A Sanguine Dawn

by DualSoul1423

First published 20th of January, 2013

What happens when a pegasus raised for war moves to Ponyville to escape his blooded past? Romance, drama, and even a little bit of comedy in between. (Not a bleedin' 40k fic, ya grot munchaz.)

(ATTENTION: STORY IS CANCELLED AND AWAITING REMASTERY)

I am Red Storm, son of Red Wing, and heir to the Sanguine Throne. For centuries, our kingdom has thrived in prosperity and peace, but since my father's rise to power, things have changed. War has erupted across the lands, and blood flows beneath my hooves.
A wise stallion once told me:
'Blood is the vessel of the soul, and the mind is the vessel of the heart. Without one, you are lost. But if you lack both, you are no better than the damned.'
Let me be damned, for there is nothing for me in this life but bloodshed and deceit, and damnation is preferable to the evil that is this life. Let me flee this accursed land and seek a new life, one pure of sin and terror. A new life, in a new land; one where my father cannot find me. Overseas and far away, where the lands are rich with life and color.
Now, what is this? Perhaps a new begining? A new home?
No. Something better.
Kindness.

Rated Teen for Mild Language, Mild Sexual Themes, and Mild Blood and Gore.
(Awesome cover by Genbu!)

Foreword

Firstly, I must thank you for choosing my story before the thousands that you could have chosen. Secondly, this story isn't actually "Grimdark" Dark, but it does have some underlying Dark bits. Therefore, you shouldn't mind the "Dark" tag too much.
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I said "Dark" too much.

Another thing. This is a story involving a lot of purposely placed plot holes, meant for filling later. Don't nag me. Most are planned. Some are intentional. On that note, unless someone has already noted a plot hole in the comments, don't bother. It's a waste of perfectly good electrons. But do make comments about your opinions and thoughts. They're fun to read, and I will always personally reply to them. Fun comments and feedback are never a waste of electrons.

Oh. And also, this is two things. Firstly, my third story I have ever written. Secondly, it is designed to be a challenge to myself, to create a memorable story with a cliched plot and characters. Obviously, I'm adding some original ideas and plot devices, but more or less, this is going to be your standard "Prince humbled and enlightened" story. Like the the tale of the Buddha. But with ponies. And war. And demigods. And lots of homosexual undertones.
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Anywhoo... yeah. If you don't like the idea of this, click away. You tease.
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Oh. You're still here. Cool.

Also, unlike many fan-fictions on the web, this one will have short chapters, but lots of them. I am planning on having 50 500-5000 word chapters, increasing in length as time wears on. Cause I'm a lazy fuck. Several more little things I must cover are the possibility of “Lemons” in my story. I may or may not have erotic scenes, but most likely not. If I ever do, I will inform you, the reader, of their presence at the beginning of their respective chapter. More likely, I will post those chapters in another side-story. Likely on my co-author's profile.

Lastly, I will be making dozens, if not hundreds of references to pop culture, history, and things of the like. Try to spot them, if you can… that covers it (I think), so stop reading my ramblings and get on with the story, my fellow Brony/Pegasister!
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Thanks for reading all that! :3

Author's Notes:

Author's Author's Note Note: After much debate and discussion, I have convinced my co-author that lemons are not necessary for this story. Her disappointment is palpable, yet the decision is for the better.

Further Update: A fellow brony on youtube wished to be advertised by me, and so I will. You can find his game walkthroughs and whatnot here. Please lend your support to a fellow member of the herd, and I will always shoutout to bronies and pegasisters if you ask. /) Brohoof to him, and visit him please.

Update. Again: My good friend Lophane has started a story, but he is lacking support. His story is even better than this one, so check it out here. I hope you enjoy this story, and his too!

Hard Landing

I pumped my jet-black wings harder as the wind blew faster, slowing me down, if not sending me backwards. In a storm like this, I began to guess if I was still on the right track. All I knew is that I couldn't land now, as a huge forest lay below me. Lightning flashed in the distance, my golden carapace shining in the light. At least, I thought it was a forest. I couldn't see very well through the rain and blinding winds. All I knew was that landing at these speeds into trees could prove to be fatal, demigod or not. My red and black striped hair flew into my eyes, and I had to throw back my head to clear my vision.

*FLASH*

'That one almost hit me. What in Luna’s name was the weather team thinking, putting together a storm like this?' I squinted through the storm, trying desperately to see any point of light. I was headed to Canterlot, but any village or town will do for now. And no matter what land one hails from, lights mean someone is home.

*FLASH*

'Again, too close for comfort. Maybe wearing metal armour in a lighting storm was a poor decision on my part. In hindsight, perhaps leaving my home in the first place was a bad idea. But the evil that we were committing… that was truly unaccepta-'

*FLASH*

Searing pain gripped me, from my tail tip to my nose. I quickly seized up, the electricity from the lightning strike pulling my muscles taught. I began to fall, faster and faster as gravity took its hold on me, and my vision started to blur. “Damn” was all that could escape my lips as I hurdled to the ground. The lightning was incapacitating, but not lethal; another perk of being a member of the Sanguine Nobility. Now, about that fall…

I built speed as gravity took its hold on me. The trees grew clearer as they grew closer. Closer and closer they came and right before I thought I would feel the sharp branches rend my flesh they suddenly disappeared. Below me now was a large clear field of grass.

‘Great,’ I thought; ’Now instead of being shredded by the trees, I get to hit the hard ground.’ That was the last sarcastic thought I had time for before I got to meet the ground personally.

*THOOM*

The first impact brings my mind forward again as the bones in my left wing shatters, leaving a crater in the ground. But, thanks to physics, I get to bounce instead of stopping.

*THOOM*
'ow.'
*THOOM*
'OW.'
*THOOM*
'OW!'

I finally stop. I opened my eyes, and I see that I’m lying in a crater about a meter in diameter. Then the pain hits me like a train, a train that then backed up and hit me again. Little else in my life compared to the pain I was feeling at this moment. I was certain that while my wing was broken, I had many other injuries and broken bones. I begin to black out, the only thing I see is a light in the distance. Just as my eyes were closing, they snapped open. ‘A light! Salvation!’ I thought as I struggled to stand up, fighting the urge to cry out. I squinted through the rain, seeing a faint light ahead… nay, not one, but many. ‘A small town… or a home with windows… in this weather, it is impossible to tell.’ I flinch as another wave of pain comes in. Gritting my teeth I turned around, as I had the urge to look at the destruction I had caused from my crash landing. I looked behind me to see three craters, easily visible even through the rain. The furthest was easily 7 meters in diameter, the second about 5, and the third about 3. Water was pooling in each one slowly as I thought, ‘The landscaper’s going to have a fit.’

I began to trudge through the mud and rain, my once golden armour caked with filth. My left wing hung limply by my side, dyed scarlet as I made my way to the light, becoming dizzy from blood loss and likely a concussion. ‘To do list: One. Get to the pretty lights. Two Pass out. Three. Find an apothecary. Four. Drug up on pain killers until I pass out again. No real reason to go to an infirmary for something that can heal on its own.’ The lights I saw earlier belonged to a small hut, whose windows were open allowing the light out. I limped to the door and raised my hoof. I knocked three times and stood there, waiting. I heard shuffling inside before the door opened, revealing a buttermilk mare with aqua blue eyes. Given different circumstances, I might have complimented her beauty, but now was not a good time, myself dying and all. She looked at me once, before her eyes went wide and she screamed.

“And good evening to you too, miss,” I said before collapsing. The last thing I saw was a seemingly annoyed rabbit at the mare’s heel. Then everything went to black as I lost consciousness…

My Loving Sister

Memories… and darkness. But mostly darkness. Am I dead? I think I’m dead. Or dying. They do say that your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. Let us see here… embarrassing moment… embarrassing moment… REALLY embarrassing moment… ah… something happy…

I’m in the courtyard of Red Mane Keep with my sister. Scarlet Rain, my older sister… yes, I remember how nice she was to me. Her glossy black coat shined in the sunlight as her purple and black mane blew in the wind. Her bright violet eyes glistened as she charged up another shot. Her horn glowed bright orange before she let the shot loose. I flew up above, deftly dodging the shots. As each one misses, I hear the impact on a wall behind me, each shot shattering hardened stone bricks like glass. Each shot could easily hurt me, but we weren’t fighting, we were playing. Our father Red Wing had us spar 8 hours a day, but we had been doing it since we were foals, and sparring seemed like a game at this point. Another explosion of stone sounded, directing my attention back to my sister.

She fired another rapid volley of concussion blasts, and I dodged to the right, down, right, left, then up. She was immensely powerful compared to normal unicorns, but “average” for a Sanguine Family unicorn. The only ponies that could cast greater magic were our mother, Scarlet Glimmer, and the Three Princesses themselves. Powerful magic was just another perk of being a Sanguine Noble.

She fired faster and faster until it was nearly impossible to distinguish two bursts apart. However, where my sister had power, I had dexterity and speed. I ducked, dodge, rolled, and twisted, but a single blast struck home, dead center of my chest. Thank Luna I was wearing my armour. I flew backwards into a wall, smashing into it with enough force to break a pony’s back, obliterating the stone.

*CRACK*

The sound of shattering stone echoed through the morning air. As I rose to my hooves, my sister came trotting up to me, giggling as she neared. Not mockingly so, just in a friendly way.

“Come now, brother. I didn’t hit you that hard, just hard enough to crush a boulder. You’ve been through worse, even without your enchanted armour.” I looked up to my elder sibling, grinning.

“I’m tired of getting shot at. Why don't we WRESTLE?” I lunged at the unicorn, hooves up, battering her as she tried her best to block the blows. We began to wrestle in the dirt, each missed blow causing showers of dirt. After several minutes we stopped, the both of us bruised and weary.

“Dear brother,” my sister began, “I am four years older than you and still you make me look weak in a fight!” She finished with a laugh, and I quickly joined in. Suddenly, a thundering boom sounded, signaling summons.

“Oh my, it appears we have been at it all morning. It’s time for lunch, brother. Let us go meet mother and father in the Great Hall and see what the chefs have prepared for us.” She giggled before adding: “And if the food isn’t to our liking, like last night, we can always feed the chef to the hounds!” Scarlet Rain started to laugh gleefully, but I simply nodded with a frown. I liked that chef, and I still think the food was fine. The two of us began to trot indoors as the memory faded to black.

I suddenly feel something pressing my side, but at the same time, it’s a numb feeling. At least I can feel anything. That tells me that I’m not dead. I strain to open my eyes, and an unexpected sight appears before me. I appear to be on a bed, on my back, looking up. All I see for a moment is blinding light. Then, I see an Angel, looking down at me.

Author's Notes:

Quick little diddy, Here are the codes for the pony creator for Red Storm and his sister Scarlet Rain, in case anyone REALLY had to know how they look. Could just be me though.
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=pony+creator#/d47efz4 = link
451P1O5010191919FFC49D00000EAFE00NN1837203000001U1000000FE00000L107F3FCC004CB2 = Red Storm
4G3P000100111111FE171700A01B412FERH18370030200005100052D7300FE05107F3FCC004CB2 = Scarlet Rain
Just a little touch of OCD. You never know, y'know?

Two Angels and a Stallion

I lay staring at this beautiful sight for a moment, taking in the Angel's features. She had beautiful blue eyes and a long, flowing pink mane. Her coat was of a light yellow buttermilk color and her features were soft. This however, did not dampen my surprise. I quickly got up from the bed without thinking, wincing from the pain of moving so fast while so badly injured. The Angel stood there, gawking, mouth open and eyes wide. I looked around the room, trying to take advantage of her distraction to gain as much information as possible. I appeared to be in the cottage that I collapsed at, the “Angel” being the mare who answered the door. i felt like I was wearing bandages in several places, and a quick glance proved it. Notably my injured wing was wrapped tightly and in a sling. I was also naked… but so was the mare. I turn to the “Angel” without warning, causing her to jump. I clear my throat before saying:

“I am only going to ask this once… Who are you, where am I, how long was I out, and why am I naked?” I thought about it before adding, “And why are you naked, if I might ask?”

The mare stood there, shivering. Her aqua eyes slowly shrank as I tapped my hoof on the ground impatiently. Finally, she gestured with her eyes to somewhere behind me. I slowly turned around, keeping my eyes on the mare before looking. There, on the floor, were several pillows with my armour in pieces on top. She clearly recognized their value, but did not make away with them.

I nodded to her before making my way over to them, intent on dressing myself. However, after taking just a few steps, I collapsed onto the ground, my legs giving out. I grit my teeth, hissing in pain. My injuries were far worse than I initially expected. However, even now I could feel my bones mending and my flesh stitching itself together.

“EEEP!” The mare flew to my side, obviously worried for me. “Oh please don’t move!” she squeaked, barely audible, “You’re hurt! You mustn’t move!”

I looked over my shoulder at her, eyes burning. I stood up slowly, causing her to cower down. I then slowly said:

“I. Just. DID.”

The mare quickly scooted away into the nearest corner, scared senseless. It quickly became apparent to me that not only was she the most skittish pony I had ever seen, but I was also being rather asinine to the mare who saved my life. I turned my back to my armour and faced the shivering mare, (who I just now realized to be a Pegasus) and I took a few steps closer. I then straightened up, inhaled deeply, and softened my gaze.

“I must apologize for my inappropriate manner,” I began softly, “But I can’t help but feel alarmed when I wake up from what appears to have been a coma, naked, in a strange mare’s home. Pray tell, what is your name, Miss…?”

“F-f-Fluttershy,” She breathed, eyes locked onto mine.

“Miss Fluttershy, I do again apologize, as we appear to have gotten off on the wrong hoof.” I then took a few steps away from her, and that seemed to have allowed her to relax… a little.

“I am Red Storm, son of Red Wing, and heir to the Sanguine Throne. Now, if I may ask again, where am I, and how long was I out of consciousness?” the mare stood a bit taller now, but was still uneasy. She took a deep breath, and then began:

“You are in my home in the outskirts of Ponyville, near the Everfree forest. Ponyville is part of the Equestrian Empire, ruled by Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna. You were in a coma for almost three days, and I thought you were going to die. You definitely have a broken wing, lots of bone fractures and minor lacerations, but you may also have a concussion.” The mare stopped to take a breath before continuing:

“I was afraid to take you to a hospital in your condition, and I didn’t want to leave you alone to get help in case you woke up or something happened. The storm you arrived in stopped yesterday, and would you like something to eat for breakfast?” As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. We both looked at each other uneasily, but after a moment I nodded. She then bowed her head slightly and hurried away, presumably to the kitchen.

I looked around the room again, but this time I saw something that surprised me. Along the wall near my armour were dozens of small woodland creatures, crammed into a corner. Every last one of them had a look of horror on their faces. I looked to my right and saw a mirror, instantly realizing why they were acting like that.

I looked like a corpse that just climbed out of my grave. My coat was stained red in some places, brown in others, and ruffled in all other places. My mane was doing no better, and upon closer inspection, my bandages were dirty and hastily put on, dyed a sickly yellow from infectious fluid. However, the worst was my once handsome face. My eyes were bloodshot, my nose and mouth circled with dried blood, and I had a thick layer of dirt along my cheek.

“Wow” was all I could say as I forced down the urge to gag. I must give Miss Fluttershy credit for even being able to look at me, let alone perform first aid on me. Then I heard tapping below me. I looked down to see that same rabbit that I saw before passing out standing before me. He had a scornful expression on his mug, and his left hind leg was tapping the floor, front legs crossed. ‘His courage is certainly larger than his wit,’ I thought. I leaned in close to him and made a savage look, baring my teeth and staring into his very soul. His will held strong however, as he just stood there. Glaring.

“You have earned my respect, small one.” I said to him before turning away and looking for where Miss Fluttershy had gone. I found her in the kitchen, in a floral apron preparing breakfast. I cleared my throat to attain her attention before asking:

“Excuse me Miss Fluttershy, but you wouldn’t happen to have a shower that I may use, would you?” She looks at me sheepishly before quietly responding:

“Yes, I do. It’s upstairs to the left, your highness.” This made me pause. I looked at her and smiled.

“Thank you. And please, just ‘Red Storm’ is more than sufficient.”

Talking Over Breakfast

I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling much better. Since my wounds were properly dressed I felt that much more presentable. I slung my towel over my shoulder as the steam from my shower drifted onto the floor. I then adjusted my clean bandages, and attempted to brush my mane back, to no avail. ‘I might need a mane-cut soon,’ I thought distastefully. I had always had a long mane, but cutting it shorter could keep it from blowing in my face during flight… like during that storm. Tilting my head back as I inhaled deeply, my nostrils were met with an intoxicating variety of scents; including fruits, leafy greens, grains, and a few other things I couldn’t quite make out. I reminded myself that I was now in a foreign land that no doubt was home to exotic plants I had never seen before.

I made my way to the kitchen and there I saw quite the sight. Before me was dozens of plates and platters with food of all sorts, some I had never even seen before, stacked onto a small table. I gawked at the display, and turned to the mare who stood near the table, pawing the ground with her hoof. She looked up for a moment and saw my surprise and averted her gaze again before beginng to explain herself:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Prince Red Storm. I had never had royalty over before, so I decided to prepare a little of everything.” She stared shyly at the ground, not knowing what to expect from me. She jumped when I broke out laughing. I quickly made my way to the table, bowing my head before saying:

“Miss Fluttershy, I’m sorry for not making this clear, but I do not wish to be treated like royalty. The flashy introduction is simply second nature to me, but I would certainly prefer if you treated me as an equal, and I will try to do the same. It would likely be better that way.” She nodded slowly to this, still obviously nervous regardless of my calmer demeanor.

“Despite my poor first impressions, I would like for you to just treat me like a normal stallion, ok?” I said while smiling lightly. The mare before me meekly nodded with in return. I then nudged the mare over to the table, setting a chair for her. Once she sat down, I sat on another chair across from her.

I could hardly see her over the mounds of food she had prepared, but something did catch my eye. I saw that the rabbit had seated himself next to Fluttershy. I began:

“Pray tell, what is that creature?” I said, gesturing to the rabbit. “He shows no fear towards me like the other animals do, and he persists on making rather rude gestures at me.” Fluttershy straightened up to see me over the food before speaking:

“Oh, that’s Angel. He can be a hoof-full at times, but he is really a dear once you get to know him.” I looked again at the rabbit, who then began to shake his head before miming the act of slitting one’s throat and pointing at me.

“Indeed,” I said as I turned my attention back to Fluttershy. “Quite the… charmer.” She smiled innocently and moved her hoof as to indicate for me to start.

“Please, after you, Miss Fluttershy,” I said, trying my best to sound polite, if not friendly.

“Oh! Why thank you,” she said, before serving herself, trying her best to cover up her forming blush. I then began to sift through the mounds myself before spotting something. Wheat cakes. I snatched up three of them and without thinking dug into them losing myself, much to Fluttershy’s shock. Stopping myself at her expression, I patted my mouth with a napkin, blushing before speaking:

“I apologize for that savage display. I have not had wheat cakes in almost ten years, due to a rather strict diet my father had proposed back home. I am also quite famished, and the favorite food in front of a starving stallion is just asking for an empty platter.” The yellow pegasus just nodded, as if trying to understand. I added a few more wheat cakes and tied my napkin around my neck before beginning to cut and eat them more formally when she spoke:

“So, Red Storm, what exactly brings you here to Equestria?”

I paused for a moment, not expecting the question. I knew it would be coming, but not at this nice moment. I sat there, chewing slowly while I thought of a way to tackle this with some tact. I put down my utensils and said:

“I am looking for a new place to settle, as I did not like my life back home. I put on my armour, took some bits, and started flying. Honestly, I was headed for Canterlot, but that wretched storm landed me here.” I chuckled lightly, but Fluttershy looked on inquisitively.

“You said you were a prince. How was your past life not enjoyable?” I frowned slightly, realizing my blatant error. If I never mentioned the royalty I could have passed for a soldier. ‘Damnit. I set myself up for that one.’

“My father is not like your Princesses. He is a... warlord, so to speak. He trained my sister and me for battle, every day since we could speak. And I know what you’re thinking; ‘Oh but you’re the HEIR. You can’t just run away from that responsibility!’ Well, I actually can. When I left, my sister became heir sibling. I just keep the title because if I were ever to go back, I could easily take the throne, even if she were ruling at the time. Not like I ever will.” The yellow mare just nodded. I mentally kicked myself for such foalish explanation. I was getting nowhere fast. I picked up my silverware again and took another bite as she asked:

“How come I’ve never heard of your family?” Pausing again, I thought more carefully about my next words. Swallowing my mouthful, I replied:

“I’m not surprised. We only have influence in our lands, and we are also overseas. My family rose to power during the Great Nightmare Moon catastrophe, because... she actually enlisted my ancestors in the takeover of our half of the world. She failed on her front, but she made us powerful enough to build a kingdom out of ours. We actually are considered some of the best and most powerful rulers in our country’s history, which makes sense as nopony had ever rebelled. In theory, we could invade if my father cared enough, but he is too busy dealing with civil skirmishes around the kingdom itself.” She just nodded again as I finished my meal with some vegetables. After we were both done eating, I helped her wash the dishes and wrap up the leftovers.

We sat in silence, sipping tea in the living room together on her couch. After about ten minutes of this, she spoke up.

“I should let you know, I have friends in town I could introduce you to. And I’m sure there’s plenty of work you could do as well, after that storm and all.” I thought about it. Meeting new ponies and helping out are essential to make a standing for myself in this new community. I put down my tea and nodded with a smile.

“Yes… I think I would like that very much.”

The Blue Baron

As Fluttershy gathered herself and cleaned up her coat and mane, I began to put on my armour. I first put on the chainmail under garb, but while putting on the Carapace, I decided against the idea. 'I’m trying to make friends, not followers.’ As I put it back down, I saw the small, blood-red ruby in the center of the chest. The ruby was cut with extreme skill and was in a teardrop shape. But seeing the ruby reminded me of my Cutie Mark. I spun around to look at my flank, and when I saw it I sighed.

The Cutie Mark showed a golden shield with a sanguine droplet in its center. ‘Anypony with knowledge of ancient history and kingdoms will recognize that mark… oh well. Nothing I can do about it,’ I thought glumly. ‘Let’s just hope none of Fluttershy’s friends are bookworms.’

I met the yellow mare at the door, where she was waiting. I noticed that as before, she wore nothing. I realized that she had not answered my question from earlier, so I asked her about this matter again, saying:

“Pray tell Miss Fluttershy, why don’t you ever wear any form of dress?” The mare blushed in response before saying:

“Well, I guess you can say that Ponyville is a nudist colony. Nopony here ever dresses unless it’s for something special. Other places like Manehattan and Canterlot would frown on upon the idea, but we usually keep to ourselves.” I nodded at this, and then thought about removing my clothing. I shrugged before removing my under garb. I could have sworn Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as I undid the fastenings, but when I looked at her, she was facing away. When I was finished, I folded up the mail and laid it next to the rest of my armour.

"Very well then. I have no desire to stand out. So I suppose I shall simply follow your local traditions." I paused, half-frowning. "No matter how... alien they may be to me." As I walked back to the door, Fluttershy opened it for me, gesturing that I should go first. I instead took the door, and gestured for her to go first. She went ahead, nodding in thanks, and I then followed. I took the keys from her and locked the door. As I handed her back the keys, I heard a very faint but distinct whistling sound. I knew this sound well, from every time I flew at high speeds. My eyes went wide, as I feared the worse. I jumped over to Fluttershy and pushed her to the ground. Unfortunately, that’s all I had time for.

“Halloa! Below there! Lookout, LOOKOUT!” were the last things I heard before something smashed into my left side with incredible force. Upon impact, I heard and felt my wing break again. Tears welled up in my eyes as I was flung to the ground, with my assailant soaring over me. ‘Wow… this hurts more than a little bit. At least it's not as bad as the first time…’ I sat up, wiping my eyes from the accumulated tears and trying my best not to scream bloody murder… at least for Fluttershy’s sake… ‘Fluttershy! I had just thrown her to the ground, forgetting my strength! I could have killed her! I could have-‘

“Oh my goodness, Red Storm! Are you ok?” My mind slowed back to normal, hearing the squeaking voice behind me. I turned around to face the owner, and relived to see that she seemed ok.

“Peachy,” I breathed, still trying to swallow my agony. I got up, and looked her over. She seemed unscathed, except her once straight, well combed mane was now a bit frizzled. Oh well. Better than a compressed ribcage any day. Then, to my right, I heard a mare yell:

“That. Was. AWESOME!... But I probably should have pulled up sooner…” I looked to my right and saw a pegasus mare with a neon blue coat, magenta eyes, and an unusual rainbow-colored mane trotting towards us. From her build I could clearly tell she was an athlete, and a strong flier too. I found it a touch odd that she seemed fine from the crash but I brushed the thought aside. I was more angry with her than anything.

“Who are you? What were you doing flying like that?” I demanded, furious over the mare’s lack of responsibility, endangering myself and Fluttershy. She looked up to me, confused expression on her face. I quickly realized that this must be normal for her, and she was genuinely confused if not sorry.

“Whoa, sorry. I was trying out a new stunt,” she said. “Heyy… I’ve never seen you before! Name’s Rainbow Dash. I see you’ve already met Fluttershy."

“Red Storm, this is one of my friends that I wanted you to meet,” Fluttershy said, smiling. I blinked a few times, surprised that the quiet Fluttershy would associate herself with a mare of this caliber. But then I remembered to introduce myself, even if I was still a bit annoyed.

“I am Red Storm, son of-" I stopped myself, making a silent reminder to stop that. I chuckled “Sorry. Old habits die harder than a Germane.” Upon saying this, both mares looked at me sideways, rather confused. I quickly realized that this expression was probably foreign to them.

“It’s a thing from my homeland… A joke, I suppose but... never mind.” Everypony stared at each other awkwardly until Rainbow Dash saw my good wing. Her expression changed from confused to excited in an instant, and the fire re-lit in her eyes.

“Hey! You’re a Pegasus too! We should race sometime!” I turned to my right so she could see my now-bleeding left wing, vermilion dying the bandages. It certainly looked worse than it really was. “Oh…Oh! Did I do that? Oh man, I am SORRY! I will make it up to you! I promise!” I just shrugged.

“Oh well. Accidents happen. No need to go and start saying you owe me for something so insignificant. “ The mare stared at me, gawking at my indifference of the fact she just re-broke my wing. She then just sighed and said:

“Well… alright. But at least promise me we’ll race when your wing is healed, ok?” Her eyes wore a look of regret, but behind them was a fire of passion burning… maybe fire is inaccurate. Perhaps an inferno is a better word to use. It reminded me of my youth, for better or worse.

“You’re on,” I stated plainly, grinning widely and abandoning my formal form of speech. I quickly added with a blush however, “Though, you should know… I’m a bit of a weak flyer. My wing power average is only a sixteen-point-five.” I smiled meekly, but was surprised when the two mare’s jaws dropped.

“A sixteen-point-five wing power average?!?” Rainbow Dash bawled, “That’s the same as my average! And you’re trying to tell me that you’re SLOW? I’m the fastest in Equestria!” Fluttershy then joined in:

“That’s more than four times my average! How could you ever think that you’re slow?” I looked at each mare, blinking. Then I burst out laughing.

“I say that I’m slow because my father, Red Wing, has a top speed that is at least ten times that of my own! He is so fast, that when we tried to measure his top speed, the wing power meter was utterly destroyed!” Immediately after saying this, however, my smile turned to a frown, as I then remembered my reason for leaving. The two mares stared in disbelief. Rainbow Dash then broke the silence by saying:

“WELL! This just means I’m gonna need to train my tail off! Where’s Micks when you need him…” And without further ado, she took off, her air displacement showing she was going at least a dozen wingpower upon takeoff. Once the cyan blue Pegasus was out of sight, I turned to Fluttershy and asked:

“So, I suppose that that’s one ‘friend’ down; who’s next?”

Author's Notes:

Now I know what you're thinking; "Oh my! Red Storm is as fast as Rainbow Dash? Booo! This fanfic suddenly sucks!" This is not so. One of many plot devices... and very well planned ones, at that... And NO by "plot devices" I dont mean a contraption for a pony's rump... you sick-minded individual, you. Well, anyways, read on if you're not tired of me yet.

The Voice In My Head

Fluttershy told me that the next friend she wanted to meet was a mare named “Rarity”, as that was her next best friend, and she lived nearby on the way to the rest of her friends. As we trotted through the town headed for what Fluttershy called the Carousel Boutique, which is apparently Rarity’s home and clothing store.

“I think the two of you will get along very well,” Fluttershy began. “Rarity is classical in nature, like you are. She also uses a lot of the vocabulary you do, and she is also really into politics and other things like that. I have a feeling that the two of you will be getting along rather well…” Fluttershy seemed especially shy in saying this, as if she were left out somehow. Seeing this, I took action, saying:

“Perhaps, but I’m sure that she is nowhere as charming as you are, Miss Fluttershy I do say that however similar in nature to me this Rarity may be, I'm sure that she shall not trump your allure.” She squeaked, blushing at my remark before responding:

“Oh, please, really. There’s no need for that. And you can just call me ‘Fluttershy’.” I got down on my knees as knightly as possible, head down and my tail flat before saying slyly:

“But of course, m’lady. Your will be done.” We then both laughed at this, before continuing. Fluttershy began to try to make small talk about weather, but I hardly heard the mare as we continued, as not only was she speaking rather quietly again, but mainly because how busy the town was… in a weird way. Everypony was working today, trying to repair all the damages caused by the storm; patching holes in walls and roofs, replacing broken windows, and cleaning debris. The reason why this was weird is not the activities being preformed, but the way they were doing them. For some unfathomable reason, everypony was singing and dancing as they worked, all in sync, not a single step faltered, not a single lyric missed; not by anypony. I asked Fluttershy about this. She thought about it for a moment, before saying:

“Honestly, I’m not sure. This sort of thing happens every time there’s a big project or event. It was going on as a tradition long before I came to town. I think it’s because almost everypony in town knows each other, and because everypony is just really friendly.” I simply nodded, most of my attention focused on watching the spectacle before me. What really surprised me is how much work they were getting done in this fashion. In the time it took for us to trot past, they had rebuilt a fence and swapped all the windows in a house, while singing a cheery (and rather catchy) tune.

We continued walking, and as we did, Fluttershy would point out places of interest, such as Town Hall, the local spa, and a new restaurant that had just opened called the “Cat’s Eye Café”. She also told me the names of many ponies as we walked by them, waving when they saw us. She pointed out Miss Lyra Heartstrings and her marefriend Bon-Bon Sweetie Drops; a strange stallion that went by the name “Doctor Hooves”; a carrot vender named Golden Harvest (nicknamed “Carrot Top”); and the odd couple Octavia And Vinyl Scratch, the local cellist and Disc-Jockey. What was especially odd about them as a couple was that Octavia had her tail and mane well groomed, and stood with a perfect posture. Vinyl Scratch however, had a wild mane and tail, and was slouching slightly. She was also wearing dark violet shades. ‘I can’t help but wonder how two totally different ponies could live together, let alone court each other… then again, I don’t even know them, so who am I to judge?’ I then heard Fluttershy begin to talk again, so I turned back to her.

“Well, there it is, up ahead,” the mare said, pointing to a building that did in fact resemble a boutique made from a carousel. “And one more thing: Rarity may be tempted to give you a ‘makeover’ when she first sees you. And don’t worry; she does that to everypony who’s new in town. Don’t fight it; it’s easier to just go with it.” She finished with a small smile as we trotted to the door. I returned the smile as I opened the door for her as made our way inside. However, as I walked in behind her, I heard a faint voice behind me say:

“How so very cute.”

Black Knight, White Princess

As we entered the boutique, my eyes were greeted with the greatest thing I have seen since I had left home. Genuine fashion. As I traveled many lands, making few stops, something I had not seen was a good taste in fashion. Many ponies were draped in rags that passed for clothing in almost every village or town that I stopped in. Here in Ponyville, I was shocked to find that everypony was actually nude. But here, I found dozens of beautiful suits and dresses, all at surprisingly affordable prices. I found it ironic that the one place that offers such wares on a farmer’s salary was in a nudist colony. I trotted around the room, admiring the elegance and care of each unique outfit and even the decor of the building itself. I could tell that this Rarity character was truly an artist who took great pride in her special talent, as well as her work. Soon however, I realized that Fluttershy was speaking to me, trying to get me to focus again. Then, I heard a delightful voice sound from the next room over.

“Hold on, please! I’m busy at the moment! I will be right out! Do please look at the displays while you wait!”

I obliged, returning to gaze at the several suits on display, awed at their attention to detail, every seam made with the skill of an artisan. Most were simple black tuxedos, but some were unique suits, ranging from grey to pale blue, or maroon to violet. The dresses outshined everything however, many made with the finest silks, threads, and adorned with gems of all shapes and colours. Some were so beautiful, so stunning, that they could have only been made for nobility. This realization proven by the price tag. 2000 bits for a sapphire-gemmed dress that also had frills along the edges. Very nice, but very expensive. Unfortunately, my browsing came to an abrupt end when the mare who spoke earlier came out of her back room.

I instantly had the urge to get down my knees and recite poetry, an urge I thankfully fought down. Before me stood a simply stunning mare, one who rivaled her artisan wares in beauty. She was a unicorn, and her coat was a pure white, not a particle of dust or dirt on it. Her mane and tail were both a gorgeous purple colour and were clearly well-groomed. She also had eyes as blue as the diamond cutie marks on her flank… 'Wow. That is a nice flank.' a voice chirpedin my head. I shook my head briefly to rid myself of the thought. 'No need to go lusting for a mare whom you just met,' I thought to myself before shaking my head again. I look up again to see her giving Fluttershy a friendly hug. I quickly make my way over and introduce myself to this new and stunning mare.

“You must be Miss Rarity, the mare that Fluttershy brought me here to meet,” I said, hiding my awe like a professional, “My name is Red Storm, and it a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The white unicorn turned to me, and jumped back in horror.

“Oh my!” she started, “It’s nice to meet you too darling, but we really must do something about your MANE. It’s… it’s… DREADFUL!” I blinked a few times before looking up at my mane. All that seemed wrong with it was that it wasn’t combed like it normally was, and perhaps a bit long. She picked me up with her magic before sitting me down in a nearby barber’s chair. A gown was then thrown over me and before I knew it, she was giving me a manecut. I looked at Fluttershy, who just shrugged and smiled weakly. As odd as it may have been, I sat patiently through the ordeal. Fluttershy did, after all, forewarn me of Rarity's tendency to give out "Makeovers". After about five minutes, the chair was spun around and she began to work on my tail. I simply sat there, back straight, staring forward, like a statue. After another five minutes, Rarity said:

“Dooo-ne!” Rarity crooned as the gown was removed, and a broom floated over and began to sweep the floor. I got up, and a large oval mirror was floated in front of me. I looked into it, and saw that my mane was much shorter, as it was almost non-existent around my neck, and it didn’t have as much length to the top either. However, with the shorter mane, she managed to spike my mane up at the front, in a rather appealing way. It was also just generally neater, with just as much attention to detail as her outfits. No hair was out of place nor longer than any other around it. She had also shortened my tail, but didn’t seem to have altered it in any other way besides brushing it straighter than before. I looked over to Rarity, who stood there, facial expression showing that she wanted my opinion. I looked at my reflection again, taking a moment to truly appreciate the work she had done. I was certainly far better looking than before.

“It’s perfect, Miss Rarity. I don’t believe I have ever had a manecut this marvelous. Thank you.” The white unicorn grinned widely at this, before trotting back into the center of the room, head high, saying:

“Well, one can only expect perfection from moi! And don’t you worry about a fee, that one is on me.” She said, fluttering her eyelashes. She then turned back around to face Fluttershy, a look of glee on her face. “Now, remind me, what is it you came here for?”

“Well, we had come here so that I could introduce you to Red Storm,” Fluttershy said, “Seeing as he is new here in town, I had suggested that he should make some friends around here. You being one of my own closest friends, I thought to start with you.” Fluttershy paused before adding "Although we did bump into Rainbow Dash on the way over. Or rather, she flew into us." Rarity tilted her head to one side as if to think about this, before turning to me and saying:

“That makes sense. Well, anyway, if you don’t mind, I need to ask you to leave. As pleasant as it was to meet you, Red Storm, I have much work that needs to get done. A very big order for a wedding in Manehattan, you see. The bride demands the best, so I need privacy and concentration. Maybe we can speak again later, once I’m done.” Rarity smiled widely at me. I looked over to Fluttershy, who nodded to this. I then said:

“Very well then. That sounds nice. We should get going as well, as time waits for nopony!” With that, Fluttershy and I moved to the door, waving goodbye and giving our final farewells as we exited. Once outside, I asked the mare beside me:

“What is our next plan of action? Judging by the angle of the sun, we have about three-to-four hours before dusk. Who do you wish for me to meet next?” The pegasus mare thought for a moment about it, before saying:

“We should go meet my friend Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner, then go to Sweet Apple Acres to meet Applejack, and then go to the Library to meet Twilight Sparkle.” Sounded good to me.

“Ok. Seems like a good plan to me. Let us-“ And that was all I managed to say before a Pink Mare jumped out of the bushes next to us, scaring me terribly.

Blood, Balloons, and Butterflies

“RAAAAR!” the mare roared as I jumped back, defensively covering Fluttershy with my own body. My battle instincts took over and I was suddenly rearing back, preparing myself for a fight.

“Back away, creature! I won’t tell you twice!” I said, waving my forelegs at the strange pink assailant. The mare then sat down and laughed.

“HA-HA! Got you!” she laughed, rolling on the ground now, “You should have seen the look on your face! I was like RAAAAR! And you were like AAAHHH! It was too funny!” I stood there, baffled. I lowered myself back to ground as Fluttershy moved beside me.

“This is my friend Pinkie Pie,” whispered Fluttershy, requiring me lean in to hear her. Pinkie Pie was an earth pony, who was well-named as she was quite pink in colour. Her mane was a slightly darker shade of pink, but pink nonetheless. Her Cutie Mark depicted three balloons; two blue and one yellow. Having never seen any cutie mark like it, I wondered what it stood for.

“Hey, wait a moment! You’re new here in Ponyville, right?” She suddenly said, shattering my thoughts. “I mean, I know everyone in town, but I don’t know you. Which brings me to the conclusion that you’re not from around here… AM I NOT CORRECT?” She was suddenly wearing a detective-style hat as she added that last part. She held a magnifying glass close to me, examining my face. I didn’t even see her put on the hat. It just… appeared.

“Uh… yes. I am new here in Ponyville. My name is Red Storm. Pleasure to meet-"

“Oh, but the pleasure is mine, Red Storm! I finally get to meet someone NEW! It’s been over a week since I made a new friend, and I was beginning to think that I had already met everyone there is to meet! I know everypony in town, in the Crystal Empire, and I even know all of the Royal Guards in Canterlot! But now you’re here, and that means I get to throw you a WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY!” I swallowed at this notion, and my eyes went wide. Primarily because in place of the detective’s hat, there was a party hat, and there was suddenly balloons and streamers surrounding her. 'WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?' But a party? For me? I cannot allow it. Someone in town is bound to know about my hieritage, and if I am discovered, then it would only be a matter of time before I would be run out of town, followed by an angry mob armed with pitchforks and torches.

“You don’t say?… That sounds wonderful, however,” I began, showing her my wing, “I am in no condition for a party. Can we perhaps… delay the event? I would prefer to just meet the rest of Fluttershy’s friends, then find a nice hotel to stay at for a week or so. Then, once my wing is fully healed, we can talk about planning such an event. Until then, can you promise me that you’ll pretend we never met?” Pinkie Pie jumped at the word “Promise”. She shoved everything she had on hand into a nearby tree trunk before saying:

“I promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” As she said this odd rhyme, she, well… crossed her heart and then poked herself in the eye. Then she turned away from me and faced Fluttershy.

“Hiya Fluttershy! How are you today?” The mare pretended as if I wasn’t even there anymore. A strange one, that one is. I attempted to not ponder the contents of her mind.

“Didn’t you already say hello to me?” The buttermilk mare asked, playing along. Pinkie Pie looked straight up before saying:

“Nope! Just look at paragraph three! I scared you, then I started to laugh at scaring you, but I forgot to say hi in the process!” We both looked at her sideways.

“Paragraph three? What are you talking about?” I asked her, but she just kept on looking at Fluttershy. Fluttershy, taking note of this, asked her the same question.

“Oh, never mind!” the pink earth pony giggled, “Just breaking dimensional laws again! Anyway… I need to get going. The Cakes have a lot of work for me today! Got cupcakes to bake, and walls to break! See you later!” And with that, she jumped into a nearby bush, vanishing without a trace. I stood gaping for a moment or two, before I checked the bush. Nothing. No secret tunnel, no trapdoor, no magic residue. Nothing at all. She had once again broken all logic and laws of nature. How does the pony do it? I turned to Fluttershy, who stood waiting for me to finish my little investigation.

“You act as if this is normal, or even possible. Why?” I asked. Fluttershy simply shrugged and plainly responded:

“It’s just how Pinkie works. She’s impossible to understand… She’s a force of nature, in a sense.” I thought about it for a moment, before saying:

“Yes, well, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that she is Discord in disguise.” I paused, wondering the plausibility of that. No… definitely not. “So, we are off to ‘Sweet Apple Acres’… to meet…?”

“Applejack.”

“Right then! Off we go! From her location, I presume she is a farmer? We have but a few more hours, and I shall not keep you up into the night!” I then leaned in close, putting on a suave grin. “I would say that a mare needs her beauty sleep, but you seem to get more than plenty!” She blushed, running a hoof through her mane, before leading on at a brisk pace. As I trotted to keep up, I heard the same voice from earlier:

'Flattery will get you nowhere here, mongrel.'

One Friendly Bushel

Author’s note: Also, the thing I forgot about in the prologue was that in this fanfic, all the ponies have human-length life spans… just wanted to clear that up. Red Storm is in his late twenties, as are the mane six. Anypony else of significance will be talked about later. Thanks for your support, and read on!

Fluttershy and I trotted on at a steady pace rather quietly, which was just fine. I don’t mind not talking, and it also allowed me to look around to see my surroundings. Call me paranoid, but this also allowed me to mentally mark spots that would be good for an ambush. Perhaps it stems from trauma I suffered living with my father, as he trained me to expect attack anytime, anyplace by… well, attacking me at random points throughout the day. He once attacked me from a pantry. He had been waiting in there for three hours, just so he could surprise me. So much for a childhood…

“Well, here we are!” Fluttershy said, breaking my concentration. I hadn’t even noticed we had arrived at the orchard, let alone the ponies working there. I looked around, seeing the beautiful trees around me, filled with even more beautiful apples of all colours. The most common colour however, was red. So many beautiful red apples surrounded me, I forgot where I was for a moment, indulged in the simple pleasure of being able to behold nature’s splendor. Then, a voice awoke me from my trance… a rather odd one.

“Well howdy there, Fluttershy! Fancy seein’ you here! And who’s this new stallion you got here with you?” I looked down from the tall branches to see a mare standing nearby at the end of the dirt road we were standing on. The mare had an orange coat with a blonde mane and tail, both of which were tied back as ponytails. She also had bright green eyes that shone with a will like I had never seen before. She wore a rather fashionable dusty-brown Stetson hat, and had some freckles. Finally, she wore a Cutie Mark of three red apples on her flank… I stared for a moment. Then I blinked, realizing I had been staring at her flank. This is the second time this has happened, and I really must stop.

“Well howdy to you as well, Miss Applejack," I said, bowing my head and crossing my forelegs, "Nice to finally get the chance to meet you.” I said, mimicking her demeanor in a respectful manner. I understood the root of it as well as the general "country" culture. While I lived in a castle as a noble, I did take trips out to the countryside to oversee the villagers quite often. This exposure taught me many good skills, as well as taught me about the "countryfolk." In response, Applejack smiled.

“Well lookie here. Looks like yer friend here is well-versed in country pleasantries. Ya look like ya know me, but whats yer name?” I lifted my head again to reestablish eye-contact.

“Red Storm's my name. Fine farm you have. Your trees are lookin' healthy and strong, and the fruit of your labor looks to be mighty juicy." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow to my informal speech.

“Why thank ya kindly, Red Storm. Not many ponies appreciate the hard work we put into our farm. Why dontcha come along this way and meet the rest of the family?” As we followed the mare over to a nearby farmhouse, Fluttershy leaned over to me, and whispered:

“How come you never talked like that before?”

“It’s mainly because I wanted to set a good impression on all of your other friends. It’s also because I hardly ever talk that way anymore. I was trained like a dog to be civilized to everypony, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I whispered back, reverting to my normal, formal speech again. “Although, I like to sneak it in here and there when I get the chance,” I added with a grin. Fluttershy rolled her eyes at me in a rather unladylike fashion as we trotted up to a large farmouse. At the front door stood a tall and very muscular red earth pony stallion. He had the same color eyes as Applejack, so I assumed that they were related. He was dripping with sweat and had clearly been working hard. He had a Cutie Mark of a split green apple, and had a manestyle similar to mine before it was cut, just a dirty blonde colour.

“This here is ma brother Big Macintosh. He does a lot of the heavy liftin’ around here,” Applejack said, gesturing to the red stallion with a nod of her head. “This is Red Storm. He’s new here in Ponyville, I’m jus’ givin’ him the tour of the place,” she said, this time to Big Macintosh. He nodded to me, but was obviously tired and didn’t move otherwise. As we made our way around to the barn, waving to Big Macintosh as we passed, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Soon after, I heard a light “buzzing” noise, not unlike the sound of a fly. I looked to the source of the noise and saw a small wagon with a pair of fillies in it being headed by a scooter with another filly steering. From the erratic movements, I could tell they were out of control, as right when I saw them, the filly driving yelled:

“Lookout! Incoming!” This time, I saw it coming. I grabbed Fluttershy and Applejack, one in each foreleg, and jumped to the left, dodging the careening wagon by a few feet. After the dust settled, the wagon was tipped over, the fillies were dazed in a pile, and the two mares were brushing themselves off. The driver was orange with a purple mane, the first passenger was white with another purple mane (Looking a bit like Miss Rarity) and the final filly was yellow with red a mane, with a matching bow on top. I immediately knew the last filly had to be related to Applejack. The driver of the wagon got up and had a guilty look on her face. The other two untangled themselves and then got up to join the first. I then noticed that none of the fillies had their Cutie Marks.

“Oh man, I am so sorry mister!” the orange filly began.

“We lost control and didn’t see you until the last second!” The white one continued.

“We’re so very sorry ‘bout the whole thing!” The final filly’s accent proved her relation to Applejack. I then shoved my tail in their mouths to tell them to hush.

“It’s fine, really,” I began with a soothing voice. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No,” they all chimed together.

“Then everything’s all right,” I finished with a smile, standing tall again to face the two mares. Applejack stepped forward and opened her mouth to begin:

“Sorry ‘bout that Red Storm. These here are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The orange one’s Scootaloo, the white one is Rarity’s sis Sweetie Belle, and the yellow one is my little sis Apple Bloom”

“It’s fine, really,” I chucked with a smile, “No one was hurt, and besides, I love little ones. They are all so very cute with their hectic antics,” I added, looking at the three young fillies with a caring smile. Suddenly, a nearby door flung open, revealing a rather irritated looking green old mare.

“Wass all the commotion about?” She asked, eyeing the group, one-by-one. Then she saw me and pointed at me with a bony foreleg. “Who’s he? A trouble maker? A new farmhand? A colt-friend of yours perhaps?” She asked, facing Applejack. The orange mare blushed at this, before saying:

“Naw, Granny Smith, nothin’ like that. He’s new in town, and was just givin’ him the tour. His name’s Red Storm.” The old mare eyed me suspiciously before asking:

“What about all that ruckus that I heard?”

“These three here, Granny,” Applejack said, gesturing to the three fillies. The green old mare gave me one final look before saying:

“Well, all righty then. Nice to meet you, Mr. Red Storm. I’m gonna be heading back inside, holler if ya need anything.” And with that, she left. When I turned around, The “Cutie Mark Crusaders” were already back on their mini vehicle, speeding down the dirt road out of the farm.

“Well, that was interesting, to say the least,” I said to Applejack. “Thank you for showing me around, but we really must be going now. It’s getting late, and we had other plans for the evening…” And so with that, we waved goodbye, and started on our way back into town. Fluttershy looked at me while we walked and said:

“Well now, wasn’t that exciting?” I nodded with a grin. “All we have to meet now is Twilight Sparkle. She lives in the town library, so let’s head over before it gets dark.”

Author's Notes:

Another thing, this may just be the only appearence of Granny Smith for one good reason: I can't imitate her! I sorta winged it here, but it just doesn't seem quite right... oh well. Don't let me keep you.

An Inferno at Twilight's Light

Author’s Note: Prepare yourselves! The final chapter of Act I is here, and I hope you enjoy it! Read on:

We made our way to the library, I watched as the sun began its descent into twilight time. How ironic that I would be meeting a mare named Twilight at the time of day she was named after. The sky had few clouds left, and the suns final rays were casting beautiful colours upon them. Among the hues of orange and purple was an eerie blood red. I stopped to look at the sky, and when Fluttershy questioned my action, I simply pointed up. The two of us stared at the sky for several minutes before I looked at her again. The way the light played across her features was magical, making her aqua eyes even more brilliant and her face heavenly. I lost my focus in the sky and gazed dreamily upon her, until she noticed that my attention was no longer on the clouds. She looked at me, and I looked away, blushing. Luckily, the reddening of my cheeks was unnoticeable through the reddish light and my black coat. I started walking again, and Fluttershy followed suit; but we continued to look upwards as we walked. After a while, she said:

“It’s simply beautiful.” I looked at her, and with a dreamy smile I said:

“Perhaps. But its beauty pales in that of which is yours.” Upon saying this, my heart stopped. ‘What did I just say? Did I just call her beautiful? What is happening to me? Am I becoming a soppy romantic? Nay… this must stop’

“Oh, why thank you, Red Storm. That’s very sweet of you.” Her comment caught me off-guard. When I came out of my mind again, I looked around, noticing that the streets were oddly empty. ‘It’s not even that late yet… After all, it is early autumn.’ I also noticed that all of the damage was repaired around the town. So much for helping out. I looked at Fluttershy, who had an odd smile on her face displaying… hope? We stood, looking at each other. I then turned around and continued walking, and Fluttershy soon followed once more. The rest of the walk was in silence.

We arrived at the library quickly, and once we arrived, Fluttershy immediately stepped up to the door and knocked three times Knock-knock, “Twilight?” knock-knock, “Twilight?” knock-knock, “Twilight?” The butterscotch mare then moved away from the door and waited. Inside, I heard a mare’s voice, then another one. The odd thing was, the second voice didn’t sound like any pony I had ever heard.

The door was opened to reveal a small purple dragon, likely a baby. He looked at me, and I looked at him. Finally, he broke the stare by looking to the mare beside me and saying:

“Hiya Fluttershy! Who’s this creepy-looking’ colt you got with you?” Creepy I can understand, but upon hearing the word “colt” I snorted, standing up to my full height. The baby dragon immediately recoiled, saying:

“Whoa, sorry there buddy. I’m Spike. What’s your name?” I cracked my neck (much to Fluttershy’s anguish), relaxing my body before calmly saying to him:

“My name is Red Storm. It’s nice to meet you Spike. Would you be so kind as to let Fluttershy and I enter?” The baby dragon then stepped aside, allowing me access. I, however, allowed Fluttershy to enter before going in myself, as usual.

Upon entering, I saw hundreds, if not thousands of books adorning the walls of the library. In the center of the room, sat a purple unicorn mare. The mare (whom I guessed to be Twilight Sparkle) had a rather short dark-blue mane with streaks of purple and magenta in it. She bore a Cutie Mark of a six point star surrounded by five, smaller, six-point stars. She also had deep purple eyes, and a bright magenta magic aura as demonstrated when she used telekinesis to re-place a book she had been reading when we walked in. She looked over to Fluttershy and said:

“Oh! Hello Fluttershy! What brings you to the library?” Then she saw me. Turning towards me she asked: “And who are you? A friend of Fluttershy's? What’s your name?” I straightened up and smiled, introducing myself.

“Red Storm. And you must be Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to finally meet you.” I extended a hoof, but she just stood there, staring. She appeared to be scanning me up and down, and it took only half a second for me to realize why.

‘MY CUTIE MARK!’ I tried to cover my flank with my tail, but it was too late. I was lifted in the air by her magic, before being thrown against the nearest wall. Fluttershy made her way over to Twilight as I regained my footing.

“Twilight! Why did you do that?” The quiet mare squeaked, surprised by her furious friend's reaction. Right as I got to my hooves and was about to explain myself, I was picked up again before being smashed into another wall, scattering books everywhere.

“Why are you here?!?” The purple unicorn shouted accusationally as I spotted Spike standing at the door, terrified. In another corner across the room I saw Fluttershy hovering, shocked into silence.

I got up again, but this time Twilight Sparkle shot a concussion blast at me. ‘Ah, just like home.’ I evaded the blast easily, dodging to my right as it hit the wall behind me. She was clearly too angry to think clearly as she could have just grabbed me again. More books scattered, some singed as I made my across the room, evading every spell she fired. Soon, I was but a few feet in front of her. Just as I was about to tackle her, she picked me up again. This time however, she wasn’t letting go. Quite the contrary really, as she began to squeeze.

“What do you want with us? Are you planning to invade? WHY ARE YOU HERE?” With every sentence, her grip on me tightened, and soon I began to feel my joints pop. Next would be my bones. I wailed in agony as I began to feel my bones audibly creak and crack from the force. I looked down at the mare who was killing me. She stared at me with utter hate. What I saw next really surprised me. I saw Fluttershy jump in front of her friend, before slapping her across the face. The unicorn’s concentration shattered like glass, dropping me onto the ground as the Pegasus mare confronted her friend.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” The mare’s shouting quieted the room, including Spike who had been weeping in his corner. Twilight got up slowly and looked Fluttershy in the eyes before saying:

“I’m trying to protect you, and everypony else in Ponyville!” The purple unicorn then turned back to me, pointing a hoof. “He’s part of the Sanguine Nobility! An evil family who worshiped Nightmare Moon as a god, and had allied with her during the Great Nightmare Moon Cataclysm. He’s likely even more dangerous than Queen Chrysalis, Discord, and King Sombra COMBINED.” Fluttershy looked at me sideways, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Red Storm… is… is this true?” I looked away from her, closing my eyes.

“Yes,” was all that I could say. After a long moment of silence, I looked at her again. She now had tears streaming down her cheeks, and Twilight Sparkle glared at me, brimming with hate.

“When were you going to tell me this, *sniff* if ever?”

“I was going to tell you once I thought you could handle it.” I closed my eyes again as Fluttershy began to bawl. Then, I opened them again, my will renewed.

“However, Twilight Sparkle, there is one thing you are wrong about.” I said as I began to walk towards Twilight, pain shooting through my broken body. I stood up tall, facing the unicorn who was stunned. Honestly, I was trying my best not to scream in agony. I swallowed my pain as I raised my voice:

“I am indeed a Sanguine Noble. Their blood runs in my veins. But you are wrong about one thing; because even though I am the Sanguine Prince, I am NOT part of that sick and twisted family.” Fluttershy quieted her crying to look at me, but all of my attention was focused on Twilight Sparkle.

“When I found out… What they had been doing… FOR ALL THOSE YEARS… I left them. I left my kingdom. I left my subjects. I left that excuse of a family to find a new life. I can understand if you don’t want me here. I know the infamy that my name carries. But do not, I repeat; DO NOT say that I am part of that FAMILY!” I stood there, out of breath from yelling. Twilight Sparkle just stared at me, but suddenly Fluttershy ran across the room and hugged me.

A hug was the last thing I expected right now. I stood motionless, not knowing what to do. But after a few moments, I slowly wrapped my forelegs around the mare, meeting her hug with a hug of my own. For the first time in my life, I shed a tear; not from pain, but from joy. The joy of being accepted. Eventually, Fluttershy broke from the hug, and looked into my eyes. Tears were still apparent on her cheeks, but no longer from sadness.

“Promise me you won’t ever be like them,” she whispered feebly.

“I promise, Fluttershy. On my soul and the River Styx.” I whispered back.

‘Wow. What a corny thing to say,’ said the voice in my head. I thought back:

‘How about you shut the hell up for a change?’ There was no response. Twilight Sparkle then began to move towards us. I growled at her, but then she said:

“I... I'm sorry for my overreaction, Red Storm. I realize that I was completely out of line. I don't even know what really came over me; I'm never like that.” My snarl became frown. "Just from the fact that you clearly could have killed me now and didn't should be a sign that I misjudged you. And if Fluttershy can trust you, then so can I. A friend of my friend is my friend too." She clearly wore an expression of regret, and my frown quickly evaporated as well.

“I understand why you would do as you did. I am not saying that you were wrong in your actions. In your shoes, I would likely have done the same. I forgive you, Twilight Sparkle.” I removed a foreleg from Fluttershy and extended it towards purple unicorn who had nearly killed me mere minutes ago. Twilight took a few hesitant steps forward before taking my hoof. I gave hers a firm shake before returning my attention to Fluttershy. We all stood silent for several minutes before Twilight began to ask her questions. Apparently, it was hard to obtain pieces of Sanguinary literature outside of the Kingdom itself, at least through legal means. I decided to stay for a while and answer her questions. Hopefully if she knew me better, we could avoid another confrontation such as this one.

By the end of the night, the tensions had melted and we were being civil again. I would even go as far as to say friendly. Things will be akward for some time after this, but uneasiness is better than hate. However, it began to get late, so Fluttershy and I waved as we exited to library, with Spike and Twilight waving back. The last thing I saw before the door closed was Spike starting to clean up the debris from the fight. Poor guy. I will have to send him some nice gems to snack on as my way of an apology.

After a while of walking together under the moonlight, we reached Fluttershy’s cottage. She invited me over for the night, but I refused. However, she wouldn’t hear me out, forcing me to say yes, so it appears that I will be staying a while.

Act I Transition

Alexander: I must thank all of you for reading, and I must urge you to please, please post your opinions! I can’t make my story any better if you don’t tell me errors and imperfections! (Just be nice about it, ok? Love and Tolerance people). I also want to know any thoughts on the plot so far. I want to hear what you think will happen, and as of right now, I have a storyline, but I’m willing to listen to suggestion! One more thing; my current avatar is from the pony creator not to mention the fact that my cover has little to do with the story other than the name, and I would LOVE if someone were to draw me a professional picture of Red Storm. Any pony artists are welcome to volunteer, and if you do, I may just insert your OC. You know, just something to throw out there…(Its not a bribe, really!) Anyway, thanks for reading!

Annabeth: Hi! I am Alex’s co-writer and would like to go over any references so far:
-Die Hard
-Red Baron
-The Signalman by Charles Dickens
-Rocky
-Big Bang Theory (The show)

Sorry for the short list, but we are using a new version of the story. There was supposed to be more, but those are for Act II. (Act I and Act II were combined in the original.) If you found all of the references, good for you. And if the hints above aren’t enough, they are all in chronological order. That’s all you’re getting, and if you can’t find them now, you’re lame. Thanks for reading! Act II will be released soon!

A Dark Night

42 days later…

I stood in the rain, but it didn’t feel like I was. I felt as if the rain fell through my body instead of striking my coat. I felt chilled to the very soul, as the cold rain passed through me. I felt like I was a ghost. That is not what claimed my attention, however. I was standing among a crowd, all dressed in black. The general atmosphere was dreary and sad. I soon realized that I was at a funeral. There were ponies of all colours and ages around me. Looking forward, I saw an old, black stallion Pegasus in a casket with ponies all around. Some were weeping, some were comforting the weeping ones, and some merely stood silently, solemnly. After several more grueling moments however, I saw that a group of five old mares (Two unicorns, two earth ponies, and one pegasus) made their way to the body before laying a wreath on his chest. The one in the lead closed the casket before stepping back again. Then they stood, their heads down as his casket was lowered into the ground by a large purple dragon who stood nearby. I was struck by the oddness of this. It seemed so familiar and yet so alien.

As the casket reached the bottom of the grave, the dragon began to pile dirt over it. He looked tired and sad, even through his hulking and terrifying physique. Every pony in the crowd now stood silent and still, the only audible sounds being the rain and the steady shoveling of dirt. Once the last of the earth was packed onto the grave, ponies began to turn away, walking down the aisle away from the grave. As all the ponies began to clear out, I made my way to the newly dug and muddy mound. I simply walked through the crowd, and nopony seemed to notice me. That was fine. When I reached the grave. I took a moment to read the epitaph. The tombstone read:

Here lies Red Storm; A loyal father, a husband, and a true Knight. 1982-2064 May he rest in the embrace of his Angel.

I was at my funeral. I couldnt help but shake my head in self-disgust. It was terribly obvious from the start, and I felt mixed feelings about it all. I had watched my own funeral, and I was too foolish to realize it until the end. After making this realization, I lay down on the wet grave. 'No point in feeling sorry. I'm dead now. Nothing I can do but linger, and perhaps rest. Just as quickly as I closed my eyes to sleep, I found myself opening them again. A force complelled me to look to my side, and I obliged the urge. I to my left I saw another grave. This one had a single wilted rose laying on it. It was also obviously quite old, as the stone seemed worn with years. Something about it caught my curiosity. Something made me pick myself up and move over to it to get a better look. There, on the tombstone, read

Here lies Fluttershy; A loving mother, wife, and caring Angel of the forest. 1983-2058 May she await her Knight.

It was Fluttershy’s grave. She had died six years before me. For reasons I could not understand, tears welled up in my eyes. I fell to my knees and I buried my face in the dirt of her grave, my tears watering the earth that entombed her body. I laid crying on her grave... but why? What was causing such an intense feeling? I heard the dragon who I realized to be Spike leaving, his steps echoing even in the rain. I lay alone in the field of tombstones and memories. Then I heard movement behind me. I turned around, and there stood a tall, alicorn mare, as black as night. She reached out a foreleg to me before saying:

“Come with me Red Storm. It is time to leave.” I wiped the tears in my eyes away before standing tall. Fury bristled under my skin. Once again, I lost myself to foreign emotion that I could not understand.

“No… I will not leave! Not now!” I roared as I lunged at her. There was a flash blinding white light as the alicorn's horn lit up.

Then, I woke up.

Feeling 20% Better

Authors Note: Nerdy-ass fact of the day! Many of you might belive that Rainbow Dash's "Sonic Rainboom" is what happens when she breaks the sound barrier. This is not so. According to studies of flight, the Mach Cone that appears around RD when she goes into the transition phase between "Just Flying" and "HOLY SWEET CELESTIA, A SONIC RAINBOOM!" is angled in such a way as to show that she is close to Mach 5, whereas you only need to be going at Mach 1 to break the sound barrier. Upon causing a Sonic rainboom, she instantly accelerates to Mach 10. In other words, she goes from "Jet Fighter Fast", to "How the Hell did she not explode from G-force" fast. I'm just gonna assume she's magical or something for this story. Just a little ditty to those who didn't know. Anyways, ONWARD TO THE CHAPTER!

I sat up, beads of sweat running down my forehead. I looked around the room, and I quickly realized I was in Flutershy’s cottage, as I had been for the last month and half. More specifically I was in Fluttershy’s bed, as she didn’t have an extra bed and wouldnt let me sleep on the couch. I stretched out my forelegs, still breathing heavily. Fluttershy wasn’t in bed right now, likely making breakfast. I got out of bed and checked my wing. It looked fully healed now, all signs of it ever being broken at all gone. I stretched it out to just to be sure. It felt great. It’s nice to see that my wing was able to heal in just over a month. But then again, it seemed a rather slow compared to normal. Either way, I can get around to racing Rainbow Dash… And now Pinkie Pie can throw me that party. I hate parties.

I have been staying under the radar for the last month and a half, so I’m excited to be able to go into town again. Not to say that my stay with Fluttershy was not pleasant. It was quite nice. Every day, I would wake up, and she would have breakfast ready. We would eat, I would clean up. I did the chores, and she would care for the animals. She would shop, and I would pay for the groceries. She would return, and we would talk, and have lunch. I would then wash the dishes while she relaxed. If she wasn’t with her other friends then we would sometimes play board games. Once the sun began to go down, I would make dinner, and she would settle the animals in for the night. After we ate, I would again wash dishes while she got ready for bed. I would then shower and join her in bed (There was not any intercourse involved), and then we repeat.

I left the room, rubbing my eyes. I entered the kitchen to find Fluttershy preparing the morning meal. She spun around when she heard me approach. She gave me a warm smile which I returned. She always could brighten me up with that smile.

“Good morning, Mr. Sleepy head. How did you sleep last night?” she said. I finished dispelling the drowsiness from my mind, my smile returning to a frown.

“Horrible. I had a dreadful nightmare,” I answered her. The mare's expression became one of empathy upon hearing this. Before I could say anything in my defense, her nurturing nature had kicked in.

“Do you need to talk about it?” she asked, seemingly worried. I shook my head in response. She frowned momentarily before beginning to set the table. Seeing this as a chance to test my wing, I flew across the room, scooping up the two plates before spinning around and placing them in one swift movement. A new smile then crept across Fluttershy’s face.

“I see that your wing is doing better. How does it feel?” I folded my wings, landing in my seat. Stretching my forelegs and yawning, I grinned widely with an amount of pride. This was the first time she would see me flying since we met.

“They feel marvelous. I must thank you for housing me after all this time and supporting me through this hardship. It means a lot to me.” And that was no lie either. I have come to see Fluttershy as a good friend, which is quite a feat, as I have had very few standard friends in my life, let alone good friends.

"Well of course I did! How could I not? You were just like any of my hurt woodland friends when you arrived at my doorstep that night. It's in my nature to help. If I didn't get a cutiemark in animal care, it would certainly have been for medicine." I chuckled at the thought, my mind drifting towards mental images of Fluttershy in a nurse outfit. I shooed the inappropriate thought out of my mind before continuing the conversation.

"Nonetheless. You saved my life Fluttershy. Not only that, but you welcomed me into your home warmly and without hesitation. It is a level of hospitality I have never before experienced, and I am forever grateful for your kindness." Fluttershy blushed at this, waving me off with a hoof.

"Oh, stop it Red Storm. Anypony else would have done the same for you. In fact, I bet some mares would love to have such a handsome prince fall at their doorstep." She caught her remark, but too late. I raised an eyebrow at her statement but let it slip. I shouldn't worry myself of such things.

The rest of the meal was silent. I ate quickly, and waited for Fluttershy to finish before I washed the dishes. The second that the last dish was washed I took out the window into the skies. The wind in my mane felt wonderful, as even though I manged to keep my sanity, being grounded for a month and a half was truly torture. I flew straight up into the sky, and when I looked down, I saw Fluttershy peeking her head out the window that I flew out of. I smiled for a moment before flapping my wings again and picking up speed.

I felt the wind rushing through my mane, my tail whipping from air resistance. But I went faster still, pushing my wings harder and harder. I never felt so good to be in the air. I felt a tingling sensation as I reached Mach 1, breaking the sound barrier. A huge BOOM sounded as I flew past that point, before going faster still. I did a loop, before turning right, and as I did, I saw Ponyville below me. The several ponies saw me and pointed, but it mattered not to me anymore. I can fly again, and thusly I didn’t have to hide anymore. Nopony could catch me if they wanted to now. I flew around in circles, and then did some more loops, before finally turning around and heading back.

Upon landing back at the cottage, I found that Fluttershy stood waiting on her front lawn. She was clip-clopping her hoofs in ovation for me, impressed at my aerial performance. She was awfully happy to see me recovered and so high in spirits.

“Did you have a nice flight?” she asked me as I made my way over to her. I gave her an enormous foalish grin before saying:

“Yes! I had SO much fun just now. I don’t think you realize how GOOD I feel right now!” I jumped up, doing a back-flip, to show my excitement. Suddenly, before either one of us can say anything else, we hear loud BOOM before a certain blue Pegasus lands behind me, causing a spray of dirt on impact. I cringed, shielding Fluttershy with a wing from the earthy rain. Clenching my teeth, I remembered my promise to Rainbow Dash. Still, she had astonishing response time. Did she have nothing better to do?

“Looks like somepony is feeling better,” she said with a smirk. “I saw your little aerial performance from across town in my house, and heard it before that. You still game?” I cracked my neck and grinned madly before saying in a rather unnerving tone:

“Ah, but of course my dear, sweet, Rainbow Dash! Let the games begin! AND MAY THE BEST PEGASUS WIN!” Both mares smiles turned into looks of confusion and grotesque as I spoke. Just as suddenly as it happened, the feeling passed, and I was left just as confused as them.

“Oh… oh my! Did I really just do that? I... I'm not sure where that came from...” I began to rub my temple with one hoof as the two mares stood, not sure what to say next. Rainbow Dash leaned over to Fluttershy and whispered:

“You let that guy live with you?” Fluttershy replied:

“He’s never done that before.” I stopped massaging my head and looked up at them.

“I’m standing right here you realize. I can hear you,” I said, frowning. Both picked themselves up again, still looking slightly worried. Rainbow Dash spoke first:

“Well, uh… I guess we can meet at town square for the race later… I guess. Only if you want to. You know, race,” The normally brash mare sounded more like Fluttershy for a moment, before returning to normal, “I also thought you should know, I got my Wing Power Average up to 31.4! I can’t wait for our race later!” I blinked. ’31.4? That’s almost twice her last average. And she was already fast. 31.4 WPA is almost enough to reach Mach 2. I’m genuinely impressed.’

“Alright, you’ve got a deal. Town square, at high noon? So the Sun won’t be in our eyes while we fly.” She nodded before taking off, leaving a small crater from the Gs in the process. A gust of wind proved her to be at around 20 Wing Power, just from take-off. As she broke the sound barrier flying off, I looked over to Fluttershy, who now looked scarily indifferent. Realizing the implications of my actions, I continued my apology to her:

“I’m again very sorry for that. But that was a one-time thing, I promise. So don’t worry about me, ok? I'm alright.” She stood for a moment, pondering her next action, before giving in and breathing:

“Ok.” As we both headed back inside, I heard a voice behind me call out:

“Wait! Hold on for a moment!” I spun around just in time to see a grey Pegasus fly into a nearby tree. I ran to their aid, just to watch them fall from the branches onto their face. I then noticed it was a mare. Fluttershy began to make her way over, but I gestured to her to just head inside. As I helped the grey Pegasus to her hooves, I also became aware of the fact that she wore a Mail Pony’s satchel, and that she had a wonderful mane. To be honest, she had to be one of the most attractive mares I had ever seen. Then she opened her eyes. The mare was wall-eyed. ’Close, but no cigar.’

“Oh! Hello there! Sorry about that, I sometimes have trouble flying. You know, my eyes being like this. Anyway, a spooky mare told me to give this to you.” She handed me a letter from her satchel. I looked at her quizzically.

“The mare wanted to make sure that you got it. She gave me a very detailed description of you and everything! She even paid me triple in advance for me to get this to you. So here it is. Also, I’m Ditzy Doo. I don’t believe we’ve met. And you are?”

“Red Storm. Perhaps we should plan a meeting in the near future…” I said absent-mindedly, most of my attention on the letter. She didn’t seem to notice and said:

“That sounds great! I have more letters to deliver, but I will look for you when I’m all done! Bye!” She flew away, and as I waved, I opened the letter with my teeth. Inside was a small piece of parchment. It read:

Hello Red Storm. It’s been 12 years, has it not? I’m looking forward to seeing you again real soon.-W

I bit my lip. A flood of mixed emotions pulsated through my body.‘She’s alive? It’s been so long… how did she even find me? I suppose I cannot be surprised. This may be good or bad news, but all I can do now is wait and see.’ And with that, I walked back inside, letter tucked under my wing.

Author's Notes:

In case anyone was wondering, I was planning on depiciting Ditzy as rather intelligent, just with qwerks. You know how it is.

The Bell Tolls for Me

Author’s Blathering: I have decided to make it so that each chapter is at least 1000-1500 words long, with Act Finales (10th CH) coming closer to 2000-2500. Also, I have been listening to “Anna’s Pony Music” playlist on youtube while I write this. Check it out, or she may shoot me. Naw, but really, check it out.

I trotted back inside, and when I entered put my letter down on the coffee table. Before I even had another moment to think about the situation, Fluttershy walked up to me. She had a glaring look of concern and a touch of dominance. She immediately asked:

“What happened, and who’s the letter from?” I was struck at how forward she was. I know I hadn't known her for very long, but I could easily tell that she was simply not like this.

“It was a delivery made by Miss Ditzy Doo gone wrong,” I answered, “The letter itself is from an old friend from my kingdom who I haven’t seen in a long time.” The second statement was only partially true. I wasn’t sure if my ‘Old Friend’ was in town to get together and have some drinks, or to drag me back home in a bag. My friend was a Sanguine Noble guard whom I took a liking to, and we quickly became very good friends. Now that I think about it, seeing them again would be rather nice... Assuming they do not kill me. Fluttershy pursed her lips, examining my face. I nodded my head to her in a gesture of understanding.

"It's fine. There is nothing wrong. It appears my friend is in town. There is nothing to fear from them." 'I hope...'

“The look on your face made it seem like something was wrong. ” I didn’t realize I had been frowning until she mentioned the fact. I relaxed my face back into it's resting position.

“Sorry,” I apologized, “I do that while deep in thought. Like now. Ever wonder how we can pick things up without fingers?” I asked while hefting a potted plant, my subconscious frown suddenly returning. Fluttershy giggled at my foalishness before turning away from me.

“Ok. Well I will be with the animals if you need me.” Ah, of course; we had the schedule. I started to dust as she left through the back. I looked at the clock. It read 9:28:45. Two hours, thirty-two minutes, and fifteen seconds until the race. Fourteen. Thirteen. Shutting my eyes, I spun around and put my back to the clock. I can’t be stressed out. I need to keep my cool. Even better, I should go out and see how fast I can really go, because that 31.4 average is going to be hard to beat. What’s more, is that I will have to go at least 30% faster to beat her in the race, if my math is correct. The reason why I say that is because 31.4 is her average, and she will definitely exceed that at several points throughout the race.

“TRAINING MONTOUGE GO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, extending a foreleg above my head. Nothing happened. “That sucks. It always worked in the movies…”

“Is everything alright in there?’ I heard Fluttershy squeak from the back room. ‘Oh crap. She heard that? That’s embarrassing.’ Then again, I did shout it.

“Yes, Fluttershy, everything is fine. I was just talking to myself. Like a fool, as per usual.” I responded, blushing slightly.

“Alright then. It sounded like something was happening. I just want to make sure you're ok.” She went back outside, and I felt plain stupid. Either way, I needed to prepare myself for the coming contest. Zipping through my chores, I finished dusting as fast as I could. Then, after I was done I began to wash the bed sheets. Because Fluttershy had no washing machine, I had to wash the sheets in a bucket by hoof. It was painfully slow work, but once it was done I decided to reward myself with a light snack. Returning to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and procured a delicious-looking cupcake. A rather out-of-place cupcake that happened to be in the fridge. Paying this oddity no mind, I bit into it gleefully. Though my eyes shot open when I realized that it tasted a bit funn-

-y

“Wake up! Wake up! Please wake up!"

I opened my eyes to see Fluttershy standing over me. She instantly relaxed when she saw my eyes snap open. I jumped up and looked at the time. The dreaded cat clock told me that it was eleven fifty-five.

“SWEET LUNA ON A UNICYCLE! I’M GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE RACE!” I yelled, horrified. I faced Fluttershy, reclaiming my demeanor.

“Quick question before I leave, why did you have a drugged cupcake in the fridge?” Fluttershy cocked her head, putting a hoof to her chin. She thought for a moment before speaking:

“That cupcake was drugged? The one with the pink frosting? That's rather odd. Pinkie Pie gave that to me a few days ago. Although I was saving it for a special occasion, I can’t begin to guess why she would ever do such a thing.” Shaking my head, I turned for the door. I couldn't waste any more time thinking about it. I flew out the door pumping my wings and headed for Town Square. I heard Fluttershy say she would meet me there, but just barely. I flew there as fast as I could, and when I landed, I noticed that there was a huge crowd. Rainbow Dash stood there in front of the crowd, with her trainer next to her. This was likely that “Micks” fellow she was talking about last month. He was an older stallion with a grayed mane and had a cap on. He also had a towel around his neck, and his Cutie Mark was of a pair of Boxing Gloves.

“Come on girl! Yer gonna kill ‘em today! Don’t let ‘em near ya! You’re gonna eat lightning and fart thunder! You got this kid!” was some of the random encouragement he was spewing as I walked up. When the rainbow-maned Pegasus saw me, she waved him off before stepping hoof-to-hoof with me.

“Are you ready eat my dust, slow-poke?” she said to me. I replied:

“No, I think I will have some tea and biscuits while waiting for you at finish line, thank you very much,” I said back, as snooty as can be, "And I don't even like tea," I added with a snide grin. Rainbow Dash just huffed and puffed a bit as we stared each other down. This lasted only seconds before "Micks" broke our concentration with a loud interjection.

“Alright kids, listen up ‘cause I don’t like to repeat myself. You’re gonna make a single lap around Ponyville; first to The Zebra’s hut in the Everfree forest,-“

“Zecora’s hut,” somepony corrected in the audience.

“Before turnin’ around an’ goin’ past the Sweet Apple Acres’ barn. From there, you head back here to Town Square. Finish line is there,” he said, pointing to a rather hastily made finish line banner held up on large stilts. “Whoever makes it back here first, wins. Any questions?” Silence. “Good. LINE IT UP!”

We lined up, side by side. The mare who was Lyra quickly showed me a map of the course, before running back to the crowd. We stood, anticipating the starting mark…

“GO!”

We flew forward with such momentum that a cloud of dust rose from where we just were. I pumped my wings as hard as I could, and so did she. We were neck-in-neck, both flying at ridiculous speeds to the first checkpoint, the home of the zebra named “Zecora”, which resided in the middle of the Everfree forest. I almost lost focus from the amazing feeling of having the wind blow through my mane, the rustling of my coat, and the adrenaline flowing through my veins. I focused again once I realized I was slowing down, and I heard the thunderous boom of Rainbow Dash shattering the sound barrier. I was dazed from the noise, but I pushed on until I too, broke the sound barrier. I saw the hut up ahead, and RD flying past it. I silently swore as I zoomed up to it, before turning around. She was still about a hundred feet in front of me, and so I fought to push myself further. Then it happened. I reached Mach 2. I felt the Gs very quickly begin to pile on. I flew faster still, as we approached the orchard known as Sweet Apple Acres. I began to catch up to the Pegasus in front of me, and she may or may not have noticed this. She went faster, hitting Mach 3. I soon followed, and in no time at all, we were passing Sweet Apple Acres on our way back to town square. However, as we began to creep into the Mach 4 zone, something began to feel… off. I sensed a slightly painful tingling coming from my chest, but I didn’t bother to check, as that would ruin my aerodynamics, costing me speed. However, I noticed that Rainbow Dash began to leave behind a “Tail” as she flew, displaying her colours in a rainbow contrail as she flew on. I thought this phenomenon was simply happening to me as well, so I put it off.

We sped faster and faster, and now I was next to her again. She looked at me in surprise, and she pushed faster. I followed in her suit, keeping up and continuously gaining speed. Grinning, I felt my blood begin to boil. Suddenly something amazing happened beside me. She erupted in a beautiful explosion of colour, before shooting straight ahead. A Sonic Rainboom. I remembered tales that my mother told me when I was a foal about a Pegasus being able to fly faster than the princess, if not faster than light itself. I had thought then it was stuff of legend, but I now know better after witnessing such a thing before my very eyes. I was momentarily stunned before I pushed myself harder than ever before. ‘anything you can do I can do better, Rainbow Dash!" Straining my body as far as it could go without magical assistance, I felt myself hit Mach 5, and something strange happened. I still can't explain how it felt, but the only word to describe the sensation would be "pain". I then understood why the stories only ever spoke about one pony. No other pony was supposed to be able to accomplish the feat except the one.

I felt the blood being ripped from my very being, from every pore in a gruesome mockery of the Sonic Rainboom. This was a Sanguinary Rainboom. I roared in agony as the blood exploded from my body. I hit Mach 5 and faster, spraying outward a bloody red mist, mimicking the spectra explosion of the Sonic Rainboom in a rather disturbing parody. I wanted to die then and there but something kept me going through the unimaginable pain. I flew faster, faster, faster, until I was just behind her. Then, just as we neared the finish line, blood loss took its toll, and I blacked out. All in about forty seconds.

Author's Notes:

Also, to anyone paying attention, Red Storm shows signs of several mental illnesses, like I do. Kudos to those who can spot them.

The Sanguine Curse

Authors Ramblings: Woo-hoo! We finally delve into why Red Storm is a demigod, why he’s a prince, and why he hates his family! Read on...

My mind swims as I regain consciousness. Eyes fluttering open, I adjust myself to the light in the room. Standing over me is a gorgeous mare in a nurse outfit. It seems that even after such extensive trauma, I am still capable of experiencing lust. Before I can open my mouth, the mare noticed me and immediately backed off. As she retreated to the doorway of the room, six other mares came into view. All of which were equally stunning. Looking around, the thought crossed my mind that I was in fact was dead, and in some sort of pony heaven. That I was surrounded by angels who were here to sooth my mortal woes and aches. Alas, even in my numbed state I quickly spotted two I.V. stands, one on my left, and one on my right. The I.V. on my right was filled with blood, and it's twin contained a clear liquid. Anesthetic… That would explain why everypony here looks so beautiful; I’m high as a kite right now. I take a second look, and I realize that the six mares were my friends Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle.

“Who…whooo won the race?” Were the first words out of my mouth. Fluttershy stepped forward, and on the mind-numbing drug, she looked like a goddess. Her beauty easily out shined that of all the other mares in the room, and I had to fight down the urge to kiss her, in my drunken-like state.

“Rainbow Dash won, but you came close. You came in a tenth of a second behind her. Unconscious, and covered in your own blood. You actually started to bleed around halfway back to Town Square, but I guess you didn’t notice... Once Rainbow Dash did her Sonic Rainboom though, you almost seemed to explode! I- I mean we were so worried.” I waved her off before saying:

“I did that on purpose... Ssort of. I needed speed, and mimicking Rainbow Dashh's 'Sonic Rainboom' as you call it seemed like... a good idea.” I saw Pinkie Pie giggle at my slurred speech.

“He-he! He sounds REALLY drugged out, and that’s funny!” everypony in the room looked at her sideways, while I swatted at some non-existent stars.

“So how are you feeling?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking very worried.

“Tipsy! But overall ok… But my question is why is there a blood bag in my arm?” I asked, pulling it out. A bit of blood squirted out onto my foreleg, but I paid that no mind. I opened my mouth wide before announcing: “It should be in my MOUTH.” And with that, I stuck the tube in my mouth before starting to suck out the precious liquid. Everypony in the room stared, horrified (Especially Rarity) as I drank the whole thing. When I was done, I felt renewed. Yanking out the anesthetic, I called out to the nurse in the doorway.

“That was delicious! Nurse! Bring me another!” I threw the empty blood bag to the floor, and the nurse wasted no time in leaving the room. Meanwhile, all six of the remaining mares stared, gawking. Even Pinkie Pie.

“Ya… ya’ll just drank that there blood like it was some grade-A cider!” said Applejack, stunned. “And yer eyes… they’re RED!” At that I was slightly perplexed, and it showed. Twilight floated over a mirror, not once closing her jaw, nor blinking. I looked into the mirror, and just as Applejack said, my irises had turned a blood-red colour. I chuckled at this, while Rarity swayed back and forth nearly fainting from shock.

“That’s normal whenever I drink blood.” I said, the anesthetics purged from my system due to my returning strength. “My family aren't called the Sanguine Nobles for no reason! We of the Sanguine house have greatly enhanced healing when we drink blood, among augmented strength, dexterity, and speed. Unfortunately, our eyes also have a tendency to turn red. Of course, that is a rather small price to pay compared to the benefits.” At that moment, the nurse returned with another bag. Flapping my wings, I lunged out of bed and grabbed it with my teeth. Tilting my head back, I unsheathed my fangs and bit into it hard, draining the contents directly into my mouth. I spit out the perforated bag and turned back to the nurse, blood dripping from my sharpened teeth. The mare in front of me looked horrified, and was shivering in her shoes.

“Why thank you Miss…?”

“Red-Redheart. Nu-Nurse Redheart.” She stuttered, terrified.

“Thank you, Nurse Redheart. See me for a nice tip once I head out. Bits, of course,” I added with a wink. She just nodded her head slowly before stepping backwards back into the hall. I closed the door behind her. Then, I turned back to my friends. They seem to have been affected slightly less by my monstrous transformation, but were still very clearly unnerved at my feral behavior.

“I’m sorry about that, ladies, but I must ask you to excuse my behavior. It is rather unbecoming of a Prince. Even one afflicted with the Sanguine Curse.” I emphasized this last word, which caught Twilight’s attention.

“I’ve heard about that,” she said. "Isn't that what gives you and your family all of your powers? I nodded, before saying:

“Of course you have heard of it. But I doubt you know the story behind it. So allow me to enlighten you.” I licked the remaining blood from my lips and began my tale:

“You see, it all began during the first Nightmare Moon Crisis. Nightmare Moon needed allies to spread her eternal darkness. She needed an army. After one of her first confrontations with Celestia, she left Equestria and went overseas to gather followers. There, she found a two-bit kingdom whose name has been lost to time. The ponies in this kingdom ponies were stuck in a rather primitive era, and they still believed you could make it rain by making live sacrifices. But they didn’t want to risk losing the favour of their gods, no, so they sacrificed ponies. So when Nightmare Moon arrived, they saw her as a god. Sure, you can say she technically is, but let’s not get side-tracked here.”

“So she comes along and offers the king, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Redmane, power beyond his comprehension if he helped her conquer the Eastern lands. He of course accepted this deal. Even in her weakened state, they brought the “Old World” as it was known to its knees, and Redmane became the most powerful king in its combined history. But when he asked for his prize, she gave it to him all right. Along with a nice, fat curse.”

“She ‘blessed’ him with a sharing of blood. He was from then on imbued with half the powers of a Celestial Noble, but at a terrible price. He essentially became an immortal, but he had to feed on the blood of other ponies if he wanted to keep his state of immortality. He quickly wound up killing all of his servants, and also went quite mad in the process. However, one day, his wife, the queen, gave birth to two foals. One was a unicorn filly, and the other a Pegasus colt. Both as black as night, with eyes as red as blood. He named the filly ‘Scarlet Drop’ and the colt ‘Red Mist’.“

"The filly grew up to be a very powerful Unicorn, even more powerful by far than the most powerful in all the lands. And then the colt grew up to become the fastest flier in the entire kingdom, and was as strong as an ox. After Redmane was usurped by his children (they staked and burned him for the record), they took his throne, and formed the Sanguine Kingdom. For centuries the Sanguine Kingdom was ruled by the Sanguine Nobility, and it became an extremely prosperous kingdom. It became wealthy from trade with other nations, and was free of war, plague, or famine. But one thing remained: the blood rituals.”

“The sacrifices continued after all that time, but were no longer for Nightmare Moon. Now they were directed at the mighty rulers, the Sanguine Nobility. What would happen is that every month, a random pony of mid-age, from a random town, was brought to the capitol, Redmane Keep, and slaughtered as a sacrifice to the King and his family. And before you ask Rainbow Dash, no, there was no in-breeding in the Nobility. The King would choose a mare to be his bride, and on their wedding day, bestow the ‘gift’ of the Sanguine Curse on her by feeding her a drop of his own blood. These sort of rituals went on for centuries until it came to my sister and me.”

“You see, my father, Red Wing, was unique. Unlike his father and all of his fathers before him, he was greedy, wanted to expand, and rule the Northern Lands too. So he changed the ritual. He made my mother, Scarlet Glimmer, queen my injecting her with his blood, instead of feeding it to her as we had been doing all these years. Now something you must understand is, Red Mist and Scarlet Drop were the only ponies in the family to have naturally red irises. My father, however, killed his father by drinking his blood. Then, not only did his irises turn permanently red, they became cat-like slits. So when he injected my mother with his blood, her eyes turned to slits as well. When he had my sister and me however, we had normal irises, as always. He saw this as a sign of weakness, being a raving lunatic and all, and made us train as warriors since birth. Truth be told, my sister is several years older than me, and had a head start. But that also meant my father could turn her sooner too. He fed her his blood at the age of 30, and she became just like him. Twisted. Cruel. And Evil.”

“I fled home because I didn’t wish to go through the same ritual as my sister, and because I just needed to get away from the madness. Sure, I drank the sacrificial blood when they told me to, but I never liked it. I only did it just now because pumping it into my foreleg wasn’t helping. So there you go, the horrible history of my horrible family. Any questions?”

Author's Notes:

To anyone wondering about how everypony mentioned in this chapter looks, I got you set.
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=pony+creator#/d47efz4 Go here, and put in these codes for the respective ponies.
3X1P2S5010191919FE171700010FE0000RF1837206000001G1000000FE00000L107F3FCC004CB2 = Red Wing
4Q0J2S4010191919FE171700000FE0000RB1B3C204040011F17F00005900000L11000000FE0000 = Redmane
4K0J284010191919FE171700000FE0000RB1B3C504020001R1000000FE00000L11000000FE0000= Red Mist
4G2T0K62000D0D0CFE000000211FE1212KH18372040000033100073F7300FE1C107F3FCC004CB2= Scarlet Drop
That's OCD for ya. Thanks for reading!

Washing Away the Past

As I finished my story, my friends around me just sat in silence, perhaps in awe or fascination. Twilight Sparkle was the first to speak up.

“Well, that’s a certainly… interesting history to say the least. No wonder you hate your family so much, there is just… so much death involved.” Everypony sat there… quietly. Then Pinkie Pie looked up at me. She stepped to my side before whispering:

“Hey, if you’re ok now, does that mean I can throw you a party?” I nodded quietly, half wondering if she even heard my story.
“YAYY! I FINALLY GET TO THROW A PARTY! You know, it’s been exactly thirty-five hours, forty-two minutes and fifty-five seconds since my last party? ITS GONNA BE GREAT!” On that note, she then proceeded to jump out a nearby pane-glass window. However, if the sign on my door meant anything, we were apparently on the fifth floor of the building. The five of us ran to the window to see if she was ok, but she was nowhere in sight.

“I almost forgot, do you want a theme? I almost soiled myself, hearing the squeaky pink mare behind me. I looked at everypony else in the room, and they too, wore expressions of shock and disbelief.

“Wha… ya just… out the window… but... here you are!... what?” Applejack said, very confused. I preferred just to stare, trying to comprehend what sort of being stood before me. Such incredible displays of supernatural prowess, and yet I couldn't seem to detect the faintest trace of magical power. My train of thought was quickly interrupted as the pink mare spoke up again:

“Fine then, don’t give me a theme. I will come up with my own. She then causally walked out the room. All of a sudden, we all heard her singing from out the window. We went to check, and there she was, skipping down the road. I couldn't help but feel a primal fear towards her, seeing as I knew nothing about how she functioned.

“How… terrifying. Do the laws of time and space bow to her, or simply ignore her?” I said, still rather perplexed. Everypony else just shrugged, not knowing an answer to the impossible question. It seemed that this behavior was new to even them.

After about We exited the hospital once my eyes returned to normal, and at that point, Rarity had woken up again. I waved goodbye to all of the staff who cared for me as we left, but Nurse Redheart almost seemed traumatized however. I couldn’t help but feel bad for my sadistic actions. I should repay her someday. But that would have to wait, as it was getting late and we all decided to part ways. We all headed back to town square, and from there everypony headed back home. It was at that point that the sun was beginning to go down. Halfway back to Fluttershy’s cottage, I stopped walking suddenly. She stopped and turned to me. Cocking my head slightly, I asked:

“Do you see me as a bad pony?” She looked almost confused.

“No, why do you ask?” she responded, a frown of worry quickly forming. I looked down and took a breath, closing my eyes before meeting hers again. My gaze softened as I attempted to read her.

“After telling you about my dark history, I would almost expect you to hate me, let alone let me back into your home. I mean, Twilight Sparkle tried to kill me over it. You almost seem... too kind. I feel undeserving.” Her brows furrowed, turning her look of worry into parental disappointment.

“Just because your family did evil things, doesn’t mean you are evil. I would disagree with anypony who said othewise.”

“I drink blood. Don’t you at least find that scary?”

“Well, yes. But you can’t help yourself. I understand that. If anything, it would be Redmane’s fault for siding with Nightmare Moon and cursing his family in the first place. Besides, I live with woodland creatures. I know some animals eat meat. You're just... like that."

"A predator you mean," I snapped back, my neutral expression quickly devolving to a scowl. "Something that kills and eats other animals." She shook her head, looking for words.

"That's not what I mean. I think you are a wonderful pony, and even if you do drink blood I know it's something you need to do. I dont think you're any more evil than a wolf or bat. I think you're actually very nice, and I don't think that you would ever hurt me or anyone else even if my friends disagree with me. I don't entirely know why, but I trust you.” As she spoke those last few words, she drove them home by pulling me into a hug. I felt a small tear forming in my eye, something I had not felt in a long time. No pony had been this kind to me in years. As she let go of me, I heard a very familiar voice speak behind me.

“It looks like you found yourself a marefriend, eh Red Storm?” I immediately knew who the voice belonged to before I even turned to face the speaker. Before me stood a unicorn mare in full silverette platemail armour. She stood leaning on a tree with her forelegs crossed, the visor of her helmet down to conceal her face. She was shorter than both Fluttershy and I, but this was only because Fluttershy was taller than the average mare.

“Whitewash! You! You're alive! We all thought you were dead! What are you even doing here? If you are here to take me back-" Whitewash interrupted me with a flash of bright white magic from her horn as her armour disappeared, leaving only her saddlebag on her back. Giggling, she stepped forward out of the shade of the tree. Her enchantingly green eyes glimmered brightly even in the dim light. She was a few years younger than me at twenty-four years old, and her coat was a light crème-yellow, with a chocolate brown mane and tail. Her mane and tail were both short and very well combed. Her eyes sparkled with compassion as she gave me a cheery smile. She extended a hoof in greeting, and after a moment of silence I reluctantly returned the gesture.

“How’s life treating you Red Storm? I heard a strange stallion with a black coat and armour showed up here in Equestria, right around the same time the prince went M.I.A. overseas. I decided to see if it was you, and sure enough, here you are.” She looked at Fluttershy, who wore an expression of confusion. Remembering that I was not alone with Whitewash I cleared my throat.

“Ah yes, I’m sorry Fluttershy. This is my friend Whitewash,” I said. “She was my personal bodyguard back home, when I was still a prince. She disappeared, over ten years ago during a reconnaissance mission.” Turning back to face Whitewash I quickly added: "And no, she is not my marefriend. Simply a friend who happens to be a mare." I added a touch of annoyance to the last sentence, to make my discomfort apparent to the unicorn in front of me.

“Oh suuure. Got it, stud. And for your information, I just got tired of hearing “Your Royal Airhead” blather all the time,” Whitewash retorted. “ Also, the other guards started to get a little too frisky around that time.”

“Well, if you’re a friend of Red Storm’s, you are a friend of mine,” Fluttershy said with a smile. I raised an eyebrow at this. “Although, it is getting quite late. I think we should head back to my cottage instead of waiting here… if that’s ok with you.”

“That sounds nice. Let us depart!” Whitewash said. We began to walk back, with Fluttershy in the lead, but then the unicorn pulled me aside. “About Fluttershy…”

“What about her?” I interrupted, irritated.

“I always thought you to be the dominant kind, but don’t you think this is a bit much?" She finished with a grin. I was stunned, and threw a punch at her side, but was met with hard enchanted steel, hurting my bare hoof. Upon connecting, a flicker of her armour appeared, then disappeared again.

“I can see you’ve gotten better with your invisibility veils,” I said between clenched teeth, caressing my injured hoof.

“You could say that again. Spent some time with the changelings. I learned a lot- especially some hoofs-on studies.” She gave me a devious wink before trotting to catch up with Fluttershy. I did my best to rid myself of the horrifying mental images to no avail. When we arrived at the cottage, I let the two mares in before locking the door behind me. Whitewash and myself sat down, in the living room while Fluttershy began to prepare tea. However, Whitewash produced her own… beverage of choice.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, my eyes going wide as Whitewash revealed a large, purple, glass bottle that was filled with a familiar translucent rusty-brown liquid. On the label it showed my Great-great-great-great-great-aunt's picture.

“Indeed it is! Good, old-fashioned Scarlet Swift Whiskey! Would you like a glass?"

“Yes please! It’s been too long since I had any real liquor, let alone Sanguinary whiskey!” I couldn't help feel slightly hypocritical of my excitement as I had painted the Kingdom in such poor light earlier today. I quickly banished the thought however as Whitewash floated a pair of shot glasses out of her saddlebag. We then said our cheers, and downed both glasses in a single gulp. The whiskey was strong, with a nice flavour much like rose petals. When Fluttershy returned a few moments later, she looked awfully confused.

“What are you drinking?” she asked.

“Scarlet Swift Whiskey! Made by my ancestor aunt, It may be one of the few things my family did right. Whitewash had some on hand, and I simply couldn't refuse. Would you like a glass?” I responded.

“Ok… I guess so.” She sat down next to me, and Whitewash poured another glass. I handed it to her, and she took a small sip, before swallowing. Suddenly her eyes shot open.

“Ah! AH-AH! It’s like drinking FIRE! Ohmyohmyohmy!” she ran over to the kitchen and poured herself some water and drank it quickly which did little to aid the burning. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction.

“I see now that you must prefer your tea then?” I chuckled again before continuing, “I’m sorry, I should have told you about that. That was cruel and uncalled for.” I motioned to Whitewash to put the substance away, who was downing her second shot. To my surprise, Fluttershy reclaimed her composure before calmly walking back over. She sat down next to me again, before finishing her glass. She flinched, and her cheeks turned rosy, but she choked it down.

“May I have another?” she finally asked. Whitewash shrugged before handing her the bottle.

“Go nuts. I’ve hit my limit for now. I do have to walk back to my inn, after all.” Fluttershy responded to this by pouring herself another glass and downing it quickly.

“I take back what I said. You have impressed me with your fortitude, but you have nothing to prove. You are aware of that… right?” Flutttershy ruffled her feathers, shaking all over for a moment before she responded:

“I’m not trying to prove anything. I like this… whiskey, so I’m going to have more.” Her voice sounded slightly slurred, but that came to no surprise as this appeared to be her first time drinking alcohol. She had absolutely no tolerance to it, and was quickly getting “snookered”, as my father used to say. As she tried to pour another glass, I took the bottle from her.

“No. You’ve had enough. You’re going to have a hangover tomorrow as it is, and I don’t want you getting downright drunk. Because, unless you forgot, we have to sleep in the same bed. I don't mean to make assumptions of you, but I prefer to stay on the safe side.” She frowned, but then picked up her tea and started to sip it. I couldn't happen to notice that Whitewash's ears perked up as I said “sleep in the same bed.” I shot her a wicked glance as a wide grin appeared on her face and she settled down again. Then, out of nowhere, she started to laugh. She noticed my confusion, and pointed at Fluttershy. I looked back over to the yellow mare, and she was fast asleep, face-first on the coffee table. I couldn’t suppress my laugh either, as it was a rather funny sight, seeing as the mare was wide awake a moment ago. I hauled Fluttershy back upstairs, but when I returned downstairs, Whitewash was deadly serious. Her smile that she had been wearing all night was now gone, replaced with tight lips.

“You know that your father will come looking for you, and he will eventually find you. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I know,” I said returning the expression.

“He will kill everypony who stands in his way, mare, stallion, or foal.”

“I know.”

“You can’t hide forever. If, no, when he finds you, you are going to have to fight him, if you want to stay.”

“Why are you telling me what I already know?”

“To remind you of the stakes.” She then snapped her tail at the staircase leading up to Fluttershy’s room, where the drunken mare lay sleeping. I nodded at this, before saying:

“Just because I am living with her, doesn’t mean that I love her, you know.”

“I hear your words, but do you really believe what's coming out of your mouth?” With that, she started for the door, and left without another word, closing the door behind her with her magic. I stood there for a moment, before realizing she left the whiskey, likely on purpose. I picked it up, before plopping myself down on the couch. Angel hopped up and sat down next to me, before holding out a glass.

“Want some, do you? Very well.” I filled his glass, and there we sat, drinking. Him from the glass, myself from the bottle, until we both fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

Also, this chapter was entirely written by my co-writer Annabeth while I was in the hospital. (In case you were wondering why, I was hit by bus. No biggy.) It was some time before I even came onto FiMfiction.net, and we both hope you enjoy it. Oh, and here's Scarlet Swift for you:
4G1X1E0100141413FE000000101903DCC6K1839003020001O10004265000B20Z107F3FCC004CB2
Just pop the code in Pony Creator. Yes, I have the whole damn cast made, and then some.

Wakey-Wakey

I woke up with a pounding headache. I was on the couch with Angel lying on the ground next to me, hugging the empty whiskey bottle, still fast asleep. I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I opened the door and fell in. I got back up only to see Fluttershy passed out on the toilet, with driblets of vomit still around her mouth. I cleaned her up, then the toilet, before dragging us both up back up to the bedroom. I set her down and covered her, before returning downstairs.

