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Natural Selection

by Scarlet Brony

Chapters

How We Begin


The Manticore laid there. It’s scorpion tail and left paw violently slashed off by apparently some kind of animal that possessed large, sharp claws or something of the sort. Medical ponies and guards surrounded the vicious yet poor creature, long ago, a pony named Fluttershy had tamed one of the wild beasts but the majority of the species were very animalistic, not many ponies were victims of the ravenous race of cross bred predators but then again not many have been found or heard of nor have many Manticore deaths been as brutal and unnatural as this one.

“My name is Kickback…and I have done terrible things…along with the occasional good deed but the horrible ones outweigh them… I've been called things…A killer, a monster and an abomination to Equestria…I may be all of these things at once and more…”

The earth pony, Kickback, thought of these words as he watched the 6 investigators induct searches for knowledge as to what happened to the Manticore from the tallest branch of a large tree. He knew.

“Whacha reckon happened, doc?” one of the guards asked towards a medical mare that had a face of sheer, deep thought.

“I’m…not too sure actually…from what we can tell, this was definitely a battle lost by the Manticore…” the doctor answered quite obviously.

“Well, what could have done it?” another, female guard asked.

“Again…we’re not very sure…” a male doctor answered in an irritated tone.

Kickback grew tired of watching the display of sheer ignorance and leapt from branch down towards a lower one. He then jumped to another branch until he was far enough to land on the ground without the team hearing the loud thud as he crashed on path that lead to scene deeper within the Everfree Forest. He left a small crater in dirt and sprinted into full gallop, faster than any earth pony should be…although he wasn’t completely a earth pony either. His acceleration wasn’t matched with anypony on the ground, his full speed was even more impressive, each hoof leaving small crater in the dirt as he went on.

Eventually he got to where he wanted, nowhere in particular but anywhere was better than the scene he had just left.

It was late therefore the small town that was presented before him was not as clear as day but he had already seen it today anyway before the events in the forest transpired. His colours allowed for partial camouflage in the dark, so even if anypony was around, they wouldn’t spot him easily. He walked through the town that depicted the name “Ponyville” rather redundant but nevertheless it fitted, being that most of the inhabitants were indeed ponies, mostly female ponies. He glanced at several buildings before looking back down, always walking towards the edge of town. When he reached it, he spotted a large tree that stood out from the rest, well there really wasn’t a “rest” because it just stood there on a hill top with nothing else around. He walked over to it and sat down, he wore a saddened, thoughtful face before laying down, closing his eyes and drifting off into uneasy sleep, he knew from his history that the team of investigators would not ever figure anything out their own if he wanted to keep it that way, which he did but not all plans go the way they’re supposed to.

Celestia’s sun rose slightly over Ponyville about four hours from when Kickback decided to rest. It’s shine left an orange glow on the entire scenery, casting elongated shadows of the buildings and trees. It wasn’t too late before ponies were awake and about to start their day.

“uhhh…” Kickback let out as the morning began to take effect.

He opened his eyes groggily, seeing his limp, dark mane getting in the way of his vision. He let it be and still laid there, under the tree, not moving more than a slight shift to get more comfortable.

Minutes flew by with him still opened eyed and just watching the small town from a distance. He was about to get up on his hooves when he said.

“Well, let’s see what we have…”

He got to his hooves and took a step forward only to be stopped by a voice above, a female, raspy voice that sounded as if it came from the tree.

“Hey!” was what he heard. He turned around to find a cyan coloured pegasus, just standing on one the high branches of the tree. Her eyes depicted the colour of magenta, her mane and tail were quite distinctive, striped of six colours, resembling the ones of a rainbow. Blue, purple, green, red, orange and yellow all were displayed. Her mouth was formed into a cheery smile and Kickback despite having a horrible night could only smile back as a reply and expected the pegasus to fly down to meet him up close. She did, landing in front of him with her wings tucked in, she began.

“Hey there, you look new, are you?” she asked, looking a little excited for Celestia knows why.

“Yeah, I’m not from around here…how long were…? He began but she cut him off.

“All night I was up there…but I don’t remember you there when I bunked down” She said questioningly.

“That’s because I got here about…hmmm, four or five hours ago *Yawn*…I was up late and…I didn’t see you up there either…” he said, switching the tracks on his train of thought. He spoke with a slight Aussie accent that made the pegasus think about it for a few seconds before speaking again.

“Well, I woke up about 5 minutes ago, when I looked down and I saw you, so…just wanted to say ‘Hi’…OH RIGHT, I haven’t told you my name, have I? I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, soon to be Wonderbolt and the most awesome and loyalist pony you’ll meet!” she said, enthusiastically.

Kickback added another adjective to her list…“egotistic” was what she seemed to be but nonetheless he really didn’t know this “Rainbow Dash’ too well to make judgement, so he kept to himself, also to him (and everypony else) the name fit, well half of it so far.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash, name’s Kickback” he said friendly towards the cyan mare before him, she grinned as she thought of how awesome his name was.

She then took notice of him, his coat a dark red but contrasted with the surroundings, his tail was longer than the average stallion but his build wasn’t feminine at all. He was just slightly taller than, judging on “fancy mathematics” Big Macintosh is Applejack’s OLDER brother, this colt looked to be only a few centimetres taller than Dash, so he was probably about the same age. His mane was black and depicted a large white stripe through it, same pattern going to his tail. She took a glance behind him, you can tell A LOT about somepony judging by their cutie mark. She saw it and felt a tad confused, his cutie mark didn’t depict anything in particular, unlike her’s or anypony she knew. It looked almost like a blue pair of wings but other than that nothing about it was distinctive. She smiled at him again.

“So, Kickback, what’s up?” she asked. He was not used to such a question especially during a first meeting.

“Well, things could be better but could be worse…but overall not a whole lot” he replied. Dash paused for a moment, thinking about what he said and how he said it. That voice was so cool to her.

“You staying in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked, seeming to hope for a positive response.

“Hopefully, yeah…as long as I can anyway, I think I’ll like it here” he replied…positively. Dash beamed at him.

“Awesome, you seem cool, Kickback, I can’t wait to hang out some more!” she said enthusiastically. Kickback chuckled but part of him was very upset.

“You’re seem pretty cool too, Dash…” he replied but what he was thinking was entirely different. “If only you knew, Rainbow Dash…if only you knew who I am, what I can do and what I’ve done…”

Her smile grew wider at the compliment then she reverted into a smug look.

“I know but hey, maybe we can hang out today sometime, I’ll find you!” she said confidently. Before Kickback could protest, she was gone, she bolted straight in the air, leaving a rainbow trail then she was out of sight. Despite everything, it didn’t feel very good that somepony was faster than him but she was a pegasus so he could let it go.

“SEEEEYAAAAA!!!” was all he heard, he replied instinctively with another “SEEYA!!” then Kickback was left alone again. He turned towards the town and took a deep breath before walking to it.




Kickback walked into town, noticing several ponies working their fruit stands, shopping or just hanging out. One in particular caught his eye. A green unicorn mare, sitting on a park bench.

“How does she…?” he said out loud as he looked at her, like it was the most normal thing in the world, she sat on her haunches but left her legs dangling off the seat. Kickback stared a little while longer then shook his head and proceeded on. He walked continuously through the town, not really having a destination. He noticed other particular ponies hang about, one stallion with a grey coat, a blue mane and tail that depicted red tips and headphones. Another stallion with a dark blue coat and a yellow mane and tail, Kickback could only feel sorry for him fore part of his left ear looked to be clipped off. Most of the ponies were female in this town from he could tell.

Kickback noticed that not everypony was as observant as Rainbow Dash, barely any of them noticed a new pony in town. Although that thought was put aside as a pink, earth pony mare skipped up to him.

She let out a loud, breathless gasp before rapidly speaking incredibly quickly.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen YOUUUU before and if I haven’t met you before that must mean you’re new and that means I’ve never thrown you one of my famous Pinkie pie parties, that also mean I don’t know you’re name and we’re not bestie, best, best friends forever and THAT MEANS…” the pink pony was cut off by hoof to her mouth. A dark red, contrasting hoof.

“Settle down, miss…Pinkie Pie, is it? My name is Kickback and yeah, I’m new here” he said as calmly as he could manage. This pony seemed to be insane but he wasn’t the most normal pony to begin with either but nopony could know that simply by meeting him, he had to show them what was different about him.

Pinkie smiled when he released her but what she did next was quite unexpected. She, silently just jumped up 2 metres straight in the air and zoomed off, leaving a pink blur as she left. Kickback was stunned, he stared for a  moment before shrugging and pressing one.

“Bazaar filly…” He said to himself as he continued down his path. Suddenly his hunger set in, he hadn't eaten in two days, due to his…new biological identity, he could go longer without sustenance than most creatures but still he needed to eat anyway. He spotted an orange mare that depicted a blonde mane and tail, each being braded at the end, she wore a large country girl’s hat which immediately told something about her. Kickback noticed her because she was selling the most delicious looking apples he had ever seen, big red or green apples were displayed proudly before him and the entire town.

Applejack sat behind the apple stand, watching everypony walking by not buying any of her produce, she felt bored and disappointed but kept her ambitions for a great sale day. She stood up when she noticed a dark red stallion walk directly up to her fruit stand with a smile towards her occasionally glance down and to the side to look at the produce kept in boxes.

“Hey…how much for…all of it?” the mysterious colt asked her. Applejack thought on his voice for a second, the slight hint of an accent caught her attention more than anything else about him…so far. She surveyed the stallion, noticing that she had never seen him before, he looked a lot like her older brother but his green eyes were darker and his tail was longer, most of all the colours or rather shades of his mane and tail were quite outstanding.

“Sorry, pard’ner?” she asked in disbelief when the words he spoke finally got to her.

“How much for all of your apples?” he replied. Kickback himself took notice of her voice, the heavy accent made him feel relatable to this mare.

“FOR ALL OF IT?!?!? Uhhh…” she said, she really didn’t know how much all of it was due to nopony ordering something so significant. Applejack then tried to use ‘fancy mathematics’ but failed in turn making her brain feel sore. Kickback took notice of this and chuckled before reaching into apparently hammer space and pulling out one of the largest money bags the orange mare had ever seen. He set it down on the counter with a grin on his face.

“This be enough?” he asked. Applejack only looked, jaw-dropped at the bag, wondering if it actually was but it looked like more than enough. She thought about what she could do with all the money, what the Apple family could do, how he had so much, how he pulled it out of nowhere. Her thoughts carried less from the bag but rather the stallion who stood before her. She just stared at him, her face hinting of extreme shock and gratitude, mostly shock.

“Thankya kindly, pard‘ner, name’s Applejack, proud member of the Apple family, the most of honest of friends and the most dependable of ponies, what’s yer name?” the orange mare said friendly towards the grinning stallion,

“Kickback, miss. Applejack and it’s not much, just about 500 bits…” he said in a calm tone.

“500!?!? That’s a lot more than enough for all o’ this” Applejack said enthusiastically.

“Awesome, bye” he replied happily, taking only a few apples in his hooves then balancing another few on his back before beginning to walk off.

“Wait! Aren’t ya gonna take the others?” Applejack said confusedly.

“I didn’t say I’d buy all of them, I just paid for all of ‘em” Kickback replied, stopping to turn and speak to the mare. Applejack only grinned and chuckled at the stallion, a gesture that he gladly returned.

“You’re not form around here, are ya?” she said, not so much in question form but more as a statement.

“No, not at all, already I’ve met a pegasus named Rainbow Dash that said she wanted to hang out some time today and a crazy mare called Pinkie Pie that implied throwing me a party or something, so not a bad first day” he replied somewhat jokingly. Applejack acknowledged the descriptions and smiled.

“Oh yeah, those two are ma’ friends and any friend of them is a friend of mine, ya seem alright, mr. Kickback, come see me down on the farm in case ya want any pre-paid apples” she said friendly.

“Thanks, Applejack, I’ll see ya later then, wait what farm?” he said as he started to walk off with several apples in a bag that Applejack provided being balanced on his back, he took one out before she could answer and chomped down on it. He stopped in his track, not too far away from where Applejack was.

“Damn, son, gotta be da best apple I ever did taste” he said to himself but just loud enough for her to hear. She smiled victoriously at his remark.

“It’s called Sweet Apple Acres, ask anypony they’ll lead ya to it!” Applejack answered watching him nod gratefully and continuing on his walk.

Rainbow Dash finally had finished clearing all the clouds that were due for clearing on today’s schedule. Maybe “finally” wasn’t a great word to use because she barley took more than a minute to finish up. She remembered that she did say she was going to find that new stallion to hang out with and if he was new then Pinkie has probably already got to him. Most likely there’d be a party today.

“Hehe, he seems like a cool guy…” she said to herself as she sat down on a cloud, watching Ponyville from above.

“TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT!! ARE YA COMING, ARE YA COMING!?!?!” Pinkie Pie shouted in anticipation as she bounced around the library of Ponyville and home of one particular purple unicorn.

“Coming to what, Pinkie?” Twilight Sparkle asked, trying to keep her annoyance in check.

“TO THE WELCOME PARTY!!!” the pink mare replied enthusiastically.

“What? Is there a new pony in town?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“YEAH, HIS NAME IS KICKBACK!!!” Pinkie answered happily.

“Odd name…but yes, Pinkie, I’ll come, where?” Twilight asked yet another question.

“SUGARCUBE CORNER AT FOUR O’CLOCK, DON’T BE LATE!!!” Pinkie pie said finally before bouncing out the door to Celestia knows where.

“Oh well, might as well see who this new pony is…” said Twilight walking back to a book she was reading previously before Pinkie barged in, bouncing around her library.

Applejack found little to no reason to work the stand any longer that day. She packed it all up leaving the rest of the apples divided into barrels in a large cart, which Big Macintosh who was apparently not on the farm doing his work for the day, pulled the cart back towards the farm. She explained to him why there wasn’t a real reason to keep it up today and about going to another of Pinkie’s parties tonight, he accepted the reason and trotted on towards Sweet Apple Acres with the cart being pulled behind him.

“Well, shoot, ah got notin’ to do for the next few hours or so, that was my main job for today” Applejack said to herself watching her brother walk away from a distance.  

“Maybe a oughta see Pinkie, see how she’s cooking up that party.

Or maybe ah’ll go to Rarity and mention how somepony looks to the NEW most generous pony in Equestria, hehehe” Applejack thought but then her thoughts drew towards the colt himself.

“He sure seems like a nice stallion…” She said quietly to herself. Walking along what looked to be a path to Carousel Boutique.

*Knock Knock*

“Rarity!? Ya home?!” Applejack asked after knocking the white door which led onto the home and business of the element of generosity.

“Comiiiiiinnnng!” Applejack heard a sing-song like voice ring from inside. The door swung open to reveal a particular white unicorn whom needs no introduction as of yet.

“Hello, Applejack, what can I do for you?” Rarity asked.

“Well, uhhh…notin’, just dat ah just ended my work day from a couple of hours to little more than 10 minutes…well, somepony else ended it actually” Applejack replied.

“What happened?” Rarity asked curiously.

“Well, ah’ll tell ya” Applejack answered, gesturing for her come inside with her hoof.

“FLUTTERSHY, FLUTTERSHY, FLUTTERSHY!!! ARE YA COMING? CAUSE YOU’RE INVITED!!!” Pinkie shouted questioningly while bouncing around the timid, yellow pegasus.

“Coming to what, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked confusedly.

“KICKBACK’S WELCOME PARTY!!!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“Wh-who?” asked Fluttershy in a very quiet and frightened tone.

“The new stallion in town” Pinkie Pie said, quieting down herself due to how Fluttershy was acting.

“oh, I-I don’t know then…” Fluttershy said, unsure of the new colt she was talking about.

“C’mon, Fluttershy, he’s alright” Pinkie said, trying to convince her shy friend to attend.

“um..uhhh..okay, I’ll come…” the pegasus said, still not completely convinced about the mysterious stallion. Pinkie accepted her answer and zoomed off to wherever she needed to be.

“He what?!?!?” Rarity asked in disbelief after Applejack had finished her short story.

“Ah told ya, he just paid the full amount and left with only about 10 or so apples” the orange mare answered, still feeling grateful of the stallion.

“Well, that was quite generous indeed, I simply must meet this pony, what did you say his name was again?” Rarity asked excitedly.

“Uhhhh, erm…uhhh, Ki…Kick…ummm Kickback, yeah that’s it, Kickback, he didn’t say much about himself but yeah, that’s his name…oh yeah, Pinkie got to ‘em before me, so I guess that means a party going down” Applejack said, trying not to sound too stupid.

“Kickback, Hmmm…it rhymes with your name, Applejack” Rarity said observantly.

“Ah noticed, Rarity” the apple farmer said flatly.

“Could you tell me what else you noticed, what did he look like, again?” asked the fashion designer. Applejack paused.

“Well, uhhh…he had a dark red coat, dark green eyes, he was a tad taller than me, his mane was black and white…and he had an accent, not like mine but it was noticeable and uhhh… that’s about it” Applejack explained as accurate as she could manage, she didn’t get a great look at him but she felt her description was acceptable.

“You didn’t see his cutie mark?” Rarity presumed questioningly. Applejack paused again.

“No, actually, ah didn’t” after saying that, she made a note to get a look at it at the party later on.

“Hmmmm…” Rarity hummed suspiciously.

“Well, I may as well meet this stallion for myself” the unicorn added. Applejack nodded and leaned up against a wall as Rarity began to work on another masterpiece.

While all 3 mares were being informed of his presence in Ponyville, Kickback sat down on a park bench and happily ate the several apples he had paid in advanced for.

“If only the ponies of this town knew about me…about my past…about my biology” Kickback said to himself quietly as he thought about his grim history, pushing those bad thoughts out of his head, he started to enjoy the shade of a tree that hung over the park bench.

“I really hope that pink one wasn’t being serious about that party, that’s something a really don’t wanna be apart of right now…or is it…maybe I can start again here…maybe I won’t be found out this time…maybe I can be normal again” He continued.

“Hey, there!!” a voice from beside him called out, apparently to him.

“Huh?!” was all he could respond with.

“Hi, I’m Lyra Heartstrings, what’s your name?” asked a mint green unicorn mare that looked somewhat familiar to him.

“uhhh, Kickback…how long have you been there…?” he stopped mid-question as he saw her stance, she sat on her haunches with her back legs dangling over the side. This confused and fascinated Kickback, he just had to ask about it but he decided to hold his tongue, feeling that it was a stupid and redundant question for the mare. She acknowledged his long pause and smirked before answering his question.

“Not long, about ten seconds now” Lyra said.

“Oh…okay” Kickback said, regaining focus and sitting back to his previous position.

“You we’re looking at me earlier, weren’t you?” the unicorn said, breaking the silence. The red, earth pony was shocked at her observation.

“I guess but I did see a lot of ponies walking through the town, maybe I might’ve given you a quick glance” he said to the now smiling unicorn.

“You were staring for a good twenty seconds…ya call that a quick glance?” she said through a sarcastic tone and a smirk. Kickback looked at her. His face cracked into a smirk before he turned away and chuckled.

“I guess so, Lyra” he said, facing in front of him, not looking at the unicorn. He relaxed himself while Lyra continued to stare at him with a smile.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” she asked. Kickback was beginning to loath this question but he had to answer her, she was being quite friendly.

“Yeah, I am” He said with a smile.

“I bet you’re from Australia” she said. This left Kickback confused.

“What’s Australia?” he asked in uncertainty.

“Oh, that’s right, never mind” she said nervously. Kickback shrugged it off and just thought that she was mistaken or something. He took out an apple and gestured towards the mare to have one. She gladly accepted, her horn glowed a light green, the apple levitated out of Kickback’s hoof and she took a bite of it. She hummed as she continued to eat the delicious fruit. Kickback had one himself, they continued to share his stock until she said she didn’t want anymore.

“Lyra!!… Lyra!!” called out a voice from somewhere. Lyra cringed.

“Oh, great…she found me” she said before sighing.

“Who?” he said before he saw the mare that was calling for his new friend. A cream coated mare with a two toned mane and tail, her cutie mark depicted three candies.

“Her?” he asked.

“Yeah” she answered in an irritated tone

“There you are!!’ the cream pony said after finally spotting where the unicorn was sitting. She trotted happily towards the park bench, not giving the red stallion on the side anymore than a glance of recognition.

“I’ve been looking for you, Lyra!” the earth-pony said, addressing the unicorn that wore an annoyed expression.

“Where have you been?” she added.

“I’ve been talking to my new friend, Bon-Bon…” the mint green mare said, gesturing to a dark red, earth pony colt with a hoof while smiling. Kickback waved at the new pony with a friendly smirk. Bon-Bon only looked at the stallion with no expression before glaring back at Lyra.

“And whose this?” the pony, apparently by the name of Bon-Bon said, suspiciously.

“His name’s Kickback, Bon-Bon” the unicorn said. “He’s my new friend” she added looking back at Kickback with a happily worn smile. Kickback only returned the look, feeling that same phrase creep into his mind.

“Ya know what, you two…” the stallion said, breaking his own silence. The two mares looked at him with surprised expressions.

“Imma take off…” he said, finishing his sentence. The two mares remained silent as he got up and began to walk off. “Nice to meet ya, ms. Heartstrings…you too, Bon-Bon…” he said, waving a hoof to them before turning and continuing down the road.

“Bye, Kickback!!” a single voice called him from behind. Kickback smirked and continued on his path.

The red stallion, now away from anypony talking to him again, he started to think deeply again.

“Everypony’s so much more friendly than any place I’ve been before, this probably won’t last forever but…. maybe I can hang here for a while…” he thought, tackling his past, his present, who he was and what he was. Kickback began to get feeling of welcomed loneliness as he walked alone, no destination, just walking around town, observing his surroundings.

“Hey there, sexy” a young, female voice called out from somewhere, catching Kickback’s ear. He looked to his right, the rest of Ponyville. He looked to his left, a white mare, wearing purple tinted goggles with a spiky, two toned blue mane was looking at him, leaning up on a building, with a grin.

“Yeah, you, what’s your name?” the mare asked. Kickback took a glance at her and realised she was a unicorn.

“Uhh…Imma answer your question with a question…who are you?” the colt asked. The mare’s face froze into a stunned look of sheer disbelief.

“You don’t know who I am?” she asked in horror.

“No…should I?” Kickback asked, calmly.

“Yes, I’m the world famous Vinyl Scratch!!” she exclaimed.

“Oh…Oh yeah, now I know why you look familiar” he lied, trying to preserve what appeared to be the only thing the mare had, her ego. He had never seen her before and that meant she wasn’t world famous but she was talking as if she was indeed quite well known.

“Yeah, took ya long enough” she said in a chuckle. “Now what’s your name?” she added, asking her previous question again.

“Kickback…” he said, formerly.

“Oh, that’s cool” she said, now seeming to admire the stallion.

“Well, seeya…” he said, waving a hoof and taking a step forward.

“Wait!!” the same voice called for him. Kickback turned around to see her.

“We’re friends now, ‘K?” she said, smiling. The red colt could only blink, mouth hanging open.

“Uhh, yeah, sure… Vinyl…we’re friends now, I guess” he said, in surprise. Vinyl beamed at him.

“K, bye!” she said beginning to trot off herself. Kickback only watched her leave and shrug, beginning his own walk aswell.

The red stallion continued to explore the town with nowhere to be right away. Only two hours had passed since meeting Applejack but it was still only one o’clock, Kickback had seen the entire exterior of the town by this point, alleyways, businesses, houses so when he spotted the nearby, tall clock tower, an idea popped in his head.

“RAINBOW DASH, RAINBOW DASH!!!” Pinkie pie yelled to the now very irritated cyan pegasus.

“What…?” she asked groggily.

“KICKBACK’S PARTY IS IN THREE HOURS!!!” the pink mare answered. Rainbow’s ears perked as she recalled the name.

“Oh yeah, that guy, yeah OK, Pinkie, I got it” she said. Without a word, just a simple large smile, Pinkie Pie zoomed back into town.

“Ya know what, Rarity…I think Imma gonna take off…” she said in a bored tone. She had been watching the unicorn design clothes for longer than she’d want to. Rarity turned to her friend who looked visibly un-interested.

“Aw well, I suppose I will see you at Pinkie’s party then…” she said happily, still sewing together fabrics of cyan and magenta. Just then the power of jinx kicked in. Pinkie bursted in from the hallway into Rarity’s work room, panting.

“RARITY, APPLEJACK!!” she exclaimed. Both ponies looked at their friend in confusion.

“What is it, darling?’ Rarity asked.

“Just…wanted to…to say…Come to Sugar…SugarCube Corner…at…four o’clock…for…welcome…party” she took her time saying, apparently exhausted from doing something very tiring. Rarity and Applejack paused as AJ had slightly better luck than her unicorn friend did recounting facts about the only new pony they could think of. That was all put aside as Rarity’s eyes lit up when she had figured it out. Applejack was the first to speak.

“T’at party ain't for somepony named ‘Kickback’ is it, Pinkie?” AJ asked.

“Yep, ya met him?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Uh huh, he told me he bumped into you when he bought all those apples…” Applejack answered, looking like she was in deep thought after finishing her sentence.

“Yes” Rarity interjected. “He accordingly bought her entire supply of apples and left with only a dozen, Pinkie Pie” she added, briefly thinking about the mysterious stallion’s apparent generosity, leaving a stunned and widely smiling pink mare before her.

“Omygosh, Really?!” she asked quickly, in disbelief. Applejack nodded which was all Pinkie needed to let her randomized if not psychotic mind to toss and turn in thought about the near and far future, each thought about happy times with their new friend…but then she caught a glimpse of something, her future fore-seeing powers kicking in, like her twitchy tail, this was not a good sign. This was much, much worse than a something falling on top of somepony’s head from what she could tell, this was a dark prediction, as if their new friend was to cause a horrible event. The image flew past her psychic vision in a split second but it was enough to make Pinkie physically drop her smile for an impressive time of 4 seconds. She stared at her friends, blankly, not speaking, as they were very much in the dark as to what was going on in the living bubble gum’s mind. Her smiled returned as she pushed the image out of her head as easily as one might expect, no that easy.

“Alright, so four o’clock?” Rarity asked.

“Four O’clock!” Pinkie answered positively before looking her left foreleg’s ankle or ‘wrist’ as a particular green unicorn like to say.

“Which is soon…” she said happily before waving and letting out a ‘Bye’ before speeding off in a pink blur out the boutique. Rarity and Applejack simply stared into the space of where their friend had been standing, the pink trail fading into nothing. They both glanced at the clock to their top right, Rarity let out a sigh.

“Well…better get these as much done as possible…” she said tiredly, looking over at a desk with several pieces of gold, red, silver and blue stacked next to a sewing machine and other fashion designing tools that Applejack didn’t even want to know what they were.

“Well…ah ‘oughta get back on the farm, still got stuff to do ya know…just not as much” she said, still on the thought of the new pony. “Cya, Rarity!” she added, waving and walking out into the hallway, into the main plaza then out the door. Rarity addressed another salutation towards the apple farmer and continued on her work.

While Rainbow Dash was getting herself checked out by Pinkie Pie, Kickback stood at the base of the clock tower, he looked around to make sure nopony was watching him. He grinned before looking back up, he took a step back and jumped about two metres in the air, nopony was watching. He caught on a ledge and pulled himself up, he jumped towards the other side of the building diagonally, gripping another ledge before spinning around on an axis to get on the south side of the clock tower. He jumped again, this time 3 metres high, he grabbed a protruding brick and climbed the tower more traditionally, then another and another ’till he was at clock itself. He gripped the long hand and shot himself up towards the top, hovering for a second before landing atop the side of the roof, he grasped the weather vein for support with his right hoof and dramatically gazed at the beautiful scenery that presented itself for anypony that was at this height. Kickback looked to his right and found the north side of the tower’s corner had a long extension to it, this was a much comfier spot to chillax. He jumped of the roof and landed on the extension before sitting down, still gazing at the gorgeous land before him.

“Nice place…” was all he said to himself before continuing his speech in his head, occasionally speaking out loud fore nopony was in the sky around him nor was anypony on the ground looking up at him and there definitely wasn’t somepony on the building with him. There was one pony would climb buildings for a hobby he knew, that he really didn’t take too much of a liking to and according to old pony tales, an entire ‘brotherhood’ of ponies climbed buildings like this about 500 years ago. Kickback knew though that he was the pony of his kind in history.

“What am I?…Something less than an earth pony…but also something more…” he said to himself, memories flowing in and out of his mind. He had already said this phrase several times since he was violently changed forever, nopony would find out if he could help it. He continued to ponder while Pinkie Pie was talking to Applejack and Rarity in the boutique, just sitting up there, alone.

That was changed when he saw an iconic rainbow blur pass his line of vision, he followed it into the distance until it pulled a U turn and was now heading for him. He could partially make out what was causing it, a cyan pegasus was at the front of trail. She came into view more clearly and Kickback could make out a smile on her face before she landed on the extension behind him.

“Hey, there!” she called out, Kickback immediately knew who it was now, the rainbow trail was a clue but that voice was a dead give away.

“G‘day, Rainbow Dash…” he greeted back, causing a more happy looking pegasus to stand before him.

“How’s it hanging?…And what are you doing up here?” she asked, now noticing that an apparent earth pony was so far off the ground.

“I’m good and just chillin’ ” he said calmly, making a quizzical Dash turn to a smirking Dash.

“Awesome…” was all she said while trotting up and sitting down next to the right side of the stallion. “So…what’s up?” she asked, apparently trying to start up a conversation with the colt.

“Notin’ much…what’s up with you?” he asked, once again calmly.

“I was actually just looking for you…” she answered, a slight blush glazing over her cheeks. “Cause ya know, I told you I’d find you…but I didn’t expect you to be up here” she said, once again noticing that he was on the top of the tall clock tower.

“Yeah, I know…” was he used to respond with, not giving the pegasus his full attention but enough to listen to her and answer when needed.

“Oh yeah, your party’s at four o’clock by the way” she said excitedly. Kickback looked at her with a face that said “I don’t know about that” of course that’s not what he said but it was what he was thinking.

“Oh, okay…I guess I’m compelled, aren’t I?” he asked unsurely, causing the cyan pony to frown with a questioning look.

“You…don’t want to go…to your own party?” she asked sadly.

“Ahhh, damn it, I’ll go” he said, giving in to the Pegasus’s apparent adorableness. When he thought about the word ‘adorable’ referencing to the pony beside him, it made him think about the fact that she indeed was kinda cute, ya know in her own way.

“Alright!’ she said excitedly before slugging Kickback in the shoulder. He smirked at the smiling pony then continued to stare out into the open, still with that smirk on his face. Rainbow Dash did the same, staring at the scene she would call ‘Awesome’.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked breaking the silence before looking back at the stallion who was still staring at the land, smiling. Kickback though to himself about the pegasus using such a word that did not sound like something she’d say but held his tongue on that note.

“Yeah, it is…one of the greatest sights I’ve seen…” he said serenely. Rainbow Dash stared not at the town but at the stallion. Her eyes locked on his face that looked unfocused on everything, he just sat there, facing away from her, smirking the occasional breeze brushing against his red coat and making his double-shaded mane blow in the wind slightly. Her gaze never faltered from the colt and he didn’t seem to notice, she leaned in sub-consciously and scooted over closer to the stallion, he glanced at her, never letting his expression drop, he was surprisingly at peace when he wasn’t alone, no time to think about his dark history. Dash had a slight red tint on her cheeks when he looked at her like that, he then placed a hoof on her right shoulder and patted her before looking back over at the scenery. She looked confused and at ease after his gesture, that was all the sign she needed to allow her actions to just happen without any fear of embarrassment or anything of the sort. She scooted closer to him ‘till their shoulder’s met, Kickback noticed and looked to see a rather cute, cyan pegasus looking out towards the town. Kickback relaxed a bit when he found her presence quite comforting. Rainbow Dash felt as she stay like this for hours on end, the way he kept his cool, no matter what happened or what she did was just…unnaturally awesome to her and probably to everypony else. They sat there, Rainbow enjoying his company a bit more eagerly than she would've thought while Kickback was not hating her company either, he just sat next to her, letting her (not necessarily) ‘cuddle’ up to him but it was pretty close to being called that. Kickback felt it to be appropriate to place a hoof on her opposite shoulder, letting his foreleg to rest on her lower neck. Dash blushed when she glance at her shoulder, realizing that the stallion was indeed holding the mare in a friendly and comforting semi-hug. She turned back to find the stallion looking more relaxed than ever, still gazing over the landscape that he apparently fell in love with.

“Hey…ya know…It’s better at sunset…or sunrise” Dash said, breaking the silence. Kickback looked at her with a knowing look.

“Yeah?” he asked calmly.

“Yeah…” Dash answered dreamily. Maybe it was the scenery or something else that caused her to speak in that tone but Kickback could probably care less. All he knew was that a down-to-earth, spunky, cute pegasus female was gladly enjoying his company and that was enough to relax and comfort him to the point of sheer bliss.

She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Before he knew she was asleep. Kickback took that and the time on the clock tower as a sign to hop down, literally. Kickback laid the cyan mare down before nudging her in order to get her to wake up shortly after he departed. She squirmed a bit and opened her eyes half way, Kickback walked towards the edge of the extension and blissfully leapt off causing him to fall. Of course he made sure nopony was around or watching while planning his descent. His body was plummeting towards the ground but he was used to this. He switched his position to let his back legs touch the ground first. When they did, it caused a slight tremor and a small crater to form around his legs, his forelegs matched the motion with a stomp. He was fine, he stood up straight and dusted himself off before trotting into town.

Rainbow Dash woke and glanced around to find nopony with her.

“Kickback!!” she called out, quickly looking around for any traces of a red stallion. Suddenly she saw one.

“Kickback!!!” she called out excitedly towards a more specific target. Then she noticed that the pony had a shorter orange tail and mane, was wearing a yoke, had an apple cutie mark and was bigger than who she was looking for. It was Big Mac, trotting off in the direction of his farm, with an amused look on his face. Rainbow groaned angrily and looked to her left, there she saw him.

The stallion she was looking for was trotting down the road before he looked back at the clock tower and locked eyes with Dash from thirty metres away, he waved with a smile that she returned eagerly, knowing that he was alright, not dead…or imaginary. Dash took the gesture as a “See you at the party” and took to the sky to practice in order to pass the time ‘till the party. Kickback decided to grab something to eat. He spotted a familiar face and trotted up to her.

“Lyra?” he asked.

“Hmm?” she responded, turning towards a familiar looking red stallion “Oh, Hi, Kickback!” she said “How can I help you?” the unicorn asked happily.

“Ya know a good place to eat?” he asked. Lyra blushed for a reason that the stallion was completely in the dark about.

“A-are you asking me out?” the unicorn asked hesitantly. Kickback smirked at the statement.

“Uhhh…No, just wanted to snack on something and I’m new here, as you know, so…what do recommend?” he said, causing the mare to have a face of that spoke of relief and…a small hint of disappointment.

“Oh, well…Sugarcube corner’s a great place to get baked stuff, muffins, cakes, cupcakes ya know” Lyra said happily.

“Okay, cool…ya wanna tag along?” he asked calmly. Lyra blushed at the words although keeping a grin on her face. She was about to respond cheekily but then she heard his voice again.

“C’mon it’ll be fun besides, ya gotta show me where it is” he added, causing Lyra to nod and walk in front of him to lead the way towards the bakery. They walked in silence, him smirking the entire way while her smile was rather nervous, Kickback didn’t seem to notice her attitude though. Eventually they reached the bakery which seemed to a sign to Lyra as to leave.

“Well, here we are…I guess I’ll see ya later, then” she said in a tone of slight disappointment. Kickback looked at her questioningly.

“What do ya mean? Don’t you want anything?” he asked, feeling that the unicorn wants to spend more time with him. Lyra blushed and smiled eagerly at her new friend.

“Yes, actually…” she said.

“Alright, my treat” Kickback said happily, causing Lyra to relax immensely at the thought of cutting their time short or paying for muffins fore those were pushed out of her head by now. The red stallion and green mare walked into the bakery to find a half decorated interior for what looked liked a welcome party.

“Oh…shi-” was all Kickback managed to get out before he saw pink mare jump into his vision with the largest smile he had ever seen, it was almost psychotic to him due to his own interior that was riddled with suppressed dark thoughts at the moment.

“Howdy there, your just in time for the party for the new pony in town, he has a red coat and some of my friend’s think he’s pretty cuuuuuuuu-….” she was cut off by Kickback tilting his head to the side with a small grin. Pinkie Pie shot back and gasped at her realisation, she looked back and forth for something but neither Kickback or Lyra knew what.

“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?” the stallion asked, catching the pink mare’s attention, she looked at him with a nervous smile.

“Ohmygosh, YOU’RE EARLY!!!… But that’s okay, the guest of honour should be here early but…NOT BEFORE EVERYPONY ELSE!!” she said, contemplating what to do about the situation. Kickback looked at her quizzically.

“Pinkie…do you work here?…and is this my welcome party?” he asked, causing Pinkie to look back at him with her iconic smile.

“Yep and double yep!” she replied happily. “Oh, Hi, Lyra!” she added, noticing for the first time the green unicorn besides the red stallion.

Lyra waved a hoof at the party extraordinaire.

“What can I get ya?” Pinkie asked Lyra.

“Uhhh, well, how much ya got, Kickback?” she asked a bit hesitantly due to the sheer pompous nature of the question. He smiled at her.

“ Doesn't matter, just go for your heart desires” he said, assuring the unicorn. She, again blushed at (the now founded by the mare) stallion’s generosity, she already knew he was kind but this just made him seem…better was all the unicorn could think to describe him as she browsed the cake displays for something good and not too expensive out of courtesy.

“Pinkie…is it okay if I just chill here ‘till the party…” Kickback asked, catching the pink mare’s attention. Pinkie Pie blinked.

“OK, SURE, I mean it’s a bit different but yeah, you can stay here ‘till YOUR PARTY STARTS!” she said enthusiastically. Kickback couldn't read the pink mare anymore, first she’s excited then irritated then…excited again.

“Thanks, Pinkie….Hey Lyra, ya made ya choice yet?” Kickback said, averting his attention towards the unicorn. Lyra’s head shot up at the call of her name, she turned to meet the stallion with a smile before turning to Pinkie.

“I’ll have a triple chocolate, supreme muffin thank you very much” she said to the pink mare that was now beaming with excitement.

“Okey Dokey Lokey, Lyra!” Pinkie said happily “…and you, Kickback?” she asked, adding to her sentence.

“What she’s having…” he said calmly. Lyra looked to him with a smile, probably thinking he has good taste…or that she can’t look at him without anything but a happy face.

“Alrighty then!” Pinkie exclaimed before rushing into the kitchen and singing a song that she must have made up on the fly fore it was about exactly what she was doing: Baking triple chocolate supreme muffins. Lyra and Kickback simply sat at table, waiting for the pink baker to complete their snack. Kickback well…kicked back on a chair while Lyra’s stance seemed a bit more focused. They sat there in silence before Pinkie jumped from somewhere and revealed two massive muffins, she beamed and set them on the table. Kickback reached behind him and pulled out a coin purse, he threw it Pinkie’s way and she caught it. She jiggled it a bit with a face that said “This isn't right” she put her ear to it and jiggled it some more. Suddenly her eyes lit up and a unsure grin crossed her face.

“ONE-HUNDRED BITS!?!?! These muffins are only fives each!” she exclaimed, confusedly.

“I have bits to get rid of…” he said calmly, taking an experimental bite into the muffin.

“Well, obviously, Applejack did tell me about what you did” she said happily. Kickback only smirked before taking another bite of the delicious treat. Lyra gaped at him, eyes wide.

“How is Applejack?…Is she coming?…oh yeah, who is coming to this party, Pinkie?” he asked. Pinkie smiled wide while Lyra continued to stare in shock.

“Every-pony!” she said, not really making Kickback feel great. He didn't want a massive party but maybe she meant it as a over estimation.

“Dash? Vinyl? How about Lyra?” he said turning to look at the unicorn with a smile. Lyra blushed with a shy smile.

“Yep!” Pinkie said excitedly. “…But, I can’t take this much mon-” was all she got out before she looked at Kickback, really Looked at him. His dark greens eyes stared an assuring glare into the pink mare’s own, his face contorted into a small, friendly smile. Her speech was not needed as she thought about Applejack’s story and how his generosity matched the very pony that represents that personality aspect. She grinned and trotted upstairs. She returned back down and the three spent the next half hour together, Pinkie occasionally going off to work on the decorations or food assortment for Kickback’s upcoming, much anticipated welcome to Ponyville Party.










































Odyssey

Before the party was to begin, Kickback sat there with Lyra and Pinkie, the unicorn’s face still in shock as to the gesture the stallion made earlier.

“W-why do you have so much money?” Lyra managed. Kickback looked at her, his smirk dropping slightly.

“Uhhh…umm… sporting events…” he said quietly but just enough for them hear.

“Oh you good at sports are you?” Pinkie chimed in. Kickback nodded. “Well, you, Dashie and AJ are gonna get along just fine, then!” she said happily. Kickback smiled at the mare while recalling the two other ponies. He did seem to pick up a fair bit of their personality and Pinkie Pie just confirmed an aspect that he already had suspicions of.

“I already do, Kinda….” he said chuckling. Pinkie’s face ripped into another massive smile. “So, are they?” he added. Pinkie had a questioning look. “Vinyl, Dash and…Lyra?” he repeated, looking back over at the green unicorn who again wore red cheeks when he smiled at her.

“Dashie’s coming…Viiiiiinyyylll…Oh yeah, the DJ, I dunno but Lyra can stay, everypony’s invited!!” she said. Giving an idea of what the party would be like when it got into full swing.

“K…good” was all he said in response. Really a large party wasn’t his thing, over-crowded and noisy but maybe it won’t be so bad.

“Oh…uhhh…I dunno…” stuttered Lyra. Kickback looked at her confusedly.

“Don’t you wanna stay?” he asked, concerned that maybe she just didn’t want to be around him anymore being that this is the second time she thought that she had to leave. Lyra looked back at him, surprised.

“Uhh…well…umm, Yes, actually” she stuttered. This confused Kickback, he didn’t think of this mare as the shy type at all, almost like her character traits can never be the same with every meeting. Perhaps because her personality has never been written (metaphorically).

“Well, you can’t impose ‘cause it’s a party and you’re invited, so…yeah” he said, chuckling upon the last word. Lyra smiled and nodded her head. Before she could give a verbal answer or for Pinkie to burst in with an incredibly random statement. Two mares walked in, one that the stallion recognised easily and one he did not.

A few minutes ago.

“Fluttershy, c’mon, let’s go!” Rainbow said angrily towards the front door that led into the home and animal day care centre of one particular yellow pegasus.

“I don’t I wanna go…” A voice whispered from behind the door, Dash rolled her eyes.

“C’mon…why don’t you wanna go!?” she asked, in an irritated tone.

“I don’t like meeting new ponies…and this, Kickback? Doesn’t sound very friendly” Fluttershy said, poking out her head slightly so her even quieter speech was auditable. Rainbow Dash looked down at her, her face turning into a small smile when she came up with the words to get her shy friend to attend the new stallion’s welcome party.

“Fluttershy…Believe me when I say…This guy’s alright!” she said, apparently having a much better effect than she expected. What Fluttershy did in response was remain silent as she opened the door fully to present herself, standing up straight in front of her athletic friend. Dash grinned.

“Are you sure…?” Fluttershy asked, hesitantly

“Yep!! Now C’mon!” Dash exclaimed. Before her friend could protest, Dash had violently ripped Fluttershy off the ground with her hooves grasping onto her own. Fluttershy let out a scream at the sheer suddenness of the action then continued to shiver slightly at the high velocity her cyan companion was flying at. Dash landed with the yellow pegasus in front of Sugarcube corner and trotted inside.

Present

Kickback glanced at Dash before she knew he was there.

“Pinkie!!!??” She asked loudly for the pink mare. She looked to her left, nopony. “Pinkie!?” she asked again.

“Here I am!!” Pinkie called out from beside Kickback and Lyra, the two looked at her then turned back to Dash.

“Oh, there you are P-” was all she managed before she looked at the red stallion who was casually sitting down with a grin on his face, focused on the cyan mare. “Hi, Kickback…” she said with a nervous smile but she said it excitedly.

“Howdy, Dash” he replied calmly, still keeping his signature smirk. He then noticed the pony behind her as well as Dash found that the red stallion was hanging out with two other mares before her arrival. “Hello..” Kickback said, addressing the yellow pegasus of whom he could tell that this one was a shy one, definitely. Over the years, the stallion has developed a knack for depicting what a pony’s personality is like before even speaking to them, perhaps this has something to do with that one night, so long ago.

“ummm…Hi,…” the pegasus said. To Rainbow Dash’s, Lyra’s, Pinkie’s and even Fluttershy’s surprise, he had heard her perfectly clear. It wasn’t so surprising apparently fore they all held their tongue about his apparent super-pony hearing. Kickback didn’t notice the reactions and simply replied with.

“Hi, Fluttershy, I’m Kickback…” he said, charmingly. Fluttershy’s expression loosened a bit at the sound of his friendly voice. Dash and her yellow friend sat down at the table to join the group. The four mares began chatting, the most silent of which being Kickback and Fluttershy, the both them only speaking when spoken to.

“So, Kickback…do you have a very special somepony?” a voice called out for the stallion, causing him to shoot up from his relaxed stance and glance around for the mare that said that phrase. To his surprise it was Rainbow Dash, with all the other ponies looking at him with anticipation, most of which was in the eyes of Dash herself and the only unicorn present: Lyra. Kickback chuckled and sat back down.

“If you mean a wife or mare-friend…Nah” he said. Causing Fluttershy and Pinkie to react rather un-impressively by the pink mare sipping on her drink and Fluttershy remaining silent, sitting back down more comfortably while wearing a smile. Lyra looked amazed for a moment, staring at him for some time before turning away and blushing for whatever reason that was obviously unclear to the stallion…or so one might think. Rainbow Dash grinned maliciously at the stallion, when he turned to her, her smile went from devilishly evil to warm and friendly, resting her head on her hooves, letting her knees or “elbows” to rest on the table, her wings spread wide.

“Ohh, really?” Dash cooed slyly.

“Yeah…” he retorted calmly.

“That’s surprising!” said Lyra in a shocked tone. “I thought that you did! Why don’t you?” she asked, adding to her sentence, still in a surprised tone.

“My last…betrayed me, she…framed me for a crime, I didn’t commit” he said sadly, it wasn’t the full truth but his last mare-friend did betray him but to a more serious matter. All mares stared at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths “And I haven’t dated since…” he added.

“Uhhh okay, she sounds like a bit of a bitch, then” Dash said, catching the shocked glances of all other ponies except Kickback who just chuckled at the sentence. “What? She does, right Kickback?” she said, gesturing towards the stallion with a hoof. All mares’ eyes fixed on him.

“Yeah…she was, not at first but…she really was” he said calmly, making Dash herself chuckle with a smug look on her face.

“Why haven’t you dated since? I mean, how long ago did you break up?” Lyra chimed in. Kickback cringed a bit before answering, for some reason he didn’t feel so pliable with this question, he felt that he had to tell the whole truth with this one.

“Two and a half years ago…” he said sadly, repeating in his head “Two and a half goddamn years…it‘s been that long since…everything…”. Lyra, Pinkie and Dashie all stared in disbelief while Fluttershy looked as calm as ever, probably comparing her own love life history or something of the sort, regardless she apparently was un-moved by his statement.

“TWO AND A HALF YEARS!!!” Dash exclaimed in pure shock, Lyra and Pinkie remained speechless for the time being and simply stared at him. “How long has it been since- uhhh, you know…ummm” Dash continued however not finishing her sentence due to obvious reasons. Kickback stared at her, wide eyes, mouth closed. He was about to answer but was stopped, thankfully by three other mares walking in. The bell atop the door to Sugarcube corner rang as it opened, it revealed a white unicorn, that depicted a purple, wavey mane walking in, eyes of blue glistening. The next was one Kickback could recognise, an orange coated earth-pony, presented with a flowing blonde mane, tied at the end, wearing an iconic Stetson upon her head, her green eyes brighter than his own and a cutie mark that depicted three red apples. The last was a unicorn, a lavender one at that, her mane presented a three toned style in a straight fashion, that typical student aura was radiating off of her. Her tail in the same fashion as her mane, her cutie mark depicted a magenta star within a silver star and other stars scattered around her flank. two out of three mares were completely unknown to the red stallion but to everypony else, these looked to be good friends, so that meant he was going to meet them quickly.

Previously

“Big Mac, I’m going to the party! Ah’ll see ya’ll later!” Applejack said as she waved a hoof behind her and began to walk off into town. Big Macintosh nodded at his sister and walked back into the farm house. Applejack didn’t bother asking for Big Mac to join her at the party fore she knew his answer would his default “Nope”. She walked past the trees, out the orchard and made her way into town, more specifically Sugarcube corner.

“Sweetie Belle!!” Rarity called, realising that her sister was actually NOT here, she was staying at their parents this week. “Oh, right…well best be off then, don’t want to be late for Mr. Generosity’s party…” that last statement caused Rarity to blush slightly as she thought about the name she just chose the stallion that she hadn’t met yet. Soon she was out of her home and business and pressing forth towards Sugarcube corner.

“Spike, are you coming?” Twilight asked her faithful, if not self-conscious little, scaly assistant.

“Nah…I’m beat, catcha later, Twi…” he said with a yawn before abruptly falling back and falling to sleep.

“Okay, Spike…I’ll see you once I get back…” she said quietly while trotting towards the door, opening it ever so slightly as to not wake him from his nap and closing it just the same with her outside and beginning to walk towards the bakery of which there should be a very interesting party being held. Along the way, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight met at the front of Sugarcube corner and trotted inside one by one.

“Pinkie Pie…?” Applejack asked, wondering where the pink mare was, she knew now. All the mares looked towards a table surrounded by ponies, four out of five were recognised by Rarity and Twilight but AJ knew all. Kickback looked at her and smiled warmly, Applejack smiled shyly and her cheeks depicted a slight red tint.

“So…you must be the stallion in town, then?” the white unicorn asked towards the colt himself.

“Yep…name’s Kickback, what’s your’s miss…?” he said.

“I am Rarity or Miss. Rarity…which ever you prefer” she answered  kindly.

“ ‘Tis a pleasure…” he said, reforming his signature smirk. This was different to the unicorn, normally a smirk indicated cockiness and smug, not un-like her athletic, cyan friend. His smirk was more of a “relaxed at all times” as if he wears it just because all is well but that was just a theory the unicorn had.

“Pleasure’s all mine…” she said happily. “Hey, Applejack…” the stallion said, reverting his attention from the unicorn to the earth-pony.

“Howdy there, Kickback, did ya like ‘em apples?” she asked, once again remembering his actions previously in the day.

“Yeah…Lyra, did ya enjoy those apples?” he asked, switching his attention from one mare to the next. Lyra paused but then remembered that he had shared a few apples with her earlier on. She nodded happily with an ‘mhm’ sound emitting from her closed lips. Kickback chuckled and turned back to the orange mare.

“Not only did you buy all o’ mah apples and leave with only a dozen…but you shared ‘em with Lyra?” she asked in disbelief, his generosity levels pushing from where she had placed his. She under- estimated him a little.

“I guess…but I have the coin to spend, so it’s no problem” he said calmly. Suddenly Rarity’s eyes lit up along with Rainbow Dash’s and Lyra’s.

“He bought me a muffin and paid Pinkie a ninety dollar tip!” the green unicorn said, catching the attention of all mares around the table. Pinkie Pie nodded quickly, really quickly while the others just stared.

“I said I have the coin to spare, plus I don’t spend much on myself…’ he said.

“My, my, you really are quite generous…you’ve been here a day and you’ve already thrown away six hundred bits?” Rarity stated happily.

“Whoa, you must be rich!” shouted an excited Rainbow Dash. This caught Kickback’s attention, technically he was rich…just he didn’t get his fortune in a way that he was proud of, he may have been for a time but it’s all bad memories now. “If you’re rich, do you know the Wonderbolts?” Dash added. Kickback could not reply as he noticed that Dash was now sitting next to him, her face leaning in with eyes wide and a large smile being worn. He chuckled a bit before reverting his attention towards another mare, one he hadn’t met yet.

“Hey, what’s your name?” he asked towards the purple unicorn who hadn’t yet spoken a word. Dash looked at her and quickly looked back at Kickback with wide eyes. He saw at the corner of his vision that Lyra who was always sitting next to him was doing the same, staring at him with what could be called anticipation, for what though? He had no idea.

“Oh, sorry, My name is Twilight Sparkle…” she replied friendly back at the stallion.

“Name’s Kickback, Twilight…” he said calmly, not paying the now three mares any mind, at the other end of the table, Applejack was staring at him with just as much focus as the two beside him…make that four, beside her was Rarity doing the same thing.

“Yeah, Yeah, okay, now tell me, Have you met the Wonderbolts?” repeated Dash, sounding a little annoyed at the stallion not paying attention to her.

“Uh…yeah, once, good ponies…” he replied calmly. Dash looked a little confused for a moment before her eyes lit up again.

“YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH THE WONDERBOLTS?!?!” exclaimed Dash questioningly. Kickback chuckled at her fangirl-like attitude before letting her jealousy reach new heights with a false nod. Dash squealed uncharacteristically and beamed at the stallion before giggling uncontrollably under her breath. “WHERE DO THEY LI-” was all Dash could manage before they noticed that several ponies of all kinds, old ones, tall ones, fat ones, young ones, skinny ones were around either talking or going to one of the several food tables that were also scattered around and Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. Kickback checked the time to find it was ten past four, the party had started. Suddenly the lights went dim, a stage appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the bakery, ponies crowded around “Great a crowd…” Kickback let out to himself, apparently not catching anypony’s ear. A spotlight shone on the red curtain, it pulled back to either side to reveal a pink mare, her curly mane and tail still present, her smile wide and white and her eyes glistening with excitement.

“Welcome, welcome, everypony. Tonight we celebrate our newest friend, C’mon Kickback, get on up here!” she shouted happily, gesturing to Kickback with a swinging hoof for him to come up on stage. Kickback got to his hooves and proceeded to walk to the stage, all the while Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Lyra, Fluttershy and Lyra were clapping their hooves together, soon everypony joined in as they saw who they were clapping for. Dash and AJ let out excited whistles as he got to the stage, climbed up the stairs to the side and walked up next to Pinkie Pie, the mare beamed at him and gestured for him to walk up to the microphone she had presented for him. He trotted up to it and leaned in so his mouth was closer to mic.

“Hey, everypony, it’s great to be here, my name’s Kickback and I hope you all enjoy yourselves…” he said, everypony listening in, he ended his speech with a nod and smile then he looked over at Pinkie who was smiling widely at him. He stepped back as Pinkie zoomed to the centre of the stage, he and everypony else watched as she…multiplied? Pinkie shook uncontrollably before a pale pink mare with a red mane and tail spawned from her, jumping out of Pinkie as her figure became opaque. She looked just like Pinkie but…recoloured. Another with an orange mane and a lighter orange coat emitted then a yellow one with a darker yellow mane spawned. Kickback, simply walked back down and found his spot, getting a pat on the shoulder and warm smiles from everypony around, the four Pinkies stood in a row and before anypony knew what the hell was happening, music began to play.

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After the round of applause from everypony, the false Pinkies jumped back into the original like it was the most normal thing on the planet, she bowed, just like any other performer would before disappearing and coming back with what looked like a karaoke machine.

“Ohhh, really?” Kickback said out loud, chuckling.

“Yep, she’s been dying to get ponies to sing at her parties…and when she found that thing, she couldn’t wait to bust it out” Applejack explained. Kickback nodded.

“Y-you any good at singing, Kickback?” Lyra asked, catching the stallion’s attention.

“Uhhh…I really wouldn’t know…” he lied, he did know, he did know how good he was…but it really wasn’t HIM that was good, it’s what he did so long ago that made him so good.

“Aww c’mon, Ah’ bet ya got a great singing voice” Applejack said, a slight blush crossing her face.

“Yeah, show us whatcha got!” Dash said smugly.

“Uhhh…” was all he could manage before the sheer death stares of the three mares…make that four Pinkie Pie had just popped out from hammer space to the table and was now staring at the stallion with just as much anticipation as the now five mares, Kickback noticed Rarity staring in anticipation aswell from across the table while Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other with nervous grins.

“Uhhh…alright…But I’m not doing Karaoke!” he said, trying to get that idea out of the way of him. Due to past events, he picked up guitarist skills rather quickly, instantly actually after one particular night. Pinkie’s expression faltered but quickly restored as he asked “Does anypony have a guitar?”. Pinkie ran up stairs, through the crowd and back down with an electric guitar, she beamed at him while he looked at her with a blank face “An Acoustic guitar, Pinkie…” Kickback said flatly. Without a word she zoomed back upstairs and returned with just that: an acoustic guitar. Kickback smiled at her, Pinkie lifted the instrument off her back and handed it towards the stallion, he grasped the neck and placed it upon his own. Pinkie raced him towards the stage sort of speak, she came to a stop at the microphone before looking back at the machine and bucking it with one leg to the side with a nervous grin. She practically screamed into the microphone.

“MARES AND GENTLE-COLTS!!!! PREEESEENTIIINNNG…This guy ahaha”  she said jokingly causing someponies to laugh, others to grumble in irritated tones. Kickback stepped up to centre stage with the guitar on his back, Pinkie then set down a chair of which Kickback sat on and a stepping stool for Kickback to tap on with his left back hoof. She set the microphone in front of him and adjusted it ‘till it was level with his muzzle.

“Thankyou…” he said calmly “Anypony got a best friend out there?!” he asked the crowd, sever ponies nodded and some shouted out positively which made the stallion chuckle a little bit. “Alright, then…this one’s for you, this is a song a wrote with my best friend three years ago, I hope you enjoy…” he said quietly into the mic before strumming a single chord on the guitar then breaking into a full sequence of chords.

“I like it simple and

I’m not a superman

I never said that I was more than that…” ...

Kickback played, singing his heart out as he noticed the cheerful faces of everypony, some even caught the chorus enough to start singing along. When the final chord was struck, everypony leapt up and clapped for the red stallion, he smirked at the crowd and placed the guitar to the side before walking casually off stage towards his table. There, all seven mares looked at him directly with large smiles on their faces, he got several pats on back as he sat down. Pinkie got on stage.

“Alright, Everypony, Let’s all have some fun!!” Pinkie bellowed into the mic. In a quick transition, the stage was gone and ponies all around began to spread into their own little groups in the bakery. Kickback caught a few words about how awesome he was and the occasional hater saying it just OK. He got several compliments from the seven mares at the table as well as some walking up to the table to quickly meet him.

“So, did you really write that?” Lyra asked towards the stallion.

“Uhhh…yeah…” he said, not entirely sure if HE technically did, given the circumstances. “I need a drink..” he said with a sigh as he got to his hooves. He proceeded past the crowd to the food table where what looked to be several cans of soda were placed together. He grasped one in his hooves, cracked it open and took and experimental drink. To his surprise, it was brilliant,  he took a longer drink before parting it from his lips with an audible gasp.

“Hey there, sexy…” a familiar voice called from his right. There she was, the unicorn from before, Vinyl Scratch, leaning up against the table with her right foreleg resting on the table cloth. She gave him a warm yet cocky smile when he laid eyes on her. She removed her goggles to reveal light red eyes, unlike Dash’s magenta eyes, her’s were quite red. She looked at him, never letting her smile drop, Kickback smiled back, remembering the mare from earlier in the day.

“Hey, Vinyl…” he said friendly.

“Hey, Kickback…wassup?” she replied just as friendly.

“I’m at a party…what about you?” he asked calmly.

“Same…you did good up there” Vinyl complimented.

“Thanks…” he replied as best to his ability to sound modest. They began to chat up a storm at the table, before he knew it, Kickback had gone through three sodas without realising. He looked over at the table he was at previously to find that all mares were casually talking away. Then he glanced at Lyra who was looking at him but quickly turned away when their gazes met. Kickback shrugged it off and returned his attention back to the white unicorn.

“Pinkie tells me you’re a DJ…” Kickback informed. Vinyl had a smug smile facing towards the stallion when she heard his voice speak those words.

“Uh huh, best darn one ever!” she said smugly. Kickback chuckled and took another drink as Vinyl focused her eyes on his face as he did so.

“Applejack…?” Rarity asked, back at the table towards the orange mare herself.

“Yeah..?” she replied questioningly.

“Did you get a look at Kickback’s cutie mark?” Rarity added. Applejack paused while the sentence caught Dash’s attention.

“Don’t bother…” Dash chimed in. Both the unicorn and earth-pony were now looking at the pegasus. “You won’t know what it is…trust me” she added cryptically. Both mares looked at their cyan friend in confusion.

“What do ya mean..?” Applejack asked.

“Go see…” Dash said. Applejack glanced about for the stallion, eventually spotting him over at the snack table, talking to a ‘pretty’ white mare. Dash watched her orange friend as she looked around for their red friend, once she spotted him, Dash could’ve sworn she spotted a slight glimspe of anger in the farmer’s eyes when she saw Vinyl Scratch from afar talking to Kickback ‘all casual like‘. Dash noticed the two at the table aswell before turning back to AJ.

“See it?” Dash asked.

“Nope…wait, yeah, there it is” Applejack said, squinting her eyes for a focused look. Rainbow Dash was right, she had no clue what the buck the marking was on his right flank was, at first it looked like a bird but she shook that off when the pattern emerged in her vision. Applejack had seen his cutie mark now…but that didn’t make her stop looking at him, her emerald green eyes dragged away from his flank up to his torso, to his broad shoulders that based strong legs. Up to his neck, to his head, there she stared for a moment, watching his face move with the action of talking, she ignored the unicorn for now as she stared into his eyes from across the room.

“Hey, what kind of music do ya like?” Vinyl Scratch asked the red stallion. He and the unicorn had been talking for sometime, the occasional random pony stepping up, meeting him then complimenting him as with the many of the DJ‘s fans asking for autographs, a grey coated pegasus with a yellow mane also offered him a muffin once, Kickback accepted in confusion, as to why this mare seemed to be obsessed with muffins when she walked over to him. He could only smile at the mare though, her personality could be referred to as ‘bubbly’.

“Uhhh, nu-metal mostly…” Kickback replied, causing the unicorn’s expression to falter somewhat. She was a DJ after all, maybe his answer wasn’t one she had hoped for, maybe she wanted him to say something like electronic or dubstep just so she could have another admiring fan…or just so they could have something in common. Vinyl took another drink, while her head was faced towards the ceiling, Kickback looked to his right to see two mares staring at him, he smirked at them and waved. Applejack was snapped back to awareness along with Rainbow Dash, she hadn’t noticed the cyan pegasus staring at the stallion aswell, she chose to ignore it…for now. Kickback chuckled to himself and glanced around the table to find that everypony except the green unicorn, was now chatting friendly with one another then it him. ‘Where’s Lyra?’ he thought, he looked around for the mare but to no avail. He started to glance around frantically, he didn’t want her to leave, she was actually pretty good company. He felt relieved when the mare had approached him from his right to apparently grad a snack, she looked towards him with a slight hint of red, glazed over on her cheeks, he remained silent and smiled at the mare who smiled, looked away and took a drink never letting her smile falter.

Kickback turned back to the unicorn who had apparently been staring for a few moments while he wasn’t paying attention. When he looked at her, she shot back in surprise and a noticeable red was stood out on her white face.

“So, what does everypony think about the guest of honour, then?” Rarity asked. All mares paused for a moment before it was Fluttershy who broke the silence.

“He…he still scares me a little…” the timid pegasus said, catching the group’s attention.

“I told you, he’s fine, Fluttershy…I reckon he’s pretty cool” Rainbow added.

“He sure is friendly” said Applejack. When the words left the mare’s lips, Dash shot her a sly look and nudged her with her left ‘knee’. Giggles could be heard from all around as Dash’s gesture got the wanted message across…and everypony caught it. Applejack blushed hard and broke into a rage at her friends for implying such a thing across the room from where the red stallion had glanced over towards. Without a word he looked back between the two unicorns on each side, smiled at both before trotting through the crowd and out the door of the bakery. Vinyl and Lyra looked to one another in questioning looks before glancing back at the door then returning to the snack table and starting up their own conversation.

“Cool guy, eh?” asked the white unicorn.

“Y-yeah…” Lyra replied.

“Pretty hot too…” Vinyl said, chuckling as she took another drink. Lyra looked at her, wide eyed with a blush and had a drink of her own.

Kickback walked outside, to his surprise it was already dark, he looked around to see nopony around. He leaned back on the bakery and smiled as he let out a deep breath before it was replaced with a thoughtful frown, he wasn’t upset or mad at anything, he just stood there on his back legs, leaning up against the building with his forelegs crossed as he thought deeply about today, his history and the ponies he had met during his short time here.

“….wait…” he said to himself. He stood back on all fours as he heard something. He listened carefully as he took a step forward and looked around. A thud… the beat of large wings…then a growl. Kickback’s eyes widened as it dawned on him but he was too late to react. He took a step forward and out from the blackness a large beast, the body of a lion, the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion lunged at him.

“Oh shi-” was all he could manage as he was cut off by the Manticore gripping around his torso and flying high into the sky in the direction of the Everfree forest.

“HEY, I ALREADY KILLED ONE OF YOU BUCKERS, DON’T THINK I WON’T AGAIN!!!!” He screamed as he thrashed about in the beast’s paws. Eventually he broke his right, front leg out, he twisted so he was facing the Manticore and punched the monster square in the mouth. The beast’s chin went skyward, Kickback was released as the monster flipped backwards in mid-air. Kickback spazzed around in the sky before regaining control somewhat and positioning himself for a safe landing. He plummeted towards the ground, luckily he had cut the Manticore off his path towards the forest, he had managed to land at the edge of the jungle. As he hit the dirt, a loud crash, a large crater and a storm of dust were emitted by the stallion. The Manticore, who had regained composure followed, it landed with a thud a let out a loud roar. Kickback turned to the monster, an angry and frightening look on his face.

“C’MON!!! I’M HERE, COME GET ME!!!” he bellowed at the monster, it let out another growl, the two began to step to the side in synchronisation, making a circle. Kickback stopped, as did the Manticore. The beast had ignored his roar, this angered the stallion. Suddenly a barrage of black and red tendrils emitted from his shoulders. They wrapped around his forelegs as he stood on his back legs. Kickback raised both appendages above his head, with a war cry, he threw them down to his sides. No longer were they legs…they were claws, massive, sharp claws, spikes protruded from both limbs, both appendages glowed an eerie orange-red. Kickback’s eyes quickly shot from green to orange-red before switching back to his natural dark green, he grinned at the Manticore who remained far from the stallion, with still his angered, animalistic glare. The beast then charged at the new monster that had presented itself. Kickback never hated this while it was going on and this was just a Manticore, the world could do better without it, this comforted Kickback in knowing…that tonight, this beast dies. The beast suddenly shot at the stallion, it leapt up and slashed it’s claws at it’s opponent. Kickback smirked as he jumped up, easily clearing the monster’s full height. He landed behind it, the Manticore swung it’s tail to attack but failed again. Kickback had dodged the poisonous appendage and was now on the offence. Kickback shouted angrily as he lunged his own claws and violently slashed the creature across the face, the beast whimpered and growled in both pain and anger. He monster looked back at the stallion, it’s left eye closed and the entire left side of it’s face was scarred with claw marks. The Manticore growled again…in defeat as it flapped it’s wings and took to the sky…for about five seconds.

Kickback wasn’t finished with the thing, the Manticore looked down to see something had wrapped around it’s left back paw. Kickback smirked as he saw the Manticore take off, suddenly another barrage of tendrils lashed about around him. When the transformation had subsided, his left foreleg was back to normal…but his right was different. The same black with the red-orange glow and spikes still present but the end was divied into a large clamp-shaped-like blade. He pulled back and lunged the limb at the ascending monster, the appendage extended into a whip-like harpoon, it wrapped around the Manticore’s back leg. He violently brought his ‘arm’ down, with it the Manticore. It fell to the ground with a loud thud on it’s back before the ruthless stallion brought his limb upwards, the Manticore, still  tied at the leg by the unnatural weapon rose up with it. Kickback stood back on his hind legs as he rotated his limb back behind. The Manticore hit the ground, hard, cracking a few teeth as it’s chin hit the dirt. Kickback swung the beast back in front of him, it laid there, motionless. Kickback knew it wasn’t dead…his body transformed again, this time his forelegs turning into large stone-like fists. He smirked and leapt onto the monster’s belly. Without a word he violently punched the Manticore, in the chest, in the neck, in the face. Punch after punch of his hammer-fists left the Manticore broken and bloody. Kickback’s body emitted four large tentacles from his back, they made contact with the monster. Suddenly the beast’s physical form was converted into the stallion’s own bio-mass. The monster’s entire being was enveloped into the stallion, leaving nothing but a few bloody ‘greasy spots’ on the grass and dirt. Kickback grabbed his head as he endured ‘the part after the kill’: the Manticore’s memories and strengths. Nothing important due to the near to no clarity when it came to an animal’s memory.

Kickback transformed back into his ‘normal’ self, took a deep breath and jumped into the air about twenty metres up. Not his highest but height wasn’t what he wanted, when he landed he was already in the centre of town, he had leapt fifty metres across from his last standing point. He trotted back towards the bakery to find that the party had somewhat died down, many guests were now not present but all he knew better were still inside, all of which were at the same table. When he walked through the door to Sugarcube corner. All mares looked up to see him, they wore glad faces: warm smiles, excited smiles, sly grins and smug grins were all focused on the stallion. Despite everything he smirked back at what somepony would say ‘his friends’. Applejack and Rainbow Dash scooted over so the stallion could a spot at the table…between them.

“So, where’d ya go?” a familiar voice called form his left, it was Vinyl Scratch.

“Around…” he replied nonchalantly.

“For fifteen minutes?” another voice added form his right, it was another unicorn, a green one to be specific.

“Apparently…” he said in the same tone.

“Fair enough” Applejack added, trying to get the two mares to back off and leave him be…for which reason she didn’t quite know. Was it she respected his privacy…or was it she didn’t want two other mares speaking to him so curiously specifically.

“Did you hear that noise earlier?” Dash asked. Kickback pieced together that she must have been talking about that Manticore.

“Yeah…I did…but it didn’t last too long” he said, a slight cryptic tone accompanying his voice, of which nopony noticed. The evening drug on with eight ponies plus Kickback just hanging out around the bakery, the occasional pony saying goodbye to the group, specifically to Pinkie and the stallion himself. Eventually the entire room was vacated of all other guests besides the nine equines. The party had gone for six hours now, when Rainbow Dash noticed the time, she thought for a second.

“Hey Kickback, where are you sleeping tonight?” she said, a hint of curiosity, embarrassment, concern and joking in her tone. Kickback paused and pondered a moment. Each mare was now focused on the stallion.

“Guess the tree again, Dash…” he said calmly. Each mare paused as the words left his lips, Dash looked surprised but not as much as the others.

“What tree?” Applejack asked in confusion. Kickback looked at her blankly and began to recount the day’s beginning.

“Well, Dash was the first of you I met…reason why is because I slept under a tree last night…I looked up and there she was” he said, not very well explaining why he was under the tree but that was sought to.

“Good heavens, why were you sleeping under a tree?” asked Rarity.

“Today’s my first day…I didn’t have a house and I was up late…I’m a bit of a traveller” Kickback replied calmly. Each mare looked at him in surprise and curiosity but most seemed to be in deep thought.

“Darling…I simply cannot have a handsome stallion as yourself resting so…inadequately, you’re staying at my house tonight” Rarity said. For the first time in a while, Kickback was surprised by words. He stared at the unicorn, with wide eyes as did everypony else. She just sat there with a friendly smile.

“What about Sweetie Belle? She probably won’t be so easy to deal with…You could stay with me” Lyra said. Everypony turned to her now.

“What about Bon-Bon, Lyra? You know how she gets…you could sleep at my place, Kickback” Vinyl added. Now the stallion was getting annoyed but he didn’t show it, all these mares fighting over him was uncomfortable to say the least.

“What about Octavia, Vinyl? I know for a fact she doesn’t like unexpected guests…Hey you could chill at my house!” Dash added.

“You live in a cloud home, Dash…” Vinyl said flatly. While the crazy fillies bickered with one another, Applejack scooted over to the stallion.

“Hey, ya can sleep at the farm, there’s a nice place in the barn with your name on it… if ya want it, that is” Applejack said towards the stallion privately. Kickback looked at the orange earth-pony with a friendly smile, a secluded barn sounded alright to the colt’s ear.

“Ladies!…I’m staying at AJ’s farm” Kickback said, making sure he caught all of their attention before telling them where he was staying the night. “…But it’s not a permanent situation though” he said, looking back at the orange mare who looked at him with surprise before understanding crossed her expression. All mares looked at him with reluctant accepting faces.

The evening drew to a close, the time being spent with several happy and awkward moments being that Kickback was the ONLY male present for the rest of the party so when it came to some subjects and games that they participated in, it got odd at times. Pinkie Pie looked out from her second story bedroom’s window as she waved goodbye to all her old and new friends alike. The group stopped and turned to one another.

“Well, goodnight everypony” Twilight said as she started to trot tiredly towards her home, of which the red stallion had no idea where it was nor did he know of anypony’s home.

“G-goodnight” said a quiet Fluttershy who began to walk to the outskirts of town, at least the direction of their path gave a slight clue to the stallion.

“Yeah…I’m beat, see ya in the morning” Dash added before speeding off into the sky, which made sense given that it was obvious she enjoyed the area at cloud level rather than the ground.

“You can still chill with me ya know…” Vinyl said towards the only male present. Kickback looked at her and nodded with a smile.

“Maybe tomorrow night, Vinyl…buono notte” he said, Vinyl looked confused for a moment at his last words, Kickback noticed.

“It means goodnight, Vinyl…” he said flatly, informing her that apparently he spoke Italian. The stallion regretted speaking a different language as it reminded him of another event from his past.

“Cool, I’ll see ya later then, sexy” she replied with a sly tone. Kickback smirked as the white unicorn trotted off to where her home must be. Lyra, Applejack and Rarity stared at Kickback for a moment, pondering as to why she had called him that…although all three mares didn’t think that Vinyl had bad taste though.

“Sexy? Why that little floozy…Uh, not that…uhh, you’re not, ah just-” Applejack stuttered, a blush glazing over her face. Rarity giggled.

“What she’s trying to say is: You are quite…cute but Vinyl Scratch should not go throwing herself about like that” she said quite formerly but still friendly as her own cheeks depicted a hint of red. Kickback merely glanced at both mares, a blank look on his face before chuckling and spreading his signature smirk on his muzzle.

“Well everypony, this was fun but Rarity needs her beauty sleep, goodnight” the second white unicorn said as she began to walk off towards her own home.

“Um…alright, goodnight Applejack…Goodnight Kickback” the final unicorn said as she turned away and began her own walk. One by one they had left, each time the remaining equines would return the salutations to their friends. Now it was just the red stallion and the orange mare, that thought crossed AJ’s mind a few times as she lead him to the farm, he walked by her side with a blissful look on his face, perhaps he didn’t like being around too many ponies for too long was what she thought, that thought saddened her a little bit. Kickback noticed the orange mare, who seemed to be a tad nervous for Celestia knows why, she would look back at him, he would look at her and she would quickly avert her gaze to the front. Kickback shrug off the mare’s actions and continued to walk along side her through an apple orchard of some kind, it made sense to the stallion as he remembered what she said about somewhere called ‘Sweet Apple Acres’ this must be it, he thought. The two were now in a clearing, of which stood a farm house and a large barn that looked like it was recently raised. Kickback smiled as Applejack lead him to the large, red building, she opened the door and when inside.

“Well, here we are…” she said happily. Kickback glanced about and saw a particularly comfortable looking bed of hay.

“This’ll work…Thanks AJ” the stallion said warmly. Applejack looked at him with a smile.

“Y-ya know…ya can come into the house…I know where ya could sleep” the orange mare said, catching the stallion’s full attention.

“Where…?” he asked, stretching the word.

“C’mon, I’ll show ya” she said excitedly. Kickback paused for a moment and without a word he walked in front of the mare and opened the large door. Applejack saw him gesture with his head to lead the way, she did and the two exited the barn and proceeded to enter the farm house. Kickback glanced around at the lounge room, the kitchen, the hallway the to the stairs that Applejack was ascending, she looked down at him with a smile, Kickback continued to follow her up through the stairs, down the hallway to a room. She opened it and walked in with Kickback closely following.

“This is mah room” she said, causing the stallion to get confused.

“Okay…so…is there a guest room or something?” he asked, the mare blushed as she thought about what was her idea.

“Uhhh…no, ah thought you might wanna…ah dunno uhhh” Applejack stuttered, truth be told there was one. Kickback looked at her with a surprised look, it wasn’t an over-exaggerated look but he was still surprised that the mare he had met and known for only a day would want him to sleep in the same room as her…least he thought it was just the ROOM that they’d be sharing.

“Ok…sure, I can sleep here…is there an extra mattress…cause I really don’t care too much, I slept on a tree last night, so I’m not picky” he said. Applejack blushed even harder as she realised that there were no other mattress being that they were all already borrowed by several friends and family members. The silence caused the stallion to think. “You…wanna sleep in the same bed?” he asked, the mare blushed even harder but didn’t speak or shake her head, eventually she spoke up.

“Ah don’t see any other way…I don’t want ya sleeping in the barn…and if ya don’t mind that is-” she said nervously. Kickback softened his expression from surprise to his calm smirk.

“Well okay, ya sure?” he asked, still wondering why she wanted him to sleep in the same bed as herself.

“Uhh, it’s alright” she said in a nervous but assuring tone with the same kind of smile. Suddenly Kickback, with a smile, pulled the covers back and gestured for the mare to hop in with left hoof. She looked at him with a smile, she removed her hat and set it on the nightstand, she placed her forelegs on the bed, laid down on her side and scooted over to the opposite side of the bed so Kickback could snuggle in aswell. That is just what happened.

“G’dnight, AJ” the stallion said as he turned away from her. Applejack looked at him to find that he was not facing her.

“G’dnight, Kickback…what if ah call ya KB?” she asked randomly. Suddenly the thought of such an abbreviation nickname crossed the stallion’s mind. He smiled whilst still facing away.

“I dunno, sweet dreams, Applejack…” he said calmly with a sigh as he closed his eyes. AJ looked at him with a smile then turned to face her own side.

“Sweet Dreams…Kickback” she said, not to him but more to herself. Moments drug on as the two remained awake and silent. Kickback simply had insomnia, a common problem for him lately but Applejack was in hesitation as to why she was awake. She kept glancing at the stallion as she was now lying on her back facing the ceiling, he was still facing away from her. Inside Applejack’s mind a lone orange mare stood in black void, it was AJ herself. Suddenly the figure split into three, two mares broke off from the original, leaving said pony a light grey colour. To the left was a yellow mare with a red mane and blue eyes stood to the side of red mare with a green main and yellow eyes. The two ‘Applejacks’ turned to one another.

“Just do it!” the yellow one said.

“No, he doesn’t like us that way” the red one retorted. As the fight in AJ’s mind raged on, her eyes shifted back and forth behind her eye lids, Kickback turned on his back to find that she was doing so.

“How do ya know, he paid for ‘em apples!” the yellow AJ shouted.

“So, if he’s so generous, maybe Rarity will do better for ‘em” said the red one. Kickback, in the physical world, nudged AJ, no response.

“Ya know ya want to…for Celestia’s sake you’ll be just cuddling him, it’s fine!” replied the yellow AJ. Suddenly a voice echoed through the void in AJ’s mind, a familiar, male, accented voice rang through the blackness. Both mares phased back into the grey one, the blue and yellow creating green eyes, the yellow and red creating an orange coat, the red and green making a yellow mane. It was the original Applejack. She opened her eyes to find a concerned looking stallion to the side of her, she smiled as he smiled back.

“Hey…uhhh, do ya mind if we-uhhh…” she said nervously. Kickback shot her a calm look as he rolled over on his back and placed his right foreleg under the mare’s shoulder. He brought her closer, she smiled as she laid her right foreleg over his chest and her left under his neck. Applejack closed her eyes blissfully as she hugged the stallion, Kickback looked down once more at the mare before stroking her blonde mane with his free hoof, she smiled warmly at his touch. He looked back up and slowly closed his eyes and for the first time in a while fell asleep easily.

Lyra shut the door as quietly as she could, she trotted through the lounge room and was startled by her cream-coloured roommate sitting on her recliner, looking intent fully at the minty unicorn.

“Where’d ya go?” Bon-Bon asked in a creepy yet friendly tone.

“I went to the party, ya know Kickba-” was all she managed before Bon-Bon cut her off.

“I know, I know, it’s just late is all” she said, this time not as creepy but Lyra did feel as if her roommate was cross with her.

“Bon-Bon, I’m sorry but he’s really nice…I think-’ she cut herself off before continuing. Bon-Bon gaped in surprise.

“You like him, don’t you?” she questioned. Lyra’s face turned from mint green a light red. “Oh my Celestia, you do!” she exclaimed happily. Without a word, Lyra trotted to her room “Oh wait, Lyra, I’m sorry, hey c’mon!”

Rainbow Dash had entered her home a few minutes ago, she sat on her clouded couch, reading the seventh instalment of Daring Do. She had told herself after the fifth chapter she would stop and hit the hay. She set the book down and flew upstairs to her bedroom, she laid down and closed her eyes, her final thoughts directing to the guest of honour at the party. She found comfort as she thought the stallion cuddling her at the top of the clock tower, she smiled happily. “He’s kinda cute…” she said finally before letting out a sigh and going to sleep.

Vinyl Scratch knew that Octavia wouldn’t be up this late and she definitely didn’t wait up for her. She closed the door behind her and trotted upstairs to her room, of which was messy as hell but she didn’t care. She jumped onto her mattress, removed her goggles from her head and rolled over. She closed her eyes and began think blissful thoughts…ironically they drew towards the red stallion at AJ’s farm. Her final words before falling asleep were “He sure is hot…”.

By now everypony was asleep in Ponyville, Luna’s moon shone brightly in the sky, round and proud. In the short time the stallion had been in the town, he had unintentionally made eight friends, killed two Manticores and was now sleeping in a mare’s bed. This is how we continue.

Nightmarish Memory

Kickback awoke with a jolt, gasping for air as he woke in a unfamiliar room, he was alone in what appeared to a hospital…or more along the lines of a morgue. It didn’t matter at the moment, Kickback was scared out of his mind, blood of which looked like his own covered portions on his body, he stumbled off the bed and made his way out the room. It was dark, Kickback bumped into every wall, tired, in pain and confused. He eventually got out of the building and into the courtyard, he stumbled back and looked behind him to find that the building’s name presented itself in large, illuminated blue letters.

“GENTEK” it read, Kickback made a note of the name and pressed on. Suddenly the sound of large wing beats could be heard, Kickback his behind a carriage and saw four pegasi land to meet an earth-pony and two unicorns. They bickered over something before Kickback watched an act of horrible brutality. The pegasi ruthlessly beat the three ponies, they laid there in pain, unconscious. Kickback peaked over the side of the carriage only to be spotted by one of the winged ponies.

“Shi-….Wait, WAIT!!” he said, trying to save himself. The pegasi close in on him, the red stallion looked to his left and found a large wall, an idea popped in his head. The stallion took off, quicker than the pegasi could react to instantly. The scarlet colt easily cleared the wall with a single bound.

“Huuhh, that was easy…” he said to himself before glancing to his left to find a gate. He walked over to it and looked behind him only to realise that pegasi…had wings, the three ponies flew directly at the stallion. Kickback ran for the gate and jumped it with ease. The three pegasi began to chase after the stallion, Kickback sprinted into a full gallop. Surprisingly they weren’t catching up as quickly as he thought. Kickback smirked to himself while running, he knew he’d get away now…was what he thought before a large lightning bolt struck the ground directly behind him, the sky darkened as the electrical discharge made contact with the ground. Kickback barrel rolled with a large fruit cart. Kickback landed on his back legs, raised his front ones and instinctively caught the heavy cart  to protect himself.

“What are you gonna throw at me next huh?!?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?!?” He yelled. The three pegasi stayed still in the sky as they watched in amazement and fear at the red stallion. Kickback had a evil look in his eye, he growled as he threw the cart at the ponies above. It hit. The three pegasi tumbled violently in the air before crashing with broken pieces of wood and metal.

“I can’t believe what I just did…I gotta get to higher ground…” he said to himself as he spotted a large building, it dawned on him now that he was Manehatten. Without hesitation, he quickly found out something else new about him: He could run up walls. As he did, long, black and red tendrils swarmed around his legs. Once ontop of the building, he spotted another one, it was taller. Kickback gave it no more thought as he jumped wildly in the air, making the distance between the tall wall and the rooftop. Kickback climbed arduously up the tall structure. He came to a halt on the rooftop as he noticed two more pegasi, holding laser weapons of some kind aiming down at him. Kickback did the only thing he could think of and retreat. He jump skywards, he held out his right front hoof and punched one of the ponies in sky with more force than thought possible. The pegasus staggered in the air for a moment before plummeting, his aid flew straight down to save him, this was Kickback’s chance. He dropped straight to the ground and bolted for a hiding place.

A month ago

“I’m leaving you, Kickback…”

“What?”

“We’re just not cut out for each other”

“But-”

“Save it…goodbye…Doctor. Kickback” Karen finished before trotting out the door of what used to be her home, pushing past a particular red stallion on her way. The stallion looked back at his ex-marefriend at turned away. Kickback went to work the next day, as Karen said, he was doctor, a biologist to be précised. Over the next several days, Kickback began to question his superiors. Their methods, their plans, all of it. He contacted his sister in order for her to be his personal little hacker until he finds out exactly what he wants.

Present

Kickback stumbled into an alleyway, he leaned back on it on his side and slowly slouched down in pain and exhaustion. Little did he know, a black unicorn colt had found him, he apparently had been looking for him as he gazed over the red stallion’s unconscious body. His horn glowed and a beam of magic shot through Kickback. The unicorn turned his head. Kickback got up slowly and quietly behind him, the unicorn turned his head around only to be violently grabbed by red hooves and thrown face first into the ground, the unicorn’s neck broke, four large black tentacles emerged from the alive stallion. They connected with the unicorn, his body was reduced to Kickback’s own bio-mass as it enveloped into the red stallion. Kickback heard footsteps coming from around alleyway. Before he knew it, his body had transformed into a unicorn’s form, the on one that he just killed, he was amazed for a moment, the fact that he now had a horn…and the knowledge to use it. Kickback looked at the brown earth-pony that walked into the alleyway with a stern look on his face.

“Where the hell is the target?!” he demanded. Kickback remained silent as he violently ripped the colt off the ground with his hooves just as his sentence. Both front hooves grasped the stallion neck, he choked for a moment before the disguised colt through him to the ground and brutally beat him down. One, two, three, four, five, dead. The earth-pony, just like the unicorn from before was…‘consumed’ by the stallion. Suddenly Kickback felt a sharp pain is his head as images, blurred by white were shown his head, voices could be heard, knowledge was gained.

“My s-sister…he knew where she is…I-I know where she is…Dana…” he thought as he regained a little bit of strength, he felt stronger from the experience of consuming those two stallions. Kickback ran faster than he thought possible straight to his sister’s location, he didn’t know if it was her house or not…then it dawned on him that he didn’t know anything at all, his memory was wiped clean of all information about himself besides his name and now he knew that he had a sister. Kickback spotted the building and was relived to find no sign of anypony around. He trotted to the door and knocked twice. The door opened to find a white unicorn mare with a black and maroon coloured mane.

“KICKBACK!?!?” she yelled in confusion and concern. “Where the hell have you been?! It’s been a week!” she yelled.

“Is your name Dana…?” he asked. The mare could only look at him in confusion.

“Uhhh, yeah…what’s your name?” she asked suspiciously.

“I was hoping you could fill me in…” he said. Dana shot back in surprise and allowed him to enter. Kickback sat down on a recliner and began to tell her everything he knew once she asked.

“…Sweet Celestia…I knew something was bucked up, what the hell happened to you, Kickback?” she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Kickback shrugged. “Well, you’re probably tired, right?…your bed’s over there” she said as she got up and trotted upstairs to what the stallion could only consider to be her room. Kickback laid awake that night, gazing up at the ceiling as he thought hard about what happened today, what might’ve happened to him and what will happen tomorrow. The stallion couldn’t sleep at all that night as he ponder though after thought, he eventually decided to go around town. He quietly left the building leaving Dana upstairs in her room, the colt walked down the street in the darkness, Luna’s moon shining brightly in sky as her sister’s sun’s light reflected off the surface of it. Kickback walked into an alleyway and tested his hooves on the wall. His right foreleg then his left, his right back leg…then his left. He was standing on all fours on the side of the building, he began testing walking on it. Success, he began to run: Success again. He began to perform athletic feats across the concrete jungle of Manehatten. He found that his jump power was increased ten fold or more like twenty fold. He easily cleared buildings and jumped the gaps between ones that could be fifty metres across from one another. He grasp the ledge of a tall building before plummeting down to ground. He was un-hurt when he landed. He then noticed the building and felt a sharp pain in his head as images, voices…memories came rushing back to him. This was his home, he lived in an apartment. Kickback trotted up to the building and walked inside. He walked up the stairs to his room, medical degrees, awards, personal belongings and pictures were scattered about the room. Kickback saw a picture with him a silver earth-pony mare with a light blonde mane smiling while the two hugged. Kickback put a hoof to the picture and caught a glimspe of the same mare looking at him with concern in her eyes in his head.

Kickback looked around the room to find several documents entitled with the same logo.

“Gentek” he said to himself before rummaging through his belongings. He came to the conclusion that he must have been either not an important person or the most important person in Manehatten due to what he found, ranging from a PonyStation3 to several degrees and awards in biology. He then heard something…a mysterious ticking noise…he looked about to find the source, he entered his bedroom and found it, lying on his bed.

“…It’s a pike-bomb…” was all he got out before it exploded. Kickback violently pushed out the window or what was left of it when the detonation hit, the entire apartment was enveloped in fire and smoke, the stallion in mid-air back flipped to his hooves and crashed down on the pavement, he stood up with an angry look on his face. Before he knew it, a griffin of all things showed up out of nowhere and violently tackled him, he kicked the hybrid off, she landed with a loud thud as she hit the smoking building. She stood up on her paws and stared at the stallion with hatred. Kickback stood up on all fours and glared utter death at the creature, she wore silver gauntlets that depicted sharpened claws, shoulder pads and back and chest wear.

“So you’re Zeus, huh?, I expected more!’ she growled. Kickback felt less confused but more enraged at her remark. She charged him with fury, the stallion leapt out of the way and grabbed her tail with his mouth. He swung her around as her stood on his back legs and bit her tail harder, she screamed in pain but became quieter as the dizziness took effect. Kickback let go and she was violently thrown against the building again. She stood up groggily and tried to regain her composure. She got back as much as she could and charged at the stallion. Kickback felt rage build inside…and soon it was on the outside. Kickback felt a bazaar feeling in his chest and moved to his right foreleg. Kickback felt his leg contort in all sorts of unnatural manners, the long black and red tendrils from before engulfed his leg. Soon it gave way to reveal a large sharp appendage emitting from the stallion’s shoulder, he gave it no thought at the moment and sliced it at the approaching griffin…her body was violently slashed apart but was not there long as the same long tentacles emitted from Kickback’s chest and connected with the remains of the griffin. Her mass was reduced to the same tendrils of which were consumed by the stallion.

The next week was madness, Kickback with the help of his sister had learned (somewhat) of what happened to him, that he did it to himself, that he ran out of that god-awful place with a vial of a forty year old, evolved bio-weapon and released it on himself, thankfully it didn’t spread. Kickback had murdered more ponies than he would ever want to as he found key ponies who played a lead roll in his tragedy. He then learned that he wasn’t an earth-pony anymore…He was more virus than pony, the BLACKLIGHT virus had absorbed his DNA and became a part of it. After the first week, Kickback had enough as he witnessed his old boss commit suicide in front of him.

“Dana, get your things…we’re leaving town” he said to the mare, who had a confused look on her face.

“Wha-” was all she managed.

“We’re going, Now!” he said sternly. Dana immediately knew what was happening. She got her saddle bags, threw on a scarf and followed her brother out the door. The two had made it to the train station with little ease with all the security around town now, the two bought a ticket each to the next train to Fillydelphia. The siblings boarded and were now on their way to start a new life in a better city.

“Here we are, Dana…Fillydelphia…” he said with a smile. Dana smiled back but was soon replaced with a frown as she saw Kickback’s thoughtful and depressed face. “This is where we part ways…” he said. Dana shot back in surprise of his words but quickly considered that it was the smart the choice for both of their well being and safety. They nodded at each other without words, the stallion walked straight forward into town while Dana walked to the right. The stallion walked around town, admiring it’s clean streets and honest citizens…or not so honest. He glanced down an alleyway to see a mare being mugged by a colt. Kickback trotted inside with an menacing look on his face, the colt looked to his left to find Kickback closing in on him with a death glare. The mugger pulled out a knife on the stallion of which meant nothing to him. Kickback pushed the raised hoof to the side and slugged the burglar in the face with his left hoof, he staggered a bit and fell to the ground. Kickback lifted the saddlebags of the mare off the ground and handed it to her before realising…he knew this mare. Somewhere in his memory, this mare resonated.

“K-Kickback?” she let out, tears appearing in her eyes.

“Do I know you…?” he asked calmly. The mare looked shocked and sad at his words as she looked up at him, his blank face showing nothing of recognition.

“It’s me…Karen” she explained. Kickback’s head felt a sharp pain as he recalled his memories of Karen, his ex-marefriend.

“R-right…” he said, holding back the pain.

“L-look…I-I’m sorry for…what happened a month ago…” she said sadly, stuttering a bit.

“I…forgive you” he said, not really caring about the break up but he felt that his words were enough due to the fact that after his sentence, Karen had locked lips with him. Her blonde mane brushing against his forehead as she made out with him, she wrapped her front hooves around his neck and brought him closer, her silver coat pushed against his own scarlet one. After about a minute she pulled back and gasped, the stallion simply looked at her in confusion.

“S-sorry…I just…I miss, Kickback!” she explained. Kickback began to ponder about the mare and the most horrible week of anypony’s life.

“Uhhh…” was all he let out, new to this situation in his new life. Suddenly, Karen’s expression changed from sad to a weird sultry stare.

“Come home with me…” she said. Kickback remained silent as she dragged him by his hoof to an apartment complex. She opened the door and trotted up the stairs with the stallion in tow. She opened another door to her own room of which she gestured for the stallion to enter. Kickback walked in the room with caution, not really sure of himself being in his apparent ex’s home. Karen shut the door behind her and walked over to the stallion, he turned around to face her and protest only to be stopped by the mare once again holding him in a tight kiss. Kickback remained wide eyed as she explored his mouth with her tongue, her eyes closed in pure bliss. She hummed in his mouth as she began to walk forward, Kickback only could walk backwards as she pushed him towards something behind him. He glanced back to see a queen sized bed displayed with several pillows and sheets. Kickback’s eyes dilated as he processed the mare’s intentions nonetheless he didn’t struggle with her though, maybe he was enjoying it. Karen pushed ever so slightly on Kickback’s chest to lay him down on his as she kissed him with passion, he let her do all the work fore this was not his wish but she seemed more than happy to do everything on her own. The stallion kept his eyes open as she passionately kissed him, she broke away to look at the stallion from above with a seductive glance. She leaned in to ear.

“I…reeeeeaaaaaally…missed you…” she whispered. Kickback could only stare wide eyed at the ceiling as she gently and slowly licked his ear, it twitched a bit at her touch. She began placing kisses on his neck, while moving downwards to his chest, to his stomach then proceeding lower. Kickback eventually found himself being either raped or being bucked, Karen did seem to be very much enjoying herself through all their activities but the stallion didn’t know what to think or do for that matter. He just laid there and let his male mind control his body, just because he was technically mostly a virus didn’t mean he wasn’t a stallion, he wasn’t an earth-pony entirely but what Karen didn’t know won’t hurt her. She had started gleefully performing oral sex on the stallion before riding him ever so happily. Kickback could only oblige her as she indulged herself in her little fun time, eventually his darkness giving way to a slightly less dark stallion for him to enjoy himself a little. All the while she moaned and begged him to buck her harder even though technically she was bucking him, he really had no say. That didn’t stop him from letting her finish, she moaned loudly as she reached her climax on top of the stallion and fell ontop of him. She gasped heavily as the stallion looked at her in shock and wonder, her eyes closed and her mouth formed into a smile. She opened her eyes half-way to see the stallion looking down at her, she grinned happily.

“You…never…came…” she said panting. Kickback remained silent. “Do you wanna keep going?” she asked. The stallion thought for a moment upon realising that maybe he didn’t have any sperm anymore and what would happen if he got a mare pregnant, would the child be like him, would she get infected. Nonetheless, she didn’t wait for a reply and simply kept having her way with the scarlet colt.

Kickback lived with Karen for a while, she being apparently being completely in the dark as to what the stallion was. That view was changed one fateful day.

“I’m going out!” Karen said, not being very specific as to exactly where. Kickback didn’t care though.

“Okay…” he replied blankly. Karen smiled at him before exiting the room. Kickback…kicked back as he enjoyed the welcomed loneliness. He closed his eyes happily only for them to be snapped back open by a clanking sound coupled with the sound of gas spraying.

“Oh, shi-” was all he made out as a pink-like gas filled the air and he began to cough violently. He stumbled around to the door to find that it was locked, so were the windows. Kickback thought for a moment before making a decision, he bolted straight into a wall, it broke and Kickback was lunged forward as he jumped towards the nearest building, he landed with a roll and watched as the pink smoke dissipated.

“What the buck was that stuff?” he asked himself. Kickback ‘parkoured’ his way around town in hopes of finding Karen…or Dana. He failed to find either and made his way back to the apartment. He watched from a far building, ponies ranging from cops, to doctors, to guards all looking around the semi-destroyed home of Karen and Kickback. Eventually he saw the mare herself consulting with one of the guards with an angry glare, she was shouting…not about the fact that her home is destroyed but because Kickback wasn’t here…dead. The stallion, with his super-pony senses acquired all the information needed to know that the pink mist was a toxin especially made for himself. That Karen apparently was working for Gentek and was planning this ‘assassination’ for some time. Kickback was speechless…and full of hatred. Kickback followed their convoy of carriages to wherever they were going, they stopped at a building that looked like it would never be used for anything important, she was being hidden. Kickback landed on the roof pf the small building and peaked through the skylight. There she is, casually looking through documents of some kind. Kickback silently dropped to the balcony and opened the glass doors. He crept down the stairs quietly, not catching the mare’s attention. He slowly trotted up to from behind, she was sitting at a desk at the time. Kickback leaned forward to whisper in her left ear the final word she’d ever hear.

“…Hi…” he whispered with a smirk. Karen’s eyes widened as she shot up in fear…then in pain. Kickback’s hoof had transformed into a small, long blade, he drove it into the mare’s back, her expression keeping for a moment before softening into a dazed look. Kickback retracted the blade and turned her around on the revolving chair to look her in the eyes as she died. He lifted her from the chair and laid her down, keeping his hoof on the back her neck, he raised her head up. She raised a hoof to his face and caressed his cheek, she smiled despite the blood dripping from her mouth, she spoke.

“…I-I’m…sorry…” she whispered. Kickback only smiled at her as her heart drummed it’s last beat and the silver earth-pony died right there, in his hooves. Kickback released his grip on her and stood up, her mass being turned to black and red tendrils as he consumed her form, memories of consulting with guards and other ponies about taking of “Zeus”, feelings of love and regret…and her bank account details. He breathed a deep breath before rocketing skyward, bursting through the skylight. Kickback found a nice high building to spend the night awake on as he thought about what to do next. The next day he went to the bank and collected over ten thousand bits from his Karen account. He found that Dana had left town during his time with Karen, whether she’s in Canterlot or dead is not Kickback’s concern at the moment, what is: Is getting out of the city. Kickback found a nice ferry that would take him to Saddle Arabia. He bought his ticket, boarded the boat and headed towards city. The ride was a long one, it took a week for them to port but it was worth it. Kickback once again had a fresh start in a city, though he was all alone. He soon found out after that fateful night that he didn’t as much food, water and sleep to keep going un-like most citizens of Equestria so all those factors were not as important to him as anypony else, this made life easier for the stallion. Good thing too. Kickback had caught wind of several fighting, racing and other physical tests…that got rewarded were being held publicly and not so publicly. He entered and won every event he could find, he’s make un-wanted money, he’d beat the strongest stallion in hoof-wrestling, he’d run faster than anypony ever could. Kickback had made it the longest here in Saddle Arabia, his time coming up to a record of a two years. Eventually he got sick of it, the city, it’s citizens…all were nothing to the stallion anymore, he wanted more, he wanted something else. That’s when he got the idea of travelling. One day he just put up a sign on his home saying.

“You’re welcome inside”

He looked at the sign again and smiled before trotting off towards the docks. A captain of a ship called the Aquilla was gracious enough to allow the stallion to board, Kickback didn’t ask where they were going and simply endured the week’s journey towards the most beautiful land Kickback had laid eyes on. The stallion made a quick home wherever he went from Appleloosa to Canterlot but then one day he walked from the capital city of which the two princesses made their home down to what looked like a large forest before treading off into it, he glanced to the town that was most close to it, he stared for a moment before entering the dark forest, little did he know this is where his next chapter in his life begins.  

The Next Day

When the stallion awoke, he was covered in cold sweat, he was gasping for air, he looked down to see that his right hoof was swarming in his bio-mass. He manipulated the viral substance back into his body, took a deep breath and looked to his left. Applejack was staring up at him with concern in her eyes, most likely she didn’t see the tendrils lapping at his hoof.

“Are yah’ll ok?” she said, in that country accent of her’s.

“Yeah, yeah…Hey, I’m gonna sleep in the barn actually…” he said, still breathing shallowly. Once the words escape his lips, Applejack frowned for a moment is disappointment but slowly replaced with a understanding neutral face.

“Ah understand…Ah’ll be here if ya need anything” she said friendly. Kickback nodded at her at pulled the blanket over so he climb out of the bed and the mare’s embrace. He walked up to the door, opened it and gave Applejack a friendly smirk before proceeding through the Apple house, out the door then making his way to the barn. He opened the large red door to the building and found that nice haystack with ease despite the dark, he had excellent night vision.

He walked up to it and just let his body to fall upon the cushy surface…then he fell in. He decided not to sleep directly on it but rather lean up against it as he slept. That night he relived it all in his mind, the trauma, the agony, the killing all of it was resurfaced in his sub-conscious.

“Will I ever get over that…?” he asked himself before slowly closing his eyes and drifting off into uneasy sleep.

Kickback was awoken by a something being struck hard on his head, he winced as his eyes shot open, he glanced up to see a red stallion. Big Mac had anger and fear in his eyes as he looked down at the stallion, he much resembled the work horse but his coat and eyes were darker shades of red and green compared to his own. Kickback sat there holding his head in pain before his annoyance got the better of him. He stretched out his back legs, put his front hooves on the ground and rotated 360 degrees, tripping over Big Macintosh. The work horse was stunned for a moment, his weight proving that the bigger they are the harder they fall. He fell on his side with a loud thud while Kickback got to his hooves.

“Hey, what the hell, mate?” he asked angrily towards the apple farmer. Big Mac looked up and locked eyes with the scarlet stallion, right then and there Big Mac felt fear, true fear, even if it was only for a second. Big Mac wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but he was wise when it came to things besides ‘fancy mathematics’ and He could tell that this was NOT a stallion to anger. Before either red stallions could speak another word, an orange mare entered the barn.

“Mornin’ Kickback…I hope ya slept wel-” she cut herself off as she saw her brother on his side and her friend standing up straight. “What in tarnation’s going on in here?” she asked angrily.

“Sis, ya know this stallion?” Big Mac said as he got to his own hooves, Kickback noticed the heavy accent coupled with the sheer deepness of his voice, then he noticed his large green apple cutie mark and the fact he called her ‘sis’.

“Big Macintosh, this here’s mah friend, Kickback” she said, gesturing with a hoof towards the dark red earth-pony. Big Mac and Kickback looked at each other, the scarlet stallion noticing that his hooves were orange and he stood a fair amount over him. They stared at each other before they smiled in synchronisation.

“Hey, I guess you’re AJ’s brother, right?” Kickback inquired.

“Eeeyup” Big Mac answered instinctively.

“Well good, now that yah’ll are acquainted…ya wanna tell me what happened before I got here?” Applejack added suspiciously. Big Mac scratched his mane behind his neck before answering.

“Ah uhhh, thought he was…I knocked him on the head and he tripped me…still wondering how but-” Big Mac explained. Applejack looked at the smaller red stallion in what could be called either a neutral look or a surprised look. Kickback just stood there with a blank face.

“Ya must be tough to survive a punch by Big Mac” she inquired. Kickback then took noticed on how all their name’s rhymed, it got a little annoying hearing the same sound every five seconds but he held his tongue. He just smirked at the mare which in turn caused her smile.

“Well uhhh, I’m gonna start for today, got plenty to do” Big Mac said as he casually left his sister and her friend alone in barn. Kickback turned to Applejack of whom did the same, the two stared at each other for a moment before AJ broke the silence.

“Ya sleep well?” she asked.

“Uhhh…I guess…” he said, realising that he slept much better with Applejack despite the nightmare…or was it a memory anyway it was a dream.

“Ya kinda scared meh…what happened last night?”

“I had a nightmare…” he answered.

“Well, dat don’t mean ya had to sleep in the barn” she said as her cheeks turned a light red. Kickback paused for a moment, rethinking why exactly he wanted to sleep in a barn when he had a nice bed and a nice mare to sleep with.

“…How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Fine..” she answered blankly. A silence fell upon the building.

“Well…Thanks a lot, AJ…” he said as he began to walk up to the door. AJ watched him for a moment before proceeding after him and leaving the barn to it’s loneliness.

“Well…see ya later, Applejack” the scarlet said as he stopped to face the mare on his right.

“…yeah, ok, goodbye” she said, her tone switching from at first a disappointed one into a friendly one at her last word. Kickback nodded and smiled at the mare before pressing on into town. Applejack watched the stallion leave for a long moment before walking back into the farm house. AJ saw her little sister, Applebloom, happily eating her breakfast with granny smith in the dining area before spotting her favourite chair in the lounge room and plopping herself down on it. Kickback walked through the now busy streets of Ponyville as he glanced about for anypony he knew, some ponies who had attended the previous night’s get together greeted the stallion on his walk. Kickback had stopped in the fruit market and looked to his right to find a familiar yellow pegasus talking to an old stallion that looked to be explaining something to yellow mare with irritation. Kickback got curious and trotted towards the fruit stand.

“I’m sorry miss, but I can’t just give you all these carrots for ten bits…as you can see the price is double that amount” said a the old, grey pegasus stallion.

“…B-but…I-” she said timidly, not finishing her sentence. Kickback caught wind of the conversation and trotted up to the side of Fluttershy.

“How much?” Kickback asked calmly.

“Twenty bits, sir” the pegasus replied. Kickback noticed the ten bits on the counter, slid them over to the yellow mare of whom had a surprised and confused look on her face. Kickback then placed thirty bits on the counter and smiled. The brown pegasus smiled even wider at the tip and gladly ‘hoofed’ the bags of carrots over to the red stallion. Kickback nodded respectively at the pegasus before turning to a very confused yellow mare, he smiled warmly at her.

“Where do you want these?” he asked, catching the mare’s attention.

“…uhhh, just…in my saddle bags…please” she answered timidly, the scarlet colt obliged and placed the bags of carrots in the mare’s saddlebags. She wore an unsure but grateful small smile that was directed at the red stallion. “Th-thankyou” she added.

“Hakuna Matata…” he replied happily. Fluttershy was left confused.

“W-what?”

“It means ‘No worries’…for the rest of your days” he explained, leaving the yellow mare in a state of understanding.

“Oh…okay…well, goodbye” she said unsurely. Kickback smiled at the pegasus, a gesture that she shyly returned and watched her walk off for a moment before continuing on his own path. Kickback had found that same park bench from yesterday and began to relax as the sounds of the quiet town sang to his ears. Then there really was singing. Kickback shot up when he heard a familiar mare’s voice ringing harmoniously through the streets, he then saw Pinkie walking happily down the road singing a song most likely about herself for the first line had her name in it.

“My name is Pinkie Pie, hello and I am here to say, how ya doin’? I’m gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your dayaya!”

Kickback was shocked to see that the tree that made shade around the park bench was bent over by the pink mare, was she that strong…or just heavy? He thought. He got off his seat and began to follow the pink mare as she sang through the town. She stopped at two foals that looked less than happy, he was stunned at the fact that she technically just kidnapped two fillies then slid down a railing into a cart, with the foals on her back. Kickback noticed that the stallion pulling the cart was the one he met earlier: Big Macintosh, she then leaped from the cart, leaving the two fillies in a the speeding cart of death. Kickback galloped to keep up with the pink mare’s musical number, he couldn’t help but feel he needs to see this. She had stopped at the local primary school and began to play skipping rope with the foals, an orange pegasus with a purple mane stepped in with her then a grey unicorn with a light yellow mane stepped in too. Soon four fillies plus Pinkie were skipping happily as two other foals swung the rope in circular formation. The lyrics and happy display could fill Kickback with joy, he smiled as he continued to follow the pink mare. In the distance a yellow filly with a red mane of which was a large pink bow worn. She had a sad look on her face as she threw another skipping rope to the ground. Pinkie Pie then grabbed the small pony and placed her on her head before jumping up and down with the skipping rope with the filly upon her fairy-floss mane. Kickback smiled at the her action.

The mare had developed a cult at this point as the stallion watched her walk down the streets of Ponyville with six other mares. He followed her back to Sweet Apple Acres where apparently the left side of the barn that he slept in wasn’t painted. Kickback watched her as she technically just painted graffiti on the barn, he chuckled at the painting of the pink mare and a smiling sun. Kickback looked at AJ who wore a blank look, not sure of what to make of it. Kickback made it to a hill top and saw Pinkie reach down over it and pull up another Pinkie…did she have clones? He thought, maybe she did the trick she did last night? He added. She had mad it back into town and this is where things got interesting, the entire town seemed to be joining in, everypony was smiling as they made a smiling legion and walked in synchronisation down the road, Kickback recognised the one on the far right from where he was standing to be Lyra.

This Kickback was good at. The smiling ponies leapt from roof to roof like assassins, Kickback followed easily as urban exploration was his best skill…among other things. Again he spotted Lyra in jumping group. She leapt back down and walked by some political looking ponies before she continued down the road. Kickback watched in amazement as first Fluttershy then Twilight appeared on both her sides then Applejack popped out of nowhere and carried the pink mare down the road as Rarity popped on the far right and Rainbow Dash squeezed in between Fluttershy and AJ. Before he knew it he was in a crowd on the entire town. Confetti flew down from the sky like it was the most normal thing ever. Ponies ranging from every kind made two rows that formed a straight path for the six mares to walk down, it was essentially a random parade. The towns folk began to march, Kickback found himself being pulled into it and started to jog with everypony else, he pulled up along side Lyra and smiled at her, she looked at him happily while singing, the entire town was imbued in Pinkie’s song. Kickback felt the need to sing along no matter what kind of pony he was, Pinkie Pie just seemed to make ponies smile despite everything.

“C’mon everypony, Smile, Smile, Smile” The town’s voice echoed through the streets and the stallion was sure he could hear this from Canterlot if he still there. Ponies from second story buildings opened their windows and began to sing along to the redundant yet addictively catchy song. Pinkie leapt in front of the crowd and Kickback found himself shouting along with everypony that exploded from the hilltop. A large circle was formed with ponies swaying back and forth while singing, each stood on their hind legs and placed their hooves on each other’s shoulders, Kickback remained at Lyra’s right side as they sang with the pink mare in the centre of the large circle. Pinkie stood straight up and the entire crowd sang one last, long note as the final “Smile” was sang. Pinkie turned with a large grin on her muzzle to face the scarlet stallion of whom she noticed following him. He only stared back at her with a smirk.

“Hi!” she greeted happily.

“Hey..” he answered calmly, still keeping his joyous mood “That was quite a song…” he complimented, Pinkie beamed.

“I know, it always makes me smile and that’s because it makes other ponies smile!” she said.

“Yeah…I didn’t know what to think when I was following you…” he said.

“Hey, ya hang out?!” she asked excitedly. The stallion paused.

“…ummm, sure” he said unsurely despite what he said.

“Great, let’s go!” she said happily, Kickback could do nothing despite his god-like-power he was easily grabbed by his hoof and drag to Sugarcube corner, she was quick about it though, she had formed into that iconic pink blur as she sped off to the bakery. Before he knew it…he was baking cupcakes with the pink mare, he didn’t know why but when she said.

“Baking Cupcakes!” in that sing song voice of her’s, he couldn’t help but feel a slight shiver down his spine. That was put aside as the mare bounced around the bakery, grabbing assorted ingredients while the stallion simply watched, she really didn’t give him anything to do to help or anything. Once she had finished baking, Kickback took an experimental bite off one of them, Pinkie beamed in anticipation.

“So…?” she stretched her word questioningly.

“Pretty decent, Pinkie” he said friendly, Pinkie smiled widely at his remark. He then took notice of the state of the kitchen, flour was dispersed everywhere, cracked egg shells littered the floor, he chuckled as the mare giggled along. Kickback looked at the pink mare, they stared at each other for a moment before the stallion broke the silence. “Here…” he said as he place a few bits on the table, he then made sure that Pinkie wouldn’t be able to protest by walking to the door “Thanks, Pinkie, see ya” he waved at the confused but still grinning mare in the bakery. He walked about for a bit before spotting a familiar whit unicorn with empty saddlebags and a sad look on her face as she walked. Kickback walked up to Rarity.

“Hey…” he greeted.

“…oh, hello darling” she responded unsurely.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh…I was supposed to collect diamonds today but Spike is apparently on royal Canterlot business and can’t help me” she explained, leaving a confused red stallion before her.

“Ok…why do you need this ‘Spike’?…wait, isn’t that Twilight’s assistant or something?” he said, remembering what he was told yesterday.

“I prefer NOT to get my hooves dirty, thankyou very much” she responded in an irritated tone, which annoyed the scarlet colt.

“Diamonds…you don’t like digging...I guess you make Spike do it for you” he stated observantly. “…Maybe I can help you” he added, catching the unicorn’s attention.

“Really?” she said excitedly, her eyes lighting up.

“Sure, all I gotta do is dig, right?” he asked, she nodded “Alright, lead the way” he added.

The two had stopped at the outskirts of town, Rarity’s horn glowed a cyan colour and she began to move her head around close to the ground. Kickback watched as she acted illegibly like a metal detector, eventually several jewel were presented through transparent dirt, she smiled.

“There, right there” she said, the stallion looked at blankly then back at the ground.

“Alright, stand back” he instructed, Rarity looked puzzled as she began to step backwards, when she was far enough, Kickback raised his right hoof and brought it straight down. A cloud of dust was emitted but when it cleared, a crater that was filled with jewels was presented to the white unicorn. She smiled when she saw the pile but when she glanced at the stallion who had a blank look on his face she was quite confused as to his methods of ‘digging’.

“Shall we continue?” he asked, Rarity levitated the gems into her left saddlebag and began to scope the area once. Each time she would find a stash, the stallion would use a different method getting them out but she didn’t care too much. An hour past with the two looking for the precious mineral.

“…I think that’s it, Rarity” he said after watching the unicorn frantically look around for more for about ten minutes.

“No, no, no…there has to be more” she whined, the stallion let out a bored sigh as he continued to follow her. Then a light bulb lit up in his head.h

“Is there a dragon’s den around here?” he asked, Rarity shot up and looked at him with shock and confusion…then she began to think.

Goliath Slayer

“…Darling…you’re not possibly thinking that we should go into a dragon’s cave and steal his precious gems…are you?” Rarity asked, a little concerned for the stallion’s and her own safety. He was right though, the area was baron of any jewels for the time being, it was an idea to ponder but after pondering one could be hesitant.

“Ya have another idea?” he asked. Rarity thought a moment.

“…IDEAAA!!” she sang. “I know some old friends from around here, they should have the jewels I require” she added happily. Kickback looked at, wondering who she had meant.

“Alright…where are these ponies?” he asked. Rarity paused a moment.

“…Dogs…” she corrected blankly. Kickback stared at her, connecting the dots. Jewel riddled area plus they’re dogs plus she said they had gems…Diamond Dogs he thought.

“Alright…so, where do find ‘em?” he asked, chuckling a small bit. Rarity thought about his calm attitude towards the same creatures that had frightened her immensely…at first.

“Follow me, darling” she said happily as she turned in the direction of what looked like a large mine shaft. The two reached the mouth and began to venture inside, all the while, Rarity looked concerned.

“What’s up, Rarity? You seem…” he managed before she cut him off.

“See these cave walls, dear?…they should to be swarming with jewels…but they’re not” she said, a little more than a hint of disappointment, curiosity and worry in her tone. The white unicorn and red earth-pony pressed on, downwards through the mine until they came across a junction that held over six ways to go.

“Which way..?” he asked blankly. Rarity put a hoof to her chin, Kickback saw frustration in her eyes.

“..uhhhhh…ummm” she let out nervously. Thankfully or not so thankfully, they heard a noise coming from the tunnel on the far left. They looked at each other and nodded before galloping into the mine. Kickback kept his powers in check as he knew Rarity of all ponies wouldn’t be able to keep up…nopony else could but the point remains. As they drew closer, the sound became more clear, it was sound of sobbing, a deep voice and two very raspy ones.

They came to the end of the tunnel and found a plaza like area, the two glanced about for the sound of crying. As they continued to walk forward, it got louder, they turned to their right to see three dogs sobbing while huddling together next to a pillar. The tallest one opened his eyes and immediately growled.

“We don’t have anymore, GO AWAY!” he yelled angrily and sadly before he began to cry along with the others again.

“Pardon?” Rarity questioned, a little offended.

“He said: We don’t have any more jewels, okay?” the lankiest one spoke up, Kikcback immediately hated his scratchy voice. The alpha dog then saw the red stallion accompanying his worst enemy.

“Oh and she brought a male” he said observantly. Rarity looked back at the scarlet colt and smiled before glaring back at the dogs.

“What ever do you mean: you have no jewels?” she interrogated. The dogs sniffed simultaneously.

“We were robbed”

“More like we gave them away”

“And now we have nothing!” the smallest dog added. The three whimpered.

“Who took them?” Kickback said, stepping up along side Rarity.

“It was…a DRAGON!!” they screamed in synchronisation and horror. Kickback looked at Rarity who stared back, he chuckled before looking at the pathetic dogs.

“What was his name…and where can I find him?” he questioned, everyone had a look of confusion and shock on the faces.

“He’s…he lives in a cave in the Everfree forest” the tallest answered “He didn’t mention a name…” the bulkiest added. Kickback nodded.

“Alright…when I’m done, I’ll bring back some of your wealth…seeing how pathetic you are” he said coldly before turning around and heading back to the way out. Rarity looked at him walk to the tunnel, he looked back. “Are ya coming?” he asked, Rarity paused before looking back at her past capturers and smiled warmly before catching up with the stallion.

“That wasn’t very nice, Kickback” she said.

“I know…but I spoke my mind” he said calmly. The two made it out the mine, Kickback continued to walk as Rarity stopped in her tracks, he glanced back to find the unicorn not following him anymore. “What’s up?” he asked. Rarity remained silent as she stared at the ground. “Oh…I see, you’re afraid of the dragon, aren’t you?” he questioned, chuckling. Rarity shot up and stared at him a slight blush.

“No…uhhh, I just…yes” she explained, ashamed.

“Well, what do you wanna do, then?” he asked calmly. Rarity stared at him, unsure to answer his question.

“I still need some more gems…let’s go” she said, trotting off towards the forest. Kickback stared as she walked, not understanding the emotions of this particular unicorn. He chuckled and followed before taking point. The two walked in silence for a long while, the journey into the forest was unpleasant due to the sheer thickness of it all and Rarity’s whining was also a sign that it must’ve been bad. The two remained silent as they came upon a large cave mouth. The two stood still and glazed their sight over the entrance, they looked at one another, Rarity showing more fear and concern in her eyes than the stallion’s.

“You wanna just wait here?” he asked.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, answering his question with a question.

“I’m gonna get your jewels…” he said calmly. Rarity blushed slightly.

“Ok darling, I suppose I’ll just wait here, then” she said, satisfied with the stallion’s confidence. She hoofed over the saddlebags and placed them upon the stallion, he smirked and walked into the lair. Inside was dark, it only got hotter as he approached the massive sleeping reptilian creature that laid upon thousands upon thousands of gems of all kinds. It snored loudly as it slept, gushing out smoke from it’s nostrils, Kickback began to collect from the pile, grabbing a hoof full of jewels and placing them in Rarity’s saddlebags.

“Easier than I thought…I thought for sure I’d have to kill the thing” he said to himself, chuckling. Soon the bags were full and heavy, he trotted back outside to see a smiling Rarity ready to greet and thank him. “Here ya go…” he said as he hoofed over the saddlebags.

“why, thank you darling” she replied happily, taking the saddlebags in her hooves and placing them on her back. She smiled gratefully as Kickback smirked at her in return before he began to trot out the way they, knowing Rarity would follow soon after. She paused as she stared at him walking into the trees, he was out of clear sight before she began to walk herself.

“Kickback, wait!” she yelled, once those words left her lips, an angry growl emitted from behind her. She gulped and slowly turned around to a pair of enraged yellow eyes glaring at her in hatred. It’s scales a shade cyan, the spikes upon his head were a contrasting red, he glanced at the saddlebags she wore and immediately recognised her cargo. Rarity was petrified as she stared in horror at the beast, it grit it’s teeth as it stared back. Kickback was happily walking through the forest, thinking that the unicorn was close behind…then he heard a loud roar emit from behind him accompanied by a high pitch scream. The scarlet stallion whipped around to see a white, feminine figure though the trees looking away from him and staring up, in front of her was a shade of light blue, the dragon’s underbelly. Without hesitation he bolted for the dragon.

“Damnit, I knew I would have to do this!” he said to himself. The dragon lowered an open claw to pick up the terrified unicorn, she screamed louder as it got closer, she looked to the direction of the stallion to see him sprinting towards her, her expression changed from scared to hopeful as he drew closer, faster than the dragon’s palm. Kickback leapt at Rarity, grabbed her with his hooves and dived her out of the way. She landed atop of him before the two scrambled to their hooves, Kickback stood up faster as Rarity still tried to get up. “GO!! Rarity, GO!” he yelled, Rarity gave it no thought and obliged, she ran into the forest, once she was out of sight, Kickback looked up and smiled as the dragon glared at him from above, it let out a loud roar as his opposite claw lunged for the stallion. Kickback dove out of the way before bolting to it’s lowered appendage, it raised slightly off the ground as the stallion jumped onto the back of it’s claw, the dragon was enraged as he watched the stallion run up his arm, the stallion smiled as his viral bio-mass began to swarm his body. He stood up on his back legs and ran awkwardly on them as he felt his body contort in the all too familiar unnatural matter. The dragon, being a semi-sentient being looked confused and baffled at the stallion as the unknown nature of his action proved to be shocking to the dragon. The tendrils around his forelegs gave way to reveal large stone-like hooves, he smirked as he reached the dragon’s neck. He climbed upwards and jumped so he was now level with the dragon’s scaly head. He pulled back and lunged forward, his hammer-fist contacted hard with the dragon’s muzzle. It closed it’s eyes in shock and pain as his head swivelled to the side due to the heavy force of the strike. The dragon opened his eyes away from the scarlet colt, gritted it’s teeth as it let out an audible growl through it’s sharp teeth. It faced the stallion again who had landed on the ground with loud thud, it roared as it’s fist crashed down on the stallion, it raised it’s hand to reveal a transformed red stallion in pain, lying in a fist shaped crater. Kickback got up and now had pure hatred for the reptilian monster, he looked up to see it was preparing for a similar attack, he sprinted through the dragon’s legs which in turn confused and irritated the monster. He jumped on it’s tail and began to climb up the scaly surface of the dragon’s skin, his body began to morph once more. When he reached the dragon’s neck again he jumped, this time higher than the dragon’s head, he right foreleg had twisted into a large, viciously sharp blade, complete with same eerie red-orange glow. He smiled devilishly as the force of gravity brought him down, he stretched his transformed limb outwards and connected with the back of the dragon’s scaly neck. It let out a pained roar as Kickback slid down causing a large scar to be formed on it’s skin, he placed his back legs on the dragon’s surface as his blade continued to slice the beast down. He reached it’s mid-back before he jumped off with his back legs and landed on the ground with cocky yet evil smirk as he looked at his work, the dragon roaring in pain as it reached it back with a claw. Blue blood began to spill out, almost invisible as it poured on the dragon’s cyan scales. The dragon looked behind him to the stallion staring back confidently, it let out another growl as the two locked green and yellow eyes.

Finally the dragon growled…in defeat. It opened it’s large wings and began to flap hard, the stallion could barely stand his ground due to new heavy wind force. The dragon had left the ground…but not high enough as it seems, Kickback was not one for quitting. He ran after the dragon and jumped. He landed on the end of it’s tail as it took to the sky, it flew away from any pony folk, thank Celestia, Kickback thought. He began to fight the wind as he climbed up to the dragon’s head once more, he had morphed his forelegs into his signature claws which in turn became great climbing tools and hurt the dragon all the while. When he reached the base of the neck, he reverted his right foreleg back into the blade, keeping the claw on the left hoof. He used it as a pick-axe- like climbing tool, stabbing deeply into the dragon’s skin. He made his way to the head itself, he stood on hind legs, raised the blade skywards and brought it straight down on the dragon’s forehead, Kickback knew this was nearly over. He jumped on it’s snout and violently pushed his clawed appendage into the dragon’s left eye, it roared in sheer agony as blood spilt over the mutant stallion’s ‘arm’. He jumped back on it’s head and smiled.

“C’MON!!” he yelled as he leapt off it’s head. He span around in mid-air before aiming his blade at the directly at where the head meets the neck of the dragon. With one fell slash, the dragon staggered in the air, Kickback continued to fall and watched from below the dragon’s head slowly coming undone. The body fell fast, nearly hitting the falling stallion, from above he heard it land with a loud crash that could probably be heard for miles and cause a slight tremor. He then noticed the head, wide eyed and open jawed plummeting in the same fashion. Kickback felt disgust as he saw the blood in the sky and on the ground. The head landed shortly before the stallion did, his powers had retracted and now he looked somewhat normal again but after what he just did, he really didn’t feel like a pony anymore, the past few days made him regain some ‘ponyanity’ but never full.

“Fus…roh…bucking dah, bitch…” Kickback mocked at the dead monster. The stallion tired and in pain made his way back to cave mouth, he wobbled as he walked, ever so often leaning up against a tree to keep balance. He peeked around a tree to find the white unicorn had returned with her five other friends, all of them seemed to have very sad faces and were dead silent. Rarity started to sob in her hooves, Kickback noticed tears welling up in the eyes of AJ and Rainbow Dash as he drew closer. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight all tried comfort the white unicorn but to slight avail. Kickback decided to speak although through a pained voice.

“What’s up, everypony?” he greeted quietly. Every mare looked back to see an exhausted scarlet stallion smiling at them.

“Well…ah’ll be damned” Applejack let out as she stared at the colt with tears in her eyes. Without warning Rainbow Dash flew over to the stallion and hugged him, more tightly than he’s like.

“Omigosh, we thought you were-!” she cut herself off, still gripping the stallion in her hooves. He chuckled.

“Good to see you too, Dash” he said jokingly, causing her pull back and chuckle herself, he noticed the tears in her eyes as she stared at him with a smile. Rarity galloped to the stallion and pulled him into her own embrace, she didn’t speak, only sobbed on his shoulder, he felt warm tears on his neck as she hugged him tightly. He smiled and nodded at the other mares silently a gesture that they gladly took as a greeting. After a long moment of Kickback doing his best to comfort the white mare, she pulled back and stared into his dark green eyes.

“What happened?” Rarity asked, concerned for the stallion.

“I got away..” he replied, he didn’t dare tell the real story of how he initially slayed a dragon.

“Where is it now?” she asked.

“Somewhere…” he answered blankly, not thinking of something convincing to say on his way here. She didn’t seem to care though. The seven equines trotted into the forest in order to get back into town, as Ponyville became visible a light bulb went off in his head.

“Hey…does anypony have a spare cart?” he asked to nopony in particular. They stopped and turned to him, he had walking at the back as he was more tired than he’d like to be.

“Ah got one…why?” AJ replied.

“Well, I’m gonna need something to get those gems” he said blankly, each mare looked at him in confusion and shock.

“You can’t be serious” Dash said.

“T-that scary dragon will be even more angry” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Besides darling, I have enough” Rarity added.

“That dragon doesn’t worry me anymore…” he said, a slight cryptic tone accompanying his voice.

“Why?” Twilight asked curiously.

“He’s not around anymore…” he replied calmly. The mares were now entirely confused.

“Where’d he go?” Applejack asked.

“Well, he’s not in the Everfree anymore…” he answered blankly “…I did say I would return some to those dogs anyway…or we could just be a little more rich” he said, not really caring about either option but he thought that he should let ‘em know about the huge deposit of diamonds the dragon kept.

Later that day.

Kickback had regained his full strength before he had gone into the forest with the six mares, all equipped with carts and were heading into the cave, they loaded up more diamonds than they had seen before into their carts and eventually got ’em all. They were heavy as hell but that just meant they were filled to the brim with valuable minerals. They made it back to town with everypony staring, wide eyed at the sparkly rocks the seven were carrying. They parked them near Rarity’s home and business and turned to one another.

“Woowee, mah back’s killing meh” AJ complained as she cracked her back. Apparently by this point everypony had somewhere to before sick of each other’s company for now. Each mare said their goodbyes and began to trot off in their own directions, leaving Kickback and Rarity at the entrance of the Boutique.

“Well…goodbye darling” Rarity said as she opened the door. Kickback paused but smiled at her “Hang a moment…do you have somewhere to be?” she said.

“No…” he said flatly.

“Do… you want to come inside?” she asked friendly, catching the stallion’s attention.

“Uhhh, why not?” he stated as he walked in through the opened door.

Inception

The scarlet stallion glanced around the porcelain home of the white mare, noticing several mannequins with gorgeous ensembles placed upon them. Then the smell hit him and immediately made him feel nauseous, the room seemed like it was emitting a poisonous gas specifically made for the stallion, strong aromas of all kinds filled his nostrils, he coughed a bit which made Rarity look at him in surprise.

“Are you alright, darling?” she asked.

“…Fine…fit as a filly” he replied. She smiled at him as she continued to walk through the building. She trotted through an archway with the red colt following and he recognised the room as a sought of dining area, where the window was, there stood a small table and two chairs, one of which he watched the white unicorn sit in before taking the opposite seat. She grinned.

“So….Kickback…tell me about yourself” she said, staring at the red colt as she rested her head on her hooves while her front knees rested on the table. Kickback paused as a flood of visions passed through his mind, he was definitely not gonna tell her the whole truth.

“…Well, what do ya wanna know?” he asked for better detail, she smiled.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“…Manehatten” he said blankly, wondering if that was his place of birth…it technically was but probably not his first.

“Oh, really? I heard it’s wonderful there” she stated which made the stallion chuckle a bit under his breath.

“What do you do? You must do something well paying” she inquired.

“Nothing…I’m kinda in between jobs right now but I think I can retire early” he joked with a smirk.

“Applejack told me about what you did yesterday and I think that was one of the most nicest things I’ve known a stallion to do” she added. Kickback immediately thought of the word ‘sexist’ by this point but held his tongue. He then saw her expression, she seemed to be in thought as she gazed over his form.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“No…thanks” he answered with a smirk while waving a hoof to dismiss the thought of the unicorn making him something to eat or offering the fridge to him. A silence fell upon the room, the stallion never really started a conversation but never minded one when the time was alright but it wasn’t an awkward silence, the two just sat there in companionship. Suddenly, Rarity spoke up.

“Follow me” she said, getting off her seat and trotting towards the archway. He did as asked and followed the unicorn through the building then up a flight of stairs, into a hallway. She opened the door at the end of it and walked inside with Kickback in tow. He glanced around a moment, noticing the room’s theme, a bed several mannequins, bright and dark coloured fabric, sewing machines…a large bed. He chalked it up that this must be either her bedroom or work room, she did mention the other night that she ran a boutique, made and sold ‘fabulous’ clothes all over Equestria as she put it. Before he could speak, her horn glowed and a measuring tape stretched across his width and height, she beamed as all of the data she required was given.

“…Rarity, what are you doing?” he asked in confusion.

“Well, I simply must make you an ensemble” she said happily, Kickback groaned.

“…ugh, really?…Well, can you at least take my ideas into account?” he said in a groggy tone. She looked back at him with a hint of worry in her expression, Kickback had no idea about the last time she made something that the client specifically asked for so it was only natural that he wouldn’t understand the uncertainty in her large, beautiful blue eyes.

“Ummm, I suppose that wouldn’t hurt…” she said unsurely.

“I’m guessing you want something…casual, correct?” she added. Kickback thought a moment on what he would like, the word ‘casual’ springing to mind gave an idea. After a moment, he thought of something. He passed his plan over which seemed to satisfy the mare as she pictured him with his idea, she began to work, it wasn’t a complicated design so it didn’t take too long. Dark grey and black fabric flew around the room as the mare worked, threading together the stallion’s vision.

When she was finished, Kickback walked up to mannequin of which  was used to fit a stallion’s build, he place a hoof on the left shoulder and sighed, this was perfect for him. In silence Kickback removed the outfit from the blank pony and threw it on himself, Rarity stared at him as he place the final feature of his clothing upon his head. Kickback looked up under his hood and smiled devilishly, he didn’t know hwy though, he just felt like this suit brought himself out. He snickered as he looked down at himself, Rarity brought out a mirror and showed his reflexion. He wore a initially a black cloak upon a hooded shirt…or the pony equivalent of one, the first layer had sleeves that covered down to his forelegs and a hood that he was wearing upon his head. The second layer’s sleeves went half way down his forelegs and it depicted a certain symbol on his back, he turned to find a red version of his own cutie mark, he smirked.

“Thanks, Rarity…” he let out causing the mare to gladly smile.

“Not a problem, darling, it certainly does fit you…perhaps one day I can make you a suit, formal attire never hurt anypony” she said. Kickback thought a moment…realising that he had discovered a long time ago that he’d never have to buy or get a new set of clothes again nor did he prefer that to just going bare back but the unicorn did an excellent job at capturing his idea. Several hours passed with the two ponies hanging out in the boutique, every now and again there was silence, then talking, the occasional laugh then companionship silence again. Kickback noticed the occasional stare the mare gave him when he wasn’t looking or if he was staring back.

“Rarity?!” a voice echoed through the Boutique, a familiar accented voice to both ponies that were still in Rarity’s work/inspiration/bed room.

“Up here!” Rarity exclaimed to the mare downstairs. The sound of hoof steps could be heard as they got closer to the door, it opened to reveal an iconic orange mare.

“Heya Rarity, I was wondering if ya seen-” she cut herself off as she saw the red stallion. She stared for a bit as he stared back with a smirk, Applejack glanced at his new clothes before smiling warmly at him. “…never mind” she let out.

“Hey, AJ…what’s up?” he said friendly towards the apple farmer.

“Ah was just looking for ya, actually…ah wanted to know if you’re coming down to the farm again?” she said, blushing a slightly.

“…Well, I don’t know of anywhere else…” he said, not at all considering where he was going to sleep tonight.

“You…you’re sleeping at Applejack’s farm again, are you?” Rarity asked nervously. Kickback turned to her with a blank face.

“…I don’t know” he answered “What’s the time?…7:39…hmmm” he added, not really talking to anypony in particular.

“Well, ya can swing by later or we could go now” Applejack said with a smile. Rarity hummed.

“…Or…you could sleep here” she chimed. Orange mare and red stallion alike looked at her in confusion.

“Uhhhh, where would I?” he asked.

“Well, ya can’t sleep the same way ya did at the farm” she said, the second the words left her lips, she blushed. Rarity looked at her in friend in confusion.

“Didn’t you sleep in the barn, darling? Dreadful place to sleep” she said, shivering at the unsanctioned nature of such a night’s rest.

“…Well, half the night I did” he said, causing an even deeper blush on the earth pony beside him and a more confused look on Rarity. He looked between both with a calm look.

“Whatever do you mean?” Rarity asked, Applejack coughed.

“Ah yeah, I gotta get home for suppa…uhhh, see ya Rarity, goodbye Kickback” Applejack said nervously before rocketing out of the boutique.

“What was-..?” was all Rarity managed as the sheer confusion gripped her mind.

“I dunno…but where would I sleep if I were to stay here?” he asked again. Rarity turned to him.

“I have a spare mattress or the couch or-..” she cut herself off. Kickback recognised her claim and smiled in understanding.

“It’s fine…I’ll just take the barn again” he said with a smile causing Rarity to welt a bit at his words.

“Ummm, alright” she said with a frown. The rest of the evening went by slowly after that little ordeal, so much so Kickback felt that it was now time for him to leave.

“*Yawn* alright, Rarity…Imma head off” he said through a tired voice and yawns. Rarity looked back at him and smiled.

“Goodnight” she said happily. Kickback nodded before turning, walking through the building and exiting the store. Ponyville was dark at this hour along with the quiet nature of nopony outside bustling around made it feel like a genuine ghost town. Kickback walked through it though without a complaint or difficulty and within a few minutes a sound caught his ears. It was faint at first but as he got closer to his original destination it got louder, bright lights could be seen from around the corner. He turned to his left to find a house, windows glowing brightly of blue, green and purple. Loud music was playing from within and Kickback could be slightly concerned for the rest of town and their sleep patterns. He stared at the house for a moment before continuing on his path. The sound of a door swinging open and banging against a wall could be heard before the blaring lights shone out of the building’s entry’s archway.

“HEY!!!” a female voice called out, catching the stallion’s attention, he turned around to see an excited looking and familiar white unicorn mare standing at the now opened doorway of the loud building with a hoof place on the door while looking at him with a large smile, her eyes were covered by purple tinted sunnies. Her mane and voice immediately gave it away for Kickback, it was Vinyl Scratch and she apparently wanted to have something to do with him. He turned his body and smiled at her as he stood in the distance.

“Hey, Kickback! Come on inside!!” she yelled in a happy tone. Kickback took a step forward.

“Sorry, Vinyl! I kinda got somewhe-!” was all he could manage before she cut him off.

“Oh c’mon!!” she whined loudly.

“I-” she cut him off again.

“C’mon” she repeated in the same tone but a slight bit more drawn out and exaggerated. Kickback felt his annoyance rise but as it did a feeling of joy crept through his mind. Maybe “joy” wasn’t the best word, he felt glad that somepony would actually want to spend time with him and the look she was giving him as she whined was rather adorable, he couldn’t deny. Kickback trotted up to the mare and smiled, she beamed back at him as he approached and stopped to look down at her before he walked inside with Vinyl following as she closed he door once again.

Inside was not what he was expecting, no guests, no ponies of any kind were inside. He glanced around the building to avail, nopony was around, it appeared to be just her. Vinyl walked up to him, he looked at her in confusion.

“Where is everypony?” he asked, somewhat concerned that the mare might just be a little lonely.

“What pony? It’s just me” she said calmly “Well me and you now” she added with a grin.

“Didn’t I hear you had a roommate?” Kickback inquired.

“Yeah but she’s out of town right, so I’m all alone tonight” she explained. She walked into a room with the stallion following, inside was the source of it all the bazaar lighting the noise all emitted from this room, it looked like this was the lounge room due to couch and several recliners. She trotted towards a stereo and turned down the volume before looking back at Kickback with a sheepish grin.

“So, Vinyl…what’s up?” he asked unsurely.

“Nothing, just wanted a little company” she said cheerfully “Ya wanna drink?” she asked.

“Yeah, thanks” he replied with smirk. Vinyl Scratch went to what looked like a kitchen an before he knew she was back in front of him, levitating a can. He smiled at her as she cracked it open and flew it over towards him, he gripped it in one hoof and took a swig, the taste was decent enough so he was more than happy to drink it up gratefully.

“So, what do ya wanna do?” she asked excitedly. Kickback was left confused.

“I thought…You asked me inside…I thought you wanted to do something” he pointed out.

“Oh, right, I-…uhhh” she stuttered, Kickback smirked at her, a gesture that she acknowledged with her own smile. Eventually they started up a conversation, one of which was spent with always a drink in hoof, the occasional laugh that the two shared, the fun-facts they told about themselves, Vinyl talking about the life of a DJ with a cello playing roommate and Kickback talking in little detail about his time in Manehatten and Saddle Arabia. Still after all this time, he didn’t know where he was born and raised up until that damn city maybe it was Manehatten but he couldn’t be sure. As to his sister, her status was still unknown, that much was told to the mare beside him. Time went on quickly and soon, he realised it but Vinyl apparently didn’t care that it was midnight.

“Uhh, Vinyl Scratch…I think it’s time for me to-” was all he could get out before she cut him off.

“Go to bed? Octavia’s room’s upstairs” she said happily, leaving Kickback in a very confused state, she had mentioned that her friend Octavia was a famous cello player that lived with her but apparently she was thinking that he was going to spend the night here.

“What?” he asked in confusion, Vinyl wilted a bit at his question.

“You are staying here aren’t ya? It’s kinda late” she said.

“Uhh, I was heading to where I was going to sleep…but then you invited me inside” he explained.

“Ohh okay…so…” she said, sounding a little unsure.

“So…ahh what the hell, I guess I’ll crash here” he said, causing Vinyl’s expression to light up.

“Cool, follow me” she said excitedly. She got up and proceeded through the house with Kickback in tow, she led him up a flight of stairs, turned into a hallway and came to a stop at door. She opened only to slam it closed again, she wore a nervous smile as she looked at him, he wore a confused look as he stared back.

“Uhhh, well…looks like that’s not an option” she said nervously.

“What do ya mean?”

“Ummm, looks like Octavia got here right under my nose, probably when I went out” she said, chuckling nervously.

“So…she’s in there? Okay, guess I’ll head back to the farm” he said calmly causing the unicorn to shoot up in surprise.

“What? No, I mean ummm” she stuttered, Kickback smirked.

“I think I know what you’re thinking…and that’s okay…thanks for inviting me inside” he said happily. He turned and began to walk the way they came with a worried and somewhat disappointed unicorn following, down the hall, down the stairs except he stopped at the front door instead, Vinyl looked at him with a face that could be described as sad.

“Okay, I guess I’ll see ya later then” she said quietly. Kickback smiled at her. “Hey…how’s about a hug?” she suggested much like in Jim Neighrey is his film “Dumb and Dumber”. He stepped up to her, her forelegs spread wide as she stood on her hind legs, Kickback got up and wrapped his limbs around her, a motion that she herself did aswell. They separated, each with a smile on their muzzles as the scarlet stallion left the home of the local DJ.

The night sky was dark but emitted a slight tone blue as the stars lit up the darkness. The stallion’s white portion of his mane and tail glowed among the shadows, same could not be said for his dark red coat and the rest of his mane and tail. Twas not a problem for this particular pony though as to vision was exceptionally better then the average equine. The walk through the apple trees became a rather peaceful one, every now and again, he would glance at the nearly invisible, delicious red fruit that sprouted all over the orchard. Kickback began to think to himself, occasionally letting it slip out through his lips.

“…nah, I couldn’t do that….I won‘t, never…hehehe, like that’ll happen…Celestia, I hope I sleep tonight” he said to himself. Eventually he found the red building, he pried it open, found a comfy spot amongst the hay and drifted into sleep. Once again, he was plagued by nightmares, scenes playing out from his memory.

“Kickback! What happened to your cutie mark?” Dana asked as he got up, she caught a quick glimpse of his right flank.

“What? My what?” as he said that, a pain rushed through his head, he put a hoof to it as he was shown images, visions, knowledge of this ‘cutie mark’ and how he got his, how his sister got his, how his friend’s got his, the ponies he’s consumed cutie mark tales and their friend’s stories aswell. It was all too much for, he staggered a bit before regaining stability. He looked down at his flank and immediately the shock hit him dead square in the muzzle. It wasn’t his. The mark on his flank, the mark that represents a pony’s special talent or quality wasn’t his own. It was different, entirely different, no longer was it a DNA structure, he was a biologist after all. It was a symbol of some kind it looked like a tattoo, blue and looked somewhat like a crude symbolic cave painting of a phoenix. He sat down as Dana approached him slowly. Suddenly the scene was wiped clear as a faint echoed through the scarlet stallion’s mind. Just as quickly another vision could be seen, one where Kickback was standing in a crowd, a guitarist was on a stage. The stallion wore a makeshift black cloak around him and his face was one of pure determination. Once the show ended, the musician made his way backstage, Kickback followed indirectly by climbing up some scaffolding and watching him from above. The musician was a blue unicorn mare, she entered a room, the red colt dropped down silently and entered it. There she was, sitting on her bed facing away from him. Kickback jumped in the air and dove towards her, she almost let out a scream but failed as she was stabbed in the chest by a hooded figure. What was her murder weapon was unclear, she looked down to see her blood, dripping over some kind of black appendage that formed a sharp end, she followed the limb up to the shoulder and recognised pony fur, dark red fur. She looked up at his face which was now pulled back by it’s owner, he stared at her and removed his hood, his face showing a deep level of sadness and sorrow. He morphed his hoof back into view which in turn removed the blade from the blue mare. He laid her down on the bed and lifted her head up to see him.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered sadly. “…But I promise this wasn’t by choice and I will kill the stallion that forced me to do this, you have my word” he added. The unicorn at him before finally her breathing stopped and her eyes stared half lidded at the ceiling. Kickback gave a deep sigh before he reluctantly ‘ate’ the unicorn mare. He told the truth though. A long time ago, Kickback got a call, a disguised voice told him that if he didn’t work as a personal and unpaid hitman, he would release his little secret upon Equestria. Some targets had good reasons, others did not, about a five or so ponies, griffins, even a Minotaur were beings that he had to kill. Eventually, he met him, not that he knew, Kickback had found him. Apparently his name was Cross, Red Cross, Kickback not only got revenge but kept himself hidden and hopefully for a good long time after that. Once again the vision was gone, Kickback found himself in a forest of some kind, standing on a tall branch. He instantly knew what part of his past this was fore it was only (technically) two days ago. This was different though, when the memory of hitting the ground from a short tree had ended, a figure approached, a mare. She wore a cloak, much to Kickback’s surprise he was wearing his own hooded attire. The mare’s eyes glowed an eerie white as she smiled at him all the while trotting towards him through the trees. She entered the small clearing with him and removed her before smiling at him. She had a dark coat, her horn extending proudly upon her head, her lighter blue mane waved elegantly, her aqua rimmed eyes stared at him. Kickback noticed the black tiara that she wore, his eyes followed down to her torso, she possessed wings. Wings + horn + tiara = Princess, more specially, Princess Luna, lord on the night and Celestia’s younger sister. Kickback felt it unnecessary to bow as she looked down at him, he was almost as tall as her.

“So…what do owe the honour, your majesty?” Kickback said casually. Luna smiled.

“Please, call me Luna and as princess of the night, it is my duty to enter your dreams” she said, her voice was soothing.

“Oh, like Freddy Kruger? Or more like Leo Dicaprio?” he said, joking of course getting a slight giggle from the princess as he chuckled himself.

“Oh yes, THIS IS GOODDD!!” she said, mimicking one of the scenes from the movie, causing small laughter to be shared between the two. Although the way she raised a hoof at him, pretending it was the gardening sheers Freddy wore on his in the movie made Kickback feel a little uneasy as to mentioning or the very idea of ‘claws’ but he kept to himself.

“You’re waiting for a train…” she said, moving up alongside the stallion in a mysterious voice “A train that will take you far away…” she added, now staring into Kickback’s eyes.

“You’re not sure where the train will take you but you can’t know for sure…” they continued in unison.

“But it doesn’t matter…” Luna said.

“Now tell me why?” Kickback added, a smile crossing his face as he they continued their theatrics.

“Because we’ll be together!!” they finished in synchronisation. The two cloaked ponies laughed with one another for a while, their hoods down and their smiles visible. They sat down together and gazed at the sky, still keeping their smiles.

“So Luna…how ya been?” he asked.

“Rather good, thankyou and you?”

“Alright…” he answered blankly. The two turned their attention the stars, her stars, the night sky she crafted every night, that thought got Kickback thinking “Is this your doing? Or is this just my sub-conscious’s work?” he asked curiously, Luna smiled at him.

“This is your work…but it’s based on mine” she said in an assuring tone. After a while, a light began to rise on the horizon.

“Looks like it’s time”

“Time for what?” he asked in confusion.

“Time to wake up” she said calmly with a smile. As the words left her lips, the image of her was erased as in the physical world, Kickback’s eyes shot open, he glanced around the barn to find that Big Mac nor Applejack was in with him, giving him some peace. He laid back down and relaxed as he thought to himself

Time Goes By

The door to the large red structure opened as an orange hoof prodded it aside. Applejack’s head poked in, hoping to find the same stallion lying there on the hay stack and not standing above her brother. Her look was one of confusion and relief as she noticed the barn was empty when it came to pony life.

“…Kickback?” she asked, hoping to get a response.

“Up here” an slightly accented voice called from above. Applejack poked her head out of the door way and looked up. There he was, standing on a wooden protrusion, the same one as her cousin, the one that was afraid of heights. She smiled up at him as he returned the gesture, then it hit her.

“What in the hay are ya doin’ up there?” she asked in confusion.

“Nothing, just a great view” he said casually. Applejack felt her cheek’s warmth for a moment, the implications were vague and surely he wasn’t talking about her…was he? She thought to herself. Kickback looked down at her and smirked before jumping off the building’s extension and landing in front of Applejack, she stared at him in shock for a moment but his calm smile was more than a little infectious, she found herself smiling back.

“’Morning”

“G’morning” he replied happily. Days seemed to go at the same pace after that, fortunately it had been a week since Kickback had to kill anything, that fact made him feel…better. His feeling of slight normality returned as he spent more time with his friends in this town. Everyday he’d see most of eight equines that he had met on the first day, every now and again he make another friend or just simply meet another pony. When he had Colgate for the first time, he had inquired about relations to his friend, Lyra. She had mentioned that they were cousins, that she was a dentist and she was a harp player. Now the mail mare, she was different. Not so much different as to be referred to as an outcast but more as she was bazaar, her crossing eyes, her goofy grin and her love of muffins were all quite in her own way adorable but nonetheless she was an alright mare. Roseluck, according to her, barely knew either of them despite her own appearance. Cheerilee, the local teacher was nice enough but looked nearly identical to another that he saw at his party that looked like she had a bit of a drinking habit. All this made him think about the similarities in some ponies, some just looked like they were recoloured from another pony but he decided to leave that alone. It seemed as if his friends didn’t notice too much that he was without a home of his own, most days one of them would allow him to crash at their own house, exceptions being of Rainbow Dash due to her cloud home. Applejack and Rarity became the only hospitable ponies after a while, which was nice to have somepony that would take him in, even if he didn’t really want to be but didn’t not want to be either. Kickback was always a live in the moment and go with the flow type of stallion, maybe that’s how he was before his little biology change or maybe deep in viral mind he just doesn’t care about the future whether distant or instant, he would just live in the moment.

Twilight had mentioned she is the personal student of Princess Celestia and studying (of all things) friendship in Ponyville. He now felt a slight fear of her when she mentioned her brother was not only captain of the royal guard but was married to the princess of the crystal empire…wouldn’t that make her the emperor? Kickback thought. If his secret were to be revealed to the intelligent unicorn of which Pinkie told a story of how she solved a theft of several baked goods, so she probably could solve a lot of things, she would take it to her brother or even the princess.

Speaking of which, Luna visited him occasionally in his dreams, sometimes it was so real, others felt like she wasn’t even there and just his mind projected her in his dreams. When she around though, Kickback felt at ease, she would wipe clear his nightmares with her own presence and stay with him ’till the sun came up.

Eventually he had been told of the small group of fillies that the sisters of both AJ and Rarity were apart of. He had cringed when the so called “Cutie Mark Crusaders” asked about the mark on his own flank and in the end, they still didn’t get a story. He found their antics either annoyingly adorable or adorably annoying but more leaning to the word annoying as to their sheer volume when it came to almost every they did. A week and a half had past by this point.

“That. Was. Awesome!” Vinyl Scratch exclaimed as she walked next Kickback on this ironically cold summer night. He smiled at her as they trotted, he looked back at the building they had left to find that the sound of “Woo-ing” could be heard and the lights shone brightly in the night. Vinyl Scratch had initially asked him out to a party that she herself was invited to as entertainment, she had insisted on Kickback doing something on stage as well, an action that he could’ve done without. He ended up playing a comedic mixture of over twenty songs

Youtube Video
with a local guitarist as he sat at a piano and played a gruelling five minutes of the same four chords but the occasional laugh the crowd would give and the occasional individual pony mouthing the words to a song he or she knew was rather worth it. Vinyl and Kickback stayed a while after that, the occasional drink, the talking was all enough to call the night a decent one but a last she looked tired and he had near his fill at the moment so the left the party, into the streets of Ponyville and began to walk in the direction of Vinyl’s home. The two continued to walk down the streets of Ponyville, Kickback noticed that she walked rather close up to him, perhaps she was cold, it was understandable after all, so he let her be. They chatted lightly as they neared the house, by the time they had reached it, Kickback noticed a frown on her muzzle as she saw her home. Kickback stopped half metre outside her door as she unlocked it and opened the door. Kickback saw her head shoot up as she faced away from him, she turned around to look at him, dead square in the eyes. Silently she moved forward, extended her neck and soon, Kickback eyes shot open as the feel of Vinyl lips quickly met his and just as quickly pulled back, even if it was only about four seconds, it was still a kiss. She gazed at his shocked expression and giggled before walking through the door way once more, she smiled at him.

“Night…” she said as she closed the door. Kickback was left dumbfounded at the action and just stood there. Finally, he colleted himself and began to trot back into town. A month had passed and soon it was Autumn or Fall, which ever you prefer. Kickback had shrugged off the DJ’s gesture as he fell asleep that night. Luna continued to visit him in his dreams nearly every night, keeping the nightmarish memories at bay. Kickback found that Pinkie’s party throwing antics was actually an obsession, five days a week she through a party, either at random or to celebrate something, some times the most unrelated event possible e.g. Her neighbour’s father’s brother’s nephew’s sister’s cousin’s former roommate’s birthday.

“What does that make you, Pinkie?” Kickback asked as she explained her relationship at the party.

“Absolutely nothing!” she said gleefully, her smile never faltering, he had never seen her not smiling…as of yet. Time drug on in the fashion, some times he was asked to hang out with somepony for lunch or something. He’d always see at least one or two of his friends per day whether it was one of these organised events or if they simply just bumped into each other in the streets. Because it was Autumn, the ‘Running of the leaves’ marathon was coming up, Applejack had mentioned it to the scarlet stallion, the race intrigued Kickback, his speed was unmatched by anypony on the ground, it only made sense to compete. When the day came to, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight could be seen at the starting line, the two athletic ones stared each other down as the stallion drew closer.

“Ah told ya I’m gonna win this time, hooves down” Applejack said as she glared at the cyan pegasus.

“Nuh uhh” Rainbow retorted childishly. Kickback squeezed in between them, their stern faces were replaced by confused then glad looks as they gazed up at him.

“Sup you two?” he greeted.

“Ah just told this no good cheatin’ featherbrain, that ah am gonna win this thing” Applejack said with a smirk.

“And I was just telling this lying farm girl, that that’s all bull and I’M gonna win” Dash said sternly. Kickback could only smirk at the childish behaviour of the two mares, he then noticed Twilight next to them.

“Didn’t think you’d be here, Twilight” he said towards the lavender unicorn on his right , she turned to him in surprise.

“Oh, hello, Kickback, are you racing today?” she asked. Kickback nodded at her before turning his head forward.

“Ready!” a voice chimed in from above, Kickback looked up to see Pinkie and Spike in a hot air balloon hovering over them. Spike’s initial first impression was less than charming the day the scarlet stallion met him but he kept to himself. “Get Set!” Pinkie added. Each competitor got down, Kickback looked between the orange and cyan mares and smirked before looking straight ahead.

“Just so you know…neither of you are winning this day” he said, letting his cockiness get the best of him, they looked at him in surprised which distracted them from Pinkie’s final word.

“GO!” Kickback took off with every other pony that was racing. Rainbow and AJ were left dumbfounded they coughed a little bit before staring at the crowd ahead of them. Kickback ran, not at his full speed just yet because when he gets to that point, the ground quakes and his bio-mass streams from his body. Despite not going all out, he easily took the lead of the pack. Applejack and Rainbow had to dodge everypony as they caught up to him, soon Kickback was far ahead of the rest with AJ and Dash neck in between the stallion and the pack behind them. Soon Applejack let out a burst of energy and sprinted ahead of Rainbow Dash, Kickback was unaware of the approaching mare, he looked back to see that she was gaining on him, actually gaining on him, he smirked as the mare pulled along side him.

“Hey, AJ” he greeted happily.

“Hey, how ya doin’ partner?” she greeted back with a smile through exhausted breaths.

“Ya not tired, are ya?” he asked, seeming to be in the most comfortable state.

“Nah” she said confidently. The two ran neck and neck as Kickback restrained himself from going all out, suddenly a cyan figure came up along his other side. Rainbow looked at the two with a determined look before looking dead ahead once more, Kickback smirked at the pegasus and began to slowly pick up his pace. The scarlet stallion had gotten ahead of the two now shocked mares and continued running. The race carried on in the same kind of way ever since that, nothing too interesting happened due to the fact that lessons were learned in the last race, unsurprisingly, Kickback had gotten first place, followed by a tie between Dash and AJ and Twilight of all ponies got a new personal record, fourth place.

"Would You Stop With The Head Chopping Thing Already!"

Months had passed and Kickback’s kill-free streak had come to an end on a fateful day in the late days of May. Kickback learned more of the town and it’s inhabitants, some new arrivals and some townsfolk left. The newbies consisted of a white pegasus colt by the name of Saber Spark, a grey unicorn with a beige and red mane by the name of Mic, a grey pegasus with a two toned green mane and somewhat unsurely shaped eyes by the name of Forest Rain and a few more. He was eventually introduced to Zecora, she was not the first zebra he had laid eyes on, so it wasn’t much of a shock. What was one had yet to come, the scarlet stallion had learned of Pinkie’s so called “Pinkie sense”, this left Kickback a tad uneasy, if she could predict when something could fall or an alligator in the tub or the “Doosy” which according to her was an event you’d never think would happen, if she could do that, was there a way to see through Kickback’s disguise. A body movement that would give her a hint, would she tell her friends that something’s wrong with him, what if she could detect viral tissue. Kickback was left extremely wary of this thought but didn’t let it show. Lyra and Kickback out all his friends, hung out the least, not that they didn’t see each other, she always seemed to be in the background somewhere, as with quite a few others such as that mail mare that he had met, Bon-Bon, Lyra’s roommate and others like Carrot top and Colgate. Vinyl Scratch seemed to want to be with the stallion more often but due to frequent gigs, there wasn’t a lot of time. Sleep became easy for the stallion, no nightmares, he would either not dream or dream with the princess of the night.

Kickback had enjoyed the three month long kill-free streak but of course all things must come to an end. Kickback was invited a picnic that the six had planned, he accepted the invitation and joined them on that warm Autumn day. They began to chat idly to one another while munching on the food spread across the blanket they sat on. Unfortunately this was also the day where everypony found out that apparently hydras have no problem with leaving their own swampy domain and hunting for whatever it can outside of it’s habitat.

“So, Kickback…ya, I dunno…Been interested in a mare lately?” Applejack asked with a smirk, the stallion paused and looked around to see the curious faces of Rarity and Rainbow Dash, the other three were other wise occupied, Pinkie was eating, Twi was reading and Fluttershy had been distracted when a Red Jay crossed her vision and she went following it.

“Uhhh, not really” he answered, causing a few looks to falter.

“Hey Kickback, I’ve wanted to know just how strong you are, let’s hoof wrestle” Rainbow challenged, Kickback looked at her and smirked. He silently trotted over to a nearby stump and waited for her, Dash flew over instantaneously and glared at the stallion in determination, he placed his elbow down on the dead tree, Rainbow locked his hoof with her own “three, two, one…” she said, as soon as she ended, Kickback felt her muscles tensing, trying to push his hoof to the side. She succeeded slightly, his foreleg had moved a tad since she began, she did not expect what would happen next though. Kickback began to toy with her, he would push down to his winning side then let go and let her feel safe again, he would drop his effort but quickly push her foreleg so her hoof was just millimetres away from the surface and pull back so they were in the beginning stance. Kickback then had enough, he threw his hoof to her winning side, it was just about to hit the stump, that caught Dash off-guard, he then swung his hoof to his winning side with more force than he wanted, Rainbow had left the ground as he brought her hoof down, she flipped on it’s axis and was left laying on her back on the ground. Kickback stood up and looked down at her with a smile before outstretching a hoof to her. She smirked respectively at him as she grasped around his red limb and pulled herself up.

“So?” he asked cockily.

“So you’re pretty strong, big woop” she said, her pride lessening. The two trotted back to the others, Kickback found Applejack staring at him in disbelief but soon her expression turned to a respective smile. Suddenly a loud scream could be heard, Fluttershy was seen bolting to them then past them, she rambled something as she sprinted, a warning maybe? He thought. Just then a roar emitted, several in synchronisation, the ground quaked and the equines present looked to where Fluttershy had come from. Over the horizon, a head stood out, then another and another, three reptilian heads could be seen, attached to three long necks. All six ponies now knew what their yellow friend was on about, a hydra. They stood there, quivering as they slowly stepped back, Rarity, Twilight and Rarity seemed to be in much greater fear of the beast than the  pegasus and two earth ponies that stood in front, it drew closer.

“C’mon! Let‘s go!” Twilight yelled, Rainbow and AJ looked back at their scared friends, they began to run away from the creature, leaving it with their male friend, Applejack caught wind of that fact, they had been galloping for a moment so they were a few metres away from Kickback himself.

“Kickback, what are ya doin’?!!” she called out. Kickback acknowledged her voice and turned his head to see her, she was left confused as he let out a smirk, a confident and calm smirk, like the one she always saw him pull. Kickback felt something, something building in him, he had never fought a creature such as this, he wanted something new but he couldn’t while his friends were there.

“Go! I’ll distract it!” he called out to the orange mare who had pure worry in her eyes.

“Are ya’ll insane!!??” she yelled.

“A little!! Now go, I’ll be fine!! This’ll buy ya time!!” he called out, trying to convince the mare to leave, he wasn’t going to just buy time or distract it, no… Kickback wanted to kill it. The arrogant stubbornness of his words were enough, Applejack looked at him with a look that said “Ah better see ya again” before running to catch up with the others. Kickback turned to the monster.

“C’mon!! I’m Right Here!! Come Get Me!!” he taunted, the beast’s far left head lunged at him, he barrel rolled out of the way and smile maliciously. He then did something he didn’t do in a while, he shape-changed. His right front leg had violently morphed into his signature blade, he stood up and waited for it’s next attack. The beast’s middle head struck, Kickback jumped, his left hoof becoming a long tendril that snagged itself on the monster’s snout, he was catapulted down on the beast’s head and violently plunged down on it’s face with his blade, it let out a cry followed by a pained hissing. It shut it’s eyes tight but that didn’t matter, Kickback’s right hoof had changed into his highly used claw. He plunged the deadly limb into the hydra’s right eye on it’s middle head, it roared in pain.

Applejack and her friends stopped when they heard the faint roar and turned around to see nothing but trees, AJ had the most worried look out of all of them.

“I hope he’s alright” Rarity said threw a worried voice. The five mares had eventually found Fluttershy, hiding behind a tree. Kickback began to chuckled as he continued battling the monster, he had heard very little about hydras so, his next move was a stupid one. Kickback’s left foreleg had turned initially into swinging rope as it latched on the hydra’s face once more, Kickback leapt off it’s head, the long tendril extending as he dropped, he swung on it as his right leg morphed back into his blade, he smiled devilishly, he slashed it at the creature’s third neck as he swung on his own appendage. The creature staggered a bit, blood poured from the wound, it ran back in the direction it had come from originally. It stopped completely at a spot, it’s middle head had slid clean off the rest of it’s neck. It landed with a thud  and there, limp and motionless, Kickback thought that removing a hydra’s head was permanent, mush to his surprise it wasn’t. The severed neck began to crackle as bone was rearranged, skin and muscle grew then separated, Kickback leapt off the creature, he landed with a loud thud and turned to look at then monster. He was stunned at what it was doing, the neck grew then split into two, the two grew and soon two new heads were formed. Kickback left in terror, regret and astonishment, the monster initially regenerated, two new heads for the price of one, he felt stupid as to what he had done, he had picked a fight, one that was unnecessary with a creature that could not be permanently decapitated nonetheless it was fascinating.

Kickback then had enough with the monster, he thought that if the head wasn’t an option, maybe the heart was. He sprinted away from it and it followed when he felt that they were far enough away from pony life, he made his move. He turned back and jumped at the creature, he unleashed his hammer-fists and pounded hoof first into the monster. It roared in surprise as it’s mass slowly fell backwards, it’s balance lost completely, it’s plummeted into the earth, the bigger they are the harder they fall. Kickback regained his composure before the beast did and began to punch, pound after pound of his fists left the hydra in pain. He used his claws to pierce the flesh, striking downwards into the reptile’s skin. An idea hit him then, he morphed his right hoof into a two fingered, one thumb limb, he plunged it into the hydra’s skin, it broke through it’s flesh. Kickback smiled at his action, the hydra had no clue what was about to happen, he did. Kickback removed his leg from the hydra and jumped off it’s chest, he took a quick glance at it, trying to get back up and walked off not paying any attention to it fore it wasn’t going to be around for very long.

Kickback had projected the BLACKLIGHT virus into the beast, the particular was not to infect but destroy from the inside. The hydra’s faces contorted in confusion then pain, it looked down at it’s chest and immediately shock hit it, the piece of his bio-mass that Kickback left behind solidified into a ball and quickly extended hundreds of spikes that pierced it’s organs and even it’s outer flesh. The hydra died as the augmented bio-bomb made the effect wanted, it’s heart was closest to it, it fell on it’s side and laid there, limp and dead. Kickback smirked as he counted down from eight to zero, as soon as he finished he heard a loud thud from behind him. He walked until he was back in town, he saw his six friend conversing, most likely about him. Applejack around as she felt like she was being watched, she saw the familiar red stallion and rushed over to him, her friends were left confused until they saw what was happening. Kickback looked at the concerned yet joyous face of the running orange mare and smiled. She wrapped him in her forelegs as he just stood there, he raised a single hoof and lightly hugged back, the other five trotted up to the two, Kickback smiled at them, AJ then realised exactly what she was doing when Rarity and Rainbow Dash giggled, she let go of him and stood awkwardly between the two parties. The day had been overall not too bad for the scarlet stallion, he explained falsely that he simply lured the hydra away and escaped with his life, Fluttershy seemed slightly impressed at his story as it was her that ran away, screaming from the monster, Applejack seemed to be only relieved that the stallion hadn’t died and Dash was indeed impressed as she slugged him in the arm as a sign of respect.

“Hey Twilight…can I borrow a couple of books on monsters? I wanna know what I’m dealing with in case something else happens”

Warming Up

Time passed into the mid season of Winter, the suit that Rarity had made for the scarlet stallion came in extra handy as it provided extra warmth in the cold months. It was then where Kickback discovered that the ponies in Ponyville absolutely loved the middle of Winter since that at the end, lots of work had to be put in, they enjoyed it to the fullest when snow was around. One day, he had run into Lyra, being that they hadn’t talked in a while, the two decided to spend a little time together. They began walking randomly through the town, talking idly, Kickback was now really warming up to everypony in this town, no pun intended, he felt good to know that if normality wasn’t an option then he could just be himself…almost completely himself. He had successfully concealed his powers through his entire stay in Ponyville, thankfully but that irritating thought that he might have to leave soon kept bugging him at the back of his viral mind.

“Do you wanna grab something to eat?” Lyra asked, Kickback was about to reply but unfortunately, one of his most childish friends had a white coat, it concealed her presence in the snow, like natural camouflage. Kickback was stopped in his tracks by a large snow ball hitting him dead square in the muzzle, he looked at the source, turning his head slowly with a playful insane look on his face, his mouth in a frown and his eyes wide open. Twas none other than Vinyl Scratch, clever filly had placed a bundle of snow upon her head as she took cover behind a snow covered shrub, she poked her head out, revealing her large, beautiful red eyes to see her victim’s face. She chuckled with a cocky smirk as she saw the clothed stallion’s face. His frown had turned to a sadistic smile as his eyes formed an angry expression, he raised one hoof to the end of his hood and threw it over his face, his eyes were half covered as he stared at the DJ whose face turned to one of confusion and fear…and excitement. Kickback lowered his hoof to the ground, all the while Lyra stood in the background like she normally does and watched the scene play out. He cradled some snow in his right hoof and smirked maliciously at the unicorn, he turned to Lyra and nodded, she didn’t quite get the gist of his gesture but remained silent as she pondered what he was going to do…and how awesome he would do it.

Kickback took a step forward, snow ball in hoof, suddenly he threw it in the air and jumped, he spun around 360 degrees and batted the snow ball with his black and white tail. The force was enough to send it going so fast, Vinyl didn’t have time to duck, she took it to the face, she fall back, when she got up, the snow ball was wrapped on her horn still in it’s spherical formation. She stared at where the stallion was…wait, was? She looked around to find that he was standing right behind her. She smirked at him as he smiled back, looking down at her. Kickback lent a hoof in order for her to get up, she gripped in and pulled herself upwards, through miscalculation or maybe not. Kickback and Vinyl’s lips had made contact a second time, even if it was an accident and only a second, a pony could count that as a kiss. She pulled away and blushed hard, Kickback didn’t know what to think, normally he didn’t think like that, emotions were in case but never really shown for the scarlet stallion, he always kept his cool, could he do that forever though? He thought to himself as he looked at the white unicorn. It then dawned on him that she might like him, what did he think though? How did he feel? Romance was never a priority lately, he had noticed that some mares in Ponyville seemed extremely affectionate to him but he never thought that somepony would have a crush on him. Those thoughts were pushed aside as he remembered one big thing about himself, he hadn’t killed anything since the hydra, his friends helped make him feel accepted and happy but he always though, he knew that if they knew everything about him, his deeds, his power, his past, they may condemn him.

As all these thoughts processed through his head, Vinyl had taken notice of his day dreaming-like state, she smiled as she cheated. Her horn glowed an eerie cyan, seven snowballs had been formed by her magic, she levitated them higher. Kickback was brought out of his daze as he took the bombarding onslaught of telekinetically enhanced snowballs. When he got up, he saw the smug face of Vinyl, he smirked at her as his instincts took hold, he retaliated. Viny; soon found out that despite her magic and ability to load up ammo faster and dish out more, Kickback’s single throws were still a match, she knew he was strong but this was ridiculous, it almost seemed unnatural to her for a single pony to be that strong. Thankfully her coat made her a hard target…or not, every time she tried to hide, he instantly found her, as if he had some kind of thermo vision. Vinyl had an idea pop in her head as she advance on the stallion’s position, he continued to assault her in their little war as she took cover form place to place, always easing in on him, eventually she had gotten close enough. She leapt from a nearby bush and tackled the scarlet colt. They tumbled down a slope in the snow, Vinyl giggling all the way as Kickback chuckled, when they came to a stop, Kickback felt hooves press down on his chest to keep him down, he looked up to see a playful look on Vinyl’s face.

“Pinned ya” she said smugly. Kickback rolled over, the two continued to tumble as a result, unfortunately his plan did not work, it could if he tried but he decide against…for Celestia knows why.

“Pinned ya again” she said even more smugly, on every word, she leaned her face closer to the red stallion with a cocky smile and half lidded eyes. Kickback chuckled threw a smirk and casually pushed her off with ease, he got back to hooves as did Vinyl, the two began to laugh together.

“Hey, Vinyl” Lyra said, apparently she had trotted to their current location as they laughed with each other.

“Wazzup, Lyra?” she greeted back.

“Not much, what about you?” she said, a little too casually.

“I was just wrestling with handsome one, here” she said with a chuckle while gesturing a hoof to Kickback, he looked at her in slight surprise or maybe it was complete surprise, hard to tell with this colt.

“Ya know, I was holding back?” he stated with a teasing smile.

“Ya know how strong I am…” he added, really she didn’t know entirely how strong he was but she did have a faint idea.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” she replied cockily. Kickback was about to reply but was cut off by the second unicorn present.

“Are we still on for Lunch, Kickback?” Lyra asked out of no where. Vinyl found it rather rude to interrupt him…especially if he was talking to her but the stallion seemed to not care as he looked at the minty mare.

“Yeah, sure” he said casually threw a smile. Vinyl looked at him with a non-specific stare, was she surprised? Upset? Disappointed? Did she feel excluded? Maybe all of these, maybe none, the stallion remained clueless.

“I’ll see ya later, K Vinyl?” he saluted with a warm smile.

“Y-yeah, sure big guy, see ya around” she waved back with a somewhat sad tone. Kickback kept his smile as he looked at the white mare, he turned to face the green one, when he wasn’t looking, Lyra casted a glare at the DJ. Vinyl shot up in surprise as she notice the look, she remained silent as the two began to trot away. Lyra started looked ahead as Kickback turned his head back and gave the DJ a wink, she noticed and smile. The two walked into SugarCube corner, out of Vinyl’s sight, she turned and smiled happily to herself as she looked down while she walked, thinking.

“Hey Lyra, Hey Kickback, wassup?” Pinkie greeted after she had heard the bell at atop the door ring, indicating customers, she turned and grinned as she saw the red stallion and green mare enter the bakery.

“Hello, Pinkie” Lyra replied.

“Not a whole lot, Pinkie, just looking for something to eat” Kickback greeted back, Pinkie beamed at him.

“Well take your pick…we got cakes, chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, carrot cakes, cupcakes, pound cakes, a thousand pound cakes, ice-cream cakes, the here is Mr and Mrs Cake and their two cakes: Pound cake and Carrot cake, their not for sale. We got pies, we got blueberry pies and apple pies and cranberry pies and not meat pies because we’re herbivores and this here is the symbol for pi or three point one four…*Gasp* We also got-” Pinkie was thankfully cut off by a red hoof, she followed it up to the slightly annoyed face of Kickback who disguised it with a weak smile.

“P-Pinkie…I think I’d like a muffin…the one thing you didn’t mention” he said, trying to keep his annoyance in check, he removed the hoof from Pinkie’s mouth, she beamed once more.

“I’d like the same, please” Lyra chimed in.

“Okey Dokey Lokey” Pinkie replied before zooming off and returning with a plate in her mouth where two large choc chip muffins were placed upon. Kickback reached into a legitimate place to keep money, the pocket in his jacket, he reached in and pulled out a few bits, he tossed them to the mare who took them reluctantly. She instinctively counted to see that her presumption was correct, she smiled warmly at the stallion, her look always spoke that one phrase. “You didn’t need to do this” so many mares and stallions had said that to him but eventually they expected the large tip that the stallion always gave, for what reason? They had no idea., some times, Kickback didn’t know either, was it that he hated where the money came from? All the deaths that made his wealth, was it his guilt that drove hi to simply give it away? Was his generous side kicking in as he found that he actually enjoyed the presence of this town’s civilians? Maybe none of these or maybe all, anyway, did it really matter, he was happy, everypony else was happy so what did it matter?

The two sat at a table and happily ate their little baked goods, all the while enjoying each other’s company. Little did he know that Lyra was much more fond of his presence than he thought but he was entirely unaware as the blissful taste of chocolate muffin treated his tastebuds to a nice vacation. Winter came to it’s near end after a few weeks, tomorrow was Kickback’s first official Ponyville winter wrap up, it was different because unlike Saddle Arabia, Ponyville was founded by earth pony folk, the folk that ponies thought were his, so things were done without magic. He found that idea exhausting but held his tongue. Ponies of all kinds gathered in front of the town hall, ones with dark turquoise outfits mostly consisting of pegasi, the majority were in tan vests and others were in green, Twilight in particular wore a green and blue vests with gold trimming, groups were formed. Kickback didn’t have a position and when he found that everypony was busy, he couldn’t help but feel excluded.

Cancer In The Cold

Kickback took notice of something odd to him, Ponyville liked singing. He wasn’t given a job as of yet fore it seemed like he didn’t need to do anything, everything was exceptionally organised due to a particular lavender unicorn taking charge. Kickback could either take this as a time for himself or a day of sheer boredom due to loneliness, his time alone was never preferable to when around other ponies, it left him always thinking. Suddenly he spotted Rainbow Dash hovering above while looking down at him with a grin, she began the sheer happy-go-lucky ‘bazzaarity’ that is this time of year.

“Three months of winter coolness and awesome holidays” she sang, hovering closer to the scarlet stallion, another voice chimed in.

“We’ve kept our hoofsies warm and home, time off from work to play” Pinkie sang, Kickback turned his head to see her then he glanced back further to see another mare.

“But the food we’ve stored is runnin’ out and we can’t grow in this cold” Applejack added.

“And even though I love my boots, this fashion’s getting old” finally, Rarity sang. The surrounding mares looked at his confused yet smirking face. Before he knew it, a freaking chorus broke in, it was undeniably the most catchiest thing he ever heard, so much so that he found himself going along with it, running through town, watching ponies do their own given tasks as they sang. Pegasi pushed snow off tree branches and rooftops. Ponies of all kind were in the outskirts of town, one could be noted as Fluttershy, Kickback also spotted Colgate and Cheerilee doing the same….whatever it was what they were doing, it seemed like animals don’t instinctively wake up after the winter’s past in the town, oddly enough. Kickback felt himself being pulled towards parts of town, as if simple transitions were teleporting him to locations. He found that Rarity and a few others were making bird’s nest, of all things, with bow ties. So far, Kickback found that this was just odd, Pinkie’s song a while ago was different but the things they were doing on this day were not as interesting. Nevertheless, the red colt found himself being dragged by this song, Rainbow Dash had the nerve to cause a slight avalanche upon him, he poked his head out to see a smug looking cyan pegasus. He smirked before ducking his head back in the snow as he quickly prepared, he lunged out of the snow towards the short tree branch that she upon. Dash was unprepared for what he did, he pushed Dash off the branch and stood on it as he looked down at her now shocked face. That immediately turned to face that said ‘well played’, Kickback smiled down at her.

He then found a job that made more sense than the bird’s nest, farming. He found a clearing that presented many stallions ploughing a large field. Applejack was at the top of a hill, he trotted up to her side, thankfully the song had ended a slight bit earlier than he expected, perhaps it was due to a certain element or aspect of the song that was removed thanks to the previous one. Just the sound of busy ponies could be heard, perhaps it would’ve different if he had sung along. Applejack was focused on the working stallions as she stood upon the hill, she turned to her right and saw a familiar red stallion beside her, staring at the scenery thanks to the altitude, with a smile on his face. She continued to look at him, Kickback turned his head to see the apple farmer staring at him intently, he smirked at her as he chuckled threw a closed mouth.

“Do ya wanna help?” she asked.

“Do ya need it?”

“Nut really but if you’re bored, ah never say ‘no’ to a hard worker with fast legs and a strong back” she said, remembering the words of a particular cherry farmer, she cringed at the thought of that day. Kickback didn’t take notice though.

“I’m alright” he replied calmly. Out in the distance he spotted Pinkie and a few others ice skating, he felt confused as to why they weren’t working “Hey, AJ, what are they doing?”

“Oh there cutting the ice so it melts” she explained.

“Ahhh, I…think I get that”

About an hour passed and it dawned on Kickback that there was nothing for him in Ponyville right now, no jobs, no company, his thoughts processed, trying to think of something to do or maybe somepony that wouldn’t be busy.

“Vinyl Scratch?…nah, she’s doing a gig in…Manehatten, of all damn places…Octavia’s in Canterlot, so no goes there…Lyra? She’s wrapping up winter…along with everypony else” he thought to himself as he walked through town. Before he knew it, he had reached the edge of the Everfree forest, he looked back at the town before sighing and continuing into the woods. Inside was still dark, not as cold as it could’ve been if he was without clothing. Kickback glanced around the forest as he walked, nothing in sight but the occasional bug that flew by. Spider webs could be seen strung up trees and where ever an arachnid of that sort could make it’s home.

Kickback was unaware of one thing, he treaded threw a blue flower patch, he paid it little mind as he wasn’t into plant life, so nothing really stood out to him. He continued to explore the forest, rustling in the bushes were ignored as he walked through the woods. Suddenly he felt at ease, he glanced around and immediately recognised this area. It was the small clearing of which he was introduced to princess Luna herself, like an idiot he looked around expectantly, there was nopony around, so he kept trotting on. He walked and walked and walked but stopped as he felt familiarity in the new area he was around. The thought clicked, this was where he had slain that Manticore, the body probably taken by the guards or eaten by something else. What was something else? That thought left him wondering what was in the forest that wouldn’t simply attack him. If something had been here all those months ago, then it probably came here a lot, hoping for the next meal to present itself. In the distance, he spotted three pairs of glowing yellow eyes, it dawned on him that he was being stalked, maybe for a while.

Anger grew inside Kickback, the eyes stared at him, toothy white mouths slowly became visible, the smell hit him, it was horrible but he looked past that. A claw made up of wood stepped out into the sun, Kickback was ready.

“That’s it…c’mon…C’MON!!!” the stallion roared. Just then three wolves made of timber, oak, red wood and cedar lunged at the stallion, he smiled maliciously as he dawned on his hood. His forelegs transformed into three-pronged limbs, he lashed them out at the timber wolves, his appendages grew out and struck one of the beasts. It was hoisted by stallion’s bio-mass, tendrils wrapped around it’s legs and torso and strung it up by tree branches, the ground and vines that surrounded them. The timber squirmed a moment before it was brutally torn apart. Another lunged at Kickback but it’s too quick, Kickback takes a little of his own medicine as his face was slashed by one of the monsters. He felt rage at this point, Kickback punched the wolf square in the snout, placed his transformed limbs to the ground, circle around and bucked the wolf, hard. It went flying into a tree before it broke apart. One left, Kickback jumped the wolf and landed on it’s back, the wolf, not able to hold itself up due to the stallion’s force of impact and the added weight. Kickback wrapped his legs around the timber wolf’s neck…and squeezed. It gnarled and cackled as the supply of oxygen was dangerously close to none at all, Kickback heard it’s wooden body crack and split as he crushed the monster’s neck. It let out a yelp as it’s head exploded with one final bit of pressure the stallion imbued. He looked at the split wood that was once his foes and sighed, the rush of combat leaving his nerves. He walked back into the woods, suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back, his body felt numb, he staggered as blurry darkness clouded his vision, his breaths were shallow, consciousness fading, soon he fell to the ground with a thud and blacked out. When he came to, the pain was unbelievable, he glanced back to see black and red tendrils swarming around a spot on his shoulder.

“AHHH My back…Feels like it’s feeding on me!” he let out. He slowly got his hooves, stumbling a bit as he finally got what little balance he could manage. A faint glow emitted in the distance, he wandered over to it, as he drew closer, it became to be a clear image of a hut, the same hut that belonged to a particular zebra that the stallion knew. He staggered over to it and pried open the door. “Zecora…ZECORA!” he yelled threw the hut, praying for some help. He staggered threw the small home and clenched his back in pain, he coughed up a splatter of blood before he blacked out once more, his body laid there in the middle of the hut.

“Hey, Twilight, have you seen Kickback? Ah haven’t seen him in a couple of hours” Applejack asked Twilight who had trotted up to her side to see how preparations were coming along. Twilight looked to her orange friend.

“No, I haven’t seen him since the meeting this morning” she answered before pondering the thought. “I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere” she said comfortingly. Applejack smiled at her unicorn friend as she smiled back.

Kickback opened one eye to find him staring up a ceiling, he opened his other and found that he wasn’t in pain anymore, he felt something soft under him, he glanced around to spot a zebra at what looked like a fireplace, she silently sat there. Kickback began to move as quietly as he could, surprising enough he felt better, the pain in his back was gone, feeling began come back in his legs then his torso finally up threw his neck and into his head. He was restored and this zebra had have had to have something to do with it. He groaned a bit which caught Zecora’s attention, she turned to find that the now conscious stallion had moved slightly from where she laid him, she trotted up to him slowly.

“I’m glad you are awake, it seemed your life was at stake” the zebra rhymed, Kickback always wondered how she could do that.

“Z…Zecora? Where am I? What happened? What did you do to me?” he questioned, he then recalled the agony and the memory of wandering into the zebra’s home, she smiled”

“A simple remedy for poison joke you see” she answered, Kickback thought for a moment.

“Poison Joke?”

“Tis much like poison oak but it’s results are like a joke…but for you I fear, the joke was quite severe” she said in concerned tone.

“That blue flower?” he asked, she nodded. “That blue flower…caused me that horrible agony?” he said, his anger rising.

“For reasons though, I do not know, poison joke should do so” she triple rhymed, Kickback got thinking about the plant and it’s late effects, he grasped his shoulder and felt a slight lump had emerged from his skin, twas nothing too noticeable if a pony were to see it but it was there, he then felt it slowly, very slowly descend, as if it was simply a bruise that was healing. His regeneration powers always came in handy when it came to injuries of any kind. He connected the dots in his mind, the pain of it all, everything pointed to one thing. The poison joke was an ingredient to something, something he hated more than anything, an airborne chemical called “BLOODTOX” the thought of the weapon that Karen had tried to kill him with made him cringed, Zecora noticed but held her tongue.

“Thanks, Zecora, I’ll…get out of your hair now, wait how long was out for?” he asked, wondering if today was the first day of spring.

“A few hours I track and your welcome, Kickback” she rhymed with a smile, he nodded at her before pressing on out of the hut and back into the forest twas sunset by now, he kicked into a gallop to make up for lost time. In no time at all, he had made it to a now less snowy version of Ponyville, it looked like the whole town had finished early for Spring. He smiled as he walked through the town, voices radiated from SugarCube corner, as he passed it, the sound of six laughing mares could be heard, he looked inside and saw them: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy all gathered around a table idly enjoying one another’s company, He smiled happily as he stared at his friends.

“So then ah said-…Kickback?” Rainbow Dash cut her story off as she turned her head towards the entrance of the bakery to find the scarlet colt himself. Kickback walked through the door with a warm smile, one of which was returned by the six ponies. The rest of the evening was spent the same way, all seven equines casually hanging out after a long day’s work but eventually night fell upon the day.

“Well everypony *yawn* Ah’m gonna hit da hay, so see yah’ll later” Applejack saluted, the other six said their goodnights to the apple farmer and soon said their own. Kickback watched them all leave, Pinkie had walked back upstairs as the other six trotted outside.

“Coming darling?” Rarity asked, Kickback looked at her.

“Uuuh, sure” he responded. The two trotted to the home and business of the white unicorn and walked inside. Rarity made the two a cup of coffee each, one of which Kickback gladly accepted.

“Is Sweetie here?”

“No, she’s at my parent’s” Rarity answered happily.

“Alright, cool” he said, taking a swig of the hot drink.

“How is Lyra?”

“Fine” he answered, not quite understanding why she would ask that.

“What about Vinyl Scratch?”

“Alright I guess” he replied, still confused about the unicorn’s questioning “What’s up with you?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m great dear, just finished a large order yesterday on the finest Spring-wear attire” she answered, leaving Kickback in thought as to what exactly that was. He noticed something on the coffee table, a book, a manuscript, to be more précised.

“What’s this?” he said as he picked up the book, Rarity had a nervous look as she followed the stallion’s movements.

“That is ummm…kind of personal, actually” she said, unsure of herself, Kickback looked at her with an unidentifiable look, he looked to the cover page.

“Illusive” he read “…By Rarity” he said, turning his head to look at the mare with a smile, she kept a nervous look on her face.

“It’s…it’s just something I tend to do when I’m alone, surely you understand” she said, Kickback thought a moment as he stared at the gorgeous unicorn, he then began to read from the first page, surprisingly enough there were four of five pages written.

“…Chapter One: Celestia’s sun rose over the horizon, showering Ponyville in an exquisite beam of light. Every mare and colt began to wake, all except one, a stallion named RoundKick…” he read aloud, he paused a moment and glanced at Rarity, she grinned nervously and chuckled in the same matter. “…His black and red mane draped over his white coat as…” he paused again, connecting the colour scheme idea in his head, he stopped and stared at Rarity

“Rarity?”

“Yes?”

“Is this me?”

“…No, why?”

“Just asking” he said as he closed the set of pages and set them back down the table. An awkward silence filled the room, Kickback thankfully thought of something he could say to ease the tension.

“Oh yeah and thanks for the jacket again” he said with a smile which seemed to do just what he wanted, the mare smiled happily back at him.

“You’re quite welcome, darling” about an hour passed with the two equines enjoying one another’s company but alas time doesn’t stop for anypony.

“Well it’s awfully late, I will see you in the morning” Rarity saluted.

“G’dnight, Rarity” he replied in a friendly manner. Kickback sat there alone for a little while on the couch that they had shared, finishing off his latest cup of coffee, soon he felt the time’s effect aswell. Tired, he set the cup back down, got up and walked towards the stairs, turned into the hallway and stopped at a door. Why it was closed was a good question. Kickback slowly prodded open the door to Rarity sleeping in what was supposed to be his bed for the night, he felt confusion as to what she was doing. Being the ‘go with the flow’ kind of stallion, he paid it no mind as he slowly crept to the other, lifted the blankets up and eased himself into comfort beside the mare that looked so peaceful in the way she slept, he chuckled as he looked at before he turned on his side, ready to sleep. Just as he thought he could, something grabbed his shoulder and pulled him on his back, he glanced at the apparently awake white unicorn with a confused expression, she smiled at him. Kickback laid there in confusion as Rarity snuggled up beside him, his body heat warming her own, she let out noises from her closed mouth as she continued to rustle around, getting as close as she could to the stallion to get more comfortable. She eventually found a position she was happy with and let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. Kickback looked down at her and wrapped a hoof around her, he smiled before closing his own eyes and drifting off into sleep.

Exposure

Spring was a novelty in Ponyville, after the winter, Ponies got straight back into their normal busy bustling ways. Kickback was still happy with his life lately, the strange equines rising up to being his closest friends despite the all horror that was the stallion himself. Today he had received a letter, never in his life did he wish to receive a letter again fore due to history. He had learnt that the mail-mare named Derpy had what somepony would call a ‘problem’ but her happy go lucky attitude was just adorable and it somehow wouldn’t make sense if her eyes weren’t crooked, it just wouldn’t, in the slightest, so she was perfect the way she was.

“Got a letter for ya…errr, Kickback” she said with a goofy smile.

“Gracie…” he said, taking the envelope. He opened it to find that there was no letter, not even a piece of paper, just…a photo. A photo of him and a mare…his sister, Dana. He stared at it in disbelief, he had done what he hadn’t done in a long, long time. He shed a single tear, it landed on the photo, staining it but somehow it just made it complete. Through pure emotion, Kickback had hugged the grey mare that stood before him, her eyes widened but then softened as she comforted the stallion, e pulled back to look at her.

“Thankyou…”

“No problem, hey ya wanna grab a muffin?” she asked in that childish voice of her’s.

“Yeah, yeah I do” he said with smile. Grey mare and red stallion alike walked to Sugarcube corner, they entered to find Pinkie at the counter, she greeted them with a large grin, apparently Pinkie knew the pegasus as she instantly brought them two large muffins. Kickback once again paid in advance, the two ponies sat down and ate the delicious baked goods, Kickback took out the photo from his pocket and stared intently at it again, he smiled as his mind continued to process.

“Is…Is she alive?…Or is this just another prick that thinks he can blackmail me?…maybe…she’s gone and this was a message to me, so I would never forget her?” he thought as he took another bite out of the muffin. Derpy had eaten her’s fast enough to gorge down Kickback’s unfinished muffin, lucky her.

“Thanks for the muffins, Kickback” she said, the two now outside of the bakery, Kickback nodded and soon the pegasus was as she took to the sky. He watched her go before he turned his head and was surprisingly greeted by none other than a familiar cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash herself was earthbound with no pony with her. She stood there as she stared at the scarlet stallion, Kickback smiled.

“Hey, Dash”

“Hey”

“What’s up?”

“Not much”

“Alright, then…seeya” he said as he started to turn in the other direction.

“No, wait!” the same raspy voice called to him. He turned back.

“Yeah?”

“I was…uhhh wondering…if ya wanted to hang out?” she said, scratching the back of her mane, the scarlet colt smiled at her.

“Alright”

“Alright?…AWESOME!” she squealed uncharacteristically before coughing “Umm, cool” she said calmly but he could tell she was nervous, for reasons why, no clue.

“What do ya wanna do?”

“How’s about a little race?” she challenged, the stallion smirked at her.

“Ya really think ya can beat me in a race, don’t ya?”

“I could if ya had Wings!!” Kickback cringed at the words, if secrecy wasn’t a problem…he could remedy that factor. Griffins, Pegasi, Dragons all pointed to one thing: Wings and he had them. He regained his composure and continued to stare down the mare.

“Well I don’t so it wouldn’t be fair if I had to be on the ground…or are ya afraid, Dashie?” he teased. Rainbow felt an odd comfort as she heard him call her that, she was being challenged and she knew that but the stallion calling her that nickname felt…good. She brushed the thought aside.

“This time…this time I’m gonna win”

“Alright…where to?”

“Sweet Apple Acres, first one to touch the barn…wins” she smirked. Rainbow and Kickback lined themselves up symmetrically, suddenly Pinkie popped out of nowhere.

“Alright you two, I wanna good, clean race, no shoving, well maybe a little shoving, no wings” She ordered, Rainbow tucked her wings in. “No cursing, okay you can do a little of that but definitely NO CHEATING!” Pinkie finished, the two looked to one another with determined looks then Kickback’s face did something Rainbow did not expect, he smiled happily.

“On your marks!! Get set!! 3-2-1 GO!” Pinkie announced, in red and blue bolts, both equines were speeding, Pinkie was left spinning at there velocity as they zoomed passed her. Rainbow more annoyed than ever as she looked at the still smiling scarlet stallion ahead of her, almost as if he was holding back. She poured herself into her legs, trying gain on the stallion but he just remained ahead of her then he began to slow down to Dash’s level, he turned to her, still with a joyous smile on his face, Rainbow eyed him with an irritated stare. And they ran, they ran so far away, they just ran, they all night and day, couldn’t get away…wait no, scratch the last two parts. Kickback allowed himself to run at Dash’s speed as soon as the barn came into view he pulled back slightly, letting Dash take the lead. The turned then simultaneously touched the barn with their own hooves and began to pant due to the physical act.

“Looks like you won, Dash” he said calmly, not at all showing signs of him being tired which in turn caused more suspicion.

“Alright, I know you weren’t giving it your all!” she observed, Kickback looked at her in surprise.

“What are you talking about? I just got-”

“You could’ve gone a lot faster, couldn’t you?” Dash interrogated. Kickback was now extremely worried at this point.

“I got tired and-”

“I wanna see” she said, her voice lowering. Kickback stared at her, she was always stubborn and he knew that, there was backing out.

“Okay, okay, ya wanna see my full speed?…Fine!” he said, aggravated. Kickback took a few steps backwards and primed himself, Dash watched in curiosity and somewhat fear as she stared at the stallion. He glanced back Rainbow who was intently looking at him, he looked ahead once more. Before Dash knew it, Kickback had radically jumped a metre of the ground, flipped in the air once before landing on the ground, suddenly his back hooves caused a slight tremor in the ground as they pushed off the dirt and left a small crater. All she saw was a red blur cross her vision, she looked to where he was running and was astonished, she nopony run that fast before, she thought about the last “Running of the leaves”, he had been holding back then aswell, he probably could’ve finished it in ten seconds flat she thought. Kickback didn’t like this, Rainbow was shown a portion of his abilities, his thoughts were more clouded as he sprinted at his fullest, soon he saw Dash, wings open, flying beside him. She nodded and took to the sky, Dash hovered up there and watched the red blur from above, quickly lapping around Sweet Apple Acres, she flew back down to meet him and found that it really didn’t look like he was enjoying himself, Dash flew ahead of him, oddly it was harder than she thought to. She stopped a few metres ahead of him, wings open, face towards the red colt. Kickback saw her and slowed himself, he skidded a little ‘till he was face to face with Dash. Kickback had a look of sadness, regret and shame as he looked at the pegasus, she noticed slightly, tis why she stopped him.

“That. Was. Awesome!” she squealed, Kickback wore a weak smile to help liven himself up, her raspy voice and her fangirlish nature helped out aswell. “I’ve never seen anypony run that fast! How did you do that?” she asked.

“Ahh One day…I just woke up…A-and…I just could hehehe” he explained without specifics and a very nervous tone.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she inquired.

“Uhh, nothing…nothing, Dashie”

“Oh c’mon!”

“I’m fine, really” he said, now retaining a fake level of calm with a smirk. Dash stared at him inquisitively.

“…Okay, fine…Ya know, there’s nothing wrong with a little showing off, just don’t over do it, that’s my job” She said, Kickback gave a slight chuckle at her attitude.

“Alright, Dash, whatever” he replied, the two shared a respective brohoof.

“Well, I gotta go, see ya around Kickback” and with that, she was gone, took to the sky in a rainbow blur. Kickback stood there for a moment and stared into space, in deep thought. He turned around and started to trot back into town, he got a couple metres in before he spotted Applejack bucking one of the many trees that were held in the orchard, he prayed to Celestia that she didn’t see anything.

“Howdy, pard’ner” she greeted, looks like his prayer worked.

“Hey, AJ, need a hoof?”

“No Ah-…yeah, sure, just buck a the ones with barrels underneath them” she instructed, remembering that one day where she turned down help when a pony was offering, the sooner she got done the better. Kickback nodded and proceeded to do so, keeping his dragon scale shattering strength in check, he turned around, positioned himself and kicked the tree with back legs. It splinted a bit but it did the job, it shook around and soon the delicious fruit fell, the occasional one missing the two barrels set aside the tree. Kickback proceeded to pick ‘em up and place them into them, he continued this pattern about six times before Applejack cut him off.

“That enough?” He asked.

“Yeah, that’s plenty, thank ya kindly” she said with a grateful smile, Kickback got thinking, he thought about this for a while but always thought it was a bit mean or unnecessary, he had learnt about the apple farmer a great deal since that fateful day in the latest days of last year. Apple cutie mark, Apple family, apple farm, apple name, he got thinking more on it as he looked at the beautiful orange mare.

“Hey, AJ…I’ve been wondering, what do you wanna do with your life?” he asked out of nowhere, AJ looked at him in surprise but soon understood his question.

“Well ah…ah’ve always been proud member of the apple family and that’s how Ah’m gonna keep it…” she said, she blushed slightly as she thought on her next sentence “Ah…ah’ve pondered the thought of a foal” she said, Kickback thought it was endearing to see that the mare wanted a small filly or colt.

“What about you?” she asked, Kickback thought on it.

“Well, I’m kinda happy with my life right now, great friends, great town, I guess what I’m looking for is right here” he said with a smile, he then thought about what he said, did he truly think that way? Was he happy? A silence fell upon the two, not so much awkward as it was just two friends quiet in companionship. AJ stared at the red stallion, he gazed over at the orchard as he wore a calm smile, suddenly he sat down, keeping his expression, AJ continued to stare as she sat down beside him.

“Apple?” she suggested, with a hoof that presented a large juicy red apple.

“Thanks” he said in a voice that was soothing to the apple farmer as he took it out of her hoof and took a bite. Applejack then did something the stallion never thought she would do, he felt something slam down on his head, when he turned to see her, she wore a happy grin, he glanced up to find that she had placed her hat upon his head, he grinned back.

“Looks good on ya” she complimented.

“Nah, it looks great on you” he replied in a humble manner as he smiled with his eyes closed at the orange mare. He could’ve said he regretted closing his eyes though fore as he was blinded he felt something, something warm on his muzzle, he opened his eyes to see Applejack pressing her snout against his own, locking lips with him. He was stunned, she pulled back after a few seconds and blushed furiously as she avoided eye contact.

“Uhhhh…A-Ah’m sorry, ah didn’t mean to-” she stuttered, looking away. Kickback stretched out a hoof to meet her face, he gently rotated it so she was looking at him again. What she saw surprised and comforted her, he smiled warmly, he kept that same look Applejack could not picture him without, that darn calm look on his face was all she needed to make herself reassured, she smiled weakly back.

“Don’t be”

“But ah-”

“It’s okay, AJ…but”

“But?”

“I can’t, not now”

“Ah…ah get it” she said in sad tone, Kickback lifting her chin back up and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, he smiled again at her before getting to his hooves, waving and trotting out of apple orchard.

"Give Us Something Sweet To Bite"

On one day’s night, will she only, devour each and everypony, or will she spare their fragile lives, if she is presented with cakes and pies.

On the 31st of the 10th month, a knocking is heard on the door of the home of a two particular musical mares, of whom have a guest. The apparent earth pony stallion sits with them.

“I’ll get it” he says as he rises to his hooves, he trots towards the door and opens to find three fillies looking up at him with joyous expressions. They chanted something that was unrecognisable due to their squeaky little voices and because how loud they were, Kickback took notice of the three fillies and saw through their costumes. The cutie mark crusaders were before him, asking for sugar, he chuckled a bit.

“Hey, Octy, Vinyl, we got any candy?!” he called, turning his head back into the room where the two mares were, Octavia was happily drinking her coffee as Vinyl Scratch was gnawing into a vase filled to the brim with sweets. She stopped and stared at the stallion who wore an amused yet blank face, her mouth was wide open, ready to take in the hoof full that she had, she chuckled nervously.

“Uhh-umm, no” she said sheepishly. Kickback rolled his eyes and looked back at the CMC’s, he put a hoof into his pocket and presented a few bits for each pony, one by one his divided the sum into their bags and gave a calm smile.

“There ya go, go buy something” the three fillies had a shared confused look but was quickly replaced by an understanding and gleeful grin. Kickback nodded and watched them scamper off into town, he closed the door and returned to his friends. Vinyl was still chowing down on what he was supposed to give to the crusaders or any other foal that came by but that was obviously not an option anymore. The three sat there in companionship, Kickback had always wondered how these two incredibly different mares could live together but he had come to the conclusion that the two manage themselves in harmony. Kickback watched Vinyl get the end of the bowl as soon as she finished her little frenzy, she stopped and looked like she was about to burst into tears, she looked at Kickback with a blank face.

“I ran out…I need more…let’s go” she said with the most serious tone he ever heard form her, he stared at her for a moment before her gaze turned to Octavia. Without even looking, she answered.

“Okay, don’t let her over do it, Kickback” she said as she took another sip of the hot drink. Vinyl’s eyes lit up as her head rotated back to stare at the stallion with a anticipated look on her face caped with a excited grin on her muzzle. He sighed before he smirked at her as he nodded in agreement. Her face brightened, she wrapped the stallion in a hug for a moment…a few moments, a full thirty seconds passed before she broke it. Kickback just remained silent as returned the hug as much as he could, she zoomed off upstairs as he watched, he turned back with a chuckle. He noticed that the grey musician was looking at him with a blank look.

“What?”

“Hmmm”

“What thoughts are buzzing around behind those violet eyes?” he asked dramatically, her silence made him think “What you don’t reckon-…” was all he said before he cut himself off as he stared into the violet eyes he spoke of.

“Perhaps…” she said, answering his unfinished question. The two sat in silence for several awkward moments before the sound of hoof-steps could be heard. Kickback glance behind him to see Vinyl Scratch is what looked to be zombie costume, stiches covered her body and her coat looked rugged, dusty and greyer, she giggled as she noticed his eyes settling on her and the amused smile crossing his muzzle. He got up and threw his hood over his head, his dark green eyes were barely visible.

“Let’s go, then” he said, trotting over to her side, passing her and approaching the door. He opened it with his left hoof and waited for Vinyl, she looked back at Octavia who gave an approving nod, she turned back, walked up to Kickback and locked his eyes with her own as she proceeded out the door. Kickback took a final look at the cellist, she did something he would rarely see her do…she smiled warmly at him, he nodded with a smirk and proceeded through the door. He closed it, looked ahead to see Vinyl awaiting him.

“C’mon” she said before she began to lead the way into the decorated town, Kickback smirked and followed the unicorn. He eyes gazed all around, spotting familiar ponies in festive outfits, he saw Applejack’s brother: Big Mac trot about in a black cape and top hat that depicted a skeletal version of his own cutie mark. The mare called Carrot Top, dressed as a demon. The mail-mare, Derpy flew around with nothing but a paper brown bag atop her head, he chuckled at her antics. He looked up to see a dark cloud hanging over head, moving ever so slowly, a multi-hued tail stuck out it, he immediately knew who it was and what she was doing, it was called “Trick or treating” right? They give you a choice. Vinyl led him into the market place which was now decorated with jack-o-laterns and other festive décor that was themed around the holiday. She was like a foal in candy store, as soon as Kickback felt that she didn’t need right now, he let her loose on the town which in turn was probably a bad idea but it allowed him to explore a little on his own. He looked around as he walked, ponies of all kinds out and about in costumes were trotting around or taking part in some game that was set up or at still at their regular stands selling themed goods. In the centre of it all, he spotted Applejack covered in straw and rags, she was a scarecrow by the looks of it. He trotted over to her and tapped a hoof on her shoulder, she glanced down at it and noticed the form and colour, Kickback could sense the glad expression on her face as she looked away. She turned to see the stallion, emerald and jade green eyes locked as the two smiled at one another.

“Hey” she greeted.

“Hey” he replied calmly.

“So uhhh, what are you?”

“…Oh, ahhh I dunno, I suppose you’re a scarecrow”

“Eeyup”

“Hello, Applejack and Kickback” a familiar called out to them, it was muffled for some reason though, the two earth ponies looked to the side to find a dark purple figure in a mare’s form, the eyes were concealed by light blue lenses, she wore a lighter purple cape and fedora upon her head. Her expression was unreadable through the mask but that voice was too specific not to know who was behind it.

“Rarity?” they asked in synchronisation.

“Mhm, I simply love this attire, don’t you Applejack?” Rarity asked, AJ chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, gallopin’ in that thang was…interesting’” she said nervously, Kickback was puzzled.

“Uhhh, Rarity, what are you wearing?” he asked, both mares looked at him in confusion, they turned to each other. Soon their exprssions were replaced with a look of understanding, they probably remembered that he was not around during the crusade Mare-Do-Well.

“Long story that involves Rainbow and a plan to deflate her head a little” AJ explained, Kickback decided to leave it at that. Before anypony could add to the conversation, the dark clouds in the sky swirled around as thunderous booms rang capped with lightning striking through the black sky. A lone dark figure emerged in the darkness, everypony stared at what was to come. Kickback noticed the cloak that the figure wore, glowing white orbs could be seen in the darkness, the form of a pegasus came into view. Kickback felt comfort as his mind clicked, he knew what it was, what she was. The figure landed in the centre of Ponyville, her hood covering her face, her eyes glowed an ominous white, there was a smile on her muzzle. Kickback stared at her, the cloak, the horn protruding out from under it, the eyes, the wings they all pointed to one mare. The same mare that has visited his subconscious several times since his stay in Ponyville. With a flick of her head, her hood was removed, she wore a look that just screamed awesome, Kickback knew this mare personally, the princess of the night herself, Princess Luna was now in person with the stallion.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!!…Hi” her greeting began with a shout that you’d think only dragons would perform before lowering to a familiar soft voice. Simultaneously ponies around began to bow their heads in respect of their princess, Kickback watched every mare, stallion, filly and colt lower their heads. Luna watched as well and was about to protest until she spotted one pony standing a ways away from her, Kickback looked ahead and saw the alicorn staring at him with a smile on her face. He returned the look despite being several metres away from one another, they knew what the other was thinking. Before they knew, everypony had shot up and cheered for the arrival of their princess. The night drug on festively, Kickback hung around, occasionally bumping into somepony he knew and starting up a short conversation, it was just like a regular party. Dash had been pranking everypony in her so called “Shadow Bolt” costume but was put in her place as Kickback did something he’d normally wouldn’t. On top a building, Dash waited patiently as she stalked her next victim, Kickback came up behind her and placed a hoof on her shoulder…but it wasn’t a hoof, Dash felt the firm grip of a hand on her, she glanced down to a pronged claw resting on her, she followed it up and saw the hooded stallion, he smiled maliciously and began to chuckle in a sinister matter. He saw Dash visibly cower at the sight of him, he felt scared and worried despite his look as he stared into her eyes. She let out a scream and pushed the stallion on his back, he was confused as to what this meant…thankfully it was a night for dressing up.

“Arghh, Don’t do that!” she shouted as she placed a hoof on her chest and began to breath heavily. Kickback felt safer, now knowing that she thought that it wasn’t as serious as it looked, he waited till she turned back, when she turned back, his normal dark red hoof was visible, he chuckled as he looked at her. An action that more than a little contagious for the mare, she giggled as the two looked at one another. He had eventually found Vinyl Scratch, she looked incredibly tired when he saw her.

“Hey there, sexy” she said in a exaggerated manner.

“Hey, Vinyl”

“Aww what? Am I un-attractive to you or something?” her tone was uneven, that phase somepony’s in when it’s late, their festive and had a little too much sugar.

“No…fine…Hey there, sexy” he said blankly, causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks.

“Dawww thanks, come here” she said happily, Kickback reluctantly did so. “No, no, no come here, come here” with that he moved closer “That’s it” she said before wrapping her right leg around the stallion’s neck and bringing him closer. Kickback accepted the hug and gently patted her on the back to return it as best he could, she pulled back to stare into his dark red eyes for a moment as he looked into her own red rimmed ones. She moved in slowly and pawed off his hood with her other hoof before jolting forward, pressing her snout against his own, locking lips with him, still keeping her right leg around his neck. Kickback’s eyes shot open at the motion, in the back of his viral mind he prayed to Celestia that Applejack wasn’t somewhere around, he felt her tongue slip in and begin to explore as she parted the mouths with her own, her breath left traces of alcoholic cider in his mouth, he connected the dots to that’s why she’s acting like she is. After a few moments, she pulled back and looked back in his eyes with her own half lidded crimson ones. His expression caused her to giggle slightly as the two stared at one another. Kickback couldn’t believe what happened next she yawned before suddenly just falling asleep, he stared in astonishment but soon the all around adorable drunken sight of her caused his calm expression to return.

He hoisted the unicorn onto his back and began to trot towards her home, he opened the door ever so quietly but was without reason as he heard music coming from the lounge room, the sound of well talented musician playing the cello could be listened to throughout the house, he smiled as he walked upstairs, turned into the hallway and into Vinyl’s room. He laid her down on her bed gently as he sat by her side, he stared at the smile on her sleeping face and smirked in amusement. He stroked her head slightly, he turned his head and tried to get up but was stopped the mare gripping his hoof with her own hooves, he looked down at her, his confused expression turning a smile that just spoke “Dawwww”. He wriggled his limb out of her grip but as he succeeded, she frowned and squirmed, clawing around for his hoof. He stroked her mane which seemed to ease the mare, she let out a sigh as she relaxed further in her sleep. He got up and proceeded out the door, he looked back at Vinyl who was whispering in her sleep, thanks to his heightened senses, he was able to make out one word…his name. He closed the door behind him and nearly jumped out his virus infested coat at the sight of a grey mare standing in front of him with a blank look.

“Hey, Tavi, Vinyl fell asleep”

“Indeed”

“You ‘right?”

“Yes…but-…”

“Yeah?”

“She talks about you sometimes”

“Yeah?”

“She thinks very highly of you” Kickback didn’t have a good response to that so he just remained quiet and nodded.

“…Don’t give her a reason not to” she added, Kickback remained silent as he nodded in understanding before walking past her, dawning his hood once more and trotting out the door. Kickback had caught up with Luna and the others, the night dug on in the same sense. One by one, ponies returned to their home, from Lyra of whom was dressed as a vampire and seemed rather glad to see the stallion to AJ, to Rarity, Colgate said hello to the scarlet colt as well, she was dressed as her profession, a dentist. Soon the streets ponies trotted up and down on were closed to baron. At this moment Dash, Luna, Pinkie and the scarlet colt chatted idly with one another inside the bakery of which, Pinkie worked at. They talked and laughed as the night drew closer to it’s end.

“Hey, who’s up for a little scary story?” Dash asked around in a playful sinister voice, Kickback looked at her and thought a moment.

“I could go for that” he said.

“Okay, Dashie, you go first” Pinkie added. Kickback removed his hood as he glanced up at Luna who looked back at him with a smile as she nodded. Each equine listened intently to Dash’s story about some creature that looks like a pony but it’s head is featureless, no eyes, no nose, no mane, no coat just a pale white head. ‘Slendermane’ is what she called it, she told about what it does, what it’s done, the evidence behind it, everything. Kikcback felt uneasy and cringed back as she mentioned the black tendrils that emits from the creature.

“…you most certainly will die” she ended dramatically. Pinkie was cowering, shaking as she hid her head under her hooves. Luna was even a bit in fear at such a story. Kickback looked at the rainbow mare and smirked.

“Good story, Dashie” he complimented, he could’ve sworn he saw her blush slightly as she smiled back at him.

“You’re turn” she said, the stallion thought for a moment, wondering which one he should tell, the one about the Rake? No, too close to Dash’s story. Just then the idea lit up like a light bulb in his viral skull, he smiled devilishly as he remembered this horrifying story.

“Alright, gather around..” he spoke in a sinister voice, the three mares rummaged a bit, trying to get more comfortable, Dash laid on her belly with her ‘elbows’ resting on the ground as she laid her chin on her hooves, hoisting her head up to look at the stallion.

“…Excerpt from local news paper…”

Youtube Video

After telling the (ponified) story of a small boy named Jeff and his rise to power. Each mare looked at him in shock and fear, Kickback felt bad after telling the story, despite everything, he couldn’t help but relate to Jeff in a way, the killing was an aspect shared.

“That’s messed up!” Dash exclaimed.

“I know” He said flatly.

“Where did you hear that story?” Luna asked.

“…Somewhere, I don’t remember when though?”

“That’s almost as freaky as Cupcakes” Pinkie said, each equine turned to her “…Oh, ummm, I mean that’s crazy” she said nervously, Kickback shrugged it, he could only imagine everypony else doing the same and just accepting Pinkie’s antics.

“Well, everypony, I’m gotta kick it, see ya” Dash said as she unfurled her wings and with that she was gone, out the door into the night sky.

“Yeah, me too, bye Pinkie, see ya, Luna” Kickback said as he got to his hooves and began to trot out the door as he dawned his hood back on. He walked down the dark road in the night, he got a few metres in before he was stopped. In the corner of his eye he spotted Luna by his side, he turned to face her.

“Kickback…I wanted to say, it was fun to see you in person tonight” she said in a friendly tone.

“Thanks, Princess and it really was” he said, removing his hood to speak to her. She nodded with a smile at him, a gesture he gladly returned and with that several bats swarmed from the distance and coated her, manifesting into her black cloak, she pulled her hood over her head and smiled at him. Kickback watched her as she took flight and disappeared into the night sky, he stood there, gazing upwards before swinging his hood over his head once more and trotting off. He walked through the dark streets of Ponyville, to everypony else it was near blind darkness but to him and his virus riddled eyes, it was clear as day. He walked to the edge of town, tonight he was planning on the barn again, some nights he’d stay up throughout the whole time but he decided against that option. He walked through the orchard, he got about half way in before he heard something, it caused him to stop in his tracks to take a better listen. The sound of howling could heard, rustling from between the trees, he felt eyes settle upon him as he stood in the orchard. He bowed his head and smiled.

“…Looks like we have some game tonight…” as he spoke tendrils ran down his body.

ReBirth-Day


After that the annual Summer Sun celebration in Ponyville, things got a little weird around town. Some ponies were acting differently, a bit more out going, if you know what I mean. Kickback was apparently the first to notice though, it began with Lyra.

“Hey, Lyra” the stallion called out as he sat on a park bench, the mint green unicorn glanced at him and despite the distance, Kickback could sense something as she showed her grin. As she trotted up to him, he noticed her eyes slowly closing to half way and a devious look on her face.

“Hey, Kickback” she greeted in a somewhat unfamiliar tone.

“How are you doing?”

“Uhhh fine, you?”

“Great” she said, still in that sly tone. Kickback thought he was crazy at this point as he caught a quick glimpse of a green sparkle that flashed in her eyes. She sat down and moved along his side…close, he just stared at her.

“Lyra…are you okay?”

“Mhmmm” she hummed as she leaned in closer, Kickback just stared at her, unsure of what in the hay is going on? In an instant she pressed her muzzle to the side of his face, kissing him on the cheek, she hummed gradually louder till she pulled back and locked his dark green eyes with her own golden ones.

“L-Lyra?”

“Yes?” she asked. Kickback remained silent, he just stared at her, directly into her golden rimmed eyes, he saw her confident, seductive look fade into a worried face. Without word he got to his hooves and left her at the bench, he couldn’t help as he walked get this horrible feeling in his viral heart that something was up. Weeks past, more ponies around began act different, only a hoof full but it was still noticeable. Before anypony knew it, a club was formed, the strangest thing was you’d have to be hoof-picked to get in. Most ponies took it just to be some form of secret club but the scarlet still felt something. Now was not the time though. Apparently somewhere along the line, Kickback had initially told the date of his birth…or rebirth. If one thing was clear is that Pinkie had an amazing memory. The date was December the eighth, Kickback loathed this day as it was the very time where he woke up, forever changed but that information wasn’t given to the up beat ponies that dwelled in this town though. Kickback wandered the streets of Ponyville, he turned into an alleyway and stopped in his tracks. He slowly gazed up the side of the building to his right, when he reached the top, he smirked as he raised a hood to the back of his neck and swung his hood over his face. He took a step forward and placed his left hoof on the vertical surface, then his right. He jolted back and forth, catapulting himself to the top of the building, he hovered in the air for a moment before landing atop the roof. He gazed around at the scenery, taking in the mountains in the distance, the green landscape, the ponies bellow going about their normal day and the surrounding buildings.

“Haha…I can’t believe it…it’s been so long yet feels like such a short time…I wish I could relive my moments here” he whispered to himself, bowing head his head dramatically as he stared in to space. The craving for adrenaline started to build in his mind, he closed his eyes and took a step forward then another an another, quickening his pace with each hoof hitting the ground. Kickback found himself running atop the roof which was all too familiar to him. One, two, three, on four he slammed his legs off the roof and jumped, far and high above the streets below. His clothing breezed in the wind as he slowly started to descend, he opened his eyes and had a look of confidence on his face. He slammed down on the next building’s rooftop and began to sprint, repeating the pattern over and over again. He circled around Town Hall and stopped when something caught his attention, many ponies were entering the building, Kickback crouched down and watched mare by mare , stallion by stallion enter the town hall for something, he hadn’t been told of anything and he didn’t spot any of the elements of harmony either. Who he did spot was a familiar green unicorn in the group that walked by each other in almost a fully synchronised manner. The doors closed when everypony was inside, this heightened his curiosity.

“Hmmm”

“Hey!” a raspy voice called out, Kickback nearly jumped out of his skin which in turn caused a reaction that registered in his hoof, he felt the change immanent but as soon as he saw the mare before him, hovering over him thanks to her wings he managed to conceal it as he calmed himself.

“Hey, Dash”

“Sup?”

“Not a whole lot…hey, do you know anything about what’s going on in there?” he said as he gestured with his head towards the central building.

“Nope, some club meeting or something”

“Right, right, so what are you doing here?” he said as he swung his hood off, Dash looked at him.

“The better question is: What are you doing here?” she asked, Kickback then realised that he was still on a high rooftop, he looked at Dash with a blank look.

“Enjoying the view…c’mon, it’s not the first time you’ve seen me somewhere you didn’t expect…remember?” he said, Dash looked at him in confusion for a few moments before the memory clicked in her brain, he was referring to the first time they met. She grinned at him.

“Yeah but hey, follow me” she said as she Dash off a few metres in the sky, Kickback looked at her as she looked back with a smile meeting his confused look.

“Where we going?”

“Just follow me” and with that she was gone, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. Kickback got to his hooves, took a deep breath and ran from rooftop to rooftop, following the multi-hued trail as best he could. It was then, he realised that she flew off to the outskirts of town, more specifically, Sweet Apple Acres. She bolted through the door as Kickback ran through the trees, he could see the trail fading into the barn. He slowed his pace as he approached the barn, taking steps ever so cautiously, he narrowed his eyes and soon his vision differentiated. Everywhere was blue except several orange shapes in the building, huddling up and wearing objects on their heads. His thermo-vision indicated that six ponies, two unicorns, two pegasi and two earth-ponies were inside. He smirked as he slowly pried open the door. Kickback remained at ease despite the confetti exploding in his face and a loud phrase chanted by six feminine voices.

“SURPRISE!!!” the elements of harmony shouted, each having their own characteristic spin on the word as one can imagine.

“Happy, happy birthday, to you mister today, happy, happy birthday, hip, hip, hip, hooray, today is now your birthday so time to celebrate, happy, happy birthday to you Kickback TOODAAAAAAYYYY!”…I think it’s obvious who sang that, the crimson stallion just stared at Pinkie with a smirk as she stared back with a huge grin on her muzzle whilst her face was leaned in close to his face, he pulled back to look at the mare, whose neck was as long as a baby giraffe dur to her stance.

“Happy birthday, Kickback” an accented voice greeted from behind the pink, bubbly mare. Kickback cocked his head to the side to see the other equines standing there with greeting smiles on their faces. Pinkie lunged back, giving the scarlet colt a way to pass to his friends.

“Happy birthday, big-guy” Dash said with an enthusiastic tone and a wink.

“Happy birthday, darling” Rarity chimed with her own friendly look, the phrase grew to be an annoyance now to the crimson colt but he held his tongue, these ponies actually cared for him enough to throw a party for his…granted unnatural but still his date of birth,

Twilight and Fluttershy wished him the same.

“Thanks everypony” he said as he nodded his head. The party was just like any other birthday the stallion had been to this year, cakes, music, games, the genuine “Pinkie Pie effect” thanks to her so called ‘party cannon’.

“So AJ…how is Big Mac?” Rarity asked with a devilishly curious tone as the earth pony and BLACKLIGHT pony stood around her.

“Nutin’, why?” the orange mare replied, Kickback looked between them.

“Cause he seems quite happy with the local school teacher” the unicorn observed, Applejack had a blank face but Kickback could see the extremely irritated look behind that mask she calls her face…her beautiful face I might add.

“Rarity…mind ya own business” the farmer said with no specific tone, Kickback chuckled as he took another drink.

“Gonna have to agree with AJ on this one, Macintosh’s love life is none of anypony’s concern” Kickback commented, the two looked at him, Rarity had a much more confused face compared to Applejack’s warm smile, he was defending her and her family.

“Hey, have you two been to town hall recently?” Kickback asked.

“Now that you mention it…nope” AJ said.

“Me either, perhaps it’s due to it always been used for club meetings now” Rarity added, Kickback thought a moment.

“Interesting…” he said as he took another gulp of his drink. The party went along as you would think, ponies danced, played games, talked and laughed with one another until it was time to bid a farewell. Kickback’s friends never talked about or even showed any notice as to the fact that the stallion had been in Ponyville for almost a year and still didn’t have a proper home, most likely they thought that Kickback was a traveller and wasn’t staying long but that was put out of question after a while, they seemed to be just fine with him sleeping wherever and when they offered him their own home to crash at, they seemed rather happy when he agreed. Other times he would stay up all night or find somewhere to rest ‘till morning.

A few days passed

Kickback, the BLACKLIGHT pony stood at the top of the clock tower, staring at his surroundings, homes and businesses that made Ponyville were all visible from his vantage point. The stallion smirked under his hood as he enjoyed the blissful feeling of the warm summer’s day capped with the cool breeze that passed by, the beautiful landscape that made this part of Equestria and the feeling of solemn privacy. His vision was distraught by a multi-coloured blur crossing his eye sight, in slow motion, Rainbow Dash could be seen, looking over at the stallion with a toothy grin and a wink, he shot back in surprise and looked at the vanishing figure in the distance, he smiled again. As he turned back he almost jumped out of his coat, a brown face covered his vision, yellow where there should white eyes and red pupils that were two different sizes, white eyebrows that were also unsymmetrical. The face was upside down, Kickback’s eyes gazed over it, it had a single fang capped with a goat-like beard, despite it being up-side-down it was smiling.

“Well, well, well what have we here?” the creature asked.

“What in Titarus are you?” the crimson stallion asked in anger.

“I…am Discord, spirit of chaos but it seems I now represent harmony aswell” the traconacaus said. Discord flipped his long body in the air and levitated to meet the stallion properly face to face.

“Discord?…oh yeah” Kickback said, recalling that one day he was told the story about this thing and how one particular yellow pegasus handled him.

“Mhm, who might you be? I don’t believe we’ve met, have we Kickback?” he said with a villainous grin and tone.

“…You…know who-”

“Indeed, I know a great many things, such as the little tricks you can pull” Discord said as with a calm and smug look that made Kickback angry but he was soon shocked and in fear at the fact that this creature, this god-like thing knows a lot more about him than he would like.

“…So you know what I’ve done?” Kickback said in a sinister tone, almost challenging the traconacaus.

“Mhm”

“So…how’s life, Discord?”

“Pretty good, pretty good, yourself?”

“Just fine…”

“Look, friend, I don’t care” Discord said in a now much friendlier tone that caught Kickback off guard.

“What?”

“I don’t care that you’ve brutally killed and devoured the inhabitants of this world, you think I have a perfect history?” Kickback remained silent. “The point is, I changed…somewhat…but if you hurt anypony…especially Fluttershy…I will not hesitate  to-” was all he got out before he noticed something. Chuckling was what caught the spirit’s ears, the stallion lowered his head enough to conceal his eyes which gave a sinister look, his shoulders were buckling as he chuckled at something, Kickback’s teeth were visible as he laughed under the shade of his hood, Discord just stared in confusion and shock at the stallion. Kickback raised his head to look at the creature with a toothy smirk, a small fang hang down from his upper jaw as the right side of his teeth shown brightly through the darkness made by his hood. Discord felt slight fear at this point, he stared at the stallion right eye of which was a different shade than before, his eye glowed an eerie orange-red colour that was directed at the spirit.

“Discord…believe when I say, no harm will come to the elements or any good pony in this town by me” he said in a ominous tone. Discord simply looked at him before his expression softened into a smug smile, the spirit snapped his talons, a bright white flash blinded the stallion temporarily before it and the creature were gone.

Revelations

Kickback didn’t see the chaotic spirit after that, perhaps he made it perfectly clear that he was not afraid of Discord.

After the Hearth’s Warming celebration which involved a play based around the founding of Equestria , the elements of harmony did not star this year but they still had seat tickets, Spike was left behind this year but he was still given a choice but he decide to keep the library in check, Kickback was invited… but declined. The festival took place in Canterlot, all those guards and everything made it not a great place to be despite already being there before, the urban exploration was great but it just wasn’t for the crimson stallion. The six mares returned home and regaled their experiences, how it was like to see another do the same performance as you sit in the crowd.

A few days later, apparently Pinkie remembers everything, she threw another party for the viral colt which was confusing until she explained it.

“HAPPY ONE YEAR STAY IN PONYVILLE, KICKBACK!!” she exclaimed as he stepped into the bakery of which the pink mare worked at. Thing was this party was three days before New year’s, Pinkie had work to do. She managed to pull off yet another fantastic party, the ever traditional count down was climatic enough for Equestria to just simply explode. However it was not to Pinkie’s expectations, she invited three times as many ponies as the equines that were actually there, just the other elements and the scarlet stallion showed up but she was still caught up in having fun. That probably wasn’t the strangest thing though, as it got to about the last fifty seconds on the clock, Applejack asked for the viral stallion to step outside for a moment with her, the two trotted outside as Kickback still remaining calm yet was most curious as to what the orange mare wanted…in private. Applejack stopped in road and remained silent, Kickback looked at her with a calm smile, she noticed as she shot up in surprise of the stallion looking at her before her expression softened into her own smile with a hint of honey glow in her cheeks.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Kickback said as he looked away from the mare and stared upwards.

“What?” she responded.

“Stars…I never really take notice of them but they really are…beautiful” he said in soothing tone, maybe not intentionally but Applejack felt more at ease at the sound of his slightly accented voice. She looked up as she walked over to the stallion’s side. Kickback looked down at her and realised a slight shivering coursing down her body, an action that forced the stallion’s eyes to wander and explore her orange coat from her gorgeous face to her strong hind legs. She looked up at him, he stared back and smirked. “Ya cold?”

“Y-yeah, a little bit”

“Here” he said as he began to remove the outer layer of his suit, he slipped it off of his body and rested it over the mare, the black jacket was enough to put Applejack’s body heat to ease.

“Why ah haven’t seen ya out of this thing in a while…remember that day where you paid five hundred bits for those apples?”

“Yeah” he said with a chuckle.

“Well ah…ah mighty appreciate you, Kickback” she said in a friendly tone.

“If anything…I should be appreciating you, AJ, you and all your friends…feels like this town has changed me” he said as he began to think deeply.

“TEN” back inside, Pinkie called out to start.

“NINE” Dash was the first to pick it up.

“EIGHT” Twilight joined in.

“S-seven” Fluttershy said.

“SIX” added Rarity.

“Fahve” outside, Applejack carried on as she leaned in closer to the stallion.

“Four” he added as he watched her orange face grow ever closer to his own red muzzle.

“THREE! Hey where‘s-” Pinkie said, now looking around for something.

“Two…” Applejack said, little over a whisper as she began to slowly close her eyes as she leaned into Kickback”

“O-…” was all he could manage before his mouth became slightly too busy for words. Applejack had lunged forward and locked lips with the scarlet colt, he just sat there motionless, allowing her warm tongue to explore his mouth. Within a few seconds she backed away and stared into the darker rimmed eyes of the viral colt. Being that this wasn’t the first time Applejack decide to do that to him, he wasn’t as surprised as before.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” rang several voices from inside before the clanking of glasses could heard.

“Applejack-…”

“Happy new year, Kickback” she said, Kickback just looked at her before his snout converted into a smile, one that she gladly returned. January’s days weren’t too different from ever other day the stallion had spent in Ponyville, the occasional timberwolf or Manticore attack became less frequent as time drug on. It was clear to him now that the orange mare had a little something for him, he only thought of it like that though, romance was never a priority for him, never really was even considered let alone wanted. Because of that, he remained only friends with the farm pony, good friends and now old friends, Kickback had spent just over a year in Ponyville now and surprisingly was able to keep his secret for this long, the thought of them finding out still was dark corner in the back of his mind. That day may come soon and it will be non other than Kickback himself to reluctantly show them, that’s what he thought anyway, it was a feeling, like something was coming, something that was enough to make him unleash himself in front of his friends. New ponies started moving into town frequently, none buying houses or anything though, you would still see them but they would always be standing together in a group, isolated from everypony else. That secret club, held meetings almost everyday so access to the town hall was virtually non existent to anypony outside of it.

Whenever the stallion would see Lyra, she would always be a little forward, if catch my meaning. She sultry, she was seductive, everything you could think of and that got Kickback thinking about what to do about her, should he just be himself and remain calm? Or should he accept her advances?

“Well see ya around, big guy” she would always say before walking past but not without brushing her two toned green tail under his chin, on the front of his neck. Every now and again, he’d catch of something…no not that. Hey eyes would always briefly glow a emerald green before returning to her natural gold. Before he knew it, Vinyl was acting the same, seductive, saucy, sultry, you pick your adjective. Was it because it was getting close to Hearts and hooves day? Kickback thought, he first noticed it on the DJ when she invited him over one day. Kickback stood atop town hall, wondering what was going on inside, when he got the chance, he’d see the mayor and ask her about all of this meeting scheduling. It was then that he remembered that Vinyl Scratch was expecting him today, he jumped form the tall building and stretched his four legs out wide causing him to glide through the air like Chrissie Haybale in the movie Batmare. Kickback landed atop the home of the DJ and her classy grey friend and leapt off with a back flip to the ground in front of the door. He was open it but somepony had beaten him to it, the white unicorn herself swung the door open and beamed at the scarlet colt, once again that jade colour flickered in her eyes.

“Hey, you, come on in” she said in that same tone, he heard Lyra use.

“Hey Vinyl, what’s up?” Kickback greeted as he walked through the door, he turned to see Vinyl gazing up at him, eyes half lidded and a grin plastered on her muzzle.

“Just thought we could…chillax” she said, little over a whisper as she began to trot over into the next room, maybe it was imagination but as she walked, he could’ve sworn that she was wiggling her rump intentionally to each side, letting Kickback get a good look at her hind quarters. She turned back and looked at him with the same look, he just stared at her, mouth slightly agape.

“Vinyl…are you-..”

“C’mon, big guy” she said, as she turned back and trotted into the lounge room. Kickback shook his head and followed. She plopped herself down on the couch, Kickback stood a moment and looked at her, her beckoning eyes urging him to sit, an action of which he commenced. Kickback sat and faced away from the mare, little did he know that she was rummaging into a position that placed her body closer to his own. Kickback turned back to say something but was surprised at the image, Vinyl’s face was merely a few centimetres away from his own, she stared into his eyes with a grin as he stared back in shock. She moved into him, pressing her muzzle up to his, locking his lips with her own. His eyes widened at the action, her tongue was a hungry predator, desperate for passion, something Kickback just didn’t have. He remained there for a few moments before gently placing his right hoof on her shoulder and gingerly pushing her away, she took notice and stopped briefly before she giggled and lunged forward with force, Kickback fell back slightly at the action. She rested atop of him as she explored his mouth her warm tongue, Kickback didn’t know what to do at the moment, he was always a ‘go with the flow’ kind of pony or at least that’s he was now but he wasn’t sure if he was enjoying this. Vinyl released from his mouth, he gasped slightly which made the mare giggle before placing kisses on his neck.

“V-Vinyl?”

“Mhm”

“S-stop…what are you doing?” he said, changing his speechless tone to a stern one, Vinyl giggled.

“Awww c’mon” she said as she gazed up into his eyes, Kickback stared back into her red rimmed pools that were always beautiful but now that she was doing what she was doing made them even more. She gazed down at his attire and smirked. “C’mon, let’s get these off” she said as she began to slip the sleeves of his jacket off his forelegs. After the first sleeve, Vinyl lunged upwards and locked Kickback in a passionate kiss, she moaned softly in his mouth as the stallion felt a blissful sensation pass through him. That ‘bliss’ was strangely taken away, not so much completely but another feeling joined it, almost merged with it to complete the mix or illusion. Kickback couldn’t quite put his claw on it as he found himself kissing her back slightly, Vinyl giggled as she noticed and pressed on. Slowly, Kickback felt something, something different, a force of some kind, a slight tugging feeling inside him. It made him compelled to carry on with the unicorn mare but also it felt…wrong, slowly he began to feel drowsy, not so much tired as it was just him feeling like energy was being taken from him. Vinyl’s horn started to glow, first it’s original cyan then to a green shade, she tackled into their make out session with lust, moaning and giggling all the while as she felt like this virus riddled pony was putty in her hooves. Kickback opened his eye to find an indescribable sight, a green aura enveloped the two ponies, lighting the room up in an ominous green glow. Kickback knew something was definitely wrong now.

“V-Vi-…Vin-Vinyl…VINYL!! Get off!” he shouted, pulling away from the kiss and trying to push the mare off him. Vinyl’s confused expression turned to one of pure rage, Kickback watched as she leapt off the couch in an unnatural matter at super speeds. She hissed before she let out an animalistic growl, Kickback’s eyebrows lowered as he grew angry and prepared for what was to come, he sat up and hopped off the couch himself and flipped his hood on. Vinyl…or whatever was in the room took on a stance a tiger would before it was to pounce, suddenly green flames rocketed from her hooves up to neck, to her face, she was completely different, if Kickback hadn’t seen worse, he’d probably puke. No longer was it the beautiful and spunky white unicorn mare with her signature electric blue mane and short cut tail but an insect-like pony. It’s eyes, two aqua spheres were all they were, wings not unlike those of a ladybug protruded from a dark blue layer over it‘s back, like the shell of a beetle. No longer was it’s surface a white coat but rather a jet black shade that looked smooth. It had fangs that hung down from it’s top jaw as it gritted it’s teeth, a sharp horn extended from it’s fore head, it’s ears were like fins you would find on a fish, it’s legs were covered in holes, as if somepony took a knife and cut circles into them. This horrible…thing had it’s gazed fixed on the stallion.

“What the buck are you?”

“Gnaaahahaa”

“Don’t speak Equish?…FINE!!!” without warning, Kickback brought his front right foreleg back, crimson and ebony tendrils smarmed along his shoulder, making their way to his hoof, within two seconds, Kickback’s weapon was formed, ready for killing. Kickback wordlessly lunged his claw at the creature, it dash to the side, Kickback looked up at it and swiped his claw in it’s direction. It went airborne, hovering with it’s insect wings, making an annoying buzzing sound as they frantically flapped. Kickback jumped up and caught it’s back left leg, he brought the bastard down, it staggered a bit before it got to it’s hooves.

“C’mon, you son of a bitch!”

Suddenly the beast did what could be called the equivalent of a smile, it’s sharp shined as it grinned maliciously. Another wave of green flames coursed up the monster, Kickback could hardly believe what he was seeing. A dark red coated stallion, a lengthened tail, a long black and white mane, dark green eyes, his right foreleg, morphed into a disgustingly unnatural appendage, he wore hooded apparel and an evil look on his face. Kickback then realised that this thing…this shape changing mother bucker can take on a pony’s appearance and even their voice. “C’mon, you son of a bitch” it said in the same tone that was earlier phrased. Kickback took a step back as he stared in rage and horror at the being before him, it wasn’t himself, no but nevertheless what he was seeing horrified him, the fact that this creature took on his form and the fact that he was looking at himself when he was that way made him cringe. What Kickback did next was something he expect him to nor did the copy of himself could predict it. He laughed, Kickback was audibly chuckling to himself as he bowed his head enough to cover his eyes, his shoulders buckled as his chuckling became louder and more sinister.

“hehehehahahHahahHAHAHA, Alright then, let’s see how well you can adapt!!” he shouted, Kickback suddenly changed again, his left hoof spun around and soon manifested into a long whip-like appendage. He lunged it at the copy, catching it off guard, it wrapped around the creature, it was pulled closer to the stallion as Kickback brought his whip-fist back violently, causing the monster to frantically spin around, trying to get back it’s balance. Kickback continued to chuckle as he unleashed his onslaught, he slashed the mirror image’s face with his claw, it cried in pain in it’s original voice as it held it’s bleeding face with his hoof and own claw. Kickback manifested his forelegs into three pronged limbs, he stepped up to the creature and grabbed both of it’s front legs, he looked up at it’s scared face, a barrage of flames covered it’s body and it was soon back to it’s original hideous form, Kickback smiled under his hood at the thing, his eye glowed an eerie red-orange before he looked down at his hands grasping the limbs of the creature.

“hehehehehehehe” he let out to himself as he began to tug on it’s front limbs, he stood up on his hind legs and hoisted the being to it’s own and violently pulled at the sockets.

“Hahahaha Hahah” he continued as the creature began to whelp in fear and pain. Crackling noises could be heard as the skin and bone of this bastard was about give way. Kickback relieved himself of his laughing and gritted teeth as he pulled on it’s legs. One. More. Time. It screeched in pain as it flailed about, it collapsed on it’s chin and began to cry out, Kickback look down at his work and threw it’s legs to the side, hardly any blood. Kickback morphed his right leg back into a hoof and trotted closer to the monstrosity and looked down at it, he picked it up by the back of the neck with his left limb. He stared at it, green eyes to bug eyes. Without warning or words, Kickback held the creature as he continuously beat it with his bare hoof like a punching/bucking bag. Within moments, the creature was enveloped by the ‘mercer-less’ stallion in a smarm of red and black bio-mass. Kickback felt pain in his head as he shone images blinded by a white light, bits and pieces only, nothing was clear, much an animal’s memory. There was one thing though that intrigued him, an image of an alicorn-like creature but with same design of the monster he consumed, female by the looks of it, it was, eyes of a normal pony and a long web-like mane. It wasn’t what she was though but rather where she was, Kickback saw Canterlot and his friends then a desert of some kind, the image of a hive was seen next, a dark cave, green and slimy eggs hung from the ceiling holding what appeared to be their spawn. The next image made Kickback cringed in horror…mating. What was next was confusing and shocking, inside town hall, ponies of all kinds in the crowd, the mayor on the stage then the same insect-mare could be seen on the balcony entering, being displayed as red curtains revealed her. Before anything else, the flashback faded, leaving Kickback confused, shocked and…afraid.

Hunting The Love Eaters

Kickback staggered a bit as he put a hoof to his forehead. He stood there, gasping in shock before something hit him.

“Octavia….” he whispered to himself. He looked to the stairs and quickly ran up the flight, he turned into the cellist’s room and frantically opened the door. Nopony. Kickback trotted up to the bed as something caught his eye, a little piece of paper laying there on the foot of the mattress.

“Vinyl, I have gone to Canterlot with Shady, be back in a few days…” Kickback read aloud what was on the note. The crimson colt let out a relieved sigh, his grey friend wasn’t around…but what about Vinyl? Kickback turned his head and went for the other door, he bucked it open and was disappointed and relieved at the sight, once again, there was nopony inside. The scarlet stallion trotted into the semi-well kept room, not paying any mind to the mess on the floor as he glanced around the room for any clue. The room held some evidence of a struggle, blood splatters could be found in small amounts on the floor and furniture. Kickback’s vision went thermal, the room itself was cold but the smears everywhere were warm, confirming that it was blood…and it couldn’t have been spilt too long ago. The stallion’s vision returned to normal as he continued his search, he began looking through her wardrobe and drawers, around her shelves and even under the bed.  Kickback found something he probably shouldn’t have…Vinyl’s journal. He really didn’t think that somepony like her would even have one but apparently so. With reluctant nature he pried open the cover and began to read, most of the pages were blank, she must’ve been one of those ponies that always forget of just don’t care enough. He flipped through the pages, hoping to find some key word or sentence. He unfortunately got that…it wasn’t what he wanted but he found a drawing…the page had his name printed on it, a shape circled around his, a plus sign and the journal’s owner’s name. Kickback shot back in surprise as he looked at the image, a heart shape surrounding the phrase “Vinyl + Kickback”…he stared at it for a moment before he smirked and turned the page. He frantically flipped through the pages, hoping to get some idea of what happened to the DJ, he got the last day of the year and sighed in disappointment before he placed it back where it was atop the shelf. Kickback then found something else, her shades. Kickback grasped them in his hoof and stared at them for a moment. He looked back up with a determined look on his face, he closed his eyes and shot them back open, a sonar pulse surrounded Kickback’s world, turning it into an orange shade. He looked to his right to see the pulse return in a matter of moments. He placed the glasses back and ran through the house, out the door. He was about to run off again but was stopped by something violently crashing into him, knocking him down. His eyes were firmly tight due to the sheer suddenness of the event, soon consciousness was regained, he shot his eyes opened to Rainbow Dash lying atop him, her eyes were also close but they looked much calmer, Kickback looked down only to realise that he didn’t notice the warm feeling of another pony on his muzzle. Rainbow’s eyes snapped open as she must’ve realised what she was doing.

“Hey” she said in a friendly tone despite what just transpired and what position they were in.

“…Hey” he said, trying to keep calm but with everything that just happened, it was hard to.

“What’s up, dude?”

“…Nothin’, what’s on top of you?” he said, trying to make a joke and to see whether or not she would understand.

“On top?…Oh right, sorry” she said as she fluttered her wings before standing on her hooves again.

“Don’t be…” Kickback said as he got to his own hooves and dusted himself off. He looked around to see Ponyville, still in it’s busy an joyous state but Kickback saw right through all that.

“Hey, are you alright? I’m sorry for crashing into ya…and for *clears throat*…”

“It’s okay and I’m fine…” he said, now apparently returning to the stallion the mare knew him for, she saw him as the strong, calm stallion that always wore a smirk, little did she know.

“Alright…ya wanna grab something to eat?”

“…No, I’m not hungry but thanks Dashie” he said, Rainbow looked away and blushed slightly at the nickname.

“I gotta go, Dash, I’ll see ya later, K?”

“Yeah, sure, see ya big guy” she said as she watched the stallion begin to trot quickly away from her, she sighed before she took to the sky. Kickback looked behind him to see Dash unfurling her wings and zooming off into the sky, he looked ahead again and sent out another hunting pulse. The returning pulse came from his right, he turned into an alley way and ran up the wall, he hovered in the air a moment before landing firmly on the roof with a thud and a roll before taking off again, he ran across the roof and leapt towards the next building. He continued this pattern until he stopped at rooftop and sent out another pulse, the horror settled in as his assumption was correct. The returning pulse radiated from within none other than Town hall. Vinyl Scratch was inside and who knows how many other ponies may be aswell.

“Kickback?!” an accented rang form the ground, the stallion looked down to see Applejack gazing up at him in confusion.

“Hey, AJ”

“What are yah’ll doin’ up there?” she asked before Kickback walked to the edge and leapt off, landing in front of a now impressed and shocked orange mare.

“Nothin’” he said with a chuckle, Applejack smiled at him, a look he gladly returned.

At night that day

In the darkness, a cloaked figure could be seen, his silhouette highlighted by the Luna’s full moon. Kickback ran through the quiet town as he surveyed the streets. The hooded stallion stopped on a tall building and glanced around for anything that looked wrong, anything that he could help him find out just what in Tartarus is going on. He got lucky as he spotted a building in the distance, lights shining brightly in the darkness, highlighting it’s surround, at the corner of the light, Kickback spotted a pony in a dark blue cloak, the same cloak he saw the new arrivals in Ponyville wear, walking through the street’s with his bowed. Kickback smirked and jumped, clearing the road below and beginning to follow the colt or what looked like a colt. Kickback followed him in the darkness, he turned into an alleyway which in turn made Kickback smile maliciously, he watched the figure turn a corner but didn’t let him go any further. Kickback pounced him, the figure went to the ground as the stallion pinned him to it, he struggled a bit but was helpless against the crimson colt’s strength.

“Who…are…you?” Kickback asked in a sinister tone. The figure looked up at him and Kickback could make out what he following now, a grey stallion with a rugged blue mane was staring up at him with fear in his eyes, he remained silent. The fear soon turned into pure rage in his eyes as a grin crossed his muzzle, a barrage of green swarmed him, Kickback smirked as he found that his assumption was correct yet again. The stallion transformed into the same bug-like creature and growled at the virus riddled colt as it lunged it’s neck upwards as best as it could. Kickback slammed a hoof into the creature’s face then again and again…and again. The atrocity was reduced to a blur of ebony and crimson that was swallowed up by the scarlet stallion. Kickback held his head as he prepared for the mess of images and voices that would radiate through his head, surprisingly it wasn’t as unclear as the first time, it felt more…connected. Kickback got a better idea of what was going on, he was even given the name of their grotesque species ‘Changelings’ the name fit perfectly. Kickback’s mind felt attuned with something, not quite fully but it was there, like a collective consciousness at the back of his viral mind. Kickback stood up and looked down at the thing’s cloak, he picked it up and threw it into the nearest bin he could find before walking off into the night.

The next day

Kickback sat at his favourite park bench under the tree, with his hood off, he stared into space, glancing every so often at somepony who may just be one those bloody things. He sat there for a few moments as the morning slowly drug on, at the corner of his vision he saw Fluttershy walking into town with a couple of saddlebags, she turned as she felt somepony was watching her to Kickback waving with a friendly on his face, the yellow pegasus waved back before pressing on. Kickback wasn’t that close to Fluttershy, there are always friends in a group that are closer than the others to one another and that’s just how it worked. Kickback sat and waited a few more moments for the signal, as he searched his mind the night before, he found the time when the secret club meeting would take place today so he waited. When it was almost time, Kickback got up and walked into the nearest alleyway, he thought a moment before his next act, he sickened him to the core but he had to. Kickback’s body smarmed in a barrage of black and red, soon it was no longer the crimson stallion standing there but rather his victim the previous night along with his cloak, Kickback could manifest clothing for himself aswell as change his appearance, it’s just something he discovered about himself. Kickback flipped the dark blue hood over his head and waited as he peered out into the light at the end of the alley. Something clicked in the back of his mind, a slight tugging feeling telling him ‘It’s time’ he took a deep breath and walked towards town hall. Mares and stallion of all kinds trotted towards the building in a synchronised fashion with blanks looks, Kickback did his best to blend in and not draw attention from the obviously disguised equines.

“Here we go…” Kickback thought to himself as he watched the mayor herself step out of the building and someponies walking through the open doors. He followed as best he could and so far, so good. As Kickback trotted inside, he swear he could’ve thrown up right there and then as he saw the hideous sight, long black and torn banners decorated the room, turquoise webbing covered the walls, slimy green pods hung from the ceiling that contained small changelings, Kickback could only think that this must be their disgusting spawn, their larvae. Kickback sent out a hunting pulse as he walked, he noticed slime on the ground, he cringed at the feeling. The returning pulse resonated from downstairs, he caught a faint glimpse of a mare’s nervous system, more specifically Vinyl Scratch’s. He looked to the end of the room to see an archway that presented a flight of stairs that descended downwards, he pieced together a plan in his mind as he continued to walk. Ponies around him began to take places, standing straight and firmly in rows of five, Kickback found a spot and walked over to it, hoping to keep undercover for as long as possible. He stood there at the back of the line and waited as he glanced around the room, noticing and recognising the forms of several ponies.

“Carrot Top, Big Mac, Colgate, Scootaloo, Roseluck, Thunderlane, Berry Punch, Blossomforth, Wildfire, Lotus and…Diamond Tiara?” he thought as he glanced around, eventually spotting Lyra aswell. Everypony was silent as they were apparently waiting for something to happened due to the way they looked up towards the balcony. Kickback looked up at it and for a moment there was nothing but that changed as large, grotesque alicorn-like creature was revealed behind a set of red curtains, she wore a devilish look on her hideous face as her web-like mane draped across it. A jagged horn protruded form her forehead, a green shell covered her back as to where insect-like wings stuck out. She took a few steps forward and placed her cut out hooves on the railing as she looked down at her…subjects.

“Greetings my fellow changelings!!” she roared through the building, the crowd cheered, Kickback was relieved that they didn’t change into their own forms.

“Today is a glorious day for us my brothers and sisters!” she continued in her echoing, raspy and just plain out evil voice.

“As of right now, my shield domes of Ponyville, nopony is leaving and nopony’s getting in” she added, Kickback listened intently, trying to sustain the urge to just bust out his blade right there and then.

“Twilight Sparkle will not stop me this time, nopony suspects a thing, we’re right under their snouts and they don’t even know!” she said before giving into a villainous laugh. The crowd continued to cheer at the sight and words of their queen, Kickback knew this somehow, the tugging at the back of his mind felt connected to something, their hive mind, he knew what the changeling next to him knew and she knew that the creature atop the balcony was their ruler, queen Chrysalis. She started rambling on in her speech, everyone around listened intently though, Kickback had quite enough of it and simply waited for the opportunity, whatever it may be. Kickback looked around and found nopony was looking at him, he stepped closer to the disguise stallion in front of him as he morphed the end of his hoof into a small blade and silently jabbed his back with it. The changeling started to convulse, his shoulders buckled frantically as he coughed violently, Kickback smirked under the hood and watched his weapon do it’s work. He took a few steps back began to walk around the crowd, towards the doorway, as he did quietly stabbed another changeling, one that wasn’t being watched, as he pressed on he heard the same effects.

“You there, what is wrong with you?” Chrysalis said, pointing a hoof to Kickback’s first bio-bomb. He smiled as he mentally counting from ten.

“One…” he whispered to himself in a sinister tone, as he did and explosion was heard along with crackling, whipping and screaming noises as several tentacles bursted out of a changeling in the back, they pulled five or six others into the subject, they exploded in a gush of green blood.

“What the bu-…” was all Chrysalis said before the next one went off, in the confusion, Kickback made another.

“What is happeni-…” she was cut off by a third bio-bomb, just like that eighteen or so of her subjects were gone, Kickback felt little remorse though, it shocked him to find that there were at least fifty in the room but who knows how many there are in total. That number was reduced thanks to the scarlet colt who was at the moment grey. Changelings all around either morphed back and took to the air, looking down at the group or remained in their disguises, gasping and shouting in horror and confusion. In the chaos, Kickback made his way downstairs to see a large black door in his way, he pushed it open as silently as he could and behold the sight before him. Organic prison cells in a dark room, his thermo vision let him see someponies slouched against the walls, some standing with there heads bowed. Kickback sent out a hunting pulse and was immediately greeted with the nervous structure of Vinyl Scratch, he stepped towards a light switch and was about to flick it on but a thought crossed his mind.

“How will I get everypony out?…I need to change back so they’ll recognise me but I need to change back again in order to leave without arousing suspicion or starting a war…” he thought to himself before he stood there for a moment. In the darkness, he morphed back into himself, the dark blue coat transforming into his own hooded attire, he breathed a sigh of relief to finally be out of that form before he flicked on the light switch. He closed the large door as everypony looked up to see him, he turned back to see what he wasn’t expecting, nopony got up and had excited looks on their faces but rather they just kept the same position. Kickback trotted through the room, glancing at each pony that had depressed and hopeless looks on their faces. Kickback stopped and turned to one of the cells, Vinyl Scratch was sitting there with a incredibly sad look, Kickback put a hoof to the surprisingly solid bar and stared at her, she glanced up with a look of hatred.

