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” Next Chapter: All are One Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes