before she reached the locked room doors.

Rainbow ran fast enough to leave dust behind her in swirls, her exhaustion and developing cold completely forgotten the moment she saw the means to escape. She'd hardly even realized that Applejack had actually agreed to let her pass, and truthfully it didn't matter, she was going whether AJ let her not. It wasn't even seconds before Rainbow found herself closing in on the twin double doors...now blocked by two students. She skidded (literally) to a halt in front of the two students, she recognized both of them from her magic class, but beyond that, she didn't remember there names. They both glanced at each other as she approached, noting the skid marks she'd left on the gym floor on her way over. With some kind of silent communication they seemed to agree that, despite who she was, they had to stop her from getting through. Each one taking two steps forward, the larger of the two boys folded his arms in an intimidating manner and said

"Sorry Rainbow, the locker rooms are all occupied right now."

Rainbow looked directly at him, eyes narrowed. She didn't even having to verbalize her thoughts to him, her gaze said it all. She was calling his bullshit card on that one.

"Dude...seriously? You're actually trying to tell me that every shower and every locker in the room is occupied? No one's gone in there but Daybreak. Let me in. Now!"

Her last words seemed to spit out like venom, instantly communicating her intentions if these two jocks didn't scram. Before either of them could react or retort though...a blood curdling scream pierced through the walls of the locker room and easy filled the gym over any other noise! All eyes, including Rainbows approaching friends, came to rest on the entrance to the locker area.

Rainbow recognized the voice behind that yell, and her blood boiled.

They both moved at the same time, possibly to try and stop or subdue her...she didn't wait to find out. Like lightning, her aura flared and she moved past them, barely even appearing as a shimmer of an image, planting her elbows in both of their kidneys at once, fueling her blows with magic and rage!

The two built athletes crumpled like they were made of paper, just in time for Twilight to catch up with their friends right behind. Twilight came to halt and Rainbow half expected her to try and attack her again...but instead she just leaned over and gasped for breath. Apparently she'd run out her anger, although she still appeared plenty annoyed, her panting indicated she wasn't going to be doing anything physical for awhile. Rainbow was happy she'd never gotten to teaching her athletics like Twilight had been teaching her magic...an athletic Twilight would be scary.

Despite her exhaustion, she still managed to give Rainbow a raised eyebrow and narrowed eyed look. Her signature look whenever Rainbow got into a fight at school. It practically screamed "Was that really necessary?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and nodded just as AJ and the others showed up at the scene. She strode up to the door, and with no held back force (save for her magic) she front kicked it straight open and strode inside. She stopped before she fully made it in...and felt the color literally drain from her face.

The sight before her caused too much to occur within her for her to move. All at once she wanted to vomit, explode with anger and rush inside to the air of her friend.

Twilight and her friends entered just behind her, stopping at almost the exact same spot. All of them stood, horrified by the sight before them. Rarity actually screamed. But it was Twilights reaction that threw Rainbow off. As she stood, her rage pooling teal energy into her fists, she saw the air around Twilight change...turning almost black. Her voice came out cracked and scared, a version of her Rainbow had never truly witnessed. Both of them spoke at the same time, half yelling half whimpering.

"DAYBREAK!?"

There, before all seven of them, lying face sideways in a pool of shower water and blood, with his emerald eyes glassed over...was Daybreak. A boy Rainbow Dash recognized as Stormchaser, a Sophomore in some of her classes, stood over him clutching an odd looking blade in his right hand. He was covered in blood as well

Rainbows eyes fell upon Daybreaks exposed back...and the words carved into it. Etched blood red from both his own bleeding, and a shimmering, eerie red mist surrounding his torso, was a word she recalled Daybreak once using to describe himself. Her rage and self control broke as she saw what this boy had done...and she launched her self forward with a primal scream!

Author's Notes:

So I've been gone for like a month now. But in that time I managed to write this long ass chapter. At least you know what to expect after this next hiatus. Hope you all enjoy the moments of massive text. And finally a meaning behind this stories title.
As always with love-
Daybreak