“What do you want, monster?” she said, Kickback looked at her before he realised that she must’ve thought that the changelings had got to him and that she wasn’t looking at the real Kickback.

“I’m here to free you, Vinyl” she looked directly at him after he said those words.

“…K-Kickback?” she said, tears welling up in her eyes, the scarlet stallion smiled at her.

“Yeah…it’s me…” he said, trying to sooth the mare, she remained silent as she smiled wider at him, her lips quivering. She got to her hooves but was cut off from taking a step forward.

“Now…stand back” he ordered, Vinyl complied but was confused as to what he was going to do. Kickback thought a moment as he placed his other hoof on the cell bars, he wrapped his hooves around them and breathed a heavy sigh. Without warning, Kickback began to pull on the bars, Vinyl watched him, she was about to say that wouldn’t work but was silenced as she saw the bars start to bend to the stallion’s will. With one final pull, the entire door to the cell was gone, ripped off the hinges by the scarlet colt. He threw the door to the side and stood there, Vinyl slowly approached him before she quickly ran up to him and wrapped the hooded stallion in a tight hug, Kickback placed his forelegs around the mare to return it as best as he could, she pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“Thankyou…” she whispered before slowly moving as she started to close her eyes, Kickback suddenly put a hoof to the mare’s muzzle, her eyes snapped open at the action and quickly looked back into the dark green eyes of her savoir in a confused look.

“Vinyl, we’re not done, I need you to stay here, okay” he said. Vinyl was about to say something but nodded instead. Kickback gave her a quick smile before letting go of her and walking towards another cell. He continued to free the prisoners, soon every mare, colt, filly and stallion were free and ready. Kickback noticed at the end of the room, the roof was wooden, he looked up at it before he turned back to the group.

“Scratch, where does this lead?”

“Oh, I fell through that one time” twas not Vinyl that answered the question but rather the grey pegasus mail-mare.

“It goes to outside”

“Really?” Kickback said before glancing to his right, he notice a door, he walked up to it and found that behind it was another staircase.

“Where does this go?”

“Oh, that leads to my office, that bitch took it form me” the mayor said, Kickback looked at in surprise at her choice of words.

“Okay, all of you, bust through that ceiling, I still go work to do” he said, pointing a hoof to the roof and turning back into the arch way.

“Kickback, I-”

“It’s okay, Vinyl…oh and for the record…I read your diary” he said before slamming the door behind him. Vinyl Scratch stood there, dumbfounded at what she just heard, a wave of relief and anger washed over her but she couldn’t take it out on anything, he locked the door. Kickback took a deep breath and ascended the stairs. A door blocked his path, his slowly opened it, hoping to find Chrysalis but she was nowhere to be seen. Kickback walked through the room for a few moments, another flight of stairs led upwards, most likely to the third floor, where the balcony was, Kickback trotted up them. Her voice became clear once more, she rambled ecstatically at her subjects, trying to keep them calm and find out what happened to those unfortunate three changelings. Kickback saw her and silently crept towards the atrocity.

“Settle the buck down!!” she yelled, unaware of the stallion creeping up on her.

“I don’t care anymore!! Eighteen or so changelings? SO WHAT? There are hundreds of us just waiting to take over this town and soon ALL OF EQUESTRIA!!” she continued.

“NOW…FEEEEEEEDDDD!!!” she yelled, everypony cheered and began to leave the building, Chrysalis turned, an action which Kickback was afraid of, he ducked out of vision, he watched her as he hid the curtain, she was facing away from him, perfect time to strike. Kickback crept up to her and was about to pounce but was stopped but the creature turning and blasting him with her magic. Kickback went flying over to a nearby wall as Chrysalis began to laugh devilishly.

“Ahhhh, you…bitch” he said as he staggered back to his hooves.

“Who might you be-…?” she trailed off as she looked more intently at the stallion.

“What?”

“I order to stand down” she said, Kickback looked at her in confusion before putting the pieces in his head, she could sense him, she thought he was one of them, the changelings he’s consumed, she could feel them, Kickback was apart of the hive mind, he found this remarkably hilarious.

“hehehehehahahahaHaHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” he let out, Chrysalis looked at him like he was insane.

“What’s so funny Earwig?” she said, Kickback knew that name, it was the name of the second he consumed.

“You really think-hahahaha- That I- ahahahaha- AM ONE OF YOU!?!” he said, trying to contain his sadistic laughter. Chrysalis felt something she hadn’t in a while…fear.

The Better Of Two Evils

Chrysalis stepped back as she watched the mysterious crimson stallion get to his hooves all the while chuckling to himself.

“Ya see, Chrysalis…Just because I’m shape-shifting monster…DOESN’T MEAN I’M ONE OF YOU MOTHERBUCKERS” Kickback roared at the queen.

“But I-…Then why do I-” was all she said.

“Because everyone I’ve killed…they’re in me…They are me” he said, now ceasing his laughter and taking on a sinisterly serious tone. Kickback took a step forward as Chrysalis stood stepped back.

“What are you?” she said in an angry tone.

“…Something less than pony…but also…something more” he said in just over a whisper. Chrysalis looked at, speechless.

“And what are planning to do here, hmmm?”

“Well, the changelings won’t operate correctly without a queen, right? And wit you gone, that little field you were talking about will be gone too…so, I’m going to kill you” he said, surprisingly in his regular calm tone. Chrysalis stared at him for a moment before giving into her own sadistic laugh, Kickback grinned at her as she delved into her insatiable evil chuckling. She didn’t realise he was stepping closer to her.

“And how in Equestria are you going to do that?” she asked, in an hysterical fit of giggling, Kickback continued to walk up to her as she laughed with here eyes closed.

“Ahem” the sound of a stallion, clearing his throat rang from beneath her gaze. Chrysalis looked down to see the BLACKLIGHT colt, looking up at her with a collected look.

“like this…” as soon as he said those words, Kickback raised a hoof and lunged upwards, uppercutting the changeling queen. She staggered backwards as Kickback landed on his hooves, she regained her composure and glared death at the stallion. Chrysalis noticed a cold, green liquid running down the side of her mouth and quickly swiped away the blood from her face. Chrysalis growled at the colt before him, who held a calm smirk as he slowly raised a hoof behind him and flipped on his signature hood. Chrysalis retaliated with a magical response, firing green lasers at the stallion. Kickback jolted around the room to avoid the attacks but was too late to react as he landed on the ground and looked up at the queen, he was blinded by a green light that struck him down, Kickback felt himself flying towards the end of the room and landed hard on a wall. Kickback was about to get to his hooves but was struck down by the advancing atrocity in the room, she began to laugh devilishly once more. She paused after her fourth attack and continued to chuckle loudly, Kickback ceased the opportunity, he smirked as tendrils of red and black coated his right foreleg, Chrysalis had yet to realise. Kickback stood and looked down at his limb, a second later it morphed into what he wanted, he brought back his hoof as he got to his back, he was now at his full height, standing on his hind legs. Kickback lunged the whip-fist forward which caught Chrysalis’s attention and terror.

“What? What is-” was she managed before the lengthened blade wrapped around the changeling’s neck. He roared as he lifted her into the air with each sway of his weapon, crashing her into the surroundings walls and to the ground. Kickback through Chrysalis to the side before roaring as he threw out into the main hall via the balcony edge. Chrysalis landed with a loud thud as she felt the grip on her neck fade away. She began to get to her hooves, choking and gasping for air as the crimson stallion followed suit, jumping out from the balcony ledge and meeting the changeling queen face to face yet again, he landed with a loud crash and slowly looked up at the monstrosity as she did the same.

“You really think it’s going to be that easy?” Chrysalis said in a groggy manner.

“You don’t even know what bucking game you’re playing!” she added  and with that, Kickback stopped directly in front of the hobbling changeling queen.  

“As of right now, my infiltrators stand at the ready, when I give the command, they will change and reap this town!” she continued.

“Twilight and the others will save them, I’m going to take care of you” he said as she looked down at her, she chuckled.

“The elements of Harmony? They’re in Canterlot and so is that pathetic captain of the guard and his wife! And with my barrier keeping nothing getting in or out…that’s not an option” she explained, Kickback was unmoved as he thought about how to end her life.

“Slice off her head with my blade? Nah…” was one thought of many that he pondered as he looked at the grovelling Chrysalis.

“But that’s not all, for months my changelings have building and breeding underneath Ponyville, there are hundreds underneath our very hooves” she added with an evil grin. Kickback had settled on a idea and was now fed up with this bitch’s rambling. He wordlessly morphed his left leg into a large rock-like object and brought it back, standing on his hind legs again. He watched her a moment before lifting his leg off the ground and beginning to strike the queen, he never got to. Suddenly Chrysalis wore a wide smile as he held it above his head, ready to clobber the queen but suddenly the worst happened. The ground quaked and initially exploded as a hellish swarm of black and turquoise dashed up out of the floor and broke through the roof of the building. Ponies around stared at the horrific sight, hundreds of insect-like ponies swarmed the skies surrounding Ponyville, equines began to scream as the watched some of their best friends take on the same appearance, it was utter chaos. All around, the elements had discovered the event just as quickly as it happened, Applejack looked to the air and saw the terrifying sight, she ran as quickly as she could to Twilight’s library and bursted through the door.

“Twilight!!”

“Yes, Applejack?”

“Remember those bug things? They’re back!!” the orange mare exclaimed, Twilight stared at her in shock and confusion before stepping outside and beholding the atrocious sight.

“We need to get everypony to safety” Twilight said with a stern tone, Applejack nodded and ran off into town.

Kickback was violently ripped off the ground as he was caught in the swarm, he was thrown out as he quickly reached the roof of the building. Kickback felt a haze as he was released into the air. Below what could be seen was Vinyl Scratch and the other captives running as they looked back at the changeling horde. Kickback closed his eyes slowly as he plummeted to the ground, wondering what he should do, how he should do it and what the outcome would be. He snapped them open and felt a rush glaze over him, the adrenaline of a fight was building up in his virus flooded heart, he wore a serious look as he stared upwards under his hood, nopony was around to see the change in colour in his eye. Kickback’s powers weren’t presented as he flipped in mid-air and landed on the grass with a loud thud. He slowly looked up to Chrysalis’s plan unfolded, changelings terrorizing ponies, buildings destroyed, it was all going to Tartarus.

“No, no…no, no, no…No” he mumbled to himself as he stared at the sight. A lone changeling hovered into his vision, it looked back at him and growled, Kickback barely paid attention to it, the monster lunged at the stallion but met it’s death at his blade. Nopony saw him as of yet but that was going to change…unfortunately. Kickback turned his head to see a group of those bastard creatures closing in on Bon-Bon and Aloe. He made a slipt second decision and galloped towards them with his hoof back to it’s normal state. They quivered in fear as they held each other in the hooves, desperate for rescue, Kickback hoped they desperate enough to not freak out straight away at what he was planning to do. The sound of strong hooves hitting the ground caught the two mares’ attention, they looked to the right to see a hooded stallion sprinting towards their attackers. Kickback jumped and with the momentum of his running, violently kicked one of the monster’s head in, it landed on it’s face, motionless. The others growled at the stallion but didn’t have a chance to attack, the two mares watched in horror at the display, a part of them were thankful, the other terrified. The stared at the stallion as they saw a blur of scarlet and ebony coat his forelegs as he stood up on his back legs. The end result left Kickback with two three pronged hands, glowing an eerie orange-red. Kickback pulled them behind him and violently lunged them forward, they extended into a mass of tendrils as they seemed to merge with one another, he targeted the central changeling. His tendrils locked it in his grip as five or seven other long tentacles lashed out and grabbed the surrounding creatures, Kickback grunted as he pulled his hands back and watched the group of monsters disappear in an explosion of green blood. Kickback morphed back into his regular state and was now standing on all fours once more as he slowly looked behind him to see the cream coloured and pink mares looking at him in shock and awe.

“Get somewhere safe” he said as he turned his head away from them.

“I always knew you were hiding something!” Bon-Bon called out in an angry voice. Kickback bowed his head and ran into town.

“…Just didn’t think it’d be that…” she whispered as she watched him run faster than a pony should. Kickback glanced around as he ran, hoping to find some sign of a pony needing help. He got that wish as he saw Big Mac fighting off a lone Changeling with Cheerilee behind him, Kickback galloped towards the two.

“Get Outta here!” Macintosh yelled at the creature, the red stallion then noticed the darker colt running towards them, Kickback tackled the creature to the ground and grunted as he beat it to death with his bare hooves. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Dead. Cheerilee hid behind the farmer as the two stared in amazement at the courageousness of the hooded stallion. He got to his hooves and walked up to the duo.

“Mac, find AJ and her friends, help anypony you can…stay close to him, Cheerilee” he ordered, Macintosh nodded with a determined look on his face, a gesture Kickback returned.

“W-what are you going to do?” Cheerilee asked in a shaky tone. Kickback remained silent as he turned away from them, he looked back and the teacher could almost swear she saw his eyes flash red as he looked at her before he was off. As he ran, he looked to the sky only to Rainbow Dash, valiantly battling four or five changelings, little did she know that another one was right behind her, ready to strike. Kickback stopped and gazed upwards in realisation.

“DASH!!” He called out, Rainbow looked down and noticed him.

“BEHIND YOU!!!” he yelled at the cyan mare, she looked back to see an incoming sneak attack, she dodge out of the way and looked down at the stallion on the ground and gave him a smile with a nod of her head and a wink of her magenta rimmed eye. He smiled back for a moment before taking off again, somewhere in this Celestia damned town was the queen, hiding just out of Kickback’s vision. He turned into the market place to see some of the ponies he saved in town hall running together from a horde of the insect-like equines. He heard the scream of three fillies to his left, he turned to see the cutie mark crusaders, running as fast as they from a horde of the insect-like equines.

“OVER HERE!!” he called out to them, the CMC looked to their left to see the hooded stallion waving a hoof, gesturing for them to get behind him. They quickly towards him and hid behind, Kickback looked back at the three.

“GO!! I got this…” he said, three swapped glances with one another before reluctantly complying, Sweetie Belled stood there as her friends galloped away.

“C’mon, Sweetie!!” Scootaloo called out to her friend, the small unicorn looked between the pegasus and the stallion before saying.

“Be careful, Kickback” as soon as she said that, she was gone, chasing  after her friends, Kickback looked behind to see the small white pony scamper away before smirking calmly and turning back to the swarm. They landed in front of him and slowly closed in on him as they growled. Kickback took a deep breath, raised his front legs upwards, tendrils could be seen, lapping around his hooves and quickly slammed them down into the dirt, his hooves on the surface were swarming in a haze of black and red as he sent his bio-mass into the ground and solidified it. Soon a barrage of deadly spikes bursted from the ground, piercing the horde of creatures in front of him. After a moment, he let go, the spikes retracted into the ground and reliquefied into Kickback’s DNA, he lifted his hooves off the ground and stood on all fours, looking at his disgusting work. Kickback turned around to behold the same sight, changelings flew ramped in the air, ponies through the streets, some were trying to fight back, screams of terror could be heard and Kickback’s secret was out, he knew he couldn’t keep it hidden forever but he was damn near going to try.

“Have a taste of mah BASS CANNON!!” a familiar voice rang from behind the stallion, he turned around to see Vinyl with some kind of rocket launcher-like weapon, he watched as a horde of changelings advanced on the white mare but was immediately blown away by a bright blue beam that was projected through Vinyl’s weapon. Kickback stood there, unsure of what to think as the unicorn set her cannon down and smiled victoriously. She turned her head to see the same hooded colt, staring at her at a distance with a blank expression on his face, she grinned at him as she threw her weapon aside and ran up to Kickback. He remained silent as she galloped up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, he did his best to comply for the moment but pushed her away slightly.

“Vinyl, good to see you’re okay, where are the others?”

“We got separated at some point, Kickback, what are we going to do?” she said, still with both her front her hooves on the stallion’s shoulders.

“Try to rally up ponies and get them to safety, find Twilight and her friends, they’ll help…” he said, staring into her red rimmed eyes

“…I’m gonna find Chrysalis” he added, turning his head up to see the chaotic sight. As his head was turned, Vinyl raised her head closer to the stallion’s face as she began to slowly remove his hood with a hoof and gave a quick kiss on his cheek, he looked back down at her and she grinned.

“Okay…just come back for me, alright?”

“Yeah…” he said before removing himself from the mare’s grip and staring into her eyes as he slowly stepped back. He flipped his hood back on before turning to his right and sprinting off into town, Vinyl watched as the hooded stallion sprinted off into utter destruction.  Kickback heard a familiar yet angry voice ring from above, he looked up to see Derpy, fending off a lone changeling with muffins. Kickback got to his back hooves and whipped his left foreleg around as it was enveloped in a blur of black and scarlet, he threw it in the creature’s direction, catching it off guard as Derpy was puzzled beyond belief of what was happening, the thing it was just barking at was tangled in a whip-like object, it yelped as it felt itself being pulled to the ground. Kickback violently crashed the changeling into the dirt, whipped his weapon upwards before slamming it down onto the beast, impaling it. Kickback looked up as he morphed back to see a scared and confused looking mail-mare hovering in the sky.

“Go…” he said, she remained still and silent.

“Derpy…I said GO!! Get to somewhere safe!” and with that, she didn’t need to be told thrice, she flew off in the opposite direction of the BLACKLIGHT colt, he felt ashamed of himself as he watched her leave.

“Hey, Kickback!” rang an accented voice from his right, he turned to see Applejack galloping over to him, as she did though, Kickback felt something, something wrong. She was almost right in front of him when he decide to be safe, Kickback switched to thermal vision and found that the normal and warm Applejack he knew was as cold as ice as she approached him. Kickback began to trot to her himself, she smirked.

“Oh, Kickback I-” she or rather it was cut off by the stallion slugging her in the muzzle, the orange mare left the ground as it changed back into it’s hideous original form. Kickback wasn’t done, he violently punched the creature again with uprising hoof before slamming his opposite down on it’s head, crushing it into the ground, it laid there, dead. Kickback heard a very loud scream radiate from a porcelain building across the street, he recognised the voice as Rarity and the building was indeed Carousel Boutique, the house and business of the white unicorn but also where he got his sweet clothes from. He galloped over to the structure, and bursted through the door only to realise there was a massive bucking hole in the wall, changelings swarmed the boutique as Rainbow Dash defended the unicorn as best she could. Kickback watched as one of them closed in on Rarity from behind but was immediately slapped hard across the muzzle by a white hoof. Rainbow threw one of them into a group and looked towards the door to see the hooded colt looking at her.

“Get Outta here, Big guy, I got this!” she called out before getting slugged in the face by a black hoof, the changeling snickered.

“Get away from her!” Rarity yelled, trying to defend her friend as the horde closed in on the cyan mare’s grovelling body. Kickback had seen enough to know Dash needed help but by the time he had…would she have wanted it? The scarlet colt took a few hard steps forward and lunged in front of Dash, he stood on his back hooves as Rainbow looked up at him from behind, he looked back down at her and she could swear she saw him mouth the words.

“I’m sorry” he turned back and immediately began his assault, he punched the one in the centre with a bare hoof, swung it to the side and hit another, Kickback was jumped by one on his left, it didn’t matter though. Kickback quickly transformed his left hoof into a large, sharp claw and slashed the assaulter. Kickback felt something digging into his right shoulder, one of them was biting him, like a vampire. He reached over to his back gripped the creature in his claw before swinging it around the room and throwing it into the far wall, Rarity and Dash looked in amazement and horror at the stallion’s acts, he was saving them but that didn’t mean they weren’t mortified by what he was doing. Kickback looked at them.

“GET DOWN!!” he shouted at them they complied as Kickback brought his hoof down, morphing it as it plummeted to the floor into his hammer-fist. The room shook, changelings were propelled into the air by the force. Kickback stood up and transformed his right hoof into a large blade, he held it upwards and felt one of his enemies be impaled on the stallion’s limb, green blood trickled down his weapon of choice. Kickback noticed one of them getting up to it’s hooves, he suddenly swung his blade, slipping the dead changeling off and violently slashing it in the direction of his next victim. Some had fled by now, some died by the force of his hammer-fist now there was only one left. Kickback morphed both his hooves into claws, swiped the changelings hooves, tripping him and leaving him horizontal. Kickback slashed his right hoof upwards, slicing the changeling in half, long, black tentacles emerged from his back and connected with the corpse, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were now huddled up together, quivering with fear. Even the cyan mare was afraid of him now, they watched as his latest victim was consumed in a blur of crimson and ebony. He stood there before morphing his hooves back into normality and standing on all fours yet again. He looked back at them, Rainbow suddenly had an angry look.

“So you’re a changeling too?” she asked in a furious tone, tears welling up in her eyes. Kickback refuse to look at them directly as he faced away, with one eye looking into Dash’s own.

“No…I’m…something else…”

Long Live The Queen

“Y-you killed them…” Rarity said, staring at the mess the scarlet colt had made in her boutique. Kickback remained silent.

“How?…How did you do that?!” Rainbow yelled in an angry tone. Kickback remained silent.

“ANSWER ME!!” Dash cried out, Kickback looked at her and noticed the glassy look in her eyes and a single tear running down her face.

“This…is not the time…let’s just get out of this and…I’ll explain” Kickback replied, little over a whisper in a sad tone.

“Right now we need get everypony out of town, Dash find Twilight and the others, Rarity stay close to Rainbow, don’t get separated” he ordered before walking through the massive gape in the wall.

“What about you?” Dash asked in a shaky tone.

“I got a score to settle…” he said as he looked back at them, he nodded before running off further into town. Kickback turned a corner around a building and was shocked at the sight, the entire street was riddled in black bug-like equines. He somehow stood out of sight as he looked back and forth across the street, that changed as he saw a lone changeling hover in his field of vision. The beat of it’s wings was annoying as it looked around and hovered in rhythmic patterns, suddenly it turned and was now staring at a hooded, dark red stallion. It growled and lunged at Kickback, he dodged, grabbed the creature by the shoulder and violently punched through it’s chest with his bare hoof. The changeling was consumed in a swarm of black and red. That’s when it got ugly. One by one, the changelings down the road turned to him and simultaneously growled. Kickback smirked and stood up on his back hooves slowly, they slowly hovered or walked over to him as he prepared himself. Kickback through both front legs into the air, crimson and ebony bio-mass wrapped around his limbs before he threw them down to his sides. Suddenly a scarlet colt wearing hooded attire could be seen at the end of a road in Ponyville, his left front hoof morphed into a devastating claw, his right, a deadly blade-like appendage. He stared down the centre of the creatures he knew would be his slaughter victims.

One to his left roared as it charged him, Kickback quickly glanced at it, as soon as it was within reach, Kickback merely grabbed it’s head with his claw…and squeezed. It’s cranium exploded it a gush of green blood. Another charge at him from his right, Kickback brought his blade to his side and violently slashed it in half as it approached him. Suddenly they all attacked, Kickback quickly slashed his claw upwards one their necks before bringing his blade back for a split second. He roared as he violently spun around, blade extended, slicing the surrounding monsters with each swipe. One. Two. Three. Four, on the end of the fifth spin, Kickback suddenly jumped up into the sky, the stallion hovered over the creatures below for a few moments before a quick barrage of black and red tendrils lapped at his body. Kickback’s hooves had morphed into large stone-like limbs, he reached behind him and roared as he lunged himself downwards. Kickback roared as he plummeted towards the centre of atrocities below. The ground shook radically as a loud crash could be heard. Changelings all around were violently launched into the air, spikes protruded from the ground, impaling choice changelings. Kickback rose up and didn’t wait to act again, he viciously brought down his hammer-fists to the ground, shaking the surface of Ponyville. Changelings all around were lifted into the air due to the sheer voice, most had already died. Kickback’s right limb quickly manifested into his whip-fist, he brought it back and swiped clear an entire horde of the bastards. Kickback wasn’t done, one decided to get him from behind but was stopped as Kickback grabbed it with a quickly transformed claw and smirked. He lunged his whip-fist into it and watched it swarm with tendrils. He threw it straight into a group of changelings and watched as tendrils stretched out and lashed at the surrounding creatures, they exploded in a haze of green blood. Kickback’s limbs turned to triple-fingered hands, he lunged them forward at the last group, his limbs merged as they reach their target. An unfortunate central changeling was wrapped around in a barrage of tentacles, several others protruded from it and grasped it’s brethren. Kickback roared as he pulled back and watched as they were pulled into the centre and were violently destroyed.

“Where are you?” he asked as he stood on all fours and glanced around.

“HELP!!” a familiar voice rang from only a about fifteen metres to his right, the stallion jumped and landed on another building only to see down below on the street was none other than Lyra and Pinkie Pie, galloping away from a small horde. Kickback made a split second decision before acting it out, he leapt towards the ground and ran to them roughly pushed to the side of the road, surprising them. They fell down and nearly hit a wall, Lyra looked at up at her saviour in shock. Kickback stood there, looking at her fro a second as he was in the way of the swarm, he looked at them with look of utter rage.

“How many of these damn things do I have kill…?” he said to himself as he watched the forms grow closer to him. Kickback closed his eyes as he was enveloped in their stampede.

“NO!!!” Lyra screamed, outstretching a hoof towards the stallion before he couldn’t be seen. Pinkie held her back but began to feel tears well up in her eyes, Lyra was already crying.

“C’mon, we have to-” was Pinkie managed to say before a roar of anger emitted from the centre of changelings, it was Kickback’s voice, the two mares looked up at the swarm of bug-like ponies, that piled above the stallion in the middle in shock and curiosity.

“Get…the…buck…GET OFF OF ME!!!” he yelled as soon as he finished, the horde stopped moving all together as what appeared to be dark red spikes penetrated their bodies, green blood coated the  and dripped off ends. Lyra and Pinkie stared in amazement and horror at what just happened, they watched and waited. Suddenly the sound of sword being sheathed was heard as the spikes retracted, apparently to the centre. Each of the monstrosities fell to the ground, the two mares looked down at the corpses in disgust and terror before glancing up to what killed them. There, was a dark red stallion, his black and white mane, just barely revealed under his grey hood, he was crouched down in the centre of dead changelings with a angry yet sad face. He slowly arose to his full height on all four of his hooves and turned his head to look at the latest of ponies to know about his secret.

“K-…Kickback?” Lyra said, quivering in Pinkie’s hooves. He turned his head and looked down himself, he felt hate and misery before regaining his senses and focusing on the more important issue at hand rather than his past: Saving his friends. That thought got Kickback thinking, he was helping his friends, he was saving their lives to the hands of monstrous bastard creatures and he was doing it all with his powers. He smirked at the thought of him being a hero, that’s not what he was though, if anything, he was a villain or more accurately an anti-hero. After a moment of pondering, Kickback looked up at Lyra then he saw Pinkie, her face was contorted in a never before seen look by the stallion, she always wore a smile, now as she looked at him, he saw fear in her eyes.

“Listen, Big Mac, Dash and I hope, Twilight are rallying up ponies right now, planning an escape I bet, find them” he ordered, they just stared at him.

“O-…okie dokey loki” Pinkie said in a nervous tone.

“C’mon, Lyra” she added, looking down at the unicorn that was still looking at the stallion, he met her gaze with his own eyes. Thoughts ran through her, for the longest time, she fancied him. She cherished the moments he spent with her, she had always heard gossip around the mares about him, how any mare would be lucky to have him. He was her friend and now he just saved her life but now, looking at him like this made her ponder. Suddenly she saw Kickback nod at her, she looked back at Pinkie and rose to her hooves.

“Go and help anypony you can” he said in slightly depressed tone, Pinkie gave him one more glance and nodded before turning into the alleyway. Lyra stared at him for another few seconds before following. Kickback stood there as he watched the two leave, a feeling of mixed emotion ran over him, he was depressed, the ponies in this were now aware of him, he had made thirteen months, thirteen great months but in the beginning he knew this would happen. He was also angry beyond belief at Chrysalis, once he found her, he was going to make her suffer for all she’s done, it’s her fault he’s had come to out of hiding and it’s her fault the town is being destroyed. Kickback began to growl through his teeth as he thought about her, his rage was visibly taking hold on him, his eyes flashed red. Suddenly Kickback turned and quickly took off in the direction of ground zero: town hall. Kickback didn’t even pay mind to the changelings that got in his way. As he ran, a barrage of tendrils coated his body, head to hoof, it solidified. No longer the image of a normal stallion was running through town but rather tank with legs, Kickback’s fur was coated in a black, shell-like armour, his eyes and muzzle were concealed by a face, his mane and tail were the only things not affected. Each changeling that even dared to come close was head butted or elbowed away as he ran, unfortunately it made him slowly but that also meant he get rid of more changelings on his way. Kickback didn’t hesitate as he violently jumped in the air, easily clearing the building’s full height, the centre of the roof had been utterly destroyed by the changeling breach. Kickback retracted his armour and gazed over the town, at the far end of Ponyville, a large group of mares, stallions, fillies and colts could be seen, Kickback then noticed the faint green aura surrounding Ponyville.

“Must be the barrier she was talking about…they can’t get out” he said to himself as he began to plan. Kickback then thought of something, the hive mind, if he could tap into it, he may be able to get a reading on Chrysalis’s location. Kickback focused on the small attuned feeling at the back of his mind, he then sent out a yellow pulse into the world, changing it’s view to a dark orange shade. The returning pulse came from below, he looked down and the first thing he saw was Applejack and her little sister, Applebloom. They were running towards the group of ponies, some of them were clawing at the barrier, which proved fruitless, he saw Twilight casting spells at it. On the other side of the dome, Fluttershy was knocking on the green aura with tears in her eyes and unsure look on her face. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo accompanied her, scared looks plastered on their faces, aswell as Zecora of whom looked like she’d given up hope.

That’s when he noticed a green laser almost hitting the orange mare and yellow filly from behind, they staggered a bit but continued running, AJ kept nudging her sister forward as they were chased by something. Kickback looked down the street and saw her, the queen, Chrysalis cackling like a mad mare as she was accompanied by dozens of changelings behind her, she was lasting the orange mare like she was a toy, the thought of his best friend being treated like that made him…aggravated to say the least. Kickback leapt off the building and plummeted quickly to the ground, he landed with a loud crash and immediately looked up before sprinting off towards the end of town.

“Applebloom, run, c’mon!!’ AJ said as she tried to push her sister forward with a hoof.

“I’m trying, I’m try-” was she could make out before she was cut off by a bolt of green magic hitting to close for comfort to their back hooves.

“Hahahaha ahahahaha” Chrysalis let out as she mocked the earth ponies. Kickback growled and grunted through his teeth as he ran up a small house and continued to rush over to the scene.

“Twilight, C’mon!!” Dash yelled at her friend before she slugged an advancing changeling with a hoof.

“It’s not working!!” Twilight complained as a continuous beam of purple magic bolted from her horn.

“You have to keep trying, Twilight!” Fluttershy encouraged, her voice muffled slightly thanks to the glass-like dome. At the head of the pack, Big Macintosh stood beside Cheerilee before he brutally bucked a changeling square in the muzzle.

“If Ah’m going down…Ah’m going down fighting!” the red colt said as he glared down the surrounding enemies.

“Big Mac, in case we don’t make it out of this-..” Cheerilee said, grabbing his attention.

“I just want to say-” was all she managed before the stallion quickly locked her in a kiss, after a moment he released her and smiled.

“I know” he said calmly before noticing a closing in changeling and head butting it. Kickback was almost there, the occasional changeling that tried to stop him was violently murdered by the advancing hooded colt.

“AHHH!!” Applejack exclaimed as a beam from the queen’s horn hit her back leg, sending Applebloom flying a few metres, she landed and quickly turned to back to her sister.

“C’mon, Applejack!!” she squealed in that small, accented voice of her’s, AJ moved slightly before wincing in pain.

“Gahhh, ah think it’s broken!” she said, it was then, Applebloom noticed AJ’s hat was right beside her and not on her sister’s head.

“C’mon!!” she yelled, urging for her sister to follow. Applejack thought a moment.

“Go!!”

“What?!” the yellow filly exclaimed.

“Go on, get outta here!!” AJ ordered.

“No, I’m not leaving you behind!” Applebloom yelled before Chrysalis decided to blast her, Applebloom yelped as the beam hit right in front of her hooves.

“GO!!!” AJ screamed at her sister, Applebloom turned tail and ran, tears streaming down her face.

“Ah love you…” Applejack said to herself as she began to choke up. Kickback turned a corner into an alleyway and saw Applejack, in the ground, tears in her eyes and without her hat and Chrysalis landing on her dark, cut out hooves a couple of metres away from her, she began to chuckle as her horn gradually lit up in a green aura.

“Ahhh, love, such a beautiful thing…and tasty” Chrysalis commented.

“Ah you get what’s coming to you” AJ said through her gritted teeth as she looked up at the queen.

“Oh, yes, heroic last words yadda, yadda, yadda” Chrysalis said with a blank look as her horn began to brighten. Applejack looked down with a sad yet content look.

“Goodbye yah’ll…best friends ah ever had…and Kickback…ah lo-” was all she managed to whisper to herself before a loud roar of a familiar stallion caught her ear, Chrysalis grinned maliciously as she looked down at the element of honesty that she was about to kill…but never did.

“NOOO!!!” a male voice roared, Kickback bursted from the alleyway and stopped in front of Applejack, Chrysalis attacked but her beam was stopped by something. Kickback crouched down in front of the orange mare as a quick barrage of tendrils swarmed around his right front leg and morphed it into a large, spiked shield. Chrysalis beam was stopped, almost as if it was being absorbed by the mass, Kickback grunted as he held his ground, not noticing the mare behind him slowly looking upwards to see what prevented her death. What she saw made her feel shocked but thankful. Down the road, in the distance, many ponies looked at the orange mare and red stallion, their gazes were some of horror, some less than others. Changelings ceased their attack on the group at the end of town and stared along with the equines at the sight.

“It’s Kickback…he’s…doing that thing again…” Dash said. Twilight and everypony else moved to the front to see what was happening, they too, were shocked.

“k-k-k…Kickback?” AJ asked in a quivering tone, the hooded colt gazed down at her as he held his shield up.

“I’m…sorry” he said before turning his head back. Suddenly Applejack noticed he was slowly moving forward towards the queen, Chrysalis apparently noticed too and intensified her attack.

“Why. Won’t. You. DIE!!” Chrysalis exclaimed, just as she finished, Kickback roared as he suddenly shoved his shield to the side, Chrysalis was caught off guard and ceased her attack with a terrified look on her face.

“Get away from them, you bitch, don’t touch them” he angrily voiced out. Chrysalis began to slowly step back, never looking away from the stallion’s dark green eyes.

“Kill him, all of you, kill him!!” she ordered, looking back at her changelings and taking to the air, she hovered backwards into her swarm as Kickback stood there with an sinister look of pure rage, he took a step forward and was attacked. Kickback’s right hoof transformed into a claw, a changeling charged him but was stopped as he suddenly locked it’s head in his sharp fingers like a vice. He squeezed on it, it yelped as it’s head exploded and was consumed by the stallion in a haze of red and black. Chrysalis gradually increased altitude as she tried to get away from the hooded colt. A wave of changelings growled at him as they prepared to attack but Kickback’s too quick, he stomped a single hoof into the ground and paid no mind as a barrage of spikes grew violently from the ground right from beneath the group.

Vinyl Scratch made her way to the front of ponies at the end of town, wondering what they were all looking at, when she got there, she saw something she really wasn’t expecting. There in the middle of town, Applejack laid there, her back left leg broken and was staring at something in front of her. Vinyl lifted her gaze from the orange mare to a red, hooded stallion, the one called Kickback, her jaw dropped as she gazed at his right hoof, which was instead a sharp claw that clanked as he walked. The leg itself was dark, small spikes protruded from the knee area and shoulder, it glowed an ominous red-orange as he continued to trot.

“GET HIM!!” Chrysalis exclaimed in a nervous yet angry tone. Suddenly every changeling in sight flew rapidly over to the sight, Applejack covered her face with a hoof as they swarmed passed her and headed for her saviour. Kickback smirked and jumped into the air, he flipped backwards, clearing the horde below, everypony watched in amazement as he landed behind the swarm and in front of Applejack. She stared at him with a stunned look as he moved closer and wrapped his hooves around her neck and torso before he stood on his back legs and looked down at her.

“Hold on” he said as he held the mare in his hooves, before she could react, he jumped again, clearing the distance from the horde to the ponies at the barrier, Applejack screamed as she gripped tighter to the stallion. He landed with a thud, AJ’s squealing came to an end as she found the ground’s comfort, Kickback laid her down in front of Big Mac and looked up at the townsfolk. Kickback gazed around at their mortified faces, Vinyl pushed through the crowd and stepped up to Kickback with a quizzical look. Chrysalis looked in confusion at the sight as her subjects held back for the moment. Kickback stared down as he refused to look at anypony’s face anymore, suddenly he felt something grip on his hood, a white hoof slowly pulled it back off his head to reveal his black and white mane and saddened green eyes. He gazed up to see Vinyl’s face…she was smiling.

“I-…I’m sorry” he said before turning back to the horde in town with a death glare.

“Let’s get this over with…” he whispered before suddenly bursting into a gallop towards the queen and her swarm. Soon the horde charged at Kickback as he sprinted towards them, he roared as they simultaneously growled. Kickback’s body began to coat in a blur of scarlet and ebony as he drew closer to the swarm. Suddenly they, Kickback got to his back hooves and his front hooves had morphed into long spike-like appendages. He swiped his left in the direction of a close one and paid it no more mind as it’s body was slashed apart, then another…and another. Kickback violently lunged his right hoof forward, stabbing two changelings through the mouth. His left hoof seemingly instantly changed into a hammer-fist and crashed down into the horde, launching several in the sky. Chrysalis looked down form above at the horrific sight aswell as everypony at the end of town, she watched as her loyal minions were violently murdered by the red stallion, no longer wearing his hood. His movements were fluid, his forelegs seemingly switching to a different weapon every five seconds.

“WHY WON’T YOU DIE!?!?!” Chrysalis shouted in rage. Kickback smirked as he spun around in a tornado-like fashion with his large blade before jumping miraculously into the air. Chrysalis soon realised…he was getting close to her. Kickback bolted straight upwards towards the queen which caught her off guard. Kickback reached a claw out to her front leg and pulled down. The stallion was launched further into the air as Chrysalis staggered in the sky due to the action. Kickback hovered over her for a second before plummeting downwards, he reached a hand as he began to fall. Chrysalis looked up just in time to see the stallion disrespectfully grab her horn, she lost some altitude thanks to the stallion’s weight and momentum, she staggered until she regained her composure. Kickback suddenly swung back and forth on her jagged horn until he swung all the way around, on the second go, Kickback let go and hovered over Chrysalis before landing on her back. Chrysalis lashed about, trying to buck him off, it was enough, Kickback fell off the queen but noticed the several changelings in the sky seemingly making a staircase for him. Kickback whipped out at the closest one and pulled himself towards it before slashing it across the face with a claw. Kickback lashed out at another and zipped towards it as soon as he got close enough, he stabbed it in the eye with a long pointy blade. He continued to use this method until he saw the scared look on Chrysalis face from below.

“Here I come…” he said with an evil grin. Chrysalis thought of some way to act but didn’t in time. Kickback’s whip wrapped around her neck, Chrysalis was pulled down slightly as the stallion zipped up to her. Kickback grabbed her neck with a claw and from behind on her back, grabbed her jagged horn with a three-pronged hand. The buzzing of her wings was a nuisance but was ignored as he focused on his actions. Kickback began to pull…hard, on the queen’s horn.  She began to scream in pain as she felt the stallion slowly break off her magical weapon.

“He’s not going to-…” Twilight said as the group below looked up at the sight.

“I think he is…” Dash commented.

“He’s gonna-” Vinyl gasped.

Kickback let out a roar as he suddenly ripped off the appendage form Chrysalis’s forehead. She began to scream in agony, green lights sparked from the point  of breakage, Kickback looked at the black object before lazily throwing it away. It was then the ponies noticed the barrier slowly began to fade away. The stallion then catapulted himself off Chrysalis’s back, she gripped her head in pain and closed her eyes as she screamed which gave Kickback opportunity. The hooded colt raised his right front hoof to the sky, soon it manifested to his blade. Kickback let out a roar as he plummeted down and slashed Chrysalis’s wing with the momentum of falling. The queen staggered violently in the air before following Kickback to the ground, the remaining changelings stood still on the ground and in the air as so did the town’s citizens. The result was a loud thud along with a small storm of dust gushing over the area around the queen and stallion’s impact location. When the smoke cleared, Kickback could be seen, calm as ever, looking down and slowly rising to his hooves. Chrysalis laid there next to him, gasping and almost unconscious. Kickback’s gaze slowly moved towards the changeling queen, he started to walk over to her limp body.

At the edge of town, Dash took a step forward, an action that many other ponies acted themselves. Soon Dash, Lyra, Twilight, Rarity, Big Mac, of whom was carrying AJ on his back, Pinkie and Vinyl started cautiously walking towards the scene. Changelings all around stood still, the beat of their wings silently adding to the atmosphere as some of them stood firmly on the ground and watched. Kickback stepped to the side of Chrysalis’s weak body and crouched down beside her, her eyes shuttered open as her gaze met the revealed face of the scarlet stallion.

“I told you…I told you I’d make you suffer” he said with a smirk.

“You think…that this will…stop us…another will rise and take my place” she said, coughing.

“Then I’ll kill her too…”

“What about them?…Do you really think they’ll accept you now?…You’re a monster…you’re just the better of two evils” she said, a splatter of blood being emitted from her mouth as she began to cackle.

“Wrong” an accented voice called out, Kickback and Chrysalis looked up to see the approaching ponies.

“He saved mah life” Applejack added.

“He’s a hero!’ Vinyl Scratch said. Kickback looked in bewilderment at his friends.

“This thing is no hero…you’re not even a pony are you?” Chrysalis said with an evil grin, Kickback looked down at her again before closing his eyes. As he did, the end of his hoof protruded a small blade, he lifted his leg up and held it just above Chrysalis’s chest.

“No…” he said as he struck straight down in Chrysalis’s black heart, she gasped.

“I’m something more…” he added, retracting his weapon and morphing his hoof back into place. Chrysalis breathed her last breath and died before the stallion, Kickback gently closed her eyes and stood back up. Everypony and changeling watched as Chrysalis’s body slowly cracked like a shell and broke into dust before the breeze washed away her remains. Suddenly the remaining bug-like equines were gone, flying towards Celestia knows where and leaving the small town of Ponyville. The town was going to need a bit of work but that could wait. Ponies at the edge of town began to walk towards the group in the centre in synchronisation. Eventually what could be seen was a the entire town staring at a lone stallion, looking down as several specific mares took slow steps up to him. He then gazed back up to look at the many ponies he knew, that now had shocked yet amazed looks on their faces.

“…Kickback?” Dash said, hovering over to his side with a concerned look on her face.

“I think you owe us an explana-” Twilight was cut off by tiny hoof-steps and panting, everypony looked down to see a small yellow filly run up towards the stallion…and wrap him in a hug.

“You saved mah sister!!” she exclaimed with a smile and teary eyes. Kickback looked down at her and gently rested a hoof on her red mane.

“You didn’t just save her, big guy” Dash chimed, Kickback looked at her.

“I really don’t think I could’ve handled all those things at Rarity’s” she added.

“Guys…I-” he started before he was cut off.

“I’m pretty sure those things would catch me if it weren’t for you” Lyra commented.

“Ah mighty appreciate the help back their” Macintosh added. Kickback switched looks between the towns folk and his friends as he began to feel his vision get foggy.

“You saved the town, Kickback” Vinyl said with a smile. Kickback remained silent as a small grin crossed his muzzle.

“I think you still need to tell us how you did…whatever it is you just did” Twilight intervened, catching everypony’s attention. Kickback’s hopeful look faltered at those words.

“…Alright”

Back To The Big City

A few hours later

“…And that brings us up to date” In the library of Twilight Sparkle, Kickback sat in the centre of his closest friends to explain his tragic story of how he became what he is today. They gasped every now and again as their faces held a constant look of attention towards the hooded stallion.

“You killed that dragon?” Rarity asked in a shocked voice. Kickback nodded.

“So all this time…all this time, you’ve been lying to us” Applejack said with an aggravated tone as she laid down on her side, in pain of her broken leg. Kickback stared at the ground, awaiting the verbal punishment and discrimination that he thought he deserved.

“I would’ve never thought-…” Lyra started before trailing off.

“That’s…you can’t-…so, what exactly are you?” Twilight said, still getting over his story.

“I’ve asked myself that same question, over and over again, all I can tell ya is that I’m not what I look like…” he answered, little over a whisper.

“Can you show us?” Dash suddenly asked out of nowhere causing Kickback to shoot up and look at her in surprise.

“I don’t think-” he started.

“I think you should” Vinyl commented.

“But-”

“Yes, I would like to see this” Twilight added. Kickback looked between the group and sighed.

“Fine…” he replied, more to himself due to the volume and tone. He stood up to his hooves and lifted his front right leg, ponies around stared in anticipation at the stallion to see whatever he might do.

Kickback’s body slowly swarmed created a wave of tendrils that made their way over to his limb, the continued to stare. Soon a small haze of black and red made it’s way to the tip of the stallion’s hoof before suddenly, his leg expanded, not like his leg got bigger but instead was a hand, two fingers and a thumb. The whole thing was dark as segments of it glowed red. Kickback looked down at his appendage with a blank look as ponies around gawked in terrified curiosity at the thing. He slowly closed his palm and felt rage, he didn’t know why but he just felt angry looking at himself with everypony of whom he grew quite fond of staring aswell, he felt angry but sad also. Quickly, tendrils spiralled around his limb and soon his hoof was back in place, he sat back down and waited.

“That. Was. Awesome” Dash commented as she stared wide eyed at the stallion, he smirked at her before gazing back down.

“Ah dunno what to think…” Applejack said in a cold tone.

“Nor do I” Rarity added.

“C’mon everypony, ya can’t look past the fact that he saved the town!” Vinyl spoke up, Kickback almost couldn’t believe it at first, she was defending him, he knew she bit of a crush on him but he thought everypony would hate him after what happened.

“Yeah, not to mention it’s not his fault, ponies took advantage of him!’ Dash added, Kickback tilted his head to look up at the hovering pegasus then to the unicorn, he felt something, an obligation maybe.

“Besides-” Vinyl’s next sentence was cut off.

“No…” Kickback said, cacthing everypony’s attention.

“It’s easy not to look at that…it’s easier to know that, I’ve lied to all of you” he continued.

“You’re forgettin’ that you saved Rarity from that dragon” Applejack said.

“Ah just never would’ve thought that the stallion ah shared a bed with, would turn out like this” she said. Each pony turned to her in confusion before several sly and nervous grins were plastered upon their faces.

“When?” Dash asked with a nudge of her ’elbow’.

“In the second chapter, silly” Pinkie said, Dash and AJ just looked at her in confusion before shrugging her off.  

“I’m sorry I mislead you all to think I’m just some normal stallion” he said with a fake chuckle “And now…I will leave you” he added. Everypony in the room now stared in confusion and shock as to what the hooded colt just said.

“What-…what do you mean?” Lyra asked, somewhat worried.

“Yeah, what do you mean by that?” Dash added, Kickback continued to stare at the floor in depression.

“I mean…I’m going, I’m leaving town as soon as possible which in this case could be right now” the stallion answered, everypony remained silent.

“I was actually going to months ago…but then-…I started to care, I think that’s what happened…I began to care about this town, about you, about you all, so I stayed and prayed this wouldn’t happen but I guess it had to” he explained, some of their faces he could swear had tears beginning to well up, especially the DJ’s.

“So what!? You’re just gonna get up and leave!?” Vinyl shouted, now visibly sad and angry.

“You’re just gonna leave town!? You’re just gonna leave us!? Your friends?!? You’re going to leave m-” she cut herself off as she knew where she was heading.

“Kickback, ah think ah speak for all of us that we don’t want ya to go” Applejack spoke up, catching everypony’s attention.

“Yeah, just because you’re different, doesn’t mean you have to leave” Dash added with a encouraging smile. Slowly, Kickback’s head rose up.

Three Days Later

“So when do you think you’ll be back?” came out from the smiling lips of the same white coated, blue maned mare who wubbed the night away as she released our protagonist from a long goodbye hug as she rested her hooves on the stallion’s shoulders, he smiled down at her.

“Most likely a couple of months, maybe a year or two…Vinyl, I’m sorry…but have to find her” Kickback replied causing the mare’s happy expression to falter, he slowly put a hoof to her chin and raised her head to meet his gaze, his calm, dark green eyes that he always wore.

“But don’t worry, I’ll be back” he smiled at her, which in turn caused her to moved forward and kiss him on the cheek’. He looked up at the mares bashing her and smiled friendly, Vinyl then let go completely of the stallion and trotted back to the group as another, the same orange mare stepped up, everypony thought it was appropriate to just let his closest friends step up and say goodbye personally.

“So, ya really going” Applejack said with a sigh.

“Seems that way” he replied with a chuckle. Applejack and Kickback wrapped their hooves around each other in synchronisation and just held each other subtly.

“Ah’m gonna miss ya partner”

“I’ll see ya when I get back, AJ” after that they separated, Rainbow took this as a sign for her turn and bolted over in front of the stallion, she always liked how he would never flinch no matter how close she stopped in front of him.

“Hey…” she said, a little awkwardly, not being the most emotionally comfortable pony in Equestria. Kickback just smiled at her, not feeling the tension or anything that was happening, she also liked that about, although that’s probably what everypony liked about him, his calm attitude…every mare, to be specific.

“Well, I hope you’ll be even more cool by the time I get back” he said with a  chuckle, the overall mood of the colt was enough to drive her over the edge into doing something, she only thought Pinkie would do.

“I’m gonna miss you!!” she cried out, sulking as she squeezed him in a soul crushing goodbye hug.

“Yeah, me too, Dash” he choked out as he lightly patted her on the back. Rainbow released him and wiped her face with a hoof, she hadn’t shed any tears but her eyes were definitely foggy. Kickback stood on the edge of Ponyville with the eight mares in a group looking at him with sad smiles. Kickback had no need for a bag or anything of the sort to carry things, all he asked was to keep the suit, a request, Rarity was happily willing to allow. He looked at each of them, four unicorns, two pegasi, two earth ponies and smiled at each one before raising a hoof back to his neck and flipping his hood upon his face, he smirked under it and turned.

“Well, I’ll see you all later, goodbye everypony” he said, gazing at his path. He took a step forward and began to walk, in the background he could here the sounds of salutations towards him, the ponies waved at the trotting colt and continuously said their goodbyes. Once he was out of sight though, many of them had gone home but not the three mares that had known Kickback well…not too well, the thought of him lying to them was the last thing they thought about him, he had been around little over a year, in that much time, attachments can be made.

“C’mon you two…he’ll be back before ya know it” Applejack said as she looked between the DJ and athlete as she could only imagine that she wore the same sad expression.

“Y-yeah, c’mon, let’s go” Dash said, placing a hoof upon Vinyl’s shoulder and tugging lightly on it to bring her back to consciousness.

“Alright” the white mare let out and followed the other two back into Ponyville.

A Week Later

Kickback had made it back to where he never thought he want to be, Manehatten. The stallion thought that maybe his sister had returned home and was hopefully doing alright for herself, Kickback explored the familiar concrete canyons of the city and found Dana’s home in no time. He cautiously knocked on the door, no answer. Kickback tried again, slightly irritated and knocked harder and faster. The door suddenly swung open to reveal a pink mare with a red mane, she looked at the colt at the door with a confused look, he removed his hood in respect before beginning.

“Hey, is there a mare by the name of Dana here?” he asked, the mare looked at him blankly before a sad look was strewn across her face.

“Oh her, yeah, she doesn’t live her anymore…she…she died a year and a half ago” the mare explained. Kickback froze and stared at her in disbelief before she then realised she was talking a stranger.

“Who are you?”

“My name is…Kickback, I’m…Dana’s brother” he said.

“Oh well, I’m sorry about that, I heard she was a nice mare…would you like to come in?” she said, Kickback, not really caring accepted the offer.

“Thanks…” he said, little over a whisper.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” she gestured to a couch as he slowly took steps into the familiar house. Kickback complied and sat down uncomfortably. The mare then trotted into the kitchen, leaving the stallion alone.

“Sh-she’s gone…I don’t believe it” he said, not caring if he was talking to himself when another pony was around.

“Well…looks like they’re gonna see me way earlier than I thought” he added in a low tone, the mare then walked up to the stallion and sat down beside him.

“Who?”

“I have friends in Ponyville…and I said I was gonna be a while but it’s only been a week and I see no reason to be here anymore”

“Oh, okay, do want something to eat or drink?”

“No thanks…”

“Okay, oh by the way, I’m Crystal” she said, Kickback gave out a slight chuckle, for reasons he didn’t know.

“Well…I supposed I’ll get out of your mane, it was nice to meet you, Crystal” he said as he started getting to his hooves, the pink mare placed a firm hoof on his back, leaving Kickback to look down at her in confusion.

“Please stay, I was actually kinda getting lonely…and you look like you need a friend right now” Crystal said, Kickback slowly sat back down and gave the mare a friendly smile, of which she gladly returned.

“Thanks…” he replied calmly.  

Meanwhile

Ponyville was being rebuilt, damages were nothing too serious thanks to how brief the attack was…thanks to a single colt, of which nopony dared to speak of. The entire town knew what the saw, they may have known how or why but they definitely knew that whatever happened last week, wasn’t natural. It tokk time for ponies to even act normally again, not much but it was definitely a while. Applejack was in the south orchard, bucking apple tree after apple tree, not evening muttering a sigh. Her last words were going to be to him but they weren’t her last words…thanks to him. She forgot what she was going to say though, she really was close to the colt during that year, ever since that fateful day in the market.

Twas morning, Octavia had made herself some buttered toast and sat at the table, waiting for her unicorn companion to wake up. Octavia was afraid that she wouldn’t and for the third time that week, just lock herself in her room all day. The cellist had told the stallion at the centre of her friend’s troubles not to give her a reason to dislike you and yet this happens. The grey mare heard all about the attack and how Celestia didn’t even know in time to stop it and didn’t send her guards or even deal with it personally. She also was told that the Elements of Harmony had nothing to do with the queen of the changelings death but rather a lone stallion, the next part she couldn’t believe.

Vinyl laid awake and stared at the ceiling, she managed not to think about him for a couple of days but the thought bursted right back in. The DJ liked the stallion, really, really liked him, despite her first impression being so childish and just plain out forward, over time, Kickback grew on her. Never she would’ve thought her crush would be able to do or be something like that but as it turns out, he was.

Lyra’s outlook on Kickback was changed the most. The green unicorn sat down on her couch as her cream coated friend was out shopping, she wanted to look past his biology and history and just remember the stallion she liked. She tried to remember him without the suit, maybe doing that will provide a better image of him. She tried to piece him together in her mind, dark red coat, black and white mane, long tail, dark green eyes…and a calm smile. She managed and a relieved smile crossed her muzzle but soon it faded away, the next thing she saw in her mind was the stallion again, glowing red eyes, half visible under the hooded he adorned and a malicious grin crossing his muzzle as he stood on his back two legs and…Lyra quickly shook it off and rested uneasily.

In Manehatten

Crystal broke into a laughing fit at something Kickback couldn’t quite pin point but went with it anyway.

“So, you know DJ PON-3?” she asked, the stallion looked at her blankly before realisation hit him.

“Oh, you mean Vinyl? Yeah, I know her…she’s…my best friend” he said, a little unsure of himself, saying those words was new to him partially and he spoke with a chuckle.

“You’re best friend’s a famous DJ? You are so cool” she said, Kickback just smiled calmly at her.

“So…you live alone here?” he asked, Crystal wore a blank look but Kickback could see that she was sad.

“Y-yeah, I do, it’s alright though, get’s pretty lonely sometimes…” she said, now staring at the only other pony in the house, he met her gaze and sat still.

“Yeah, I bet…”

“Kickback…do you have somepony special in Ponyville to go to?” she asked, Kickback looked a way and pondered, did he? He had never thought about full on romance with somepony, sure he knew about some mares’ feelings but he pretended he didn’t know…or care. Kickback had always though love would never be an option for him, it probably still isn’t but it certainly could be for a certain white mare. That’s thoughts took a turn, in the past year, he had almost had a close moment with every mare, ranging from Dash, to Vinyl, to AJ, to Rarity and even to Lyra. The clothed stallion thought on a bit too long and that caught Crystal’s attention.

“Kickback?”

“Uhhh…yeah, what?” he shook his head, getting out of his thoughts.

“I asked if you had somepony special waiting for you?” Kickback thought briefly again as he stared into her eyes, he didn’t want to say ‘no’ or ‘yes’ to this question fore he did not know…the perfect answer.

“I don’t know…I don’t think so…no, I don’t” he said, his tone slightly dropping lower as he came to a conclusion, his old conclusion, he couldn’t be with a mare, not now at least. That’s when he noticed the time, he had spent hours talking with the pink mare, well she did most of the talking due to his nature but it still shocked him.

“Oh, well in that case…” she said as she scooted closer to the only colt present.

“I guess…” she continued to move closer, nearing his side with each unfinished phrase. Crystal was now leaning up on his suit, she noticed more intently that he was wearing clothing and frowned.

“You can take off your jacket…” she said, a little bit of hope in her voice. Kickback would’ve declined such a thing, ever since Rarity had made his attire, he had grown quite fond of it, like it was just the perfect thing for him but that look the mare was giving him was compelling and he found himself stripping his upper layer off his torso and legs, revealing his white shirt underneath. Crystal then moved in and slowly unbuttoned the collar to reveal the stallion’s upper chest. He just stared at her, wondering where she was going with this and how should he react, just like everyday of his new life, he just let things happen, not caring very much about anything other than himself and his history but now he did. He spoke the truth, talking to his friends, Kickback really did care for them and now that he was away from them, he felt something, something he hadn’t before: responsibility. It was a nagging feeling, as if he were to just let what would most likely happen, happen, he would regret it and want to take it back. Kickback then pondered why he would feel such a way, was it just because he had dear friends at home or was it what most ponies go through in their normal love lives, was it loyalty? The stallion knew that a particular DJ had a thing for him but still at this moment, he didn’t know what any other mare thought of him entirely, he had an idea that they felt the same way but what could he do? All the while he was quickly toying with these notions, Crystal stared at his thoughtful look with a concerned one.

Kickback continued to think about everything at this point, how he thought each pony he knew thought about him, what happened last week, what was going on now, his dead sister, his future, everything that was now an unplanned blur. So lost in thought he was that he didn’t notice after a quick moment that a soft and warm sensation was being applied to his face, Kickback’s eyes widened at the now identifiable and familiar feeling, a kiss. Never did he notice Crystal’s face lean into him whether slow and timid or quick and predatory, either way he hadn’t seen her coming. He then noticed that she had set his jacket to the far end of the couch but that was the least of his worries at this point. Her red mane tickled his cheek as she began to slowly pry open his mouth with her own but stopped when she found that he was completely motionless, she pulled back and looked into his eyes with a saddened expression.

“Ummm, s-sorry…it’s just been so long since…” she didn’t finish her sentence as she continued to stare at the scarlet colt, he stared back, albeit slowly, a calm look was being plastered on his face along with a small smirk. She didn’t know what a reaction like that meant, she just stared at the only colt of whom she found interesting for at least a couple of months as he looked back at her.

“It’s alright…” he said in a reassuring tone despite what he was feeling. Kickback stood up slowly and was about to walk to the other side of the couch to grab his jacket but was stopped by the pink mare as she jolted upwards and stared intently at him.

“P-please stay…” she said, her voice quivering slightly due to such a request.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had good company and…I kinda like you…so, will you stay a while?” she seemed to be begging, Kickback was reluctant but gave into her pleading. He sat back down as did Crystal.

“Alright, I’ll stick around a bit…” at that, Crystal wanted to squeeze him into her embrace but held her stance…for a moment. Kickback was wrapped in her hooves as she smiled weakly but happily, her head rested on his strong shoulders as her long, red mane brushed along his face. He looked down at her and chuckled before caringly patting her on the back, she took that as a sign of how kind-hearted he was…little did she know.

"For Celestia's Sake Bro, Put Some Bucking Clothes On"

Kickback woke up in a haze, his eyes fluttered open as he began to take in his surroundings. That’s when he found himself lying upon the same couch of his sister’s…former home. Kickback winced as he remembered the news he had received yesterday from a pink mare, when he described her like that, all that popped in his head was the eccentric Pinkie Pie and how her face was always bright and happy. Somewhere, in the brightest corner of his sub-conscious, he wanted her to throw him a second welcoming party but after the look she had a week ago, made him doubt it. His thoughts carried towards his friends once more, sure they had said they wouldn’t want him to leave despite but not everypony said that personally. The scarlet colt sat up and found his jacket still where Crystal had left it, he got to his hooves and began to ease it back onto himself, feeling the familiar and contaminated fabric almost merge with his body once more. Sometimes he didn’t even know how his body worked, was the attire he was wearing still the craftsmanship of Rarity or was that destroyed by his genetics and now he was simply wearing his own, disguised skin. Regardless, it made him fell complete to wear it. Hoofsteps caught his ear, he turned around to see a familiar mare that wore a smile as she saw him.

“Morning…” he greeted in a hushed tone that he would normally speak in.

“Good morning” her tone was far more energetic and happy, much to Kickback’s amusement.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine…look, Crystal…I appreciate you letting me sleep here and thankyou for keeping my sister’s home intact…but-” was all he said.

“You have to go, don’t you? Right now?”

“Yeah…” he answered, the two fell silent at that. Kickback slowly walked up to the door and put a hoof to it, before heading out though, he wanted to ask something.

“Hey, by the way…do you know how she died?” Crystal looked down at him from the stairs with a quizzical and saddened look.

“Uhhh…yeah, I heard she…was…murdered” at that word, something familiar brewed up inside the crimson stallion: Rage.

“Murdered?” he asked in a severely angry tone that somewhat frightened the pink mare.

“Y-yeah, look, Kickback, I’m so sorry” she said, Kickback was unsure what she meant but could care less, he had now found another reason to stay away from Ponyville.

“It’s alright…I…I’ll see ya later, Crystal, I promise” he said, trying to sound considerate despite his heart wasn’t in it. It seemed to work slightly as the pink mare took notice of his rushed attitude but took comfort in him saying they’ll meet again.

“O-okay, bye then” with that, the stallion threw on his hood and nodded at her before proceeding out the door. Crystal let out a deep sigh before trotting back up towards her room, saddened at the leaving of the stallion. Kickback gritted his teeth outside the house of his dead sister as he looked to the ground. Ponies walked by him casually, not paying him any mind, he felt safe at that. The hooded colt began to trot to a well known location, the police station. Kickback looked up at the building with aggravated look before prying open the door and storming inside. The building’s interior was what one would expect, officers, desks, noises, the works. The hooded colt caught a few glances from several ponies inside, the suspicion was predictable, a dark, angry and cloaked stallion walking angrily through a police building was apparently not very normal. Kickback felt a familiar building sensation from his chest, like he was ready to kill, anger flowed through his veins as he approached a room, the room. It was the chief’s office, without warning the hooded colt bucked the door open, it almost flew off it’s hinges at the hit, it could’ve but he held back. A dark brown coated pegasus of whom seemed to be relaxing as he sat back on his revolving chair shot up instantly at the noise of a crash, his eyes shrunk with sheer terror as he took in the sight of what was in his doorway. Several gasps emitted from behind him among shuffling of hooves, easing in on the intruding stallion. Kickback paid the officers no mind as he glared a death stare at the brown colt behind his desk.

“Back away!” a female voice called out to him, Kickback remained still, his face was concealed by his grey hood.

“Sir, I suggest you do what she says!” a masculine voice added, proving to do no effect on the colt in the doorway. The old police chief met Kickback’s stare, although petrified, he managed to read what he was telling him: ‘call them off’.

“Sir, if you don’t comply, we will use force” at that, Kickback made sure that the officer who said that got a good look at his shaded face. Twas a blue unicorn colt, he saw, he froze when he caught a glimpse of the red stallion’s eye, it shined an almost evil shade of red before he noticed a grin crossing his muzzle under his hood.

Detective Green he name was and he had never been so scared in his life.

“Stand down” the pegasus in the office called to his staff, he spoke with a gruff-like tone, he was an old colt of whom sported a long, handle-bar moustache. The officers swapped glances with each other before easing off, only slightly though. With that, Kickback stepped inside and violently pushed the door into place and locking it behind him. Kickback trotted over to the blinds and closed them as the brown pegasus just stared at him…or rather ‘it’ was what he came to call the stallion. Kickback trotted calmly up to the desk and remained silent. The tension was thick, the silence was horrifying, Kickback just felt angry and the stallion on the chair could see it.

“Hello…doctor” Kickback greeted in a sinister tone as he looked down at his terrified face.

“k-k-Kic…Kickback!?” the colt stammered.

“What do you want with me?…and don’t call me that” Kickback stared at him blankly for a moment, remembering the pegasus from way back when.

“What? That IS what you are…or at least it was…” Kickback toyed with him, bringing back as much pain to the pegasus, much to his sick amusement. The police chief stared back at the hooded stallion with the same scared expression, he remembered who he was, most days he would pray to Celestia he wouldn’t come back but things are sometimes even out of her hooves apparently.

“Remember the good times we had Coal? Can I call you ‘Coal’, commissioner?…Remember how you were there and I was there…and around about five or six other ponies were there…and I spared you!?” Kickback continued to play with him.

“What…do you want with me?” the pegasus looked like he was on the verge of tears now, not wanting to see a stallion of whom was older than himself, Kickback ceased he antics and got straight to the point.

“What I want, doctor? I want to know about my sister…”

“Don’t call me that…and how would I know about her?

“You used to work for them…”

“It’s something I’m not proud of, Kickback”

“So tell me…was GENTEK looking for her?”

“I don’t know!!”

“Don’t lie to me, you bastard…”

“I really don’t-” the pegasus was cut off by the hooded colt, violently picking up the desk and throwing it into a nearby wall. Now nothing separated the two, Kickback removed his hood quickly and trotted up to the pegasus. He reached out a hoof, as it approached the pegasus, it changed into a hand, black as night and red as blood. Commissioner Coal found himself petrified once more as he saw the hand draw closer, fear prevented him from speaking but he was fortunate enough to get out something before Kickback reached him.

“Okay, Okay, I’ll tell you!!” Kickback’s arm stopped but didn’t retract, he waited impatiently for the brown colt to continue.

“I do know something…” at that, Kickback pulled his hand back, it morphed into a hoof once more, which he planted on the ground.

“I’m listening…” he said, this was all unnecessary, Kickback could just consume him but he decide to take the less chaotic approach…for now.

“Alright, here it is…GENTEK…kinda fell apart when you went…AWOL…you probably already know that the company went bankrupt and was shut down” Coal began, kickback remained silent but nodded.

“Anyway…while they were still up and going…they…got working…hard, I don’t know on what though, all I know is that they were pretty damn pissed about your little stunts…but they were also impressed, I heard something about Project:…”

“Project what?”

“…Evolved…it was called Project: EVOLVED…I don’t know much but I know the goal was to-”

“Make more…” Kickback interjected.

“Y-yeah…the idea was to make a group of super-ponies, enhanced strength and intelligence…so they started experimenting” despite his silence, Kickback was disgusted and modified at what he was hearing.

“Experimenting?…with what?”

“Your DNA…” at that, the hooded stallion felt angrier than he was when he walked in.

“What?!”

“Now, Kickback, don’t go on and do something you’ll regret”

“Enough talk!” with that, the brown stallion felt true fear course through his body.

“Wait!” he shouted, his eyes firmly closed. When he opened them he saw a large claw pointing at him, the same image that plagued his dreams fro the past three years was now in front of him, glaring death into his eyes.

“What?

“There’s more! I know who killed her!!’ Kickback’s eyes softened slightly as he pulled his limb back, however keeping it raised.

“You lied to me, Coal, don’t do that…”

“I’m sorry…but they made me keep quiet…alright…GENTEK augmented the virus somehow, they used your DNA and continued to change it, no longer did they call it BLACKLIGHT…it was changed into something called REDLIGHT…I’m not sure how it differs from the original virus but I know that they were very dedicated to it” Coal explained.

“…I also know that they weren’t always successful…in fact I think there was only one, everypony else was a failure”

“Everypony?” at the mention of that word, Kickback continued to build up rage.

“Y-yes…everypony, they started performing on live test-subjects…mostly ponies”

“But there was one that turned out…right, wasn’t there? One like me…” Kickback questioned in a sinister yet curious tone.

“Mhm, that’s right…”

“Do you know his name?”

“Uhh…Ummm…g-gr-gri-grim…Grimlock, I think…that’s not what they called him though…his codename was: PERIAH”

“…clever…” Kickback let out a chuckle to himself at the name.

“-Y-yeah, I don’t know exactly what happened in that lab that day but I know a scream when I hear one…anyway, Grimlock wasn’t too pleased with his treatment and one day, GENTEK felt safe enough…’

“To?”

“They took him down to the field test chamber and…he killed them, he killed them all…the Timber wolves, that Manticore…those poor ponies and that one gryphon…that bastard killed them all” Coal said, his voice lowering to little over a whisper.

“What happened?”

“He got mad…really mad…so mad, he lifted the surgical table and threw it straight up into the window, he jumped and in the confusion he rushed through the lab…he broke out through the door and just like that he was gone…into the darkness of the city”

“You said you know who killed my sister…why are you talking about this copy-…” Kickback cut himself off as he connected the dots in his head, he froze with hatred and sadness.

“…They searched for him, they stopped looking for you and Dana all together to find him, when the couldn’t and the project was a failure, GENTEK was shut down…the police took an investigation, of course…but they took all the case files, we were about to call it a random mugging and brutal attack but…I knew better…you already know what happened to me”

“Yeah, you joined the police academy and got to where you are now…brutal?”

“Kickback…Grimlock, killed your sister…” at those words, the hooded colt felt he could explode, like the entire building was going to be life-barren in just a few seconds and all he had to do was release.

“H-he…w-why?!”

“He knew about you but I don’t think he knew about Dana, I don’t what happened that night…but-”

“She died…because of me…” Kickback’s rage was at it’s near peak by this point, his limbs were already swarming with tendrils as he grunted through his teeth.

“It wasn’t your fault, Kickback, it was Grimlock, not you!”

“I need a description…”

“What?”

“WHAT THE BUCK DOSE HE LOOK LIKE!?!”

“Uhhh, umm, he has a dark grey coat, ummm, a-a-and a bright blue mane”

“I need more…”

“I think his eyes are purple, I don’t know!”

“Thanks, Doc…” Kickback said, apparently calming down slightly, Coal felt himself ease at that.

“…but…” he continued, the brown pegasus grew more afraid with each second.

“Unfortunately…” Kickback took a step closer, much to Coal’s discomfort.

“In the long run…” the red stallion’s shoulder started to swarming a haze of crimson and ebony.

“You helped make me…” just as he finished he statement, Kickback lunged his hoof forward and stabbed the commissioner of police in the throat, he began to choke on his own blood. Kickback held a blank face as he looked to the ground, the last thing the pegasus would see was the covered face of his killer, he smirked as he thought of the last words he’d hear.

“In a way…I should thank you but in another…buck you, you sick pathetic shit”

Police ponies barged into the room at the sound of a crash and found nopony in the office, only some blood stains and large, gaping hole in the ceiling.

Above the concrete jungle of Manehatten, a hooded figure stands watch, perched over a gargoyle, on a crusade for revenge.

“I will find him…and make him pay”  

Masks

It had been nearly a month since the hooded colt they called ‘friend’ had left Ponyville. The novelty had worn off slightly, soon, ponies started going about their everyday lives once more. Every now and again, one would hear a group of equines, quietly whispering something about the event that caused everypony’s faith to be shaken and their fears kept in check. Not everypony knew Kickback as well as his closest friends, which caused some horrible things to be said and soon most ponies began to loath the stallion for what he was, a killer. Only a few ponies in town had a different and more obvious view, he saved the town single-hoofed, he was a hero.

One of these few ponies had gotten a tour gig around Equestria, that was able to keep her mind on something else at least. Her roommate didn’t know him as well and tried to make her feel batter about it, saying things like…

“You don’t need him” Octavia said with concerned in her voice as she grasped her unicorn friend’s hoof.

“I know…it’s just that, I really DID like him, ya know” Vinyl answered, she had been moderately upset with what happened, part wanted to hate Kickback, he was a monster, a virus riddled killing machine. Unfortunately there was also another part of her that didn’t agree. He had known her for a year, in time they grew close, perhaps too close for the DJ’s own good.

“I know…but hey, cheer up, you got a show to put on soon” Octavia tried to encourage her, tried to make her feel happy again. Octavia never did know Kickback as well as Vinyl but from she could tell, he must’ve been a good stallion. Octavia had joked a tad and implicated about how close they were indeed. She never expected Vinyl to take it seriously never mind the fact she admitted it slightly. The white mare gave a weak smile at her earth-pony friend before diving back into her breakfast.

Manehatten: Home of Dr. Anvil Koenig

“Kickback?!…I am so glad to see you’re still in one piece, you’re not hurt are you?” a white unicorn stallion around his mid fifty’s addressed the only pony in the room with him.

Kickback had been tracking some of GENTEK’s old scientists, trying to get a lead on the monster who killed his sister. The hooded colt stood atop a high point in the city and looked down at the house below. He watched as a familiar white unicorn entered the structure, Kickback smirked and leapt down  to the ground. The red stallion casually walked up to the door and bucked it open. A tinge of fear shot through the unicorn before he saw his intruder, a calm smile slid across his muzzle as a blank death glare was returned.

“Anvil…what do you know about Grimlock? Where is he?”

“All in good time, Kickback but for now, I simply must say something first…thankyou”

“What?”

“I was being forced to work with those vultures at GENTEK, now since it’s crumbled to the ground, I’ve been a tad happier, so thankyou…nice outfit by the way”

“Thanks, it was made by a friend…”

“A friend? My, my, Kickback…are you going soft?” just as the sarcastic and rather stupid remark was finished, Kickback quickly lunged forward so the tip of his blade was millimetres away from the unicorn’s nose, he barely even flinched. Kickback gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the urge to kill…for now.

“Shut up, old man, I’m not soft, never will be, I can’t be but that doesn’t mean I haven’t met somepony along the way” he said as he back away slightly.

“Good, good, glad you’re BLENDING into society” Kickback nearly killed the stallion right there and then for making that joke.

“I said…SHUT UP! I will end you and you know it!”

“Oh, I’ve always known…I always knew you’d show up again in this town, just never knew when or why…and now it’s because some cheap bucking knock off has killed your only known family, of course her brother died a long time ago, didn’t he?” Anvil pressed on antagonising the hooded colt as he just remained silent, his head bowed to conceal his dark green eyes. Kickback took a step forward as the unicorn just stood there, a calm expression on his white face as he stared at the approaching colt. Kickback stood up close to Anvil as the two never made a sound. Suddenly the hooded stallion spoke without making eye contact.

“You would know, you’re his dad…”

“WAS…I was his father…”

“Yep…you were…” just as Kickback finished his sentence, a sharp pain rushed through the unicorn’s chest, he gargled as he tried to speak but was unable, instead he began to choke on his own blood. Kickback didn’t look as he shot a hoof at the other stallion, quickly changing it into a useful twelve inch blade that pierced the unicorn’s chest. Anvil began to sway but Kickback caught him on the neck as the began to fall to the right. He laid him down so he could see the revealed face of his killer. Kickback removed his hood, revealing his black and white mane and dark green eyes that showed little remorse. Anvil gazed up into the eyes that were once his son’s, he lied about his happiness, his only daughter was dead, he was divorced and his son had become an intelligent, undying killer…yet he smiled at him.

“I’m still proud of you…” with that, the unicorn perished on his own floor, of his own home and the deed was his infected child. Thinking about that, Kickback felt regret somewhat, he knew this stallion had done horrible things, some to him as well but a part of him. A small part, whatever was left of the scarlet stallion before gave tugging at his emotions, making him experience all over again, the death of a family member.

“Goodbye, father” at that. Kickback closed his eyes as he felt the same sensation of consumption entangle his body in pain and enlightenment. Suddenly the pain overwhelmed him, Kickback put a hoof to his head and grunted as the memories of his fallen father were processed in his mind.

“Where did he go?!” a black unicorn colt shouted at Kickback’s dad.

“I- I don’t know, one minute, he’s in Manehatten, the next he’s gone, probably took off the same way that-” Anvil began to say.

“I don’t care, you better find out where he is or we’re gonna have another Kickback running around!”

“Yes sir!” Memories continued to play inside Kickback’s mind until it came to a close, the hooded colt stood back up and through his hood back on.

“Hoofington…that sly bastard…” Kickback let out to himself as he stood where his latest victim laid.

“Looks like I gotta train to catch…sorry, guys” he continued as he pulled out from his jacket pocket a small photo graph of all his friends in Ponyville, with him. His eyes drifted from pony to pony, recognising each and recalling them quite fondly. Suddenly he caught a glimspe of himself, his hood removed and a calm look on his face. He began to stare longer than he wanted as he just looked at the picture, suddenly Kickback’s vision went blurry as the tranquil image of him in the photo quickly changed into his natural form. His eyes glowed red, his hooves were exchanged for large beastial claws as his hood covered most of his face, not including the sinister grin that crossed his muzzle. The image quickly blurred away, leaving Kickback uneasy and in a state of self-loathing and doubt.

“Guess I won’t be coming back just yet…” he let out finally to himself before shoving the picture back in his pocket and trudging on out through the door and back on the streets of Manehatten.

That Very Afternoon

Applejack had gotten finished her rounds of apple bucking early and decided to take a break from her work. The orange mare laid under a tree, a sigh escaping hr lips as her muscles relaxed, she rummaged slightly before a content smile crossed her muzzle and she gently rested her hat upon her face, covering her eyes. Applejack fell asleep quickly but her rest was anything but easy. It had been a few weeks since she had this dream, she never talked about this one in particular, being the down-to-earth pony she was, never thinking of dreams as anything important. Yet this one seemed to be just that. The scene plays out differently each time but always has the same theme…and same stallion.

The same red stallion that paid her in advance for her entire apple stand’s supply, the same scarlet colt that her mind bickered about as she rested up against him, the very same day. The same crimson stallion that she sometimes caught hearings about from the gossip-loving mares around town. Mostly though…the same colt she thought she rather intimate feelings about, the one that saved her from the queen of the changelings, the one that the town now refers to as a monster.

Images from the past year clouded her subconscious, the times he’d help on the farm or beat her and Dashie at whatever sport they thought of, she always thought he was just a very strong and fast pony, little did she know. The moment they shared on the farm, the moment she kissed him, the moment he rejected her yet it wasn’t a harsh one though, it was more like…he really couldn’t be with somepony, AJ pieced together why after his reveal. Images of his calm smirk started being collaged in her mind, despite her rather quick notion to get intimate with him on the first day, it took her a while to notice his athletic figure capped with that flowing black and white mane and of course his dark pools of green. On the outside a smile crept across her face as her mind took different turns but was quickly replaced with a frown as the ore nightmarish scenes played out.

Applejack’s mind came to that very moment on the street, the evil snickering of the black bug-like equines, the sound of hard hoof steps, her thoughts and last words. A shout, THE shout replayed in her head, the same scene that day was being displayed right in her mind and she couldn’t help but watch. The feeling of sheer thankfulness and confusion to the point of fear filled her senses until the same feeling of shock did the very same. His words echoed through her mind.

“I’m sorry…” just as the sentence faded, Applejack shot right back up, awake in a cold sweat, which wasn’t bad considering the heat down on the farm but she was panting. The orange mare looked around frantically, for what? She didn’t know but until it came perfectly clear nopony was around, she stared back at the ground and slowed her breathing. AJ’s mind flustered with thoughts, the dream still very vivid due to it only happened less than a minuter ago, she begged for it to leave her head.

“Do-…do I really want ya to come back?”

That night

In the crowd, one could miss a singular stallion, especially if he’s not an important one. A certain scarlet colt knew this and acted on it. Kickback crouched down upon a gargoyle on a tall hotel as gazed down at the train station below, he silently watched pony from pony walk about, greeting their friends and loved ones as they departed from the next train that pulled in. Kickback stood up, never releasing his stare at the equines below and breathed a deep sigh before suddenly a barrage of black and red tendrils swarmed his body. When the haze cleared, a white pegasus stallion, wearing a singular saddle bag on his left stood upon the gargoyle. His mane was a single shade of dark blue and was shorter than the previous black and white locks that were previously present aswell as his tail, short cropped and the same hue. Kickback looked behind with his new radiant magenta eyes to see his new found limbs protruding from his back, he never liked wings but he could use them, after all…he had the knowledge. His overall appearance was quite similar to Anvil’s but was much younger.

Kickba-… Silver Bolt returned his gaze back down to the station, he smirked before leaping off. Silver closed his eyes as the feeling of high pace and the wind in his mane filled his senses. He smiled as he shot his magenta eyes open and quickly unfurled his wings. Silver dropped to the ground with no noise, Kickback found that rather odd and unfamiliar, being so used to the loud thud that would accompany his landings from such a tall place. In turn he glanced at his white hooves and remembered he wasn’t himself, so he shouldn’t be Kickback, no, he was Silver Bolt now. The white pegasus started to trot to the nearest teller, he walked up to the booth to see a tan mare, sporting a long dark brown mane, reading a magazine. She must of noticed the hoof-steps or something ‘cause as soon as he was up to the window, she shot straight up.

“Hello, sir” she said, with surprisingly a new amount of joy in her voice, something you wouldn’t see from a pony with this kind of job, in turn Silver gave her a smile, one she gladly returned.

“Hey, uhhh, one ticket to Hoofington, please” Kickback then realised his new voice, it was higher and without his normal accent. The scarlet colt within hated it when he spoke how somepony else spoke, it was so weird hearing the wrong voice escape your lips when you would speak. Regardless he held his smile as the mare did the same.

“That’ll be twenty five bits, sir”

“Here…” Silver reached into his saddle bag and pulled out fifty bits, he hoofed them over to her and he could see the surprise on her face. “…And please, call me Silver” he continued with a smile. She took the bits in her hoof and began counting and cutting the payment in half until a white hoof tapped on the table, causing her to look up at the stallion again.

“Buy yourself something nice” he said calmly.

“Thankyou, sir-…Silver…Oh, here’s your ticket” she said, hoofing over a small golden piece of paper over to the white pegasus.

“Thanks, have a good one!” Silver saluted happily as he began to walk off to the tracks.

“Wait!”

“Yeah?”

“Thankyou again”

“Your welcome” and with that, both ponies had smiles on their muzzles. Silver trotted into a crowd, standing beneath the night sky that was rolling in, the group waited impatiently for their train to arrive. Silver tried to conceal his form as best to his ability as he prayed to Celestia for the mode of transport to get the buck on the move so he’d be ever so more close to his goal and getting out of this infernal disguise. Thankfully he got just that, the train came into view and slowed as it reached the tracks, ponies began moving in unorganised as soon as the doors opened, Silver was pushed and shoved as the horde moved.

It took a few steps and apologies but at last, Silver had found a nice spot that nopony had occupied as of yet, Kickback breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down and stared at the table before turning to the window when the train began to move again. The disguised colt began to relax as he passed around thoughts in his head, ranging from Ponyville to how exactly he‘s going to find Grimlock. Regardless, he was gonna have plenty of time to think.

It was going to be a long ride.

Extra Extra

Rainbow Dash, being the sheer definition of awesome itself, soared through the light blue void that hung over the entirety of Equestria. Her cyan coat almost blending with the atmospheres as her multi-hued trail formed and faded as she flew in the sky. Never one for full on emotion, Dash forgot about events rather quickly, especially if they were…what she thought was ‘sad’. Thinking on that, she shook her head before regaining her smirk and jolting forward with a sudden burst of energy. Rainbow didn’t even realise what she was doing until a few minutes into it, she was searching.

Sub-consciously, she gazed along the ground with her magenta rimmed eyes, looking for something, when she realised that her head was swivelling on it’s own command, she stopped dead in the sky.

Her wings keeping her airborne as they flapped up and down while the cyan mare herself stare into space with a blank look. Not knowing what she was doing, she descended, along looking for someplace to think, she spotted something, the clock tower. Dash landed upon it and circle around it’s roof to see a familiar sight, that elongated edge that stuck out from the side of the building. Silently, she perched herself on the edge before sitting down, she was happy before, wasn’t she? Now she just felt…incomplete and had no idea why.

Surprisingly, her mind was blank, she didn’t think or move very much, she just had something inside her that told her that something was missing and without it, she won’t be as happy.  New to this feeling, she had absolutely no idea how to deal with it, she just sat there and stared into empty space as she rested atop the high point. Wasn’t long until she found herself taking glances to her surroundings, mainly the ground, when she realised it this time, she knew what might be the problem.

Kickback

When the name was brought up in her head, suddenly clarity took effect, her thoughts became coherent and familiar once more but there was something else. A longing perhaps? Her mind, unbidden, made her quickly begin to recall the scarlet stallion. That day, the day they first met, the day they spent upon where Dash sits now. Feels like so long ago that she just woke up one morning and found a dark red colt sleeping peacefully under the tree she had rested in the night previously. On that day, she can barely recall a feeling, a strange and unfamiliar feeling. The moment he spoke to her, in his deep, slightly accented voice, the feeling got stronger, not even a minute had they even seen each other and she already was starting to enjoy his company. Not only that but when she found him upon this very clock tower, something began to brew inside Dash, her typical attitude started to conflict against it when she drew closer to discovering what it might be. On that thought, she tried to suppress it, the chain of images that were about to barrage her within her skull. She clenched her eyes shut, as to why this was affecting her so much, again she didn’t know. The thought hit her…she missed him, she misses him, even after seeing what horror he can dish out, Dash did know him before that. He was always that quiet, chuckling, calm stallion that grew on her and her friends quite quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. On the thoughts of longing, Dash began to sob, as quietly as she could but she couldn’t deny that she was sad and about a stallion no less. Dash just sat there, her hooves covering her face and the weeping noises that might escape her. Under all of this, she formed a single sentence, a phrase that was the utmost truth to her.  

“I miss you, Kickback…please come home soon.”

Kick-…Silver sat up quickly as he heard the announcer finally proclaim those words. ‘Next stop, Hoofington’ he informed over the speaker, Silver smirked at that. He was another step closer to his revenge and inturn…Ponyville.

The train came to a stop, Ponies all around began to raise off their seats and grab their luggage. Silver was without any, the crowd of shoving and bustling ponies, trying to get out of the train was a nuisance Silver could do without. Eventually he stepped outside and looked around, assessing his surroundings with interest.

“Alright…gotta find somewhere to change” he whispered to himself as he began to trot into town. Hoofington was just like a smaller version of Manehatten, this made it easier for Kickback to traverse the area. Silver noticed a narrow alley between two business structures, he walked towards it, made sure nopony was looking before stepping inside. Silver took a deep breath as a slow swarm of black and red tendrils imbued his body from his legs up, wrapping around and relacing the white coat with a dark crimson one. The barrage lapped around Silver’s face and soon, no longer was the form of a white pegasus with magenta eyes and a blue mane but rather the scarlet colt that dwelled beneath: Kickback. His black and white mane, his lengthy tail and his dark green eyes had returned, he smirked at himself, feeling relieved to be in his own fur once more. He rolled his shoulders and a relaxed breath emitted from his lips.

“That’s better…” he said with a sigh. Kickback peered out into the light for a moment before returning to the darkness.

“Almost forgot…” at that, the stallion’s body was covered in another haze of viral bio-mass. Soon the smarm dissipated, leaving Kickback in his hooded outfit once more, he checked his pocket and found that the picture of him and his friends was still there, he smiled at it before shoving it back in his jacket. Kickback through his hood upon his head and stepped out into the street, little did he know what was to happen this day.

The hooded stallion tread the sunset lit town, it was late in the afternoon by the time the train had stopped, Celestia’s sun was about to give way to her sister’s own glowing orb. At that thought, Kickback stopped, did Luna know? She must’ve known but why didn’t she do anything, why didn’t she have him arrested or executed? This thought had crossed his mind before but never quite seeped in as much as the fact that some of the only ponies he’s ever cared for knew about him. He clenched his eyes shut as he tried to forget their faces, what their looks might be the next time he sees them, the fear of banishment crept in. Kickback furiously shook his head and regained a thought that was to be more focused on at this time: Revenge. Grimlock had to pay, he was going to make him suffer for his sister’s death, only one predator may hunt in this jungle, Grimlock was going to die. At those thoughts, the hooded colt gained a more concentrated feel and continued walking through town, hoping to find some trace of where he might be, Celestia be damned, he might not even be in Hoofington anymore but it was a start.

Later that night

Pinkie, not ever one to stop being happy and never stop trying to make everypony else smile, threw yet another one of her iconic parties. She was sure that her friends wouldn’t be too upset about who she referred to as ‘KB’ to enjoy what she had done. Thankfully the music, the games, the food, everything was enough to get him off their minds. The elements sat around the bubbly mare’s room, chatting idly, the occasional joke and funny comment making it just one heck of a night.

“So the I said ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?’” Pinkie finished her story, as she did, her five friends and herself broke into a large thunderous laugh.

“So that’s what you were talking about” Twilight commented through several contained giggles.

“Yep and he never saw it coming” Pinkie answered with her iconic massive grin.

“It hurts, IT HURTS!” Dash yelped as she tumbled around the floor, her hooves clenching her stomach, trying to sustain herself with what little oxygen she could get due to her mouth being a little too preoccupied. Eventually everypony calmed down, some began to wipe tears away form their eyes, content smiles on their muzzles.

“ahhhh, bless mah soul, that was one of the greatest stories ah heard, Pinkie Pie” Applejack complimented.

“So, Rarity how’s-” Twilight was cut off by something bursting into the room and yelling at them frantically.

“Spike?” they yelped in surprise of the dragon’s presence, he seemed frightened almost.

“Guys, guys…” he let out, apparently exhausted or speechless, one or the other.

“What is it, darling?” Rarity inquired.

“You guys gotta…gimme a minute” he was panting but he managed to get that out. Twilight got a concerned feeling and trotted up to her assistant.

“What is it, Spike?” she asked, the dragon looked up at her and met her gaze. He regained his composure, enough to form coherent words.

“You guys gotta see this” it was then, they noticed him wearing a satchel around his scales. He dug a claw into it and rummaged around, the elements waiting with anticipation. Spike’s face froze for a moment as he claw stopped, his forearm was tensed, he was holding something. He then turned to the six mares again with a look that could only be described as regretful.

“Look” with that, Spike pulled out a newspaper.

“What is it?” Dash asked. Twilight then levitated the script and began to read, her friends huddled up beside her as her darted across the page. It looked like she had finished, as her eyes shot wide open and she stared dead straight into space.

“What is it, Twi?” AJ asked, concerned for her easily shaken friend.

“I-…I don’t think you should know, AJ…nor you, Rainbow” the unicorn said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“C’mon Twilight, you can tell us” Dash said, making it clear that she could handle whatever it was on the paper.

“I don’t think-”

“Yeah Twi, c’mon, why can’t we see it…it’s not like it’s Ki-” AJ was cut off by the purple mare holding the page up to the two athletes, she hung head low and refused to make eye contact. Rainbow and Applejack’s gazes turned from Twilight to the newspaper. They began to read. When they did, both mares’ eyes widened in shock…and relief. Rarity took the page, curiosity getting the better of her, she began to read out loud.

“Have you seen this stallion?” the white mare read the headline before she looked down at the small sketch of the assailant.

“I-it-it’s…KICKBACK!?” she almost screamed out her sentence as she showed the entire group the drawing on the page before turning back to it and reading once more, quite quickly.

“Unidentified, mysterious colt, seen wearing a black jacket and hooded shirt bursts into local Manehatten police department. A brave officer tells his story of what happened that day, these are his words.

‘I didn’t see him walk in but I saw him barge into the chief’s office, he had a dark red fur coat and as wearing clothes, most of everypony inside shot straight up, my marefr-…officer Violet told him stand down and back away, when he didn’t I told him to…then, he looked at me, his hood covered most of his face but I could see that smirk…THAT DAMN SMIRK and those red eyes, they weren’t naturally red though but they still just staring at me, I’ve never been more afraid in my life than in that moment right there and then… then the chief told us to stand down, I stared right back at him then he turned into the office, locked the door and closed blinds, I don’t know what they talked about but a couple hours later, some of us checked in and found nopony inside, instead a huge hole was where the wall should’ve been and there was blood on the floor…I swear whatever that thing was, it’s not a pony, it’s something else’”

Once Rarity finished, everypony was visibly shaken by what they had just heard. Most of the attention of Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight’s were fixed on their two athletic friends. They looked like they had just seen the ghost of their grandfather, they seemed frightened to the point of terrified and saddened beyond measure. Dash’s gaze lifted slightly as she stood next to her orange friend, suddenly the cyan pegasus looked down at the purple dragon and got a furious look etched on her face. It was visible enough for everypony including Spike himself to notice, before anypony could do anything Dash lunged at the small dragon angrily.

“WHY!?!” she yelled at him as he laid on his back beneath the pegasus, he squirmed in fear and raised his claws defensively, Dash was outraged.

“W-why what?”

“WHY DID YOU SHOW US THIS!?!”

“I-I…”

“YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND BRING HIM UP, DIDN’T YOU?!?!” Spike fell silent, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared into the furious magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash, of whom looked like she herself was about to burst into tears.

“Rainbow-” Twilight tried.

“RIGHT WHEN EVERYTHING’S OKAY, YOU GO AHEAD AND REMIND US ABOUT HIM…AND LIKE THIS!!”

“Dash…” Rarity also tried, the cyan mare’s voice was faltering slightly into a quivering tone, indication of how gut-wrenchingly angry and sad she was.

“WHY DOES EVERYPONY THINK HE’S A MONSTER!?!? DOESN’T ANYPONY REMEMBER WHO WE’RE TALKING ABOUT HERE!?! WE’RE TALKING ABOUT KICKBACK, THE STALLION WE KNEW, HE WAS OUR FRIEND AND I-…” Dash had broken into tears by this point, too much was it to continue yelling. Rainbow quivered visibly and audibly as she backed away from the purple dragon and just sat down, letting the tears flow.

“I-…I miss him…Don’t you, AJ?…Doesn’t anypony?” Dash said, her gazes switching between her friends before her eyes clenched shut. At the sight of Dash visibly sobbing and at the thought of her own emotions, Applejack started to feel water seep into her own eyes at this point. The orange mare walked up to her winged companion and sat down with her as she placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Ah do too, sugarcube” AJ said, her own voice quivering with sadness, her gaze then turned to the dragon.

“Spike…you really shouldn’t have shown us that…” her voice was stern but still incredibly saddened. At that everypony fell silent, the two opposite coloured mares wept together, they all knew that out of the six of them, Dash and AJ were closest to the scarlet colt in question. At that thought, Twilight became visibly upset herself, an idea had crossed her mind that she left alone for the time being but now it might have to be done.

“Why, Applejack? Why did he leave?”

“He said he had to go find his sister, Dash…but what is he doing? Why is he attacking police officers?”

“Everypony…” Twilight said with her head bowed, her mane concealing her eyes. Everypony and dragon turned to her in a state of confusion, she then raised her head to look at her friends. She knew that this was going to be difficult and she knew that she wouldn’t get full enthusiasm for this plan. Regardless of any of that, she spoke.

“Everypony…pack your bags… we’re going on a trip…and bring your Element of Harmony…”

Beauty And The Beast

Hoofington

Kickback walked the concrete caverns of Hoofington, the town was just like any other, ponies going about their daily businesses and social lives, never paying attention to they hooded colt they passed by. The scarlet stallion had heard rumours of this town, most of which spoke of crime rates, at that thought, Kickback kept an eye out. With no leads and no contacts, he was alone for the moment in his search, he began to try and remember somepony, anypony that might be in this town that could help whether willingly or not but to no avail.

It was well into the night by this point, the scarlet stallion watched and waited with intent as he stalked the rooftops and streets.

“Damnit Grimlock, where the Tartarus are you?” he said to himself in frustration as he sat upon the edge of a tall business building. He looked over the town, gazing at it’s beauty at night, he smirked at the sight.

“Hello again” came a familiar voice from behind him, Kickback turned, tendrils swarming only to see that there was nothing there. He turned back and looked down.

“Here” it spoke again, he immediately shot up only to be frightened by a unsymmetrical up side down face looking at him. It grinned with a happy look.

“Discord…” the viral pony greeted with distaste.

“Hello, Kickback, how are you this evening?”

“If you’re here, then you should know”

“Good point, good point” Discord said as he snapped his talons and appeared behind the hooded stallion. Kickback stood up and turned around with a irritated look.

“What do you want, Eris?”

“I resent that and can’t an old friend drop in and say hi?”

“The two actually have to be friends for that…” Kickback replied in a cold tone.

“Oh well now you just went ahead and broke my heart” Discord said dramatically.

“Alright you crime against nature, what do you want with me?”

“Crime against nature? You’re one to talk”

“Answer me”

“Fine, you’re no fun, I just came to tell you that young Twilight Sparkle and her friends are planning something for you”

“What?”

“Oh yes, you’re gonna get so stoned, bro” Discord said, imitating someone Kickback could care less about.

“What do you m-…the elements…they’re gonna imprison me, aren’t they?”

“At least that’s what I picked up”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because… I actually find you rather interesting, you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age”

“So what? So you were a virus riddled, mutated, murdering, consuming, shapeshifting freak of a pony were you?”

“Not…quite…look, I’m just trying to help a brother out, I know what’s it’s like in that situation and I’m just giving you the heads up, is that so wrong?”

“I-…I don’t know…do they know where I am?”

“They think you’re still in Manehatten”

“Oh, they’ll find me eventually” Kickback replied as he hung his head. Discord hovered over to his side and wrapped a paw around his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, think of it like this, you had a good run, you saved Ponyville, killed a couple of bad ponies and then you were trapped in stone, good story to tell the grandfoals”

“Grimlock killed my sister, you know”

“I know and I’m rooting for you when you find him”

“Thanks, Discord”

“Not a problem” he said before teleporting in front of the scarlet stallion, he then let out a yawn”

“Tired, mate?”

“Yeah, Celestia has me doing all kinds of errands around Equestria lately”

“Tell me, is it hard to use your powers for good? I mean, you are indeed the very definition of chaos”

“Ahhhh but you already know the answer to that” Discord said with a smirk, much to Kickback’s confusion, then it hit him, which caused him to smirk back. The two remained silent for a moment, just smiling at each other before Discord suddenly and wordlessly vanished from the hooded stallion’s vision in a burst of light. Kickback chuckled slightly before turning his gaze back to the town with a calm smirk. Discord had a point, he did know what it was like going against your element, he had powers that were made for killing but he had in fact done good with them on occasions. He defeated Chrysalis and inturn vanquished the changeling threat even though she did speak of another queen taking her place, he did still save Ponyville and all of Equestria from her tyranny. At that thought, Kickback felt more at ease as he continued to watch over the town of Hoofington.

Ponyville

“What? NO!” Rainbow Dash shouted at her purple friend after she explained briefly what she wanted to do.

“I agree, Twi, you don’t do that to your friends” AJ added.

“I must say, Darling, that this is rather-…” Rarity started but trailed off.

“It-…it does kind of mean” Fluttershy commented.

“Girls, I know but I talked to Princess Celestia and-…”

“YOU WHAT?!” Dash exclaimed.

“You told the princess about him? Twilight, why would you do that?” Applejack said, still sitting close to her pegasus friend.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack, please see reason, don’t go and take all of it out on Twilight” Rarity consulted, the two athletes looked at her with agitated looks before they faltered.

“Sorry, Twilight, It’s just you know what she’d say and-…” Dash began before her eyes started welling up once more.

“I didn’t know what to do…” Twilight said, little over a whisper but just enough for her friends to hear.

“…I mean…what I was I supposed to do? You all saw him, right?”

“YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO NOT TELL CELESTIA, FOR ONE!” shouted Applejack, now she was getting angry.

“What did you tell her?” Rarity asked.

“I told her about Kickback’s story”

“That’s it? You didn’t include the part where he saved Rarity from that dragon or when he took care of Chrysalis?” Dash inquired angrily.

“I-I’m sorry but I tried to reason with her, she just kept ordering me to use the elements…” Twilight explained through a shallow voice, her eyes became foggy.

“Hey, don’t forget that he was my friend too!”

“Nopony’s forgetting that Twilight” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up.

“But how do we know the elements will even work on him?” at that question everypony turned to their timid companion with a quizzical look.

“Fluttershy does indeed have a point” Rarity commented

“He is quite different from anything we’ve faced before and-”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘faced before’?! WHO SAID THAT WE’RE EVEN GOING TO DO ANYTHING!?” Dash questioned, furious at the unicorn’s meaning.

“Rainbow! That’s enough!” suddenly the orange mare beside her spoke up, the cyan pegasus looked into the eyes of her earth bound friend with a look of confused sadness.

“W-what?”

“Dash, ya gotta realise who you’re speaking to, we’re your friends” AJ spoke in a comforting tone.

“I-I know but-…”

“I know it’s hard, just remember that he was mah friend too and-…”

“No, A-AJ…see the thing is…I didn’t just think of him as a friend” Dash spoke with a quivering tone as clear liquid emitted from her eyes. At that, everypony turned to the two as Applejack stared into the magenta eyes of the cyan mare. Dash stared back, sobbing before looking back down to the floor, in shame and depression. Applejack continued to stare at her friend, of whom refused to make eye contact, the orange farmer’s thoughts were mashed and jumbled, incoherent thinking was all that went on in her head. Suddenly she regained herself and came to the conclusion: Dash felt the same way. At that thought, Applejack felt uneasy, she just stayed motionless, staring down at the feathered pony in her hooves. A wave of sympathy ran over her and she gently tightened her grip on Rainbow Dash, a slight feeling of jealousy could also be felt but now was not the time, this blue filly needed comforting and Applejack was willing.

“What do you mean, sugarcube?” AJ asked, for what reason, she didn’t know, maybe she wanted confirmation.

“I-I think…I think I…I-”

“It’s okay, Dash…I understand and I’m sorry, I just thought you were defending him cause he was a-”

“And I KNOW you feel the same, AJ” Dash said, now looking back at her orange friend with the same look.

“W-what?”

“I saw you…in the orchard…I saw YOU put your hat on him and I saw you kiss him” Dash spoke with an raging yet saddened beyond measured tone. Applejack felt guilt, after all Rainbow was in fact right. She had been keeping a soft eye on the stallion for a good while but to find out that her closest also did, she feared what might this bring.

Hoofington

Twas the middle of the night when the hooded figure stood watch over the town. His jacket blowing in the breeze, the dark colours forming moving shadows in the night, the only thing visible were two stripes of pure white, streaking down the stallion’s mane and tail. Kickback stared down at the streets of Hoofington with a blank look. He had searched all over town for his sister’s murderer yet to no avail and with no leads or contacts, he was on his own. A thought rushed in his head, an idea of just leaving and returning home, forgetting about Grimlock just to see his friends again. It was tempting but Kickback knew better, in this case two is not better than one, he was going to find this colt, exact his revenge and make sure he wouldn’t hurt another creature again, all in time for dinner. Of course time was also an issue, the longer he remained away, the more impacting his absence would be, he had no idea how they were taking his leave, were they upset? Or were they relived? To be rid of a monster is to be rid of a burden and Kickback had slain some of the most feared monsters in Equestria, he climbed the ladder and made it to the top. The hooded stallion’s thoughts were cut off by a noise, a voice, a shriek, a scream. The echo emitted from an alleyway to Kickback’s right, immediately he sent out a hunting pulse and discovered the form of a stallion attacking the one of a mare’s. Kickback made a quick decision and jumped form his vantage point.

The struggle became quite clear as the scarlet colt stepped further into the chasm. Panting, grunting and screaming emitted form the two. Kickback looked ahead to see a jet black colt trying to pry away a light green mare of her belongings. Kickback trotted up to the mugger and with a light voice he spoke.

“Hey” at that, the criminal froze and slowly turned his head to see a dark red colt in a hood and jacket, looking at him with a blank stare.

“Buck off!” he said, turns out he was a unicorn, he levitated a knife and pointed it at the scarlet stallion, the mare remained quiet as he breathing went into a state of panic. Kickback began to chuckle, making the black colt nervous.

“W-what’s so funny?”

“Nothing…now, let her go before things get-” before Kickback could finish, the unicorn and quickly stabbed him in the shoulder. Kickback looked down at it, noticing the magical grip had been released, the unicorn froze in confusion and fear, staring at the hooded stallion before him. A silence fell over the three, each staring at the knife, without warning the weapon began to retract out of Kickback’s body, he smirked at the sign. His skin easily pushed the blade out of his shoulder and was soon completely healed, no scars of any kind, no blood, nothing. The knife fell to the floor with a clank, the two ponies looked down at it before staring back up at the red colt in shock, he smiled maliciously.  

“What in Tartarus-” just as he finished, Kickback swung a hoof at him, breaking nearly all his teeth in the process. The unicorn was propelled to a nearby wall, he landed on it’s vertical surface with a crash before slamming to the ground behind several garbage bags. The mare just looked between the wall and the stallion, he turned to her, he noticed that she took a frightened step back as she stared at him, wide eyed.

“Y’alright?” Kickback asked the green mare behind him, his hood concealed his face, much to help mask himself from the…pegasus.

“Y-yes, t-thankyou, thankyou so much”

“No problem, dealt with scum like him before…can you get home from here?”

“Mhm”

“Alright then” just as he finished he turned away and took a step forward but was cut off by the mare addressing him.

“Wait…who are you?” the mare asked as she walked closer up to her saviour, he let out a chuckle as he faced away from her.

“It doesn’t matter…be seeing ya” and with that, the earth pony leapt into the night sky with a gush off wind emitted by the force of his legs catapulting him upwards, he vanished in the surrounding darkness as the mare looked up in shock and confusion.

Ponyville

“You did what?” Rarity asked in surprise.

“I-It’s true… we-” Applejack was cut off.

“No, YOU, you did it’ Dash corrected with tone that just screamed jealousy. Before anypony could say anything else, laughter rang through the room, a familiar laugh that would normally chill them to the very bone. It radiated for a while as everypony looked around frantically, much to their surprise, Fluttershy was calm, in fact she seemed happy with that smile that crossed her muzzle. The laughter became more coherent, soon sounding like it was emitting from a certain point. Eventually a figure of tall proportion and limbs of various animals teleported into the room in a flash of light, cackling like a mad-mare.

“Ohhohoho This is priceless !” The draconequus said as he wiped his larger eye clear of a single tear with a talon.

“Discord, what do you want?” Twilight inquired.

“Oh well, I just got back from Hoofington to talk to our mutual friend and-”

“Kickback’s in Hoofington!?” everypony exclaimed in surprise.

One Shall Stand

It had been nearly a week since Kickback arrived in Hoofington, everyday his confidence faded ever so slightly, the urge to find his sister’s killer slowly began to become weaker and weaker. Every now and again, he would question his motives but whenever he did, he just thought about everything. He imagined his sister’s face as she died, he recalled his times in Ponyville and every time he did, he found new reason to press on. The craving for revenge was as strong as ever, the longing to see his friends again drew him back from the crusade but in a way, it drove him. He knew that once he was finished, he could go home…go home? At that thought, Kickback realised something, he had a home, not a practical one of course, technically he was rich and homeless but isn’t home just a place where ponies care about you? The scarlet stallion began again on that thought, they cared, they really did care for him, he could imagine how they were taking his absence but never coming to a conclusion whether they were saddened or ecstatic about it. He had indeed told his grim tale and showed all of Ponyville what he was. His memory brought him the images of that day, it was a nice Summer morning but he knew a storm was brewing as he sat on that bench, plotting and waiting to make his move on the changelings. The way ponies looked at him when he was revealed, the thing that they said but one small yellow filly was unmoved. Kickback remembered the heart tearing moment of seeing Applejack, lying there on the ground in the middle of the street, the sound of demonic cackling in the air, the large dark figure of whom approached the downed mare. The crimson colt remembered the shout that emitted from the bottom of his lungs as he dashed in front of AJ and revealed himself to her. The numbing sensation of strong magical blasts bouncing off his shield like nothing, the struggling feeling of slow, advancing hoofsteps and the urge for retribution that consumed him whole. Kickback remembered the nervous shouting Chrysalis made, of which just made him angry and more confident, how he shoved away her attack with a warcry. He stopped when he forgot a moment…the look that Applejack gave him when he turned to her with what he felt was a sad look, she just stared at him in amazement and horror, how beautiful she looked like without her hat, he distinctly remember the phrase that he spoke that went without response:

“I’m sorry”

Kickback had apparently said that out loud as the stallion behind the bench looked at him quizzically.

“Ya say something?” he spoke with a rather gruff tone. As Kickback thought about his recent past, he sat upon a stool, his forelegs resting upon the counter as he backlegs hung off the edge. The hooded stallion looked to the bar-tender with a surprised look before quickly fading into a calm one.

“Nah” he said nonchalantly before turning his vision towards the hard, wooden surface once more.

“Ya wanna dr-”

“Applejack Daniels, mate” Kickback cut off the tender with his answer.

“Alright, hang on…Here”

“Thanks…and leave the bottle” he said before placing the glass to his muzzle and consuming the warm liquid…the natural way. It wasn’t the first time, the hooded colt had come to this bar and he was sure it wasn’t going to be his last. The bar-tender was a tan stallion, looked like he was in his late forty’s as he sported a long brown moustache accompanied by a beard of the same colour, his mane and tail were short and a nice shade of dark blue. His name was Eagle, fitting due to the fact that he possessed large tan wings protruding from his sides. Kickback rather liked the colt’s fashionable tastes, he wore a single layer unlike himself but it was a nice white hooded jacket, after taking his first drink, Kickback pulled his hood off his head and let it rest on his neck.

“Thirsty, Kickback?” Eagle inquired with a hint of a joking tone.

“Yeah, much actually”

“Is it a mare?”

“Might be…don’t quite know at the moment”

“Well, I’ve been here for years and every time Ah see a stallion with your look…he’s normally got girl trouble” Eagle consulted with a grin but a very sympathetic tone.

“I suppose…but it’s not just the one…it’s more like four…”

“Whoa mate, four?…wow, you must quite the lady-killer”

“Don’t call me that” Kickback spoke up with a irritated voice.

“What?”

“…Killer…”

“Don’t suppose their anypony Ah know?” Eagle inquired, not really caring about what was just said to him.

“Two are elements of harmony, another has this…thing about creatures called…ugh, what were they called…Humans! That’s it and the other is a famous DJ, ring any bells?” The scarlet stallion listed off.

“Which two? I dunno names but-”

“Honesty and Loyalty…”

“That DJ wouldn’t happen to be-?”

“…Vinyl Scratch”

“Whoa, steady on mate, when you go for mares, YOU GO FOR MARES” Eagle somewhat complimented. Kickback let out a chuckle, as to why? He didn’t know, even thought he wasn’t going for them at all, it felt nice be considered just a normal stallion out on the prowl for the opposite sex. When he put it like that though, he regained himself a bit and returned to his calm expression before having another drink.

“Damn, this place is quiet…” Eagle complained as he glanced about the building’s interior. Only a few ponies with a depressed looks occupied the tables that littered the bar. Kickback took notice and felt a wave of defeat as he looked around the room. His eyes then spotted the stage, never had it really stuck out to him but there was indeed one.

“Hey, Eagle”

“Yeah?”

“You are aware that’s it’s like…three o’clock, right? Not everypony wants to get drunk right after work” Kickback deadpanned.

“I know, it’s just…I’m just sayin’ ” at that, the scarlet colt facehoofed.

“Yeah, okay bro, I’ll cya later” Kickback said as he rose from his seat.

“Alright, bye” Eagle waved at him before Kickback through his hood back on and placed several bits upon the counter, attending to the bottle, Eagle realised that it was now empty. As the hooded colt made his way over to the door he could sense Eagle’s annoyance and surprise as to what he left, he smirked at himself before entering the streets of Hoofington once more.

Ponyville

“Oops, did I just say that out loud?” Discord said with a chuckle yet nervous tone as he put a taloned hand to his lips.

“Whatever is he doing there?” Rarity questioned, to nopony or chaotic being in particular.

“Explain yourself Discord!” Twilight ordered. The draconequus looked down towards Fluttershy, she nodded with a hint of sadness.

“Alright, alright…he’s there because he’s looking for somepony” Discord partially explained much to the annoyance and growing impatience with the spirit.

“Who and Why?” Twilight asked angrily.

“Somepony by the name of ‘Grimlock’”

“Why?” Applejack asked, Discord took notice of her and the cyan mare, their gazes were ones of annoyance, anger, concern…and a hint of relieving happiness.

“Alright, turns out the same ponies that made him what he is…made another…also turns out that said pony murdered Kickback’s sister: Dana…so now he’s trying to look for him in Hoofington” the hybrid explained, more thoroughly.

“He’s going to kill him, isn’t he?” Twilight asked, still visibly angry.  

“Well…most likely, yes” Discord answered before an expected silence fell upon the group.

“Ah-…Ah understand” Applejack commented.

“If somepony hurt any of mah kin…I dunno what Ah’d so” the orange mare added.

“Did he say when he’d be back?” Dash asked.

“No…too bad aswell, I think he’s rather intriguing” Discord said with a paw to his chin, he seemed to be thinking, about what? Nopony knew, it was hard to tell therefore it was a very good question.

"At least we now have a destination" Twilight said, catching glares from everypony around.

"No we don't, we haven't agreed to anything yet!" Dash argued, still not convinced about anything the purple unicorn had to say.

"Twilight, the elements won't work unless we work together" Rarity consulted.

"We're not doing this" Applejack commented sternly. After that, a slince fell upon the group, a long and drug on quiet atmosphere that was uncomfortable to say the least. Until the point where it felt like hours, a singluar, raspy yet soft voice spoke through a nervous although confident tone.

"I have an idea" everypony and spirit turned to the shaken cyan mare, of whom stood up proudly as she smirked through her now tear baren, determined expression, a surge of reassurance ran through her, which was more than a little contagious.

"Let's go see him"

"Where are you?" Kickback let out as he stood at the edge of a well known bakery, gazing around at the setting sun and the way it imbued the town in an orangle glow, casting enlongated shadows from everything in ithe lights way. Kickback's hopes slowly began to fade as he looked down at the street directly below him. The scarlet colt removed his hood and put a hoof to his face, he rubbed his head into his leg in exhaustion, annoyance and sadness. Prized memories of Ponyville became less clear by the day, soon all that was left was jumbled images of certain moments that occured last yearand the less valued ones that happened not so long ago. Without knowing or consent, a single drop of salty liquid escaped the stallion's left eye, at that, he paused before wiping away the tear with shame. Moments passed, the crimson pony never leaving his position as he just continued to think to himself. After what felt like an eternity, he heard something, something...unnerving, something cryptic...a chuckle, a faint chuckle that emitted from the distance. Kickback frantically looked around to find nothing until he gazed upwards to a taller aparment building. There, atop the highest point of the structure was something Kickback hadn't ever thought he'd see, a stallion. Not a regular colt, no, his coat was a dark grey, his mane, a shade of crimson, much like Kickback's own coat. His tail was short cropped, unlike his own, his irises were rimmed in a dark blue shade. That's when Kickback noticed the grin on his muzzle, then he saw that the grey colt was draped in a leather, tan jacket, Kickback thought himself made for a moment as he could sear he saw portions of it glow an eeire red colour.

Both unhoded stallions stared at eachother from afar for a long moment, the scarlet colt's expression was one of stoic despite the mixed emotions of confusion, curiousity and annoyance building up within him. The other stallion stood there, watching the scarlet pony from above, looking down on him with a malicious look. Before anything else, the grey colt turned around and walked out Kickback's sight. The scarlet stallion stared at where the mysterious pony once was for a moment before the realsiation hit him, a barrage of emotions ravaged his mind as he began to grit his teeth. Rage built up from within as he connected the dots, he flet something as he stared at him, a sense of connection almost, Kickback began to growl through his teeth as his breathing became heavy.

"Grimlock..." he let out as he slowly pulled his hood over his head.

One Shall Fall

After a moment, Kickback leapt with a growl. His airborne body, easily clearing the street below as he ascended towards the roof.

Kickback grunted as his hooves collided with the surface, causing him to tumble in a spin formation. He looked straight ahead through red eyes and grit teeth to find nopony of any kind occupied the area. The hooded stallion stood up from his position and began walking in caution, glancing to his sides in anxiety. He continued to trot for a few more moments, ever getting closer to the other edge, he was truly irritated and disgusted with the grey colt’s antics.

“Come on out, you little-’ Kickback was cut off at the last second. The hooded colt looked up to see the same grey, clothed pony was about to attack, his right foreleg brought back to strike at the scarlet stallion. Kickback barrel-rolled out of the way before Grimlock’s hit the ground, hard. The hooded colt regained his composure and glanced up before he was knocked down again. Grimlock stood on his back legs as his front ones morphed into three-pronged claws, his left extended as he lunged it forward, punching Kickback with force, causing him leave the ground for a moment. The hooded stallion stood up quickly, not allowing the grey pony to strike so easily once more, Grimlock stood there, staring at his predecessor as he held his stance. Kickback got to his back legs and violently transformed his ‘arms’ into two large, sharp claws as he stared back at the red-mane stallion.

“So…you must be Kickback, a pleasure” He greeted in a mocking tone, his voice was deep and scratchy.

“Of course you already know who I am, why else would you be here?” he added with a slight chuckle.

“Yeah, I’m going to beat you to death with your own skull…” Kickback replied cryptically.

“You certainly are a very crude pony, aren’t you?”

“Save I-!” the hooded colt was cut off by another, similar attack by the grey stallion, Kickback landed with a thud before sliding on his back hooves slightly, he glared back up at the other viral pony with rage.

“No, no I don’t think so, it’s time you and I had a chat” Grimlock suddenly took on a much darker tone than before.

“WHAT’S THERE TO TALK ABOUT!?! You killed my sister!”

“By Luna’s moon, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!? Kickback, she was going to sell you out!” Grimlock shouted back, causing the hooded cot to take on a confused expression as he let his guard down slightly.

“She was going to report everything to Celestia, I saw her speaking with the palace guards…If anything, I did you a favour”

“You’re Lying!!”

“I watched her walk into that alley, that night, I saw the guards talking to her, I heard what they said, so I swooped in…and saved the day”

“What makes you think I’m going to believe you?”

“Because, aren’t we brothers now?”

“Oh, you think that because you’re virus riddled freak too, means we’re related?!!?” Kickback shouted before he began to laugh. Grimlock lunged a long tendril at the scarlet stallion but was countered, Kickback suddenly took on a determined look right before the tentacle hit him. The hooded pony caught the weapon in a claw before smirking, he violently swung Grimlock around by his elongated appendage with a roar. Kickback let go and the grey stallion was launched into the air, soaring and plummeting downwards before he felt the force of impact. Kickback followed the grey stallion over to the next, shorter building of which he had placed him with a smirk on his muzzle. Grimlock groggily got to his hooves and glared death at the scarlet stallion before him.

“We’re not brothers!”

“Fine” he replied with cryptic tone. Before Kickback could continue his beat down, Grimlock suddenly bolted up and dash quickly in front of him, the grey stallion hoisted the hooded pony up with a ‘tendriled’ hand, Kickback began to choke. His hooves change back unbidden as Grimlock’s grip got tighter around his throat, his back legs hung down as he gripped around his viral limb with his hooves, trying to pry his grip.

“Such a waste…goodbye, Kickback” he saluted in an apologetic tone, as if these were the last words the hooded stallion would here. Grimlock’s other, sharpened appendage plunged straight into Kickback’s chest, he growled in pain through gritted teeth, he began to feel the similar yet different bio-mass of the grey pony fill his system with a potent desire to kill him. The grey pony remained quiet as he took on a blank look, Kickback’s head went skyward before he groggily managed to tilt it back to face his other with his glowing red ayes and gritted teeth. In a flash of white, the red stallion’s eyesight was replaced with images projected from his mind. In a second, all regaled memories were shown to him, reminding him that there is in fact good in this world and he had been apart of it for some time. Kickback roared as he struggled to break free, Grimlock took notice and pressed on with more intensity. Suddenly though, it didn’t matter, with a roar, Kickback violently broke out of the grey pony’s grip, Grimlock grunted in pain and confusion as he looked between his predecessor and his…melted limb. It hissed as if it was burned, Kickback fell to the ground on his hooves, in a crouching stance, chuckling to himself before glaring up at the shocked grey stallion.

“You can’t kill me…you can’t kill me, MOTHERBUCKER!…alright then, let’s see if that goes both ways” the scarlet stallion said with rage yet anticipation in his voice through a smirk as he gradually got to his hooves, never looking away from what was to be…his next victim.

In middle of the streets in Ponyville, six mares hurried on over to the edge of town.

“C’mon, c’mon!’ Rainbow Dash yelled out in annoyance to her friends, she took the lead ahead of the pack, trying to encourage them to go faster.

“Rainbow, we’re not going to miss the train, it leaves in an hour” Twilight replied with an irritated tone of her own.

“Ugh, I could be there in ten seconds flat” Dash grumbled to herself as she began to simply hover above her friends with impatience.

They trotted towards the train station with an even pace, much to not only Dash’s annoyance but also Applejack’s, being the level headed pony she was, she held her tongue unlike her cyan friend. A new thought entered both of their minds, the most impact was on AJ’s side that day, realising that her best friend had a common interest, the kind that didn’t make friendship better. The orange pony thought about telling the group exactly what she was doing on New year’s, no doubt they noticed Kickback missing form the party too, even if it was just for a minute.

As the farmer thought about this, Dash also though about telling her friends about some of her own moments with the crimson stallion, the day he arrived, the time they shard upon the clock tower, the other little moments that occurred throughout the year.

A lot can happen and a lot did happen…unfortunately. Silently, as the group ventured forth, Twilight felt uneasy, she had agreed to simply accompany on the trip to Hoofington, she thought it was Dash’s and most likely AJ’s best interest to just talk to him. That is, if they were able to find him or if he would even listen or care. At that, Twilight felt extreme uncomfortably, she didn’t trust this plan, she didn’t trust him but she did trust her friends and now, she almost wished she didn’t as much as she does. Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie were all quite neutral with the situation, they had their own thoughts of course but they weren’t as passionate as the other three. Dash visibly grimaced for some reason in the corner of the orange mare’s eyes, without thinking, the farmer spoke.

“What’s wrong, sugarcube?”

“Huh, wha-?…Oh, nothing’” the cyan pegasus replied with more than a hint of nervous tone. Applejack continued to stare at her, her lying detecting senses were acting up, she tried hard to think about what exactly her friend was thinking about.

The situation was of course rather awkward and uncomfortable, not to mention frightening.

Here we have six ponies, the elements of harmony, heading towards a train station, in hopes to board one to Hoofington to find and convince a shape-shifting, indestructible killing machine to come home. It was a nostalgic thought, yes but it might just work, not that they knew anything about what he was doing at the moment anyway. At that thought, AJ turned back and began to mind her own business once more.

“It was going to be quick but now…now I’m going to make you suffer” the now, full-pony formed Grimlock said with a cryptic tone before turning around suddenly and beginning to run to the far edge of the building. Kickback watched him only for a second before he knew what he was planning. The coward was going to retreat. The hooded colt wasn’t going to have any of that, Kickback stood up and violently lunged his right foreleg in the fleeing stallion’s direction. In an instant, the limb manifested into a long, harpoon-like appendage, long ago, the scarlet colt gave his weapons names, like pets, he named this one “The whip-hoof”. Grimlock galloped quickly to the edge, when he thought it was time, he jolted his grey legs onto the surface, causing him to take to the air…only for a second though. Without warning, a long whip-like appendage wrapped itself around his torso. He looked down to see it was connected to something behind him, before anything, it jolted backwards. Kickback slammed the grey pony into the ground with a loud crash, Grimlock laid there in the cracked cement on his belly in pain, the whip-hoof uncoiled around him, releasing his body and returning to the scarlet stallion. Kickback morphed his hoof into place before trotting up to the grey stallion, Grimlock got on his hooves and growled at the hooded colt in defiance.

“You’re not going anywhere…” the hooded stallion spoke as he continued to walk to his enemy’s position. As he drew closer, he could’ve sworn that the grey colt was waiting for him, this caused him to walk more cautiously. The hooded figure stood above Grimlock, Kickback stared at his grovelling position, unaware of the smirk that crossed his muzzle as he kept his gaze to the ground. The crimson stallion quickly morphed his hoof to a glowing red and black hand as he lunged it towards the back of Grimlock’s neck. His grip tightened around his fur as he squeezed before lifting him up, still facing away from the colt that held him. Suddenly, the grey colt spun around, releasing himself form Kickback’s grasp, just as quickly a grey hoof, slightly concealed by a leather sleeve connected with his chest, the hooded pony went flying. Kickback hit the ground with a thud and staggered slightly, trying to get back on his hooves.

“What the buck? What are yo-?” was all he managed before Grimlock suddenly bucked him dead square in the muzzle, sending the scarlet stallion to fall back further and his dark grey hood to come flying off his head, revealing his full black and white mane and the rest of his dark green eyes.

“I’m what you could’ve been…” Grimlock started before he stood on his back legs as his front limbs became large axe-like appendages. Kickback got up slightly before the mutated pony dashed forward, slicing the crimson colt along his left foreleg.

“…What you were supposed to be…” he continued as he spun around with his blades, slashing his predecessor’s back, causing him to shoot up onto all fours.  

“…I’m your better” he added as his hooves returned, Grimlock stood proudly, adjusting his collar as he faced away from Kickback, he spoke with a smug tone. The scarlet colt stood on his hind legs as he morphed his limbs into his signature claws.

“I’m gonna enjoy watching you die” Grimlock spoke before turning and instantly transforming his right appendage into a large blade. The grey stallion lunged at Kickback in silence, he swung the weapon at the original monster but was cut off. Kickback suddenly grabbed the blade in his right claw, staring death into the eyes of his other, a loud clanging sound could be heard as both viral blades came in contact, the scarlet stallion pulled the blade to his side before uncrossing his claws and slashing Grimlock with an uppercut and a growl. The grey stallion went airborne before landing on his back hooves before rubbing away the blood that emitted from his mouth with his left hoof.

“Son of a bitch…YOU SON OF A BITCH! My better?! Are bucking serious?!” the scarlet stallion shouted in annoyance and rage.

“You were an accident, Kickback…I was meant to happen…they did things to me…HORRIBLE THINGS!” Grimlock replied, visibly in anger and quite possibly, sadness. He then pried open his jacket with two normal grey hooves to reveal long scars across his body aswell as a few patched up wounds to his chest, Kickback felt little sympathy but allowed him to continue, everypony should get a few last words.

“It’s all because of YOU!’

“What?”

“They…found you intriguing, that’s how they put it, that’s how they put ME!”

“….”

“GENTEK thought they could create more…like YOU! Don’t you see? You’re a success, you’re an accidental invention”

“You’re blaming me…of all things…you’re blaming me for what happened to you…kid, listen, I’ve had it way worse than you, just last year, I got cancer for a while!” Kickback replied with irritation in his voice.

“I saved Equestria from the changelings and for WHAT!? Just so the only ponies I care about to think of me as a MONSTER?!”

“We are monsters, Kickback, there’s no changing that now…but…think about what we could do together, not even Celestia will be able to stand up to us!” Grimlock began, hoping.

“Just you and me against the world, Kickback, we could build something on our own, we could spread our gift, we could rule Equestria”

“…Shut the buck up!” Kickback spoke up with a tone that said ‘Bitch please’, Grimlock was taken back slightly.

“There’s no bucking I’m letting you carry on, especially after what you just said to me…SPREAD OUR GIFT?!? You’re an abomination, Grimlock…”

“Alright, a held out a cider bottle and you knock it from my hoof…perhaps you’ll respond better to the blade. The grey stallion replied as he took on a battle stance. Kickback slowly placed his hood upon his head once more and stared at the grey stallion.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the sun hovering downwards ever so slightly as the afternoon drug on. Moments ticked by as the tension built up in the atmosphere, Kickback’s look was one of pure and utter rage as Grimlock’s was one of smug and determination.

Without warning, the grey pony acted first, with a grunt he jumped skywards, the sun behind him, making him hard to see by the scarlet colt below. When his form came into clear view, Kickback ducked out of the grey pony’s ground-pound. Grimlock and Kickback spun as a barrage of tendrils coated their front legs in synchronisation, the grey colt shot up straight away and lunged his tendriled hands at the scarlet pony, much to his surprise, Kickback did the same. The two stood there, almost mirror images of each other, both grasping the other’s limb and grunting as each tried to better the other in a sheer competition of strength. Kickback growled through gritted teeth as he struggled, Grimlock took notice and a smug grin crossed his snout. After a minute, it was the grey stallion who got lucky, Grimlock spun Kickback around, causing him to fly to the same wall he had crashed into earlier. The red stallion hit the vertical surface with a thud as did he with the horizontal surface below. He staggered a bit before regaining his composure, just in time too, Grimlock had pressed the assault further, his limbs had morphed back into hooves which he proceeded to try and beat the crimson pony with. Kickback quickly dodged to the side and sucker punched the grey stallion in the jaw, his mutated hands, still present. The hooded colt continued by uppercutting the grey pony, then slamming his head back down, all the while walking towards him as he stepped back in shock and pain from his predecessor’s assault. Punch after punch of the red stallion’s fists left Grimlock’s face broken and bloody, Kickback smirked as he uppercutted him one more time, in the confusion he quickly jabbed the grey colt in the chest, hard. Grimlock left the ground for a moment as he expelled blood from his mouth, Kickback smirked yet again as he grey pony landed on the ground with a loud thud.

“What?! Nothin’ to say?!?” the hooded stallion said in a mocking tone, in retrospect in was probably a stupid thing to get cocky but that didn’t stop him. Grimlock coughed as he groggily got to his hooves, despite the beat down, he was still tough and that wasn’t going to keep him down for long. Kickback morphed his legs back into place and began trotting over to him, watching him trying to get to his hooves but to no avail. Once the scarlet colt got close enough, Grimlock’s body was barraged with a haze of crimson and ebony, sounds of glass clattering could be heard as he swarmed his fur. Kickback stood still as he waited for what was to come, when the blur cleared, Grimlock was wrapped tightly with a shell like covering. His grey coat was now replaced with black armour, the shell seemed to glow under the outer layer, giving it a more viral look. The grey stallion’s mouth and nose were invisible through the plating but to large red-orange orbs, where his eyes used to be stared at Kickback with hatred. The armour was bulky, which indicated that speed wasn’t going to be a factor the scarlet stallion had to worry about anymore, he smirked at that as he stared at the armoured colt before him.

“Now you die” Grimlock spoke, muffled slightly by the stone-like substance that coated his body. More quickly than anticipated, the armoured stallion rushed forward to the unguarded colt, furiously uppercutting him skyward. Kickback spun in mid-air for a moment before regaining his composure, he growled as he looked down at the stallion below. With a roar, a sharp pain ran through him as a flurry of bio-mass swarmed his dark red fur before converging mainly on his back. The hooded pony growled as the tendrils dissipated, in flash, large appendages could be seen protruding out of Kickback’s jacket. Two massive black wings spread proudly out of his back, the structure was not based on feathers as the tips and edges of the limbs were razor-sharp, small portions of his wings glowed an eerie orange-red. The same shade his eyes quickly flashed to before returning to his natural green pools.

Grimlock watched in amazement of the viral pegasus for a few moments.  Kickback quickly dove towards the ground, the experience of manticores, pegasi and even dragons all apart of him now as he took one of his most rarely used forms. Kickback smirked as he felt the same thing Rainbow must feel when flying, the adrenaline and the wind his mane all giving him a rush he couldn’t quite describe but there was another feeling there, one of anger. Catching Grimlock off-guard, Kickback dashed at the armoured pony with his sharpened wings, only scratching the surface of his armour. Grimlock spun around, trying to keep up with the flying pony but kept losing sight, he was just too fast. The hooded pony’s front legs turned into two large claws, if a pony was to see this, they’d probably mistake him for a gryphon from a distance. Kickback dove at the armoured stallion once more, this time, grabbing his neck with his talons like an eagle. The viral pegasus took to higher altitude before throwing the now panicked Grimlock further into the atmosphere. The armoured pony yelled as he tried to regain his composure but to no avail, Kickback began to toy with him, knocking him into the air, juggling him like a ball on a seal’s nose.

The viral pegasus had a smirk plastered on his muzzle as he grunted each time he swooped before Grimlock began to fall too low to knock him into the sky however he could. Soon Kickback got weary, with a final punch he let Grimlock fall to the ground for a moment, the viral pegasus then swooped under the armoured stallion and grasped his back leg with a claw. He roared as the armoured pony yelled in fear, Kickback plunged down, dragging his other with incredible speed and force, all the better for the impact. With a swing, the viral pegasus launched Grimlock into the ground, with a cocky grin he watched him fall at high speeds. He yelled before it was muffled by a loud crash, then another and another, dust blocked the scarlet stallion’s vision for a while as he landed upon the rooftop once more.

He quickly morphed himself back into his original form as he approached the landing site. When the dust cleared, a large hole could be seen in the roof, fortunately there seemed to be nopony on the top floor of the building so nopony got hurt or saw what crashed through the roof. Then it was clear that the next two floors down had holes in there rooves aswell, Kickback grimaced at the damage but then took notice of how there was no sign of Grimlock as he peered down into the building.

That was quickly changed as Kickback felt a sharp pain from his chin, he rocketed upwards before hitting the ground with a thud. He looked up to see a no longer armoured stallion but a rather furious one instead. Grimlock panted heavily as he stared at the hooded stallion with hatred in his eyes.

“No more games!” He yelled as he galloped over to Kickback, spun around and bucked him in the face, causing the scarlet stallion to take the air once more for a moment and hit the ground hard but not without sliding a metre or two. Grimlock didn’t waste any time as he quickly ran over to Kickback and uppercutted him from the ground, the hooded colt staggered as he tried to regain his hoofing. The grey pony quickly swung a bare right hoof at the scarlet stallion, Kickback caught it and pushed it away, leaving room for his left hoof to jab at Grimlock’s face, causing his position to falter.

“I agree…” He replied as he regained his guard. The two stood at an equal distance from another. Only a moment went by before the two charged at one another with synchronised roars.

In an instant, the two stallions opposite limbs of one another collided with their bodies, only thing was though, they weren’t hooves. Each colt had morphed their hooves into long, sharp knife-like blades, of which were in each other’s shoulders. Unfortunately it was Grimlock who had the better aim, Kickback had simply stabbed the grey stallion, the attack that he made was far more vitally dangerous, nearly hitting his viral heart. The two grimaced, equally in pain, the excessive beating Kickback dished out was now getting to the grey stallion and the blade in his shoulder wasn’t helping. They grunted as each pulled their weapons out from each other and staggered. The crimson stallion lost his hoofing and fell to the ground, still gazing up at the grey colt of whom was still standing. Darkness clouded his vision but out of what he could see, was the image of the his other limping away, retreating…like a coward. That was the last thing he saw before he slipped away into unbidden unconsciousness.

Dash and AJ sat opposite to one another on the train, each with their booths to themselves as the other four mares sat behind the two, concerned for them more than they’d like to be. They gave the two quick glances every now and again before returning to each other and talking nervously about their situation.

Rainbow gazed out the window, looking up at the clouds she had known well for most of her life, the sky was like the back of her hoof to her, so familiar, so beautiful. Even though that was she was looking at, her thought train were on much darker tracks as she continued to stare into space. She took a quick glance over to Applejack to see the orange mare staring down at the table, most likely in the same state she, herself was in. AJ lifted her head to meet Dash’s gaze, the two stared at each other for a moment before turning away again, each with similar thoughts.

Kickback’s eyes shuttered open, he shot straight up only to wince in pain from the wound in his shoulder. The hooded stallion clenched his eyes and grasped it with a hoof as he gritted his teeth. Kickback looked up again and found that the grey stallion was long gone, he looked up at the sun to see only about an hour had gone by although the day was well into closing as the entire town was lit up in a faint orange glow. Kickback staggered to his hooves and began to limp towards the edge of the building, he put a hoof to the railing and lazily threw himself off into the alleyway below. He landed with a tumble as he grunted from pain and exhaustion, Kickback began to limp into town, grimacing from the previous events that occurred and making his way over to a favourite location of his in Hoofington. The hooded colt looked at the from across the street, a dazed smile crossing his lips before he groggily stepped towards it. The door busted open revealing a pained red stallion staggering into the bar, much to his liking, the place was still rather empty since earlier. Eagle took notice of the scarlet pony and watched him as he groggily made his way over to the bar, Kickback grunted as he positioned himself on the stool and rested his legs on the hard, wooden surface.  

“Applejack Daniels, mate…”

Forget What I've Done

Eagle quickly poured the scarlet stallion his desired drink  before sliding it over to him on the hard wooden surface, Kickback caught the glass as it spun on it's axis while making it's way over to him. The hooded colt quickly lifted the glass to his lips and gulped impatiently to drink the alcoholic liquid as fast as possible. With a gasp, he removed it from his muzzle and slammed it down, nearly breaking it and the mahogany in the process. Eagle took that as a sign for a refill, an action he unsurely acted out.

"Damn, Kickback, you look like Tartarus" the bartender said observantly.

"Gimme a minute and I'll be in better shape then you'll ever be" the red pony replied, much to Eagle's confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing" Kickback responded with little interest as he grasped the newly filled glass to his mouth once more.

"So...what happened?"

"Ugh, it's all good, mate, just ad a bit of a scrap is all" Kickback replied calmly with a relaxed grin despite the fact he was gripping his shoulder with a free hoof in slight pain.

"A 'scrap?', Kickback, you look like you were just stabbed!" Eagle noticed, he speech was louder than the hooded colt would've liked.

"Hey, keep your voice down" the crimson stallion said with a stern tone.

"Sorry but...what EXACTLY happened?"

"...Fine, I ran into an old...friend and things got heated"

"Do you need to go to a hospital? I don't think you should be drinking"

"I'm fine, really I am, I'll be good as new in a bit...plus I don't really like hospitals"

"Whatever you say, mate"  Eagle said in defeat as he rubbed a cloth on the bench with a hoof.

Time passed quickly after that, Kickback drank less and less as the evening drug on. He just sat there, tired and enraged, he let him get away...he LET HIM GET AWAY. The hooded colt cursed at himself silently as he gritted his teeth with his head lowered, allowing his grey hood to conceal the look on his face. Kickback had Grimlock in his hooves, the grey stallion barely got a hit in him before he was gone, the worst part was the fact that he simply walked away, letting the scarlet colt live to find him once more. That bastard is probably licking his wounds, getting ready for round two...then three, maybe four if one didn't destroy the other and soon. Regardless, Kickback was also weary from the experience, emotionally and physically, he saw from another perspective what monstrous aspects the BLACKLIGHT virus could have on a pony, it was horrific. At that, Kickback had a new look and a new idea on what his friends reactions were to hearing and seeing what he is...all hopes of forgiveness and continuous inclusion died with that though.

To that, the hooded stallion felt something, liquid, clear liquid formed in his eyes, giving them a glassy emerald look. Despite the hood covering his face, Eagle noticed a single tear descend down the red colt's right cheek.

"Kickback?"

"Hmmm?"

"Yah'll right?"

"Yeah, I-I'm okay" he replied as he brushed his foreleg across his eyes. At that, Eagle decided it was best to change the subject to one that bothered him slightly.

"Damn, this place should be jumping"

"What do you mean?" Kickback asked, raising his head up to meet the older colt's look, Eagle took notice and continued.

"Well look..." Eagle gestured a hoof to the entirity of the bar, little to no ponies occupied it's interior, just like earlier "...It's so quiet, business is slow"

"Eagle, i already said that not everypony wants to go out and get drunk everynight" the hooded stallion consulted, turning his head back towards the bartender.

"Still..."

"I know what you mean..." Kickback responded before a second silence fell upon the two"

After what felt like an hour, the scarlet colt broke the quiet atmosphere with a thought he had been pondering for a while.

"Eagle?" Kickback inquired, catching the bartender's attention "Do you have a piano stashed somewhere?" at that, Eagle felt confused for a moment.

"Yeah, it's in the back, why?"

"Can ya get it?"

"...suuuureee" Eagle said, stretching his word to let his confusion and suspicion obvious. The bartender placed a clean glass he had been scrubbing on the counter before leaving the stallion for a moment. When Eagle returned, Kickback smiled at the image of him carrying a keyboard on his back "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"I'm gonna get this place 'jumping' " Kickback quoted as he trotted over to the bartender. Eagle was amazed at the fact of how the scarlet colt simply removed the instrument that he, himself found heavy and casually walk to the empty space at the end of the bar. Eagle wasn't the manager but it felt like it a lot as he had to take most of charge around the bar, in his days, he had found that sometimes musicians played at the bar, in that exact spot.

A sudden memory, not one of his own rushed through Kickback's mind, a particular musician whose DNA now dwelled within him, had played at this bar before. He visibly grimaced at the the knowledge of having somepony else's memories. He caught a few glances of interest from the very few quiet mares and stallions that populated the bar to a minimum, he smirked at that. Kickback stopped in the centre of the space before unfolding the stands kept underneath the instrument, to his side was an old amplifier, not up to date but still in it's prime. Kickback wired the keyboard to the speaker and smirked as he tested the keys with an experimental hoof, he grinned at the sound. With little intention to sing, he was surprised when Eagle came up to him and set up a microphone, the bartender smiled at the scarlet, still hooded stallion before returning to the bar. In an instant, Kickback came up with an idea, an incredibly sick idea but still one at that. Long ago, there was one pony in saddle Arabia by the name of...Pobuscus, said pony was one of Cross's targets that he had been sent to assassinate, much to the dismay of the scarlet stallion.

"Okay, this is supposed to be a dramatic song but...I'm really bad at writing lyrics, so...here's what I have" Kickback spoke into the microphone, causing a few confused looks to be shown directly towards him. After a moment, the hooded stallion began playing one of the most comedic yet utterly ridiculous songs he knew how to play but this was a bar, right? Moods needed to be high.

Youtube Video

Kickback received a few laughs but was not comparable to the applause he was praised with when the final chord was struck. It seemed as if, his original plan worked, much to the glee of the stallion: Eagle. Ponies started pouring in, ordering drinks, sitting at the bar and tables, most with their eyes on Kickback or their friends. The scarlet colt and bartender shared a nod with a smile with one another from across the bar.

"Alright, here's another!" Kickback exclaimed to the crowd, getting a positive response, indication to continue playing.

Outside, a mare walked down the streets of Hoofington, a smile on her face depsite the fact that she was exhausted.

Twas none other than the unicorn DJ herself: Vinyl Scratch. After a gig at a party down the road she had working at, she was visibly tired but she was happy, another great group of ponies, another day doing what she loved: wubbing. The thought of the scarlet was baron from her mind at the moment although it was rare when he wasn't on her mind. That was thrown out the window as soon as she thought about how she wasn't thinking about him, now she was thinking about him, funny how train of thoughts work. Her smile faltered completely as she lowered her head, still trotting down the night-time roads of the town.

"I...I hope he's there when I get back" she muttered to herself as she turned a corner. When she did, her head perked up at the sight in her peripheral vision. Bright lights and many voices radiated from a small building down the street, curiosity getting the better of her, she started to trot towards it. Suddenly, the loudest of all voices caught her attention, it sounded like it was coming from a set of speakers from within, years of being a DJ, she recognized the sound of noise booming through an amplifier. However, she could care less about the volume of the voice when the familiarity of the voice suddenly dawned on her, she thought she was crazy when she put a face to it, the face had green eyes, black and white hair and was shaded by a grey hood as it smirked in her unconscious. She quickened her pace towards the building in surprise, curiosity and...hope.

Kickback glanced around at the bar, now bustling with happy ponies, Eagle looked at him again with a large grin, a look he returned. The scarlet colt chuckled as he looked away and planned the next song he should play. Just as he was about to play another, he glanced at a disturbance happening at the end of the room, ponies were being shoved out of the way as grunting emitted from the source. Kickback's super-pony hearing allowed him to notice the voice, his mind and heart were bombarded with emotions, he knew that voice, raspy yet feminine, a voice that he related to the word: cute.

When the source of the commotion presented itself, the scarlet colt's heart sank at the sight. There, standing, not facing him was...her, of all ponies that could be Hoofington, it was her. The familiar white coat, the two toned electric blue mane, those vibrant red eyes, that musical note cutie mark, the horn protruding from her head, it was Vinyl. When the unicorn looked up, her eyes dilated to the size of pin tips, there he was, standing at the end of the room. The noise of ecstatic ponies idly chatting to one another was slowly drowned out by each equine, their gazes were fixed on one another. Vinyl recalled everything about the stallion she was staring at, she'd never forget...but why exactly wouldn't she forget? Was it trauma?...or was it dare anypony say...love. The form of him, standing over a keyboard, hooves ready to play, forelegs covered by his jacket, he remained still, staring back at her with a blank look under his hood. hAfter what felt like an eternity for the two, Kickback suddenly had an idea. The scarlet stallion put his muzzle to the microphone and spoke as Vinyl trotted closer to him.

"Everypony..." he said, catching the crowd's attention as their talking slowly quieted down "...I'd liked to dedicate this song to...a couple of very special someponies...he said, still with the bar's attention, he looked down at Vinyl who sat at a table, close to him "...And one of them is in this room" at that, she smiled as he smirked back. Kickback took a deep breath before sighing as he remembered the song he wanted to play, it was a song that spoke to him in many ways and he was going to make that message clear to Vinyl Scratch. He slowly put a singular hoof to the first chord before starting to play fluently.

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The Heart Of A Virus

“…When my time comes, forget the wrong that I’ve done, help me leave behind some reason to be missed…” The scarlet colt sang dramatically, this song meant a lot to him and he wanted somepony he cared for to hear it. Vinyl Scratch sat down at a table, close to Kickback, her large red eyes never straying from the hooded stallion at the end of the bar. The room fell quieter than before as most of the crowds’ attention was focused on the red pony.

“…And don‘t resent me and when you‘re feeling empty, keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest, leave out all the rest…” The white unicorn eye sight began to fog as she registered the lyrics. Kickback closed his eyes as he gritted his teeth slightly, pouring all his emotion into the music. Eagle smiled as he watched the scene play out, everything from the stallion on the keyboard to the very intrigued unicorn in the front to the climatic tension radiating in the bar, he chuckled with a sense of utter peace.

“…Forgetting all the hurt inside you’ve learned to have so well…pretending somepony else can’t come and save me from myself…I can’t be who you are…” Kickback’s head arose as his eyes groggily opened, his green irises locked with the tear filled look in Vinyl’s crimson eyes, his own vision became cloudy in that brief second between the two verses. He stared down at her as she stared back from the table, a confused, saddened yet…was that joy in her expression? Everything around the two began to fade again, to them, it was just the scarlet stallion up on the instrument, looking down and the unicorn staring back in a black void. Kickback had never quite felt this way before, it was a mix of happiness and sorrow in his heart and mind. Of all places she could’ve have been, it had to be here, didn’t it?

“…I can’t be who you are…” at that, Kickback’s hoof struck the last note, the song ended with a dramatic reconcealing of his face under his hood as he bowed. A stoic frown was all that was visible through the shade of his attire, the bar went silent as the stallion and mare’s perceptions of reality returned. Suddenly a loud cheering radiated noisily throughout the bar, anypony could be sure that the ponies down the street (trying to sleep) could hear very clearly. At the sound, Kickback did his best to give an appreciative smirk to the ponies in the bar before trotting to the side, towards Eagle. The familiar feeling of compliments and respect was what he should’ve felt at that time but he just didn’t, Vinyl was in the crowd somewhere, that was enough as a reason as any to get a drink. The hooded stallion lacked the egotistical nature of most ponies, especially his old cyan friend that, for all he knew…and almost hoped, just forgot about him. Little did he know that the elements of harmony’s train was close to it’s next stop: Hoofington.

The train ride went much like it had already, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat opposite to one another as the other four kept to themselves, glancing occasionally at the two athletic mares. It wasn’t too long before Applejack seemed to be taking glances at the pegasus every so often, some looks were ones of sympathy and concern others…seemed a bit distasteful. Dash started doing the same thing after a moment, about half an hour of this had passed before the earth pony got to her hooves and trotted to the other side of the train before sitting down next to Rainbow, giving her a respective distance on the seat. Dash looked at her for a moment  before turning her head back to the window, AJ looked a little unsure, like she wanted to say something, something important but she couldn’t for Celestia knows why.

“Hey, nice job, Kickback!” Eagle said with enthusiasm and a new found sign of respect.

“Whiskey…” the hooded stallion almost whispered.

“What?”

“I said…Whis-key” Kickback spoke with a venomous tinge, much to Eagle’s confusion and discomfort.

“Al-alright, coming right up” the bartender said with a hint of concern before ducking his head under the bench, the sounds of glasses clanging together, the only sound he emitted. Kickback waited impatiently, in his own way, irritated, he rested his head on a hoof as the other tapped the wooden surface in annoyance.

Vinyl had watched him, the red coated, jacketed stallion, that SAME colt that she had known throughout the past year and further. Once in the crowd and out of her vision, she turned away and stared at her hooves in disbelief, mouth agape and wide, teary red eyes. The white unicorn’s thoughts took on a frantic pace of overwhelming ideas.

Sweet Celestia he’s here, why is he here? Did he see me? Of course he saw me, he was staring right at me, What should I do? Should I talk to him? Should I leave? I-I don’t know if I can see him again…No, he’s a calm guy but what should I say? ‘Hey look, you’re the stallion that I have a HUGE crush on and also turned out to have shape-shifting powers that you used to save Ponyville, how ya been?’ yeah, that’ll work…

A few moments passed before Vinyl looked up again, there he was, sitting at the bar. The bartender arose form his position and set down a glass to pour a drink, in an instant, Kickback jolted the liquid to his muzzle and slammed it back down with a sigh and grunt. Vinyl bit her lip at the image as Eagle poured another drink for the hooded stallion.

“He doesn’t look very happy…is it me?” Vinyl spoke aloud, not catching the attention of anypony around.

“Maybe I should just leave…No, no, that’s not the right thing to do, I need to speak to him” with that, Vinyl arose to her hooves and began to trot towards the bar, more specifically: Kickback.

When she reached him, she sat on the stool closest to him, all the while, never her eyes leave his image. Even though his eyes were concealed and he maintained his stance, she knew he knew she was there, staring at him.  

“K-Kickback?” she stuttered, she had hoped she wouldn’t become nervous but that was apparently not the case.

“Hey, Vinyl…” he replied, a hint of sorrow clouding his tone as he spoke quietly before gulping down another drink with distaste. He sighed as he rested his head on his folded hooves that laid upon the wooden bench, Vinyl continued to stare at him, wondering what to say or how to react.

“K-Kickback, I-…that was beautiful…what you did up there…that was-…” she managed before trailing off.

“Thanks…” after that, the two fell silent, Kickback had nothing to say that would make everything alright and Vinyl had nothing to say that didn’t sound insensitive. Watching the stallion take swig after swig of alcohol made her courage increase for some reason, after a long moment, she spoke again.

“Let’s talk outside” she said, the hooded stallion glanced up at her. He felt surprised at how determined the mare looked, he shrugged and set his latest glass down before following the DJ to the door. He opened it for her, a gesture she found rather kind of heart, she nodded which was received with a stoic version of her sign. The two walked up the street for a moment, keeping silent the whole way before Vinyl turned to him, he paused and stared back.

“Vinyl, I-…why did you bring me out here?”

“Thinking’ ‘bou ‘im?” Applejack inquired, at the sound of her voice, the four other mares glanced at where their two friends were in anticipation. Dash looked at her without turning her head, indication of spite.

“What do you think? Remember the reason why we’re doing this? What else is there to think about in this situation?” Rainbow spat out in angst.

“Hey, I’m worried too, sugarcube” AJ retorted, not caring for her winged friend’s change of tone. Dash rolled her eyes before returning to her previous position.

“Still mad at you for kissing him…” Rainbow mumbled.

“Are you serious, Dash, that’s what’s got ya ticked?”

“Yeah, actually…” the pegasus replied angrily, quickly coming face-to-face with the earth-pony once more. At that, AJ felt defensive, perhaps too much for her own good.

“What made you think you could just go ahead and kiss him?!”

“Ya don’t own him, Dash…he didn’t seem to offended anyway”

“He obviously wasn’t interested either! I saw him leave!”

“He didn’t say that! He just said he couldn’t!…“AJ’s expression shifted to one of sorrow “…with anypony”. At that, Dash welted also, for the entirety of their friendship, she did notice that he really didn’t seem intrigued by any thought of romance, no matter what mare would imply it, joke or not.

“Yeah, I know…still though” Rainbow finally replied before staring out the window once more as AJ trotted back to her seat in respect.    

“I-I…what are you doing here?” the unicorn asked in a rather outraged tone of voice.

“I’m…looking for somepony”

“Who?!”  

“Why do you care?” Kickback’s voice took on a stern tone.

“Because-…because-…” at that, the scarlet stallion watched as she hung her head, lips quivering, eyes clamped shut. Kickback remained silent as he slowly reached a hoof to his head, grasping the end of his hood and pulling it back, letting his mane stand out aswell as his ears. Vinyl glanced up at his exposed face and brought her head back to look him in the eye once more. She did for a split second before he turned his head away, refusing to make eye contact “Kickback I-…” she was cut off as Kickback began to talk through deep, saddened breaths.

“Vinyl…I’m sorry…I truly am but…you can’t be around me…I…I’m not a pony, let alone a stallion, I’m a virus…a sentient virus, that’s all I am…but because of you, Dash, AJ, Lyra, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight, Octavia and everypony else…for a moment there, I thought I was more than that, I thought I could be more than that but…I just can’t, that’s not an option for me, Vinyl…I’m a monster…and that’s who I am”

As the unhooded colt finished, tears welled up in the unicorn’s eyes, throughout his entire statement, he hadn’t looked at her. He kept his head lowered, eyes cloudy and half lidded with a stoic frown on his muzzle. A long silence hung over the two equines, after a while, Kickback heard his friend, his dear friend, sob and sniffle as the quiet atmosphere drug on. The scarlet stallion clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth slightly as his heart sank to the bottomless pit of his chest. He knew this mare cared for him, more than she should for her own good and that just made the situation more unbearable for him, he could hardly how she was taking it. When he felt that it was time, he heard Vinyl choke up, trying to keep herself from crying uncontrollably, he was about to speak as he lifted his head up but was immediately cut off.

“I don’t care!!” that single exclamation caused him to pause as did the sight. He caught a quick glimpse of her teary eyes before he was rushed. Vinyl quickly enveloped him in a hug, wrapping her front hooves around his neck, squeezing him, as if for dear life. She sobbed, causing her tears to dampen his jacket, Kickback hesitantly rested a singular hoof on her back, patting ever so slightly to show his sorrowful understanding. “Kickback, I don’t care what you are! I care about who are!” she yelled, almost into his ear if she hadn’t been practically shoving her muzzle into his shoulder. “I-I…I think I love you, Kickback” she managed to get out before she buried her face into him once more. The crimson colt’s heart sank lower as his mind became unfocused with barraging thoughts. Vinyl began talking through choked sobs “Ever since that snowball fight last year, I-…I’ve been feeling-…I’ve been thinking about-…I’ve always thought you were cute and-…I-…I love you” she managed to say. At the sound of all this, there was never a time when Kickback hated himself as he did now, he loathed what he was more than he ever had before. All it took was for somepony to truly care for him, never had he wanted anypony to outright say that they loved him, he knew what he had to do. This very moment made a question pop up in his mind, a very ironically rarely thought that pierced his psyche. He decided to import the phrase into his next sentence but Celestia be damned that he didn’t want to say what he had to, do what he needed to do.

“Vinyl, I’m sorry but I can’t, we can’t…I wish I could explain it better than that but trust…If only I was a pony” that was the question: If only he was a pony? The things he could do, the things that would be offered, the things that would be taken. His sister would still be alive, Grimlock would still be a normal stallion but if he was a pony, he would’ve never come to Ponyville, never slain that dragon that would hurt Rarity. He wouldn’t be there to stop the changelings, he would’ve never met Vinyl, Dash or Applejack, let alone Lyra in the first place. Even with all this reasoning, there was still one, undeniable fact or rather an act. Kickback was reborn in a morgue, he killed several ponies, griffins and even a minotaur up until coming to Ponyville, on the first day in town, he killed two manticores. He was a predator, he murdered Chrysalis and most of her subjects, he killed the real Kickback’s father and ex-girlfriend, he allowed GENTEK enough time to make a second and that second was the bastard that murdered the…real Kickback’s sister.

Suddenly the thought crept into mind, Vinyl still sobbed into his jacket as his brain journeyed through the darkest corners of his psyche. He had referred to Dana as the REAL Kickback’s sister, he had just questioned his very identity but did he really have one or at least just one. He had used an innocent pegasus to sneak aboard a train, sure he had killed Cross but does two wrongs make a right?

Every time this idea would seeped into his mind, he asked himself whether or not he should change his name, illegally, of course. Luckily the thought hadn’t crossed his mind in months, maybe a couple of years but now that it was back, the train of thought continued to move.

In his distraught state, he looked down at the hoof that rested on the sobbing mare’s back and stared at it. His eyebrows slowly lowered, his dark green eyes flaring red as he gritted his teeth, he lifted the hoof off the unicorn, she didn’t seem to acknowledge it and just kept crying. Kickback felt such rage, all directed at himself, he saw a pulse of glowing red flow through the veins in his lower foreleg, his shapeshifting abilities were always affected by anger and that was something he definitely had. As he glared at the end of his leg, raised to his eye, he growled through his teeth, forgetting that the unicorn was still on his shoulder. Vinyl stopped sobbing as her eyes opened in confusion, the sounds of him grunting caught her ears, she backed up slightly to see him staring death at his hoof.

Kickback barely noticed the absence of the mare as his hate became to consume him. Vinyl Scratch watched in shock as several of thin, long black tendrils began to lap at his hoof, swarming around the entirety of his leg. Her red irises switched frantically between his eyes and hoof, his teeth were barred and despite the rage in his…red eyes? That caught her attention, his normally dark green pools were replaced by eerie, glowing red ones. Although she saw pure anger, she could see he was on the verge on tears as he crimson eyes, brighter than her own, had a glass-like cloudy look. He began to choke up through his grunting, indication of his sadness. Something dawned on Vinyl at that moment, she didn’t know whether it was confidence, bravery or concern, regardless, she acted.

Kickback continued to stare at the infected limb, he hated it, he hated what it could do, he remembered everything he did with it as he watched the tendrils flare almost furiously at his hoof. Just as he was about to reach the critical point of his rage, he clenched his eyes…but before he did anything, he felt something. His eyes snapped open in confusion only to spot a singular white hoof on his own, the tendrils retracted calmly into his body as he followed the foreleg up to a beautiful white face. It was her, Vinyl Scratch, a smile, of all things, a smile was on her muzzle albeit a small one but none the less. Her eyes were teary, dampening her coat as her mane was frazzled, more than usual. Before he could say anything, she leaned in, wordlessly, her eyes slowly closing as he just stared at her, motionless and confused. Kickback felt her lips gently press against his own, the scarlet stallion felt something in that moment, was it safety? Security? Regardless, it was a new feeling, a welcomed one at that. Vinyl gingerly kissed him, unlike that time on Nightmare Night, instead of a hungry and passionate predator, the DJ seemed…protective almost, in that very moment, time just paused for the two ponies. After what felt like an eternity, Vinyl pulled back slowly, locking eyes with him.

“I already told you…I don’t care what you are, I care about who you are…you’re my friend…I know you, Kickback and-…and I love you” she said, the very words echoed his brain. The scarlet colt processed her statement, as he did so, a sense of understanding and hope seeped into his senses. It then fully dawned on him that throughout the entirety of his time in Ponyville, everypony just thought of him as another pony and with that, just assumed that there was nothing wrong with him. Unlike himself, he almost constantly loathed himself, mostly when he was alone or not speaking. The didn’t however, they came to care for a normal stallion, little did they know but regardless. Because of that, they grew close, perhaps too close, the one he was afraid of when it came to other ponies, innocent ones at least. Truth be told though, he cared for them too, not just his friends but the town’s folk in general, he had protected them, manticores, dragons and changelings alike, who knows if that one winged lion on the night of his arrival wouldn’t have snatched some other pony instead.

At this thought, Kickback began to understand, better than ever of how ponies around him saw him. Unfortunately, this also meant that he had a better comprehension of how they reacted on the day he exposed himself. Not only did they see the stallion in his most animalistic, monstrous nature, they knew him, befriended him, cared about him and watched him turn into that-…that-…thing. Kickback visibly grimaced at the image in his head before returning to the original thought, Vinyl and from what he could tell, everypony, didn’t QUITE seemed to care about his genetic makeup. The white mare in front of him stood silent, staring at him in anticipation, waiting for his answer as she took notice of his thoughtful look, plastered on his face.

It was weird actually.

After nearly a minute of silence between the two, in the darkness capped with the faint glow of Luna’s moon, Vinyl tried to say something.

“Kickback, are you-” was all she managed before the red pony jolted forward, lunging his forelegs around her in order for them to wrap around her neck and shoulders. It was a quick motion that left her stunned, she felt a warm weight on her shoulder, she looked down to see Kickback, resting his head on her while his hooves tightened ever so slowly as his eyes clenched a moment. Stunned, she just stood there, staring at him, he was taller than her but he held onto her small body like none had done before. His hold was subtle, gentle, he just stood there, hugging her, she could feel the fabric of his clothes on her coat aswell as…tears? Dropping on her white fur.

“Thankyou…” he whispered “I-…I love you too…”

Labor of Love

“Yo-you do?” Vinyl asked out of pure shock, fresh tears seeped into her eyes as a quivering smile dawned on her face. Kickback remained there, holding her in a desperate embrace.

“You mean so much to me, Vinyl, you all have done so much for me, I can never repay you…” he answered, still with his eyes closed as he rested his head on her shoulder “…All this time, I’ve never truly realised it, I’ve just hated myself for so long, hating all that I am, I never really thought about how other ponies saw me”

“Rea-”

“I always considered you my friend, Vinyl but I never really took that to heart though”

“Oh, Kickback, it’s okay”

“I should’ve seen it, I should’ve understood sooner what I was feeling, I care about you, I really do…I care about all of you, especially you, Dash and AJ, I don’t think Lyra can look at me the same way again”

“Heh, yeah, you’re a bit of a mare-magnet, eh?” she joked with a teary grin, in a choked up tone. The scarlet stallion eased himself off her to look her in the eyes.

“I guess so…not something I want to be…but I suppose I have a knack for being what I don’t want” he said as he turned his head away for a brief second, noticing that it was rather late. He looked back at they bar to find that the noise had died down, as did the music and lights. The crimson colt turned back to the unicorn with a calm smile, that one he always wore.

“Wanna head to my hotel?” the DJ said as she slid over closer to him, her eyes, half lidded and her mouth formed into a grin.

“Alright…” his tone was unsure despite how he kept his smirk. In the darkness, the faint white of the mare’s coat and the light streak in the stallion’s mane were the most visible, bouncing up and down in the night. Kickback and Vinyl stopped at a moderately sized, two storied building, the clothed colt opened the door for the DJ to step inside, a gesture, happily accepted. Vinyl trotted up a flight of stairs with Kickback in tow, she had a constant grin along with the occasionally giggle she’d make. She turned into the hallway at the top of the stairs, Kickback looked to his left as he stepped up one last time to see the mare, giving him a seductive look as she opened a door at the end of the hall. He chuckled before following, he turned into the room…and paused. There she was, lying there on a large mattress on her back, forelegs, seductively resting on her chest as she looked at the red stallion. Her iconic goggles rested upon the nightstand…that wasn’t a nightstand, that was a speaker next to the bed. Kickback just stared back at her body in awe, unaware of how much time he was taking to respond. She giggled at the look on his unhooded face before getting up and sitting at the far end of the bed, his large green eyes refocused at the action.

“Well? I know that you haven’t done something like this in a long time…and the memories of that might be bad…I don’t wanna push you into something you don’t wanna do” her tone was considerate, caring, sympathetic. Hearing those words made a brief image of a blond maned mare pop up in his mind’s eye, he grimaced at the sight of blood. Of course, the death of Karen had been a long time ago and this was different, this was Vinyl Scratch, a mare, Kickback truly cared for. After a moment, he turned, he could swear that the mare was about to call out to him, thinking that he was leaving. However to her surprise and comfort, he placed a singular hoof on the door before gently pushing it. The door creaked as it slowly closed, the clicking sound indicating is closure. The scarlet stallion turned back around and smirked, Vinyl grinned with anticipation.  

“You do know what you’re asking for, right?” he asked, quizzical and unsure of the unicorn’s EXACT thoughts were.

“Uh-huh” she breathed out, slowly easing herself closer to him on the mattress.

“I’m not a real stallion, remember?”

“Yeah, that’s just makes it a bit kinky…” she said with a giggle.

“What?”

“Well, you can shape shift, right?” her tone was surprisingly calm and coherent despite what she was saying, Kickback nearly grimaced at her sentence but kept his composure.

“Yeah…?”

“Can you…change form…anywhere?” she spoke with a curious smile, looking over his body from head to hoof. Kickback’s eyes widened as his pupils dilated with shock, immediately recognizing what the white mare had just said.

“I- uhhh” he stuttered, not quite sure of how to respond. Vinyl giggled with amusement at the stallion’s never before seen dumbfounded expression. Without letting him think another second, the unicorn lunged forward, grabbing the still clothed colt by the shoulders before forcefully pulling him towards her. He yelped quietly at the action as he was quickly positioned under the small form of Vinyl Scratch through some fast maneuver she pulled. The viral pony’s green orbs gazed up to see beautiful red ones staring back at him from above. A look of sultry intent glistening from within.

“Tonight…” she said, leaning forward into the scarlet colt’s left ear, her heavy breathing accompanying her words with a complimenting tone. “…Tonight…be my stallion, Kickback”

A room on the second floor of an apartment’s building glowed yellow in the night through the window. Faint moving shadows could be seen through glass.

On the other side of the street, a lone, grey figure stood atop a small bakery, gazing up at the illuminated window with a smirk. The figure was draped in a dark jacket, the collar concealing his face from either side. The figure was a pony, a stallion to be more specific and it was this colt who began chuckling in a sinister tone in the darkness of the late evening.

“Have fun, Kickback…” the voice of the figure spoke with an evil cackle. With that, it turned, it’s coat waving with the motion before it disappeared into the night.

The morning after was what one would expect. Vinyl Scratch’s eyes fluttered open as she groaned through her closed mouth in a happy sigh. She rummaged around only to feel a warmth beneath her. Her front hooves rested upon a strong, red chest. She followed the build up to the slumbering face of the one and only Kickback. His mane lay lazily over his closed eyes that would normally present those large green eyes Vinyl had come accustomed to. His muzzle was formed into a groggy frown as he inhaled and exhaled deeply, causing his naked chest to inflate and deflate with each breath. The memories of the previous night rushed her senses in an instant, she smiled at the thoughts. Vinyl looked around the room to see the stallion’s trademark hoodie and jacket to be lazily thrown onto the floor, causing a few more images to flow in her mind. The unicorn looked back up at what she had referred to as ‘her stallion’ and grinned compassionately, eyes half lidded. The sudden movement made Kickback’s conscious return to him, his eyes shot open, quickly. Vinyl shot back slightly at his reflex, something she saw made her uneasy. As his eyes quickly opened, a flash of a shade of red shined in his irises. His teeth was gritted as his gaze focused at the far wall. After a moment, he looked down at the white unicorn, of whom looked somewhat unsure…or frightened.

“Morning” she greeted in a suspicious tone.

“G’morning” he replied before immediately rising up from his position. Vinyl frowned, still confused at the stallion’s sudden change of mood.

“You okay?” she asked, concerned. Kickback didn’t answer as he trotted about the room, collecting his clothing in his hooves. Once he picked up his jacket, he paused, not looking at them but rather at the ground with a thoughtful look.

“What is it?” she inquired. She almost instantly got an answer. Kickback’s body quickly became enveloped in a swarm of black and red, catching the mare off guard. When the haze cleared, the stallion’s signature hood and jacket were draped proudly on his body, still with the original ensemble in his right hoof. Wordlessly, he dropped them onto the floor without care. The stallion rose his head to see the mare looking at him in confusion.

“Sorry, yeah, I’m fine” he said although not sounding like he meant it.

“O-…kay, so when are we going?” she said, rising off the bed and stepping closer towards the hooded colt.

“Going?” he asked as he turned to face her.

“Yeah, last night was my last gig…I thought you’d be coming back to Ponyville with me…” she stated with a hopeful tone. Kickback took a deep breath after hearing her speak and closed his eyes for a brief second before staring into her gorgeous red eyes once more.

“It’s-…it’s personal…you should go, don’t let me keep you” he said as he began to walk towards the door.

“I’m staying here” she said abruptly, causing Kickback to turn in surprise.

“What?”

“I’m not leaving unless you come with me” her tone was stern, nothing like he’d seen from her before.

“Vinyl that’s not-”

“Nope, I’m staying here until we can BOTH go” at that, Kickback felt a slight smirk coming across his muzzle at the mare’s arrogance.

“Okay Vinyl, I’ll see ya later” the scarlet stallion nodded before turning back to the door. He put a hoof to the knob and swung it open; he shared one more glance with the unicorn before turning into the hallway.    

“I still…have to do something, Vinyl…I can’t go back, just yet” he replied.

“W-what? But I thought-”

“Vinyl, this is something I have to do, I’m sorry but…things can’t be the way they used to be”

“What do you mean?”

“The idea was to keep it a secret…it’s not anymore…for everything to go back to how they were…it juts can’t happen, Vinyl”

“What are you saying? You’re…never coming back?” her tone was one of sheer heartbreak.

“No just, there’s still some stuff I have to do here, okay?”

“What stuff?” at that, Kickback fell silent, a faint sound caught his attention. The stallion remained quiet as his eyes drifted suspiciously around the room.

“Kickbac-”

“Shhh, listen” he whispered, cutting her off. Out of curiosity, the unicorn complied despite being utterly confused, she didn’t hear anything. Kickback however seemed completely focused and a slight bit concerned, his ears flicked back and forth, trying to get a better hearing on the noise that tortured his senses.

A thud…another thud…and another…oh shi-

The scarlet stallion’s thoughts were immediately cut off by a loud crash. Kickback’s body was propelled into the door, knocking it off it’s hinges and landing flat on the wall in the hallway. The red colt groaned in pain before the sound of screaming caught his ears, his green eyes shot open at the noise. He found that his body was practically engraved into the wall, his hooves spread wide, lodged into the vertical surface. The door laid there on the ground, accompanied by remnants of debris from the wall and furniture that occupied the room it belonged to. Kickback turned his gaze back to within the room, what he saw horrified him.

There, standing over the white unicorn, of whom was scathed by the explosion, stood a stallion. A grey colt with a crimson mane and tail, his eyes were narrowed in a shade of dark cyan. A sinister grin spread across his muzzle as he stared down at her grovelling form. Kickback’s eyes flashed red as they widened with shock, anger and fear.

“GRIMLOCK!!!” he screamed as he tried to break free of the concrete that partially buried him. The second viral pony kept his gaze fixed on the mare as he slowly stepped towards her, that same malicious smirk on his face. Kickback grunted in anger as he jolted himself free, he staggered a bit as he tried to regain his composure, small pieces of debris flying off with him. The hooded colt’s vision lifted to see his rival violently lift the unicorn on to his shoulder with his mutated three-fingered hand. Vinyl seemed conscious but far too weak to defend herself.

“Kickback…” she let out with a groan. The hooded stallion stared death into the blue eyes of the grey colt, of whom was smiling.

“You should’ve known, Kickback…if you’re not with me, you’re against me…don’t keep me waiting” he said, his eyes twinkling with terror before just like that, he was gone. Grimlock quickly bolted through the gaping hole in the wall, leaving the scarlet stallion dumbfounded.

“VINYL!!” he screamed before giving chase. Kickback quickly ran up to the hole only to see that the stallion and mare were nowhere to be seen, he was gone and Vinyl was with her. “ARGHHHHHHH!!!” he yelled in rage, the volume of his voice causing a loud echo.

“Finally, that took FOREVER” Rainbow Dash whined as she hovered above her friends, stretching her leg and wing muscles.

“C’mon girls” Twilight said, gesturing for them to follow her with a wave of her hoof.

“Alright” AJ said, more enthusiastically than she had intended. The six mares began to trot through the streets of Hoofington, they got a few steps in before a loud crash caught their attention, the sound seemed to be coming from above.

“What was that?” Pinkie questioned.

“I don’t know” Twilight answered, each of their gazes focusing on the dust smoking off the side of a two story tall building. It wasn’t long before they heard a loud yet familiar voice cry out in anger. Every mare’s eyes widened at the sound

“Is that-” Dash started although the sight was enough to cut her off. What she saw, completely shocked her, she could only imagine the same look on her friends.

There, leaping down from the mist was a cloaked figure. His jacket flowing in the wind as he descended to a smaller rooftop. Applejack’s jaw dropped at the sight, the sight of his concealed red face, the flicker of crimson in his eyes and the iconic nature of his suit, there was little doubt of who this pony was. Immediately, a name popped into everypony’s heads.

“I-is t-t-that h-him…?” Fluttershy asked in her usual timid voice.

“Kickback!” Rainbow cried out before instantly dashing off towards him.

The hooded stallion landed with a thud upon a smaller business building, his breathing was heavy, his teeth were gritted, his eyes shined bright crimson as he looked down, slowly raising up form his crouched position.

“Grimlock…” he growled, raising his head up to look in the direction of the fleeing grey colt.

“Kickback!” that voice…that familiar voice. The hooded stallion’s eyes softened and widened, his teeth loosened, his eyes dimming to green once more as he looked to his right. He paused to stare at the image. There, hovering a few feet away form him was a cyan pegasus, her rainbow mane and tail being an all too familiar sight. The rainbow lightning bolt adorned on her flank, those magenta eyes capped with the pleading look on her face. Kickback knew this mare, it was Rainbow Dash.

“Dash..?” he managed, stunned beyond belief, he subconsciously raised a hoof up to his face before grasping the end of his hood and slowly sliding it off his head. Rainbow was just as speechless, the sight of his revealed black and white mane, the confused look in his dark green eyes. It was all enough to make her heart stop in shock. Wordlessly, she dropped to the high surface, looking him dead in the eye as she hesitantly walked closer to him, the other five mares still down below on the street, watching the scene play out. Kickback kept her gaze to the best of his ability, before he knew it, the cyan mare had stepped directly in front of him, their  front hooves barely a metre apart. Bright irises stared blankly into the abyss of dark ones.

After a long moment, a teary smile crossed the mare’s expression, Kickback could feel the same look being plastered on his face. Dash lunged forward, hooves wide to embrace the scarlet stallion. He caught her and returned ht hug, she sobbed happily as she rested her head on his jacketed shoulder, eyes clenched.

“Rainbow?!” Applejack called from below, the sudden movement caused the pegasus to step out of her friends’ fields of vision.

“Applejack…” Kickback uttered, still holding the cyan mare, trying to fight back a single tear. Rainbow pulled back at the sound of his voice, looking him straight in the eyes despite her tears with a quivering grin on her muzzle. His right foreleg wrapped around her torso as she stabled her front body completely on his shoulders, wings outstretched.

“Hey, Dash…” he greeted, quietly and calm.

“H-hey, k-Kickback…” she replied, trying to keep her cool but quivered nonetheless. He continued to smile at her as she did to him before he nodded with a slight chuckle, closing his eyes for a brief moment. The sound of cackling lightning along with a bursting noise caused his eyes to widened with surprise. Now on the rooftop were all six elements of harmony, Twilight in the centre as remnants of magic dispersed into the atmosphere. Kickback’s gaze drifted to each mare, all having their own looks, all of uncertainty, especially the purple unicorn’s with a hint of suspicion. He locked eyes with the orange earthpony among them, she held his gaze even as a slight blush crept across her cheeks, she stared wide eyed. Rainbow looked back at her friends before returning to all-fours, looking rather awkward.

“Kickback…” Applejack uttered, almost a reply as to what he said earlier. At the sound of her accented voice, he smiled, despite being in a complete rage not even a minute ago, the sight of his dear friends made it…fade away almost. She returned the look to the best of her ability, her beautiful emerald eyes became foggy. He turned his attention back to the others only to find that not everypony had the same look. Rarity was uneasy, to say the least, barely giving him a direct look. Fluttershy a far more understandable stance, she hid behind her flowing, pink mane like a brick wall, trying to shield herself from the intimidating stallion…however ‘intimidating’ might be putting it mildly. Pinkie seemed unusually awkward, she wore a unsure grin, being how she is, never being one to stop smiling if she could help it but Kickback knew that even Pinkie must have a few bad thoughts.

Now Twilight, that very lavender coloured unicorn mare gave Kickback one of the most suspicious and threatening looks he had ever seen on a pony…or other. She seemed mad almost, like she had something in store for him, something unpleasant. Her amethyst eyes narrowed angrily, glaring at the pony that she didn’t consider one of her species. Out of all them, Twilight was the one to take the most meaning of his story, she agreed with his plighted phrase that accustomed himself with: Monster. Sure, Celestia’s prodigy believes in love and tolerance, tries to make friends whenever she can, Tartarus, she even forgave the GAP Trixie. Although, she was indeed just a fraud, trying to make a living off lies, Kickback wasn’t even a natural being, he was a virus, to the best of her knowledge, that’s what she though of him as. A sentient virus. When you’ve broken the trust of somepony that represents the magic of friendship, can you be trusted at all?

Carnage

Turning back to the two athletic mares of whom were staring at them with a foggy look in the eyes, it then dawned on him.  

“W-what are you all doing here?” he inquired. Dash looked back at AJ then to Twilight before glancing back at him.

“We’re here to bring you back” she stated, her tone hinted of uncertainty. At that, Kickback’s mind boggled with the idea of what to do or say, none of them seeming completely appropriate.

“Back?”

“Back home” AJ said, choking up slightly on her sentence. It was then when the scarlet colt realised what was happening. The rest of his friends had come to not only bring him back Ponyville but they were unknowingly keeping him from stopping a pony far more unpredictable and dangerous than himself. That pony was Grimlock, a shapeshifting relentless killing machine that in some ways was related to him. They shared one key aspect, they shared organic tissue; BLACKLIGHT was both of their DNA. Hence Grimlock was right in a way, they were brothers.

However, Kickback wasn’t an experiment. He wasn’t merely infected, Kickback died, the real stallion died that fateful day at Quill Station. It was only by fate that the same sample of the virus that he released, not caring for the results as his back was to the wall, cornered by same kind of ponies that killed those doctors back at GENTEK. The vial’s contents managed to bond with his system despite he was dead. The virus didn’t just infect him, it became him, copied his body down to the genetic level, to his shattered memories. Eventually all becoming what he is today, Kickback IS the virus.

Although despite everything, being nothing more than some unnatural disgusting creature. On the outside, he was a pony, a stallion at that, no matter what dwelled within, if ponies around him didn’t know, they would’ve treated him as such. To make it worse, they did, more than expected. After he leaving Manehatten for the first time, he had no goals, no intentions, no view for the future. It was simply survival, not thriving but that all changed one day. That very day, that first day, from the moment he saw Rainbow Dash, gazing down at him from a tall tree to meeting Lyra on the park bench. To being dumbstruck by Vinyl’s first words to him to his welcoming party, Pinkie threw him. At the thought, he remembered the song he played, the lyrics, more specifically the chorus echoed in his head. Kickback did, at least now he did, he had friends like that, good friends, probably the best anypony could’ve asked for. Through all their times, he’d always catch a faint glimpse of a singular mare’s affections…then another…and another, it seemed to be a running trend. Still though, romance had never been a priority for him despite that he wouldn’t have minded it.

Dash, AJ and Vinyl became his bestest of friends out of the group, that isn’t to say he wasn’t close with anypony else, Rarity seemed to enjoy his company at least. In the moment now though, she just stood by Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy as the two athletic mares stood up to him gazing at him with anticipation. Something tore inside him at that moment, he wanted to say he could but he couldn’t. Grimlock had to die, Vinyl had to be saved, he needed to find her and him. They couldn’t know what he was about to do, they couldn’t help, Grimlock might just use them as leverage or kill them if they decided to aid him. In a desperate attempt, he replied with a familiar phrase.          

“I can’t, I’m sorry” he responded quickly before suddenly bursting off away from the six mares in a full on gallop. It took a momennt for them to realise that he had already jumped to another building before Dash and AJ’s eyes widened, as did Twilight’s.

“Hey, come back!” Rainbow yelled, quickly taking to the air to catch up with the scarlet stallion.

“Where ya going?!” Applejack called out afterwards.

“There’s no time to explain!!” Kickback yelled back, not slowing as he quickly free-ran his way across the landscape, away from the elements behind him. He ran as fast as he could, dashing away from the sky to the buildings in a frantic attempt to escape. Only a few seconds ticked by before he saw the cyan pegasus coming up next to him, her wings flapping furiously with a concerned and confused look on her face, staring at him all the while.

“Stop!” she yelled. Kickback only quickened his pace in response.

“Kickback, Slow down!!”

“No, Dash, get outta here!!” he retorted harsher than he wanted but exactly what he needed.

“No way, I didn’t come all the way out here just to be told to buck off, now slow down and talk to me!!!”

“Rainbow, leave me alo-” was all he managed before he felt a vice like grip on his tail. Dash violently bit down on the black and white-striped elongated tail and viciously pulled back. Kickback was sent spiralling out of his pace due to the fierce tug, he slid back on the hard concrete that was the roof of a some random house of some kind. Annoyed beyond comprehension, he just sat there, still, watching the form of an angry cyan mare come into his vision, landing on her hooves in front of him and glaring at him with rage.

“Okay, Kickback, what’s going on with you!?”

“What?”

“Why can’t you come home?!”

“Home? I don’t even own a house in Ponyville!”

“So what!? It’s still your home, it’s our home!”

“Well, I can’t…at least not yet”

“WHY?!”

“Because-”

“Hehehe” Kickback was cut off by an audible chuckling sound emitting from above him and the pegasus. The still unhooded stallion eye’s widened as his pupils shrank, Dash’s expression turned to one of not only anger but confusion aswell. Slowly, he rose from his stance, sitting on the ground to his hooves. Dash backed up slightly at the movement sub-consciously, still glancing around for the source of the sound. In the corner of her eye, she saw Kickback’s head slowly rise, his gaze following. She turned to him, watching his action with curiosity. Suddenly his gaze locked on something above them, his eyes narrowed, he visibly gritted his teeth through a closed mouth. Out of curiosity, Rainbow followed his gaze, looking in the same direction he was. It was then when she saw what he was staring at. There, standing upon the rooftop of a taller structure was a stallion, his coat was a dark grey shade, his mane, blood red as so was his short tail. The stallion wore a jacket, much like Kickback’s but the collar was higher and it depicted a ‘tanish-beige’ colour. The eyes of the colt were a deep shade of blue, he seemed normal, only for one thing, his muzzle was formed into the most sinister grin one could imagine. It was only then she realised that various segments of his coat glowed an eerie orange-red colour.

He just stared down, not at her, Kickback, her gaze rotated back to the scarlet stallion whose breathing became heavy and audible. His pupils shrank slightly as his eyes continued to narrow while they shifted from the dark green she had grown accustomed to, to an evil aura of red. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in confusion and shock at the sight, she watched as Kickback stared at the grey colt with utter rage building inside as he stared back, the menacing smirk still present. The cyan pegasus looked back up at the new pony before speaking.

“K-Kickback, who’s that?” she questioned, still looking up at the grey colt. The scarlet stallion didn’t answer immediately instead he simply walked up ahead of the mare, his now red eyes still fixed on the figure. She looked at him as he raised a hoof behind him, grasping the hood in hoof before violently swinging in over his head, his mane became just barely visible, sticking out from under the fabric. As did the rest of his face, his eyes were practically cut out of sight as were his ears but his muzzle was still clear, his teeth gritted intensely.    

“Dash, get out of here…now” Kickback stated with an angry, stern tone, catching the pegasus off guard.  

“What? why? Who is this-”

“You should do what he says, little Ms. Loyalty, he IS your superior after all” Grimlock said, still grinning like a mad mare.

“What’s THAT supposed to mean!?” Dash cried out, furious at what was said to her an by who. “Why don’t you just leav-” a red hoof suddenly popping in front of her cut her off. She followed the limb up from the bare tip to the sleeve that covered it, up towards the determined look strewn upon Kickback’s face.

“Rainbow, leave now” he said before turning his head to meet her gaze, eyes back to their original green. “Get the others, find Vinyl Scratch, search the city, she could be anywhere” he continued, leaving the rainbow maned pegasus more than a little bit confused.

“Vinyl Scratch, what are you talking about? What’s going on?” she questioned desperately.

“There’s no time, just go…” she just stared at him, wide eyed and mouth agape “…GO!!” he yelled, breaking eye contact, causing her to shake her head and take to the sky, flying back to where her friends were. Rainbow soared for a few moments before finding Twilight and the other elements, galloping down the street to where she had been. Rarity looked up to see her.

“Rainbow Dash, what happened?” she said through slight panting.

“I don’t know but listen-”

“Where is he?” Applejack inquired.

“Back there, now listen up-”

“Did he get away?” Twilight asked.

“Shut up!” Rainbow yelled, making everypony become silent in surprise. “Thankyou, now, I don’t what’s going on but I think Vinyl might be in trouble, we have to find her!” she explained vaguely.

“Why would she be in trouble?” AJ asked.

“I don’t know, one minute Kickback’s about to say something…then the next, this stallion shows up and he gets suddenly furious the he says to find Vinyl and that she could be anywhere in Hoofington” Rainbow said.

“Oh my, she might be hurt” Fluttershy commented in her traditional soft voice.

“What makes you think we can trust him?” Twilight questioned.

“Well, ah ain’t not taking any chances, c’mon, let’s split up, we’ll cover more ground that way” the orange mare added.

“Got it!” Dash said before taking off, her signature rainbow trailing following her in her wake.

“Wait, girls!” Twilight yelled as she watched her friends take off in opposite directions one-by-one. “We don’t know if…ahhhh buck it” she said in defeat before galloping off herself.

Kickback stared his other as he stared back, his malicious grin flaring his anger to new heights. The hooded colt watched as the grey pony simply walked away from the edge, a familiar sight to him. Kickback grunted through his teeth, his body became vibrant with small tendrils that lapped around his body in a state of rage. The hooded stallion’s muscles tensed as he bent his legs, slowly lowering closer to the ground, still staring up at where the stallion was. With an audible boom and grunt noise, the rooftop’s surface practically caved in as the red pony was violently propelled into the air by his own power, he left the ground, he shot straight up into the air, over-shooting the building Grimlock was before he plummeted towards the taller rooftop.

Kickback landed with a thud, skidding slightly on the hard surface below his hooves, a gust of dust in his wake. Grimlock looked behind him to see the red stallion, crouched down, his head bowed. Kickback slowly arose from his position, raising his head with his body to see the grey stallion turning to meet his gaze. He smirked once more.

“WHERE’S VINYL!?!” Kickback yelled, angrily pointing a hoof at his other.

“Safe, for the moment”

“You’re gonna tell me, either on your own…” the hooded stallion reared up on his back legs, his front hooves rising, quickly being absorbed by a mass of crimson and ebony before he swung them down to his sides. His left hoof was morphed into a three-pronged hand while his right transformed into his signature deadly blade. “…Or after I skull BUCK you and drain your memories out the hole!!”

“You still don’t get it do you? Just look at them, Pony-kind is stagnate, inferior, we’re the next step…we could build an army, a completely new race of superior beings, we could form an empire, we could over-throw Celestia herself, we could-”

“ENOUGH of your bucking weird, bucking rambling SHIT! Gimme back Vinyl!”

“No, no, no I don’t think so, if you won’t join me, if you’re not with me then by definition, you’re against me and when this is over, I’m going to make you sit there and watch everything that I do to her then I’ll move on to that annoying pegasus and the rest of the elements, I’ll burn Ponyville to the ground and rebuild my kingdom there and then and only then when you’ve seen everything and everypony brought to ruin by my hooves…that’s when I will allow you to die”

“You won’t get the chance, you bastard”

“Then, when she’s ready, your precious Vinyl Scratch will become the mother of the new world, so now all that’s standing between me and Equestria’s true destiny…is you” Grimlock’s body suddenly become enveloped in a barrage of black and red tendrils, he reared up on his back legs as his own bio-mass swarmed around his front hooves. After a moment, the haze gave way for a horrendous sight, Grimlock’s forelegs transformed into a disgusting duo of large and sharp claws, the familiar orange glow radiated from his shoulders down, spikes protruded from random areas throughout the entirety of both limbs. Grimlock’s eyes took on an insane look, suddenly shifting from deep blue to a bright crimson colour, they glowed like they were an aura for his irises.

“Oh shit…”

“Well, let’s get this over with, shall we?” Grimlock said with an evil grin before suddenly impaling the ground with his right claw. The surface quaked, cracking as the stallion’s limb extended through the concrete, violently tearing through the material, making it’s way to the scarlet colt. Kickback’s eyes widened as he watched the ground crack and quake by the inevitable strike. In an instant, Kickback grunted as he barrel-rolled forward. The loud bang erupted as the form of several large, black spikes pierced the ground from beneath it, extending to high reaches. The hooded pony looked at the sight for a moment before turning back to the grey colt, whose limb was now lodged in the ground, temporarily vulnerable. Taking advantage, he quickly morphed his claws into place. Kickback threw his agents of murder back before violently lunging at the colt, pouncing with claws wide open. Grimlock looked up from his stance only to find that he was brutally slashed by the raging stallion, the grey colt was sent spiralling towards the ground, his own claw ripping from the surface, causing the spikes to quickly retract back into his mass. Grimlock landed with a thud and tumbled back to his hooves, glaring death at the hooded pony. With an audible roar, the red maned stallion viciously morphed his right claw into his own blade. Grimlock lunged forward at the red pony, slashing his weapon at him but was but off by the hooded colt quickly raising a claw in the way of the blade, blocking it.

The sound of metal clashing together could be heard as the two remained in a stalemate, staring into each other’s red eyes. After a moment, Grimlock’s left hoof was morphed back into place before he suddenly pulled his blade back, catching Kickback off-guard. The grey stallion brutally punched the red pony dead square in the muzzle. Kickback staggered a bit before regaining his composure, he viciously slashed Grimlock across the face, leaving a large claw mark on his muzzle, scratching his left eye. The grey stallion turned back to glare at the hooded colt before he smirked. He watched as the scarring simply faded away at a moment’s notice, healing incredulously faster than any other pony could. Grimlock didn’t wait another millisecond, he quickly lunged his blade in the direction of the scarlet earth pony. Kickback’s eyes widened before in an instant, he turned on his sides, both claws quickly morphed into a duo of large, spiky shields. The dark stallion was thwarted, even the deadly sharp edges of his blade was unable to cut through the solid mass. He staggered back as he felt the recoil of impact with his blade and the shield, his eyes widened before he notice them quickly transform. Kickback emerged from his defensive stance, morphing hooves into large stone-like limbs. Grimlock had only a second to see the malice in his eyes before with a roar, the hooded stallion violently pummelled the ground, raising his fist up and slamming it onto the surface, nearly shattering the roof.

The grey stallion was sent hurling towards the ground by the sheer impact, violently being propelled from the rooftop to the ground below. As he plummeted, his forelegs transformed into regular hooves. He land on his back with a thud before bouncing off the dirt and tumbling backwards, landing on his hooves. At the sight of this, a collective gasping noise was heard from each direction. Grimlock looked around to see many of what he called ‘inferior beings’ he grimaced at the sight of them. The crowd and grey colt heard a loud boom emitting from the tall tower’s peak before the image of a hooded, crimson coated stallion came into view, carelessly hurling towards the ground, a determined and raging look on his concealed muzzle.

“Sweet Celestia! He’s gonna die!” called out a random mare from the crowd, Grimlock scoffed in response. The red-maned colt shook his head before gazing up, his eyes widened at the image. Kickback’s swung his fight hoof back behind his head, his teeth were baring on eachother as he glared down at him, eyes red and still plummeting towards him. Before he could make a move, the hooded stallion roared in rage as he violently lunged his hoof downwards. With a loud crash, Grimlock’s face was brutally knocked to the ground, the impact of the red pony’s mass hitting the dirt creating an eruption in the ground. The road quaked as the full force of the crimson colt’s might struck the beige-coated pony’s into the dirt, creating a practical explosion in the ground. Dust began to cloud the vision of the crowd, all around, ponies clenched their eyes shut, holding a hoof in front of their muzzles to prevent any rectal damage. A loud crunching sound emitted before the brown fog cleared, the sight of two stallions in the centre of the road.

Grimlock’s eyes clenched shut as his body was slowly titling back up from the force of impact, his jaw hit the ground first, causing him to practically bounce off…quite painfully. The other pony, Kickback wore a determined, raging look on his face, his mouth formed into a frown as his red eyes glared at the stunned colt through lowered eyebrows. His hoof was still lodged in the dirt,  his body curved downwards as his other hoof began to tense up and pull back. Grimlock felt the hardness of the ground beneath his back hooves before staggering back to all fours and opening his eyes for a brief second, the hooded pony couldn’t care less though. In silence, Kickback violently twisted around, his right hoof emerging from the surface as his left brutally collided with the blue-eyed stallion’s face once more. The grey colt’s right eye shut in surprise as his entire head went to the side. Grimlock barely gave him a glance before roaring in anger, violently bringing his right hoof around his chest and smacking Kickback across the face with it. The hooded stallion staggered back a bit before regaining his composure, standing Grimlock down with all fours on the ground barely a metre away from the grey stallion who did the same.

“Who are these guys?” one mare questioned to another beside her as the crowd watched the scene play out, the two viral ponies glared at eachother in silence.

“I have no idea…he’s cute though” she responded, looking at Kickback with a sly look, one that the inquirer followed suit. The red pony gave them both a glance, most of his face was concealed by his grey hood. He made brief eye contact for enough to time to notice one winked and the other looked away, blushing. He turned back, his glowing crimson eyes stared angrily at the grey stallion, the shade of his hood giving him an almost demonic appearance. Grimlock wore a smug grin on his muzzle, causing Kickback’s anger to flare more intensely.

“Alright, alright, what’s going on here?” the sound of a heavy accented feminine voice spoke out from amongst the crowd. The hooded stallion’s head shot up as his eyes quickly switched back to his natural dark green. Grimlock simply grinned with more malice in response. Without thinking, Kickback turned his head to see somepony shoving through the crowd, a light brown Stetson poked out form the huddle. Eventually he saw fragments of an orange coat that bonded to the well-kept athletic figure of a specific mare that tried to get to the centre of the whatever what was going on. She pushed to ponies aside in the front row and looked ahead to find what she hadn’t expected.

“Kickback?” she asked n disbelief, despite seeing him for a brief second earlier today, the form of him still gave her a shocked yet pleasant feeling…at first at least.    

“Applejack…” he replied through a much softer tone, eyes focused on her as he relaxed his muscles, rising to his full height. They stared at each for perhaps only 13 seconds. After that short moment, Grimlock scoffed.

“Another one of your mare-friends, Kickback? I had no idea you were into southern bells” he said with a chuckle. The hooded stallion froze at the sound of the most loathed voice he had ever heard.

“Who in the hay are you?!” the orange mare questioned loudly, clearly not happy with whoever this colt was.

“Me? I am your salvation, I am all of your salvation!” he shouted, looking back between the several ponies that formed a circle around the three.

“Wrong” Kickback stated, staring down at his hooves as he spoke.

“When I’m done, you won’t even be a greasy spot” he continued, slowly turning back to stance.

“K-Kickback?” Applejack let out as she watched the horrific sight of the stallion’s form becoming overlapped by barraging ebony and crimson tendrils, his breathing became heavy as his teeth gritted hard. His eyes glowed an eerie red from the darkness that consumed his face from the shade under his hood. Grimlock’s eyes turned the same, his sinister smirk still present, he stared down the raging form of Kickback with anticipation.

“C’mon then!” the grey pony yelled before he was suddenly granted his wish. Kickback violently lunged forward, quicker than he anticipated and brutally stabbed through his jacket chest with a elongated hoof-blade extending from his lower foreleg. Ponies eyes widened, mouth became agape while others looked away in disgust or vomited form the horrendous sight. Grimlock’s eyes turned blue for a brief second as they slowly looked up at the face of his enemy, his predecessor. The look in his glowing red eyes just radiated death,  the stoic yet angry frown on his muzzle made it clear, he had no mercy to show.

“Kickback?! What are you-?” Applejack question, tears brimming on her eyelids.

Without warning, Kickback violently retracted the blade form the grey pony’s chest, Grimlock staggered a bit before his healing factor kicked in. He quickly assaulted the hooded stallion with a  vicious punch to the nose, Kickback’s body recoiled and swayed to the side due to impact. His hooves flared open, giving an opportunity to his opponent. Grimlock quickly jabbed the hooded stallion, a quick but painful blow to his clothed chest, a small bit of pay-back. Kickback staggered backwards before glaring at the grey pony and violently delivering yet another hoof-punch to the muzzle. Grimlock retaliated with an uppercut, practically shattering the scarlet stallion’s teeth as his hood fell back to his neck. Grimlock swung his right hoof at him before Kickback quickly caught it, blocking it’s path to his face with his right hoof. The hooded stallion flipped his hoof, wrapping it around the grey stallion’s own and placing his stern other hoof on his leather-covered shoulder, he smirked at Grimlock’s expression.

“Kickback! Stop!” AJ yelled in frustration, not catching the stallion’s attention apparently. With a roar, he viciously pulled the grey pony’s hoof back, following the motion with his other, pushing him, ripping him from the ground. Kickback then released his grip on his shoulder and swung the stallion by his hoof. The hooded pony launched Grimlock off the dirt surface, causing him to practically fly. He yelped in fear and surprise as he was brutally hurdled towards the building they had emerged from. The sound of glass shattering radiated through the atmosphere as the red-maned colt was sent spiralling into the high window above the road. Kickback simply looked up at the hole in the glass with a stoic face, not caring for the ponies around beginning to mumble loudly to eachother while others simply stared at him or ran away, screaming from him.

When he felt the presence of a pony trotted up to him, he turned his head to see Applejack staring at him with a questioning yet concerned look. They locked green eyes with one another for a few brief moments before Kickback suddenly jolted from the ground. It quaked under his thunderous hooves as he was sent into the air, leaping up towards the shattered window and delving into the building, escaping the sight of everypony below him. Even the many pegasi that occupied that area seemed to be afraid to go see what was happening.

“Applejack!” called out a familiar voice, the same voice of none other than the element of magic herself. The orange mare, still focused on the scene above her, Twilight quickly rushed to her side, noticing the look on her face. She stood still, her pupils were dilated as her eyes remained as wide as dinner plates, her mouth was held agape. “Applejack?! Applejack!?” she shouted, now shaking the mare with her hooves. The orange mare shook her head before looking at the purple unicorn, a concerned look in her eye.

“Twilight?”

“Applejack, what happened?” she asked frantically, her friends silent gesture towards something above her was all she needed. That and the huge crowd of Hoofington’s citizens around, mumbling something out of uncertainty. Twilight looked up to see the massive gaping hole in the glass window high above the ground, she quickly connected the dots in her head. She turned to her orange friend with a quizzical look.

“I saw him…” she said, still looking upwards “…only there was some other stallion with him, they started fightin’ and…he was like him”

“What do you mean?” she asked, causing AJ to look at her, a sorrowful look on her face.  

“He-…those eyes, he had the same as he did…they were horrible, horrible glowing red eyes, ah reckon that he must’ve been the pony Dash saw” she said alas before their gazes simultaneously turned upwards once more.

Kickback landed on the building’s fifth floor with a thud, barrelling onto the concrete surface beneath his hooves. He raised his head up to see Grimlock gradually arising to his hooves in the centre of the large room. Several offices occupied the floor, is was clear by then that this was some form of company building, like it mattered. The grey stallion had violently crashed through some of the many thin walls that were once part of somepony’s job, one again, like it mattered. The hooded colt trotted up to the groggy stallion before his right hoof mutated into the form of a three-pronged hand, the same eerie orange glow emitting from his foreleg. Kickback lunged his tendriled appendage downwards, grasping the backside of Grimlock’s neck with his devastating hand. With little mercy, he raised the grey stallion up, lifting him above the ground as he himself reared up on his back legs. His morphed arm, still holding the stallion, he could feel the end of Grimlock’s mane brushing against his fingers. The beige-coated colt wore a dazed look, barely trying to free himself at the moment.

Kickback held him there for a moment, his other’s back hooves swaying from side to side above the ground as he held his stance. Kickback was about to end his miserable existence before something happened.  Suddenly, a faint yet disturbing sound caught the scarlet stallion’s ears, muffled slightly by his hood but still audible. Grimlock chuckled through a choked tone.

“That orange one, she’s a cute one, ay, Kickback?” he commented, grinning despite what was happening. The hooded stallion tightened his grip slightly before speaking.

“Yeah, yeah she is” he answered with spite yet a slight bit of a thoughtful tone.  

“Got a nice figure too”

“Yeah, I noticed” Kickback said quickly, trying to shut him up.

“Tell me, how did she take the news? You have told the elements, right?” Grimlock asked, still grinning and looking back with his malicious blue eyes.

“Surprisingly, they didn’t take it as bad as I thought, might’ve had something to do with me keeping a low profile for a year and slaying Chrysalis”

“Or it could just be because they took a rather in depth affection to you, my friend” the grey stallion mocked but given an answer in the from of a firmed grip on his neck, causing his eyes to widen.

“Don’t ever call me ‘friend’, you bastard” the hooded stallion said angrily, gritting his teeth as his eyes narrowed once more.

“Fine then…” the grey colt said quickly before suddenly reaching behind with two mutated limbs. The two virus riddled hands grasped onto Kickback’s arm with a strong grip. “…If ya don’t wanna talk about mares…” he said before the hooded stallion’s hold around him was released due to the painful squeeze. Grimlock flipped Kickback’s arm around, twisting it so he was now facing him. With a swift motion, Grimlock pulled the red pony back, tugging at his hand with force before bringing up his other, straightening it in Kickback’s way. “…I’ll just kill ya” he finished before the muzzle of the crimson colt brutally connected with his mutated limb, practically clotheslining him. Kickback fell to the ground on his back, his head bounced on the concrete as his eyes clenched shut in surprise and pain. Grimlock looked down at him, watching the red colt’s right hoof form back into place. The grey stallion’s right foreleg became enveloped in a swarm of ebony and scarlet, the end result being the same form of a large blade in the place of his hoof. He raised it above the hooded stallion with a toothy, evil grin.

In an instant, Kickback’s eyes shot open, glowing red with intention to kill. Suddenly, without warning, he launched his hooves upwards as a quick barrage of black and red coated his limbs. The hooded pony’s bio-mass propelled from his hooves, swirling tendrils overlapped his forelegs as a burst of large tentacles brutally uppercutted the red-maned stallion.

Critical Pain  Devastator

“Bitch, you got nothin’ on me!” Kickback yelled. Grimlock was launched backwards by the assault, staggering backwards in shock and pain from the brutal attack. The grey pony shook his head before roaring in rage, noticing the crimson stallion quickly getting to his hooves. Grimlock’s blade transformed into a singular claw, he galloped over to the scarlet colt as Kickback readied himself, his hooves tensed as he watched the grey stallion run towards him. With a growl, Grimlock violently swiped at the hooded colt, Kickback ducked, feeling the tips of the white stripe of his mane being cut off. The scarlet stallion swung at the grey pony with his right hoof, punching him in the side, stunning Grimlock. The beige-coated stallion shook it off quickly to notice a left hoof rocketing towards his face. With a swift motion, he caught it in the vice grip of his right claw before striking Kickback in the nose with his own free hoof.

“What!? Nothin’ to say!?” Grimlock mocked with rage. The hooded stallion’s head went back but aloud momentum as he glared at the grey colt for a moment before viciously lunging his clothed forehead at his enemy’s own. A loud bang could be heard as Kickback relentlessly head butted Grimlock with force, death in his red eyes as he stared at the pained look on his rival’s face. The hooded stallion felt his hoof being let go, without another second wasted, he lunged it at Grimlock’s face. The grey colt’s head went to the side but Kickback wasn’t done, he violently struck Grimlock in the throat causing a breathless sound to emit from his mouth. The grey stallion’s eyes widened as a small splatter of blood was coughed up onto the red colt’s black jacket, little to say, he wasn’t impressed.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” called out the frantically confused voice of Rainbow Dash as she neared her friends in the crowd, hovering above. The lavender unicorn looked up to see the concerned expression on her winged friend’s as she swapped glances between herself and Applejack standing beside her. She then looked down to find that three other seemingly breathless yet confused and frightened mares were also looking at her.  

“It’s who we came for” she answered, looking between the two parties before returning her gaze back up to the shattered glass.

“You mean-” was all Rainbow managed to say before the crowd let out a simultaneous gasp and even a few screams. The elements looked up in synchronistaion to see what caused the commotion. The from of two stallions, both wearing heavy apparel could be seen, one had a red coat and a hood, the other was gray with a high-collar leather jacket. The red one took hold of the grey one’s jacket, a fearful look in his eye as the apparent assaulter’s face was unable to be seen from this perspective. “Kickback!” Dash cried out in shock, watching the seen.

With a sudden and swift movement, the red stallion twisted around, still gripping the beige material. The look in his glowing red eyes was enough for everypony to be scared. With an audible growl, the crismon stallion violently, with his strong hooves threw the grey colt through the shattered glass. The crowd screamed as they watched him practically fly over the street, his hooves flailed as an afraid look was strewn on his face. The red-maned stallion became out of sight as he apparently landed on the shorter adjacent building on the other side of the street. The hooded pony stood in the make- shift entrance, the look on his face was down right horrifying as he stared at where he had thrown his rival. Rainbow and Applejack both stared intently at his form as he beagn to gaze down at the crowd beneath him. His eyes landed on a grouo of six mares, all looking up at him with the same look, fear. As he stared, his eyes shifted back to their dark green shade, the murderous expression turning to one of sorrow. In a split second, Dash felt his eyes lock with her own before she could only imageine his eyes shfting to Applejack. Suddenly, he spoke.

“Did you find her?!?!” he asked towards the group, everypony’s eyes focues on the elements in curiosity.

“No, we couldn’t find her anywhere!!” Twilight answered. Kickback wore a look of dissapointment before it shifted to a determined expression as he stared back at where Grimlock had gone.

“We soon will know…” he said cryptically to himself. On the other buidling, the rooftop was wider yet thinner. Grimlock gradually got to his hooves, staggering from his vicious toss. Kickback’s eyes narrowed as he sloly backed into the building, stepping backwards, not taking his eyes off the grey stallion in the distance.

“Kickback!!” Dash said, taking to the sky, flying towards the hole in the buidling.

“Rainbow, Dash!!” Pinkie shouted, extending a hoof towards her friend. The hooded stallion stepped back about ten metres before his eyes flared with rage, returning to their glowing red state. Suddenly he took off, his hooves caused the concrete to quake with force as he galloped towards the hole. As he was about to leap, he quickly caught a glimpse of the cyan pegasus in the sky at his level, a pleading look on her face.

“Kickba- Whoa!” she managed before the scarlet stallion launched himself from the building. He insanely leapt out of the hole, his hooves extended, Dash barely had time to duck before watching a flurry of black and red fly from his limbs. The crowd gasped and gaped in shock and amazement at the sight before Kickback’s front hooves transformed into what looked like a set of hands. Ponies screamed at the image however, the elements simply stared at the familiar sight. Grimlock managed to groggily get to his hooves, he looked up to see the malicious look in Kickback’s crimson irises. Without warning, the stallion’s forelegs branched out a barrage of black and red tendrils each. The grey stallion jumped back in surprise as the hooded pony was suspended in the air for a moment, seeming to pull back slightly at his bio-mass that grasped the concrete of the rooftop like a web. With a roar, he pulled his limbs back, launching himself down at the grey stallion who wasn’t far enough to escape the impact of the red stallion’s force.

Kickback was practically catapulted by his tendrils down to the grey pony’s hooves, Grimlock was sent back, frantically waving his hooves around as he was launched from his position, landing on his face as his body slid on the concrete. The cloud of dust was all anypony beside Rainbow could see, she watched the whole thing, seeing her crush brutally attacking somepony…again. When the dust cleared, Kickback’s body was back to a standard pony’s form as he slowly arose to his hooves, glaring death at the downed grey stallion.

“I’m gonna enjoy watching you die…” he said before he body became enveloped in a haze of black and red.  

Brothers

Kickback watched as the form of the grey colt was sent hurdling towards the adjacent ledge of the building, landing on his side, his eyes clenched, his teeth gritted in pain. As the hooded stallion rose from his crouched stance, he eyed Grimlock’s grovelling state with hate. Rainbow Dash’s head turned, her eyes locked on the scene above the streets of Hoofington as ponies below were left frightened and inquisitive including the rest of the elements.

Rainbow Dash stared in horror at the form of the turned away hooded stallion. His head tilted ever so slightly, she couldn’t see it from this angle but she could feel his sorrowful yet stern gaze overlooking her hovering form. The red pony remained that way for a moment, his head just barely rotated to glance at the cyan mare, his hood and dark mane covering his glowing irises. Wordlessly, she stared back at him, eyes wide and teary, mouth agape as her lips quivered, at this point, she couldn’t tell whether it was sorrow…or fear that caused her reaction. Kickback slowly turned his head away form her and locked his red eyes on the grey pony, still in pain at a distance from where he stood.

He began to trot towards the beige-coated pony, noticing that the leather material of his jacket had been ripped in several places but he could care less. Kickback’s attire were ragged and battle-damaged also, once again, he could care less. As the scarlet colt slowly made his way closer to his nemesis, he head him cough as he tried to get to his hooves, apparently exhausted. Grimlock coughed, as he did, a small splatter of blood hit the concrete, even still, he smiled and began to chuckle. Kickback didn’t stop, the loathing sound just fuelled his anger to new heights as he approached the red-maned stallion and looked down at him, only a metre apart. After another cough and chuckle, Grimlock spoke.

“It’s funny…” he said in a hazed, tired voice through a grin. Kickback remained stoic and silent.

“They think you’re the good guy in this, don’t they? Think you’re some shining hero come to save the day with absolutely nothing wrong with him, no history, no dark side, no evil…what are bucking joke!!” Grimlock stated before bursting into a choked laugh.

“In a way, Grimlock…I feel sorry for you” Kickback said, still looking down at him with distaste, his laughing ceased.

“I can’t believe you still don’t get it, still won’t accept what you are, still can’t be proud of it” the grey stallion stated with a condescending tone, still huddled over, staring at the hard concrete below him.

“Ya see, Grimlock, when comes to you…” Kickback began as he raised a hoof to his face. The limb become engulfed in viral tissue to form a black and red hand, two fingers and one thumb. “…This is all you are now, this…thing is all that you are” he continued. The sound of loud crackling boom, accompanied by a bright flash of white light emitted from behind the hooded colt. He turned to find the sight of Twilight’s horn dimming as she was surrounded by her (and what he considered his) friends. Rainbow Dash hovered down to join the group as they stared at the scene in front of them, they stood only a few metres away. Kickback smiled through the shade from his hood before turning back to the downed stallion. “And for a while there, I was the same, the only thing I had on my mind was my history, my genetic make-up…that’s not all that I am anymore” he continued, turning around to face the six mares, bringing his hand up to his hood before pulling it down. His hand swarmed in ebony and crimson before it returned to a hoof, of which he placed on the ground, smiling calmly at his friends. They stared at him, mouths slowly turning into smiles, he could swear that some were on the verge of tears. “And it’s all thanks to you guys, you help me see that there’s more to life than what I knew, you showed me the magic of friendship…thankyou, thankyou so much” by then, Kickback’s voice took on a choked up tone as “liquid pride” hovered under his green irises. Grimlock chuckled mockingly.

“The magic of friendship? What a bucking joke!” he said, breathlessly, cackling like a mad mare.

“Shut up!!” out of all ponies, Twilight was the one to yell at the beige-coated stallion. Kickback looked at the lavender unicorn, wide eyed before he smirked and gave a friendly chuckle.

“Best not mock magic nor friendship around the apprentice of Celestia, Grimlock” Kickback said, tilting his head down to look at the grey colt again to see him ease himself on his side to gaze up at the scarlet pony with malicious blue eyes. “It’s over, mother-bucker, now…” he said as he knelt down to the side of the downed pony. “…Where is Vinyl Scratch?” the scarlet stallion questioned with his own level of malice and spite.

A long, silent moment drug on, the two viral ponies stared directly into each other’s dark eyes. After what felt like forever, the grey stallion spoke with a hazed tone full of hate between breaths.  

“She’s at the warehouse...on the outskirts of town…there should be a number on the door, 17” Grimlock said. Kickback glared death at him as he stood up and turned around to see the six mares had come up closer to him.

“You heard him, go check it out” Kickback said, catching the attention of all mares, his eyes gazed at Rainbow Dash, her magenta irises locked with his.

“O-okay, right, got it!” she saluted before taking off, her signature rainbow trail being left behind her as she quickly became out of sight. They watched her leave before the group shared looks with one another, most being towards and from the scarlet colt.

“What about him?” Applejack asked, pointing a hoof to the grey pony.

“Well, you guys could encase him in stone for a thousand years…” Kickback suggested joking, causing some adorable rather maniacal giggling from the farmer and Twilight. The scarlet stallion turned to gaze at the orange mare, watching her laugh before she locked eyes with him. He smirked calmly at her, she grinned back.

“Hey, Kickback!…hehehe…never harm…hehehe…what you can’t kill!!”

Kickback turned at the sound of the loathed voice, eyes narrowed. The remaining mares that stood around, gaped as their eyes widened. The scarlet colt saw for a brief second, the form of the grey stallion rising to full stature, glaring death at him. In a burst and less than a second, Grimlock charge at Kickback. The red pony quickly jolted upwards but before he could leave the ground, he felt the red-maned colt tackle him, wrapping his hooves around his torso and violently ramming him. Grimlock’s body became enveloped in black and red, swarming tendrils coated his pelt to every inch of his form. Kickback’s eyes shot open as he regained what little composure he could muster only to see a horrific sight. Grimlock bio-mass solidified, the tendrils coating his fur was now jet-black, ebony-like stone plating that armoured his body. He glanced up to see Grimlock’s back was presented with two large unnatural, viral, spiked wings.

“Kickback!!!” shouted the in synch voices of the five ponies that watched the armoured stallion push the scarlet colt towards the edge of the building.

“Oh SHI-!!” Kickback was cut off as he felt a jolt. Grimlock violently jumped, carrying the scarlet stallion with him, his newly-grown wings flapped hard, wind gushed in their wake. Kickback could barely make out the gasping and screaming that emitted from the street below. Twilight’s horn began to flare before Applejack quickly jumped in her way.

“No! You might hit him!!” the orange mare shouted, causing a defeated look to be strewn of the unicorn’s face. They watched as Grimlock continued to ascend, now noticing that the scarlet stallion was struggling. In a swift motion, Kickback jolted backwards, causing the armoured pony’s hooves to loosen from around him. The jacketed stallion began to fall, glaring death at what was hovering above him in confusion. Kickback quickly brought a hoof to behind his neck and threw on his hood, his eyes glowed red once more.

“You suicidal moron…” he whispered to himself. In an instant, he threw a hoof upwards, in the direction of the mutated stallion, his foreleg quickly morphing into a long, webbing-like tendril. Grimlock looked down through his muzzle plating, two glowing red eyes locked with the hooded colt below before he felt a tug at his back leg. The beast looked down to see a black and red thread connect with his stoned hoof. Kickback suspended in the air before he let out an animalistic growl and bolted himself upwards. Grimlock was sent down slightly, staggering in the sky as Kickback launched himself upwards. The hooded pony’s foreleg morphed bak into place as he violently uppercutted Grimlock’s armoured chin, sending him back in pain.

Ponies below watched in shock and horror at the sight, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack stood their ground, the yellow Pegasus cowering into the white unicorn’s embrace. Before anypony noticed, a look of determination washed over the lavender unicorn’s face and then she was gone. A flash of white in her place, the four mares looked at her previous position in confusion.

“Where’d she go?!” AJ questioned.

Grimlock quickly shook off the attack, noticing the hood pony plummeting towards him, a glare of death in his eyes. Kickback outstretched a hoof as he drew closer but the mutated pony was ready. Grimlock mercilessly slugged him in the face as soon as the scarlet colt was in reach. The two were suspended in the sky for a moment, Kickback staggered as a wave of black and red coated the stone-like armour of the once grey stallion. It swarmed from his hooves to…his horn? When the haze cleared, Grimlock was returned to a regular pony’s form, his jacket returned, his wings were gone however he now sported a unicorn’s horn, protruding from his forehead. Kickback’s eyes as the grey stallion viciously dashed at him in mid-air, both of them were flightless, causing the sudden tackle to send them spiralling downwards. Kickback thrashed and attacked the unicorn only to be countered before he saw a malicious grin cross the red-maned colt’s face. In a spilt second, they locked eyes before a red glow emitted from Grimlock’s new horn then a flash of crimson exploded in the sky. The two stallions were gone, out of sight in a sudden ripple.

“W-where did they go?!” was a question most ponies below shouted out in confusion and shock.

“Vinyl!! Vinyl Scratch!” Rainbow yelled in frustration as she frantically banged on the front door of a small building, the warehouse Grimlock had mentioned.

“Rainbow Dash, Get me outta here!!” called out the scratchy voice of the DJ. The cyan pegasus didn’t need an invitation, she took a few steps back before violently slamming down the door with a quick twist and buck of her hind legs. The door went down, off it’s hinges to the hard floor inside, her magenta rimmed eyes locked on the struggling form of the white unicorn, her hooves bound as she laid on the ground.

“Vinyl, thank Celestia you’re okay” she said with a sigh as she quickly untied her restraints.

“Thanks, Dash…what are you doing here?” the unicorn asked as she got to her hooves.

“There’s no time to explain!! Come on, follow me!!”

“Where’s Kickback?”

“He’s in trouble, now let’s go!!” with that, both mares galloped out the doorway and into the city.

The clouds were a heavy black in the sky, the air was still as the occasional lightning strike shined in the background through the darkness accompanied by an echoing thunder. Suddenly, in the midst of all this, a flash of bright scarlet boomed in black sky. Two stallions, both clothed, one red and one grey, spiralled from the bright flash and was sent into the storm. Kickback flailed for a moment before he was released by a staggering Grimlock, the two were sent plummeting towards the ground, if the ground was visible. The beige-coated colt had teleported them directly into the eye of a storm. Neither thought on it for another second. Kickback’s body swarmed in bio-mass as he fell through a series of dark clouds before his jacket protruded his own set of unnatural viral wings. Grimlock’s horn glowed as what looked like crimson aura surrounded him, outlining him in a eerie red glow as he hovered in place, levitating himself.

“Look where we are, you idiot!!” Kickback shouted as with a swift motion, he bolted for the grey unicorn, his wings flapping furiously as he ascended with rage. Grimlock looked back for a second before he was suddenly pelted, the scarlet stallion dashed at him, locking  hoof around his neck as they began to fall. Kickback wings suddenly retracted as the two plummeted towards the earth, he punched Grimlock square in the muzzle before he glared death into his eyes with glowing crimson ones. “WE’RE IN A BUCKING STORM!!” he yelled before violently beating into his face, punch after punch of his right foreleg caused Grimlock to simply stagger, trying to regain composure as they were hurdled to the ground.

After another swift right hook, Grimlock’s teeth bare in hate, he shot Kickback a look of rage before violently slashing him across the chest with a quickly morphed claw. The scarlet stallion cried out in pain as he released the grey colt, the two separated in the storm, Grimlock kicked off the scarlet stallion with his hind legs, sending him dashing to the other side of the storm. Kickback staggered before he felt his healing factor kick in, he locked red eyes onto the form of the grey stallion hovering away from him in his red aura. The hooded stallion roared in rage and frustration before his hoof quickly transformed, he didn’t give it another thought and let his anger do the work.

Kickback’s hoof shot out directly at the red-maned pony, extending into his signature whip-like tendril killing machine. Grimlock felt the same tug, only this time, his oxygen was cut off by a long, jagged harpoon. Kickback smirked as he watched the stallion choke, the red aura ceasing to outline his body. With a roar, the hooded stallion quickly dashed to the ground with a swift motion, he raised his whip-hoof to the heavens, causing Grimlock to be pulled upwards by the noose around his neck. Kickback was sent plummeting once more, intentionally reaching speeds unmatched as he fell like a torpedo straight down, head first. His whip, extended to the limit, he felt turbulence as Grimlock was sent to the highest point before following the scarlet colt down. He choked as plummeted, Kickback wore a smirk the whole time. He breached the clouds, he could see an orange landscape, baron, he figured it was a desert of some kind. He could care lees though, he could see the ground coming closer, with a roar, he spiralled so that his hooves would hit the ground first, his foreleg was raised above his head, still morphed into what was violently choking the life out of the grey stallion.

“GO TO TARTARUS!!!” with that, Kickback hit the ground hard, his hooves creating a gust of wings as the ground quaked under his weight. His whip was still raised high, withy a roar, he suddenly slammed his limb down to the earth, he could feel the whip following suit as could Grimlock. The grey stallion’s eyes widened as he braced for impact. Kickback’s whip sent him down hard, head first into the hard ground of the dessert, a gust of brown and tan dirt exploded from the earth. The air became still once more.

The hooded stallion slowly arose to his hooves, his whip retracted like a tape-measurer from the large crater in the ground in the middle of nowhere. Kickback’s hoof morphed back into place before he stood on all fours, staring at the hole in the earth. He looked around to see mountains in the background, what looked like train tracks and a small town on the horizon. He shrugged it off before hesitantly yet confidently trotting up to they crater. His hooves left gushes of dust in their wake before he stopped at the edge of the hole and looked down into the darkness. Nothing acknowledged his presence at first, just a hollowing blackness that stretched on forever, he wasn’t sure if Grimlock had really gone to Tartarus for a moment there. After a few minutes of waiting, Kickback let out a breathless sigh, closing his dark emerald eyes in exhaustion.

“Good riddens…” with that, Kickback turned away from the crater and began to walk into the desert. His hooves stumbled occasionally as he continued to trot on the baron surface. Ironically, the area he was in gave him a thought and for a moment, he felt completely at ease. Despite everything, the desert landscape brought a song to his viral mind, he smirked before quietly letting it out to himself in a shaky, uncaring voice. “Way out west…” the red colt coughed before continuing with a smirk “Where the rain don’t fall…” he chuckled at the song “I gotta job for a company, digging for oil, just to make some bread…living and working on the la-…” Kickback’s voiced trailed off.

The hooded stallion felt his ease disappear in a unforgiving split second. Something was burning into the back of his head, he could almost feel the grey fabric searing away, he felt a blazing glare on him, one full of undying hate. That feeling was almost instantaneously replaced with surprise, disbelief and pain. In a flash, the ground quaked, sand and earth erupted from the surface, gushing upwards as Kickback was sent spiralling off the ground into the air. He soared to the baron surface before bouncing off it and rolling in mid-air to his side which he again hit the dirt and violently bounced off on impact. Kickback’s body lazily hit the ground hard, his body ached from the sudden event. Groggily, he got to his hooves and stared in shock at his previous position.

There, stood Grimlock. His beige, high-collared jacket was almost completely torn from his pelt, his teeth were barred, his red, spiky mane was rugged and unkempt. His blue eyes quickly switched to a evil, glowing crimson, their aura now brighter than ever. He was covered in bloodied scars and bruises yet he didn’t seem to give them any thought.

“What was that about watching me die!?” he yelled in pure rage in a voice that could be mistaken for the royal Canterlot voice. Kickback glared at the grey stallion, utter frustration built up within him. He was about to reply before he was cut off by the sight of Grimlock’s body becoming overlapped in swarming tendrils. He reared up as his bio-mass focused on his right, front hoof, coating his leg in ebony and scarlet. He raised it in front of his face for a moment before slashing it down to his side, exploding in a flash of black and red presented his blade. His leg was spiked in random places, just as sharp as the blade’s surface, it glowed a bright eerie orange-red as Grimlock stared death at the scarlet stallion.

Kickback smirked slightly “Should of made sure you were dea-” he was rudely cut off by the ground suddenly quaking. Grimlock bolted into the air, raising his blade above his head all the while looking down on the hooded pony. Kickback reared up on his hind legs as his own hooves became enveloped in viral bio-mass. The grey stallion lunged down at the hooded colt, his blade coming straight down onto his form. In a quick flash, Kickback’s hooves morphed into two sets of vicious, deadly claws, just as quickly, Grimlock came down. The grey stallion’s hooves hit the ground, his blade following the swinging motion down onto Kickback’s head, instinctively, the hooded stallion grasped the abomination with his left claw.

The two infected stallions glared at one another for a moment before Kickback violently slashed his free claw up and across Grimlock’s mutated foreleg, viciously dismembering it. Grimlock staggered backwards, grasping his cut off and bleeding limb in pain, Kickback stepped back form the sudden recoil. However, the grey stallion wasn’t going down so easily, his broken appendage quickly became imbued with viral tissue, tendrils swarmed around the wound. It a quick transition, his bloodied leg morphed into a long, spear-like whip. It lashed and flailed about for a moment before Grimlock lunged his own whip-hoof in the direction of the scarlet stallion, of whom was only a mere couple of metres distance.

“well…NOW YOU JUST PISSED ME OFF!!” the grey colt yelled as his harpoon lashed at the hooded pony. Still equipped with his claws, Kickback acted as the sharp whip came at him. In a swift and quick motion, he caught it by the base of the blade only to find it wrap around his mutated foreleg in a vice-like grip. He struggled for a moment before he caught the grey stallion’s expression, Grimlock was grinning devilishly. Suddenly, he felt the whip tug at his clawed hoof hard and mercilessly, he yelped in anger and pain as he heard and felt his viral flesh give way and tear apart. With a loud cracking sound and a gush of thick, red blood, Kickback was sent spiralling backwards by the tear. He looked down at his foreleg and found it half-complete, bleeding like mad from the wound onto the deserted ground.

Kickback watched in rage as Grimlock lazily threw his claw to the side with a flick of his whip. It was then, of all things, the thought of that hydra came to the mind of the hooded colt. Every time he’d slash off a limb, it grow back in two, with the grey colt, it grew back doubly enraging. The scarlet stallion felt his own genetics already trying to heal his bloodied wound however, Grimlock wasn’t going to have any of that.

In a sudden transition, the grey stallion’s front hooves quickly morphed into stone-like, spiked limbs. Kickback looked up for a moment only to see him rush at him with blood-lust. The scarlet stallion didn’t have time to react and instead felt a brutal pain in his stomach, he coughed and saw blood gush from his mouth in that instant. Grimlock violently punched the red pony in the torso with a single hammer-hoof but he wasn’t done. In a blinding flash, he continued to pummel the hooded stallion, a swift shot to the chin causing him to clench his eyes in pain and his teeth to crack. Once again, the grey pony slammed Kickback’s face with mutated, bloodied boulders attached to his forelegs, causing the red pony to be sent flying into the dirt.

Grimlock slowly walked over to the crimson stallion, his mutated hooves created loud thuds against the ground. Kickback groggily found that his slashed hoof had morphed back into place and looked up to see the grey stallion stopping in his tracks, glaring utter death at him. Kickback returned the look to the bets of his ability as he began to climb to his hooves, black and red tendrils slowly swarmed around his body before focusing on his legs. Grimlock grinned before suddenly bolted into the sky again, fists raised to the heavens. Kickback had only a split second before his hooves transformed into his own boulder-like limbs. The grey stallion slammed down like a meteor onto the form of the hooded stallion, a loud echoing bang emitted as both of their hammer-hooves collided. Kickback struggled as he felt the ever strengthening weight press down on him. Grimlock grinned before swiftly gripping the scarlet stallion’s limbs in his stone-like hands. Kickback’s eyes widened in shock and then in pain. The grey stallion violently tugged at the hooded stallion’s own mutated hooves, the red pony struggled and grunted in sheer agony as he felt the familiar ripping sensation in his forelegs.

On the final pull, a loud cracking sound radiated as an explosion of blood formed between the two. Kickback cried out in pain as he staggered backwards before panting heavily and falling to his remaining knees. Grimlock stepped back before throwing the useless limbs aside and watching the grovelling form of the hooded stallion. Kickback’s broken limbs returned to normal, leaving the sight of his bones to stick out form the bloodied stumps that were now what was left of his front hooves. Grimlock walked slowly up to the kneeling stallion, his hooves also morphing into place, an evil grin on his muzzle. The red pony’s face was concealed by his grey hood as he stared at the ground in exhaustion and agony.

The sound of hoof steps ceased and was replaced by a sadistic chuckle. Kickback looked up to see the grey stallion before he violently grasped his neck in a tight, mutated grip. The hooded stallion struggled slightly, flailing his bloodied stubs around in an attempt to break free to no avail. They locked eyes with another, Grimlock’s malicious look stared right at the calm expression on Kickback’s muzzle. Finally, the red pony let out a hardy chuckle before speaking.

“…Welcome to the top of the food chain”

All are One

The air was calmly still yet rattled with unbarable  tension, electrifying the atmosphere around the baron plain in an invisible blaze. There in the centre of it all were two stallions, two virus riddled abominations to the natural order of Equestria, glaring at each other in utter silence. The one called Kickback kneeled on the ground, gazing upwards at the menacing form of the…no, HIS other. The scarlet pelted stallion wore a hood over his black and white mane and ears, cutting off the image of his dark green eyes. Both of his front legs had been brutally severed off, reduced to stubs in the climatic clash of unnatural power. His hood was attached to a grey under shirt as his outer layer of clothing was a black jacket, imbued with a red version of his cutie mark between his shoulders. The triumphant stallion sported a grey pelt, scarred and cut in several places in place of where his trademark beige jacket used to be. His mane was a deep shade of crimson, his eyes, burning pools of the same hue. The stallion’s name was Grimlock, the second line in what he referred to as ‘His race’.

Grimlock’s left hoof was disgustingly morphed into a singular, glowing, viral hand, gripping the bare neck of the hooded stallion. Kickback’s red coat became ever more stained in viral tissue and blood as the fingers around his neck remained clenched and unforgiving. Even still, he locked eyes with the grey stallion, calm as ever, he smirked at him, pusing the fiery rage within Grimlock further. His teeth barred, his eyes widened and glowed, his hand squeezed tighter.

“I take it back…you die right here” Grimlock stated as his right hoof swarmed in a barrage of [BLACKLIGHT]. Kickback watched as the furious bio-mass lapped and surrounded the grey fur of Grimlock’s leg. It coated his hoof in a sickening black and red haze before he threw it down to his side. The hoof had violently transformed into a large, jagged edged claw, one that could tear the diamond-hard scaling of a dragon. Sharper than an ebony razor, quicker than a whip, it was a true killing weapon forged in the fires of Tartarus.

…Or in a twisted laboratory owned by a sick group of severely intelligent and racist ponies. After all, the goal of operation [REDLIGHT] was engineering a bio-weapon to target specific racial types…we all know how THAT played out.

Grimlock slowly brought his claw to his eye level, pointing straight down into the eyes of the hooded colt. Kickback could see the shine the sharp, jagged fingers gave off in the sun as the razor-like tips of each individual claw stared right in his face. He was unamused and remained with that calm smirk on his muzzle.

Enraged, Grimlock raised his claw behind his shoulder, glaring death at the scarlet stallion. As Kickback slowly lowered his head, the grey hood concealed his face in an eerie shaded look. The individual claws spread out, creating the widest palm Grimlock could muster and paused, still staring at the helpless form of the red pony beneath him, locked in his choking grip.

It was then when the grey stallion had a thought, a marvellous thought; he had won. Grimlock’s entire being beamed with pride and satisfaction, he grinned devilishly to himself as the sensation hit him. All it was going to take was a couple of swings and slashes then he’d be victorious, the ultimate power, the unstoppable predator.

After a moment, he looked back down at the lowered head of Kickback, his grovelling, weak state was pitiful yet horrifyingly pleasant to the red eyes of the grey stallion. He brought his claw back higher above his head, wide and ready. He then let out a chuckle, a grim chuckle along with a deadly grin as his muscles tensed, his eyes widened, his grip on Kickback’s neck grew to be that of a vice’s. Yet the hooded stallion was unfazed.

“No last words?” Grimlock inquired, still grinning.

Kickback remained silent.

“Nothing for me to say to your precious pony friends?”

Still, the hooded colt lacked to utter a single sound.

“Could you at least give me some sign of recognition of your defeat?”

The grey stallion’s words fell on deaf ears.

“Very well, goodbye Kickback, do say hello to Faust for me if you see her” the grey colt stated before in a quick flash, he swiped his claw downwards upon the head of the red stallion only to…be stopped? In an impossibly inconceivable rate, Kickback’s right stub protruded into a full grown viral hoof. The limb was black as night, glowing an eerie orange-red beneath the surface of the dark tissue. The end was formed to be a hoof, the hard surface of the appendage stood in the direct path between Kickback’s head and Grimlock’s claw.

Too shocked to act, Grimlock gaped in confusion as Kickback’s head slowly titled upwards, his face coming back into view. His smirk was replaced by barred teeth, his calm eyes were now narrowed and shining a bright crimson hue. Grimlock felt something he hadn’t in a while at that moment, it wasn’t gut-wrenching disappointment and frustration, no…it was pure, undeniable fear that took his entire form by surprise. The hooded stallion whispered, almost inaudibly but just loud enough to hear.

“Tell her yourself…” with that, Kickback’s body began to become unstably vibrant with black and red viral tissue, lapping at his form with a hazy intensity. Still in shock, Grimlock remained fixed in his position, his claw stopped dead in the wake of the mutated hoof before it, his hand slowly released on Kickback’s neck. The hooded grunted and growled through gritted in teeth, almost in pain but there was more rage than anything else. Soon, tendrils swarmed his body furiously, viral tissue surrounded and coated his form in a crimson and ebony grotesque masquerade. The grey stallion’s eyes widened as he recognised the signs but before he could act, Kickback looked up from under his hood…and smiled.

Grimlock quickly dashed forward with his claw but before he could stab the life out of the scarlet colt, he exploded.

Kickback’s body quaked as did the ground, a loud bang emitted as the hooded stallion let out a pained yet angered roar. Bursting from his body were large, thick, piercing tentacles, immediately skewering the grey pony directly in front of him.

Tendril Barrage Devastator

They continued to extend to every direction, violently protruding from every square inch of Kickback’s body. Grimlock was brutally uncured through the chest several times as were his legs, he eyes widened, his mouth gushed blood on impact and he was sent flying towards the sky with the force of the now bloodied tendrils. The grey stallion screamed in agony as his body violently slid down the skewering tendrils that pierced his body as he followed it’s pathway above ground.

The baron wasteland that was the desert now held what looed like a dome, hundreds of elongated, solidified spiked viral tissue protruded towards every direction, reaching as far a they could, one could barely make out the image of a single red, hooded pony in the middle of it all. One could also see amongst the ebony debris was another pony, brutally stabbed by the tendrils through almost every part of his body. After a moment, they began to retract slightly before they violently shrunk and returned to their herald in a sickening haze. Grimlock felt the tendrils slip out of his body before he fell from the sky, dripping and gushing blood as he plummeted. Kickback’s body recoiled as his bio-mass returned to him in a violent action. The hooded stallion limped over forward, supporting his weight on his mutated hoof as his left stub slowly began to regenerate. Grimlock his the desert ground with a loud thud, his stomach, chest, upper legs and back hooves sported large gaps in flesh and fur, all were grotesquely bleeding.

“…Cheap…move…” Grimlock let out through bloodied coughs. The scarlet stallion slowly arose as his hooves gradually morphed into place. Kickback stood on all-fours, his breathing was heavy as he slowly walked over to the grey, bleeding stallion. The desert surface was sure to be stained a deep shade of crimson. Kickback’s trot had limp in it as he continued to walk over to the bloodied colt.

“Well…it worked” Kickback said, making it over to the side of the downed stallion. Locking emerald eyes on his grovelling, weak state, profusely loosing blood, he wore a stoic face upon his muzzle. Kickback knelt down by his side and leaned in, almost as if waiting for something. The grey stallion grinned and asked.

“So…what will you do now?”

“I don’t know”

“It’s funny…you’ve just thrown away your chance at acceptance…the one thing you’ve always wanted and for what? A couple of mares?”

“That’s one of the differences between you and me, Grimlock…I have acceptance, I have somewhere I belong, I can have what I want, I have it even…but you, with your dreams of conquering, with starting a new race, overthrowing the Crown…that’s a path with no end, you can’t have what you want, Grimlock”

“Heh…you’re so petty, acting like a normal pony, all this ‘magic of friendship’ shit that they sing about-”

“Exactly, fore if somepony can accept me…can love me, if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is”

“…I should’ve killed that unicorn when I first laid hoof on her”

At that, the eyes of the scarlet stallion widened and changed to a vibrant crimson. Grimlock gasped as he felt the hooded pony’s hoof slam into his chest before, causing him to cough up more blood. On the recoil of Grimlock’s head bolting upwards, Kickback grasped his neck in vice grip with a quickly mutated hand. With the force of the action, he violently threw the grey stallion upwards, never letting go of his throat. He raised him above his head as he rose to hind legs and spun on his axis, carrying Grimlock in the swinging motion. Unable to breath, Grimlock choked in response to being thrown hard on the ground, the baron floor surely broke the brittle skin of the back of head. Kickback threw him to the ground, never letting go of his neck. The grey stallion’s blue eyes gazed up and locked with the red ones of Kickback.

“Take my DNA…I’LL TAKE YOURS!!” with that, Kickback rose Grimlock’s head up before brutally slamming him back down, most likely cracking his skull in process. He repeated the harsh action before slamming into Grimlock’s face with his opposite hoof, breaking his nose and causing blood to gush from his mouth. “Die…die…Die!” He continued to beat Grimlock with his left hoof before loosening his grip on his neck and pummelling into him with both hooves. Blood stained the baron surface of the desert both from Grimlock’s open wounds and his now broken face. “Die…” Kickback grunted and roared as he practically annihilated the grey stallion’s body in a hazy raged state.

Finally, he raised his right hoof high above his head and glared down at the bloody mess that used to be a stallion, panting.

“DIE!!”

With his final yell to the colt, he slammed his hoof down on his face, the ground quaked on impact as Grimlock’s head practically and violently exploded. A storm of dust erupted form the earth around the two ponies.

When the dust cleared, Kickback stood above the grey stallion, breathless, his hooves were stained and dripping thick red liquid that fell upon the broken corpse of Grimlock. Unbidden, several long black tendrils emitted form his body and connected with the one of the grey colt. Grimlock’s form was reduced to nothing but converted viral tissue, changed into the DNA of Kickback, ready for consumption. The hooded stallion closed his eyes as he felt his bio-mass absorb the dead pony’s body in a dark haze. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head, he body, still swarming with black and red tendrils, he held his head in pain as the memories began to become clear. His eyes alternated between clenched and opened as the realisation and pain continued to hit him.

“LET ME OUTTA HERE!!” yelled a single, grey coated pony within a large, dome-like room, strapped by his legs on a vertical table. He frantically budged at the restraints fruitlessly trying to escape the confines of his imprisonment.  

“let’s try something simple at first…an easy survival test” spoke a gruff voice from a speaker above him.

Flash  

“Hello, one ticket to Ponyville please” asked a lighter red mare. She stood outside a ticket booth at a train station in Fillydelphia.

Flash

“Somepony help me please!!” the same mare cried as she was held up against a wall by a dark, larger figure, he spoke.

“Where is he!?”

“I Don’t Know!” she let out, crying in fear.

“Where is your brother!?” the voice was familiar.

“I Don’t kn-”

“If you can’t tell me, you have no use for me” the figure said before his right front leg swarmed in viral tissue. All Kickback could hear at that moment were the screams of terror his sister managed before she was silenced by a large claw.

On the outside, the hooded stallion barred his teeth and a single tear ran down his right closed eye.

Flash

“This is nopony’s fault but your own, you do understand that?” Grimlock stood inside a moderately sized room as did a single white unicorn, he spoke to her, she remained silent.

“Don’t worry, this will be all over soon” with that, the mare snapped her head towards him.

“You won’t win, he’ll beat you” Vinyl said defiantly.

“What? Kickback? That idiot? He won’t be a problem…”

“He’s coming for you, he’ll save me”

“You put too much faith in that monste-”

“He’s not a monster!! I may not completely understand what he is…but I know who he is” at the end of her sentence, Grimlock brutally knocked her to the ground with a hoof, she yelped in surprise before she went silent with unconsciousness.

“Shut up, bitch”

Flash

Kickback staggered slightly at the sudden recoil of the freshly implanted memories of Grimlock. His breathing slowed, his eyelids lowered as he regained his composure and stood to his full stature. He closed his eyes for a moment and let in a deep breath through his nose, after about a minute, his eyes snapped open, he turned around and began to walk away from the scene he created. It wasn’t long before something caught his attention. A right flash appeared in front of him, it only lasted a moment but it radiated a gold aura, unfazed, Kickback simply watched stared at it and connected the dots in his head. When the sparks faded, Kickback’s calm look faltered slightly at the sight to one of annoyance. There, standing directly in front of him was the tall and regal form of THE Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun, ruler of Equestria and here she was, in the presence of a murdering, powerful, viral grotesque freak of nature.

There weren’t many reasons, Kickback could come up with as to why she was here, in the desert, standing before him, away from her subjects with his most bloody yet unregretted victory grounds behind him. Celestia gazed her head down, her bright magenta eyes locked on the hooded stallion beneath her, she watched him lower his head, bring a hoof to the tip of the grey fabric before swinging it back. Now revealed, Celestia could now fully make out the stallion’s multi-shaded mane, he slowly tilted his head up, now showing his dark green eyes and locked them with the monarch’s own.

“Princess Celestia, what do I owe the honour?” he said, almost mockingly. She raised at him but remained rather stoic, the legendary poker face of Celestia.

“You must be Kickback? The one my student, Twilight Sparkle spoke of” she inquired.

“Oh? And what did she say about me? All good, I hope” he asked rhetorically.

“She tells me that you-”

“Hey, how’s your sister doing? Haven’t seen her in a while, mainly because I haven’t been sleeping, tracking down an ambitious and unpredictable killer and all”

“…My sister, Princess Luna is fine, thankyou” she answered with a hint of confusion.

“Oh that’s good, how are you doing though? Everything okay, your majesty?” he asked, a little too calmly, he almost seemed happy but Celestia could very well see the hint of sarcasm.

“I am fine, thankyou”

“That’s good to know…well, see ya” he said before he started a path around the alicorn. Irritated, she extended a large wing in his wake, he stopped dead in his tracks, visibly angry. He glared up at her with intensity, she felt a twinge in the back of her mind at that moment, she wasn’t quite sure what it was although she met his gaze with defiance. “…I see, that’s how it’s gonna be” he said as he walked backwards to his previous position.

“From what I’ve gathered, Kickback, you’ve made quite a name for yourself” she said with all of things, a smile.  

“I-…what?” the red stallion asked in confusion.

“Word spread fast of a single stallion defeating Queen Chrysalis in Ponyville and vanquishing most of her horde.

“Yeah…that was me”

“I know, Twilight told me about it…she also told me what you explained to her and her friends”

“I’m sure she left out some details and gave the most basic version that makes me look like a generic super-villain, right?”

“Truth be told, it was quite unclear and rather hard to believe-”

“Hard to believe? You wanna see it?!” he said, as if insulted by the sun goddess.

“I-”

“Here!” with that, he lifted his right hoof up before it swarmed in a hazy blur of black and red tendrils emitting form his pelt. After a moment, his hoof was replaced by a moderately sized claw while the rest of his leg remained the same. Celestia looked horrified in her own way, recoiling back at such a display. The fiery look in Kickback’s eyes softened to a sorrowful look as he lowered his claw and wiggled his fingers, staring at it. The Princess watched him, noticing he looked like he was on the verge of tears as his leg was enveloped in the same blur and morphed back into a hoof, which he planted on the ground, looking away from the alicorn. Attentively, she held out a hoof and gently took Kickback’s head by his chin and titled his head upwards to see him. The scarlet colt’s eyes were foggy, he didn’t resist the action, she released him before speaking.  

“I can help you, there must be a spell to-”

“No…see, my powers…they have nothing to do with magic, it’s genetic…I can’t be cured, I’m not infected…I AM the virus, if you somehow find a cure for this, you’ll kill, it might’ve worked for Grimlock but not me” he explained.  

“…I see”

“Well…” he said in a choked voice, stepping backwards. Celestia watched him in confusion. “…what are you waiting for?” now concerned, she just stared before she realised what he was doing.

“Kickback, I won’t-”

“Tell your sister I said ’hi’, okay?” he said, smiling but still choked up before he stopped at a distance away from her.

“I won’t do it” she spoke out defiantly yet your words fell on deaf ears.

“Do it” he said calmly as he closed his eyes in anticipation. A silence fell on the scene for a moment, Celestia stared in sheer concern at the scarlet colt, she was about to say something, anything to stop him but she couldn’t, something was telling her to act and now. Kickback eyes snapped open, glowing red before he shouted. “DO IT!!!”

Frightened, Celestia’s horn flared and shot out a powerful, magical golden beam at the red pony. It connected with his body before a loud bang struck and a golden explosion was in place of the crimson stallion. He let out a quick yell of pain before he was silenced, Celestia shielded her eyes at the sudden flash before it dimmed. When it cleared, all that was left was ash covered crater in the desert. The alicorn closed her eyes for a moment in respect. When she opened them again, she looked up and saw a piece of black fabric fall from the sky. Her horn glowed as did the material, she levitated it in front of her and saw a symbol imprinted on the dark leather. It looked like a set of red wings almost. She turned her head back to the crater, not caring for the small puddle of red, thick liquid in the centre. With a tinge of sadness, her horn glowed again, still levitating the piece of Kickback’s jacket before in flash, she was gone.

In the throne room of Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna sat in waiting for the white alicorn. A bright, golden flash emitted in the centre of the room, the two ponies snapped the heads towards the source before they were greeted by a saddened Celestia, levitating some kind of black material by her side. In silence, she looked up at them, clearly depressed and distraught, before they could say anything, she spoke.

“I think it’s time to record another story in glass”    

Luna’s sky seemed to cast a less uplifting glow that night. The world was completely dark in place of both stallion’s deaths. Complete silence fell upon the scene…other than the constant, annoying cawing of a single black crow that flew overhead in the darkness. Inquisitive and unwise yet cunning, the bird flew down on the scene, unaware of the viral substance that it set talon in. To it’s surprise, the red liquid sprouted upwards and connected with it’s feathers, it flapped violently as the tendrils began to lap at it’s body. It cawed fruitlessly in it’s struggle to break free as the dark tendrils enveloped it’s body, breaking down it’s DNA into it’s own. Little by little, the bio-mass began to take coherent form, a single large claw sprouted and scraped at the baron ground. The red blob soon became larger and larger, a skeletal structure quickly formed, turning into the form of a quadruped, more specifically, a pony.

A stallion in fact, the skull took form, the jaw was wide open, every change caused a sickening cracking sound. The hooves became complete as red fur began to coat it’s body. The pelt was soon covered by what looked like black leather. Empty eye sockets became filled with large green irises before muzzle took form. Finally, in the darkness, a stallion stood in the desert, his body making some last, final touches to his complete form. The stallion wore a jacket over a scarlet fur coat, his eyes were lowered and full of sorrow, the white stripe of his mane stood out in the night as did his elongated tail. Dark emerald eyes shined in the blackness beneath his fringe. Finally, he spoke.

“I searched for the truth, found it, didn’t like, wish to Tartarus I could forget it…” he let out to himself before he began walking towards the direction of a small town in the distance. “…Kickback…Equestria suffered for his mistake, for what he did at Quill station and whoever he was, that’s a part of me ‘cause when I close my eyes, I see the memories of a hundred dead creatures, screaming as I take their lives, moments I’ll relive forever…what have I become? Something less than pony…but also something more”

Three days later. The sun over Ponyville shone brightly in the sky, ponies went about their usual day, all except a hoof-full. The Elements of Harmony, accompanied by one DJ and a human fanatic all sat at a booth inside Sugar cube corner, each with the same thing on their mind, sitting in silence. Each looked visibly saddened, even after three days of hearing the news from Celestia and attending the royal unveiling of Kickback’s recorded story upon a stained-glass window, the fact had still not hurt less.

Kickback walked over a hill that led into the town and stood before it. A slight breeze pushed his waving mane to the side as he stood, staring at the town, watching and recognising the many ponies that lived within it’s confines.

“But that’s not all I am anymore…” he thought. “They say that  Destiny defines us, our cutie tells us of our future, how our lives will turn out, that our destinies are our own…but that’s not always the case…it took a while but I realised sometimes it takes somepony else to show you what you’re meant for, it takes a friend to show the way” his thought were interrupted as he noticed a single yellow filly locked eyes on him, gaping in shock, her red mane and pink bow still present. Applebloom’s eyes fogged slightly at the sight of the scarlet stallion and her mouth curled into a smile. Kickback smirked at her before turning back to the town and noticing some other mares, foals and stallions that were now staring at him, still, he smiled at them.

“Sometimes, your fate has to be decided by somepony else, your destiny has to be shown to you, not something you make happen”

The eight mares were caught unaware at the sound of several hoofsteps galloping to something outside. They looked out the window and saw that most of the town were running towards the east side of town, all wore smiles while shouted and praised at something. Confused, they looked at each other before getting up simultaneously and trotting towards the door. Twilight’s horn glowed to open the door but she could, the wooden panels slammed against the walls within the bakery, revealing a small porcelain filly, grinning widely. Sweetie Belle spoke with a large smile.

“Rarity! Rainbow Dash!…Everypony, c’mon, you’re not gonna believe it!” she squealed before galloping at the door towards the crowd.

“Sweetie!”  Rarity called out to her sister. Now very confused, each mare galloped out the bakery only to find a large crowd of almost every citizen in town, their gazes seemed fixed on something upon the small hill outside Ponyville. Due to the crowd, what they were staring at was a mystery. Annoyed, Rainbow Dash bolted upwards above the crowd to see whatever the hay the commotion was about, her jaw dropped, her eyes widened at the sight.

“Whadd’ya see sugahcube?” Applejack inquired, looking up at her cyan friend. She didn’t answer and instead bolted towards the source above the crowd, leaving her friends to push and shove all they want.

“Pardon, sorry, excuse me” was what they said through the entirety of the path to the front of the crowd. By some quirk of luck, they made it, with one final shove, the seven mares made it to the front before their eyes gazed up to behold a sight that caused more jaws to drop and more eyes to widen.

“I missed you too, Dashie” that familiar said. What stood at the top of the hill was the sight of the all too well-known stallion, his red pelt, black and white mane, green eyes and jacket were all there. His face was without his hood, revealing his entire complexion. The cyan pegasus; Rainbow Dash clung tightly around him with her hooves, she grinned as her eyes clenched, holding him tightly in a warm hug, he returned it with a single hoof. He smiled down at her before he looked up and saw the other seven mares staring at him in shock. Wordlessly, the group rushed over to him and wrapped the scarlet stallion in a large group hug, squeezing tightly around him and each other. “Hey, everypony” he greeted calmly as the majority let go of him and stepped back, Vinyl, Dash and AJ took a little longer before they released him and stood a little closer to the red colt.

The entire town gazed up at their hero, the stallion that vanquished the changeling and evolved threat to Equestria. There were going to be something problems to sort out but that was the future’s problem. Right now, Kickback looked over at the mares that he called his friends, the townsfolk that would soon be his neighbours and Ponyville, the place that he would call home. He then gazed over at the three mares he loved and smiled. The three embraced him again upon the small hill on the far side of town, eyes on the verge of tears in silence.

“My name is Kickback…and I am home” he thought to himself before he felt Vinyl gaze on his face, he looked down at her and locked eyes with her.

“What do we do now?” she asked. Kickback simply looked at her and smiled.

                                                                                   End

Natural Selection written by Scarlet Brony

Original characters and basis owned by Hasbro, developed by Lauren Faust, directed by jayson Thiesson

Crossover plot line owned by Rad(i)cal Entertainment

Protagonist created by Scarlet Brony

Original Names owned by High Moon studios and Hasbro  

Cast:

Kickback: Chris Hemsworth

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy; Andrea Libman

Twilight Sparkle and Dana: Tara Strong

Rainbow Dash and Applejack: Ashleigh Ball  

Discord: John Da Lancie

Princess Luna and Rarity: Tabatha St. Germain

Grimlock: Johnny Depp

Princess Celestia: Nicole Oliver  

Queen Chrysalis: Kathleen Barr

Big Macintosh: Peter New

Zecora: Brenda Crichlow

Applebloom: Michelle Creber  

Crystal: Jennifer Aniston

"Smile, Smile, Smile" by Daniel Ingram and Shannon Chan-Kent

"Four Chords" by The Axis of Awesome

"Friend Like that" by Hawk Nelson

"Dramatic Song" by Toby Turner

"Leave out all the Rest" by Linkin park

Special Thanks to Silentpegasus, huntinguy, Spalding, boomerpro97 and Stradder for the support, respect

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