I rinsed my face with some cold water, which quickly brought me back again. I made my way to the kitchen, where I began to prepare breakfast as quietly as possible. I made some toast, prepared some flowers, and I also put together my father’s “Wake-Up-Juice” for Fluttershy’s hangover. Hot sauce, an onion, mustard seed, and a hoof-full of chilies all blended together in a mixture sure to sober you up in ten seconds flat. I slightly flinched as I blended them together, as it was unbearably loud, at least to me. When it was done, I listened to hear if Fluttershy had woken up. Nothing. I took a cup and filled it up, and drank the whole thing. Holy Luna, that is hot. Few seconds later, I felt like my head was ablaze, but perfectly sober. I returned to making breakfast while I continued to listen for Fluttershy.

A little while later, she came downstairs, right as I was setting the table. She was squinting and was clearly suffering dearly from her hangover. I helped her sit down, and even the squeaking of the chairs on the wood floor caused her to shudder.

“My head hurts a lot…” she began, so quiet I could have heard a butterfly land over her voice.

“I know it does, and I need you to drink this. Just drink it quickly, or I assure you, your headache will be the last of your troubles.” She did as she was told, and she drank the whole glass quickly.

“Oh…my.” She then ran over to the sink and began to drink straight out of the faucet while I waited at the table. I counted to ten, and by then she had gotten over her fit. When she returned to the table, she wore a face of utter scorn.

“That was a cruel joke, Red Storm.”

“Is your hangover gone?” She paused, realizing the true effects of the “Wake-Up-Juice”. “Y-yes it is,” she stuttered.

“Thank me later. For now, let us eat.” We ate our meal silently, and an oddly sober Angel joined us at the table to nibble on a carrot. Once we were done, I cleaned up the table, washed the blender, and joined Fluttershy in the living room. I sat next to her on the couch, and as I did, she said:

“Please remind me never to drink whiskey again.” I simply nodded with a smile.

“You will say that every time, but you will always come back to it,” I said. She frowned.

“Then don’t let me ever drink again.” I laughed.

“If you insist m’lady! I will protect you from the devil-drink until the end of days!” I bowed down, extending my wings like I had meant to when we first met, being knightly in an obnoxious way. She continued to frown.

“Please stop making fun of me.”

“You’re the one who got drunk.”

“There’s no need to make fun of me though.”

“I will keep that in mind.” I sneered at her upon saying this. I was half wondering if I should stay my true to my word, or let her build up a tolerance. I decided on the latter. It would be funnier that way, and she also benefits from it… in a way.We sat staring at each other for a minute before she got up and said:

“I need to tend to the animals.” I nodded.

“I’m not going to stop you.”

“Must you always be so asinine?” I thought about it.

“Hmm… very well. I do need to work on that.” She went outside as I began to do the morning rituals. I dusted for a while, and then did the laundry, and then finally I sat around not knowing what to do next.

When Fluttershy returned, I had been finishing my three-deck house of cards, which also included a shed in the backyard. I was rather proficient at that sort of thing. Fluttershy saw it, and raised an eyebrow. I looked at her and said:

“What? I got bored.” She giggled, before knocking it down. I stared at the pile of cards, before laughing. “Oh well. Everything comes crashing down in the end, eh?” We stopped laughing and looked into each other’s eyes.

“You’re right. It’s best to savor life to the fullest,” the yellow mare said, before jumping onto me. Before I could say anything, she planted a kiss on my lips, and I blinked, wondering what was going on. When I opened my eyes, everything was as it was. She stood across the room from me, still staring at me. ‘That was weird.’ I thought.

“Maybe you should get out. You’ve been acting unlike yourself lately.” I nodded in agreement before adding:

“As have you. Perhaps I should meet with Whitewash today, and you can see your friends.” She pondered it for a moment, before nodding herself. “It’s settled then! We shall not see each other again until tonight! Good bye.” I flew out the window almost spastically, leaving Fluttershy with what I could only guess to be a look of confusion. ‘Perhaps I can council with Whitewash on this… odd daydream. And catch up too, of course!’

‘Not a bad idea, though you should really talk to Fluttershy about that… daydream.’

‘When did you get benevolent?’

‘Just now. Don’t get used to it.’ Silence. I really got to stop having conversations with myself like that. I might begin to think myself mad.

Author's Notes:

This was Anna's Second Chapter, as I was still under from the accident. She wrote it without any council from me, nor any of my notes to go by. I think she did a swell job, and I hope you all think so too.

Why Not?

I arrived at town’s square a few moments later, and decided to ask around to see where Whitewash could be staying. I felt like a fool not to have asked when I first saw her, but it’s not like I can re-write the past. I asked around for a few minutes, before somepony finally told me she might be staying at the local inn. I began to fly on over, but bumped into Miss Doo in mid-air.

“Oh! Sorry about that. I didn’t see you there,” she said, as I got up and helped her to her hooves.

“The blame is half-mine as well. Don’t feel bad. How are you, Miss Doo? I haven’t seen you since you delivered that letter.” Upon saying that, I had occurred to me that she wasn’t wearing her Mail-Mare uniform. Perhaps she was off-duty?

“I’ve been doing really well! How are you feeling, after exploding?” I paused, trying to find the meaning of this statement. ‘Ah, yes. The Sanguine Rainboom. Of course.’

“Technically I didn’t explode. It was more of a “cataclysmic blood donation”. But I’m doing well, thank you for asking.” We both stood there, awkwardly silent. Then Miss Doo spoke up:

“Hey! I’ve got an idea! How about we grab some dinner together?” I thought about the offer, tilting my head sideways, before saying:

“Perhaps. I have some things to do today, but I will talk to you again if my schedule changes… ok?”

“Ok,” she nodded her head, before flying off. She stopped in midair, before saying;

“I will be at my home if you change your mind! It’s the big yellow one across the street from the Post Office!” Then she flew off, without turning back again.

I continued along my course to the inn, finding no other reason to stop. Once I arrived, I immediately asked if a mare under the name of Whitewash had recently checked in. The mare at the registration desk said yes, and told me the room number. As I made my way to Suite 38, I chuckled. ‘Just like Whitewash to find the most expensive place to stay.' I made my way over to the door on the third floor and knocked. I wasn’t surprised when a tall, muscular, unicorn stallion opened the door. I was surprised when he greeted me with:

“Red Storm! Whatcha doing here?” I looked at the stallion sideways. He was slightly taller than me, with a golden mane and a grey coat. He had a Cutie Mark of a Hammer and Anvil. What caught my attention, however, was the fact that this stallion’s eyes were exactly the same emerald-green hue as Whitewash’s. He noticed my surprise, and laughed lightly.

“Sorry for the confusion there, Red Storm. It’s me, Whitewash.”

I could have sworn that my brain had erupted in sparks just then. The Stallion continued, “I am using a gender spell. Technically it’s a veil, but tell that to the mare in my bed! Real enough for her! He (she?) chuckled when a mare limped up to him (her?) and leaned against his (her?) side.

The mare was pale yellow, almost whitish in colour, with a raspberry mane streaked with a lighter shade of raspberry. Her eyes were a yellow-green in colour and she bore a Cutie Mark of a rose.

“Who’s this?” the mare spoke, head resting on the stallion before me. “Some friend of yours, Anvil?”

“Yes, in fact he is. This is Red Storm… you know, the one who raced Rainbow Dash earlier this week? He came by for a spot of tea and-“

“I will stop you there, Anvil. I see you’re… busy, so I will take my leave.” I nodded to the mare before setting off. Behind me, I hear the door close, before giggling mixed with pained screams. Sounds like somepony got carried away with customizing their veil.

As I headed back outside, I felt my stomach grumble. I realized I had never had lunch. Then I remembered Miss Doo. Seeing as my schedule for the afternoon has been cleared, I should go see her now, and take her up on her offer for dinner.

I made my way skywards, because I thought finding Miss Doo’s home would be easier that way. Eventually I found the small house, yellow and just across the street from the post office, just as she said. I walked up to the door and knocked three times. The door swung open and a small purple unicorn filly stood in front of me. She looked at me sideways, before half-turning and calling into the house:

“MOM! You’re date’s here.” I couldn’t help but blush at that statement. ‘Her date? I didn’t mean for it to come across as that…’

The pegasus mare swung around a corner, bumping into a vase, which wobbled before steadying itself. She stood before me, smiling.

“Hi there, Red Storm! This is my daughter, Dinky Doo. Say hello, Dinky.” The filly just stared at me, making me rather uncomfortable. Then, Ditzy shooed her away, before turning back to me. “Ready?” I nodded, and we set off.

We walked through town, headed towards a little restaurant that Miss Doo said had great food. As we walked, I searched my person for bits. I pulled out a hooffull of bits, about 40 or so, which caught the wall-eyed mare’s attention.

“Whoa! That’s a lot of bits, Red Storm! More than I make at least. Where did you get so much money?” I shrugged.

“Inheritance. So where is this place?” She pointed ahead of us to a small building that had various signs of different foods. Some were Germane, some Itallion, and to my surprise, some were from my home place, the Sanguine Kingdom! I was wholly impressed as we entered, and further so when a waiter saw us, and immediately brought us to a table. He then placed two menus in front of us before trotting away.

“This place has the largest selection of food I have ever seen!” I said, looking at the menu in awe. “And the service is very good as well,” I stated, nodding at the waiter. Ditzy just sat across me, smiling wide.

“I’m glad to see you like it here. So, what are you getting? I’m gonna get muffins.” I blinked. Muffins? Ok…

“I think I will get something nice from my home place. Some nice lilies with a side of truffles and sauces. I think the food is the only thing I miss about home.” Ditzy frowned.

“What about your family? Don’t you miss them?”

“No. They are the reason why I left.”

“What did they do?”

“…… Let’s just drop it, alright? I would rather talk about you than my past.” This brought a smile to the mares face again. We then began to talk about our interests, her family, small talk in general. Then the waiter came around, and took our orders. We continued to talk for a while more, until our food was brought over. We ate, talking between mouthfuls, and having a great time.

I paid the bill in full, as a gentlecolt should, and we stepped outside. It had already grown dark, and I offered to walk her home. In fact, I was having such a good time, I forgot we could fly. So we walked back, still chatting. However, when we reached her home, she stopped at the door.

“I had a wonderful time tonight, Red Storm. You’re very nice.”

“Thank you, Miss Doo. I had a splendid time myself.” We stood there, awkwardly at the door for several minutes. Then she turned around and unlocked the door, going in. Right as I turned to leave, she stopped me.

“Wait! Before you go…” I turned around, and was surprised when I received a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for dinner.” She then hurried inside, trying to cover up her blushing, leaving me outside stunned. I quickly shook off the feeling before spreading my wings and taking off, headed back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

'Tonight was interesting. I wonder how Fluttershy’s evening went.’ When I arrived, however, it was apparent I would not be getting any such answer. All the lights were out, and I had to pick the lock with a nearby twig to enter. I wasn’t sure why the door was locked if she expected me back. I entered quietly, locking the door behind me. I went upstairs to find Fluttershy asleep. I climbed in as gently as I could, and received only a slight fidget. As I settled in, the mare wrapped her forelegs around me. I wanted to resist at first, but quickly decided ‘Oh, why not?,’ and spooned her. I quickly fell asleep, and dreamt soundly that night.

Author's Notes:

BTW... this was my first chapter after I had gotten out of the hospital. I was hopped up on pain meds(I still wasn't completely healed), so if anything is amiss, do tell.
Here's Anvil, too, as a random bonus.
4G1O1X4100A6A5A6FEFEFE0020000FE00RK1837000000001R0B3BF267300FE16107F3FCC004CB2
Thanks for reading, chillllldren. This is Red Storm, *WOOOOO!* and you're reading A Sanguine Dawn... no matter how bad it hurts.

Passionate Psychosis

Author’s Note: Sorry for the wait. I got into a big fight with my parents and lost my computer. I’m using my father’s for the weekend, so only expect one or two chapters for the next month, at the least. You guys (and gals) are most important here, and again, I am sorry.

I awoke with a start. I looked to my right, searching for Fluttershy. There she was, sound asleep, still resting on my side. I looked out the window. It looked to be about eight in the morning, judging by the sun’s angle in the sky. I gently untangled myself from the mare (being careful not to wake her), and moved silently downstairs. I began to prepare breakfast as quiet as a mouse, not wanting to wake her. While I did this, I thought to myself:

‘I think I may have feelings for Fluttershy. Romantic feelings. I can’t believe it. I just came here to start a new life, nothing more. But perhaps, love is just part of that. Maybe I HAVE found a new life… here. With her…’ I paused my thoughts while I diced some carrots. ‘No, what am I thinking? I can’t possibly have a life with her. I am a wanted stallion. All I would be doing is putting her in harm’s way if I were to stay. I was only supposed to stay a few days. That was the plan. Then move on into Canterlot and buy a nice house, and live the rest of my days in solitude.’ I breathed a heavy sigh as I plated some flowers with the carrots, before starting on some apples. ‘I am just merely in denial of one simple fact. I am in love with Fluttershy. However, I cannot stay without putting her in harm’s way…’ I stopped again while setting the table.

“…Or can I?” I said aloud.

“Can you what?” I jumped, spinning around, only to find Fluttershy standing behind me, rubbing her eyes with one hoof.

“Oh nothing, Fluttershy, my dear. Just early morning rambling, happens to the best of us. Would you care for some breakfast?” She nodded and sat down in a chair I pulled out for her, not noticing how I called her “dear”. She began to nibble on the meal before her, while I sat deep in thought. Apparently, I was frowning again, as she spoke up.

“Is something troubling you, Red Storm?” I looked at her, and had just then noticed how pretty she really was. Her glossy, perfect coat… Her lush, flowing, pink mane… And the glistening blue irises of her eyes… I shook my head lightly and responded:

“No, nothing’s wrong, I’m just once again deep in thought.” I didn’t have the heart to discuss my true problem with her now. Maybe later… I imagined a hilariously stereotypical moment in which I could confess my love to her; in the wake of a conquered peril, under a romantic moonlit night. I chuckled for a moment, and Fluttershy caught this.

“Sorry. Just remembering a silly foal’s tale.” Fluttershy accepted this explanation and continued to eat. Good save. Sort of.

“Say, Fluttershy, you never got to indulge me with the tales of last night? What went on with you and the other mares?” She shrugged.

“Oh, not very much. We had a little get-together at Sugarcube Corner. What did you do last night with Whitewash?”

“Actually… I found that Whitewash was occupied with company of her own…” The yellow mare’s eyes went wide.

“Oh,” was all she said. I continued by saying:

“However, I ran into Miss Doo en route and we wound up having a delightful dinner together.” I finished with a light-hearted smile. Fluttershy, however, met this with a blank look.

“So… you went on a date with Ditzy Doo?”

“Yes… I suppose you could call it that… why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just… well that’s nice to see that you two are getting along.” I could have sworn she seemed distraught when she trailed off for a moment, but she returned to her quiet, cheery self upon finishing. “How was it?”

“Oh, it was nice. We went out to a pleasant little restaurant in town, and had a swell time. We talked about our interests, past experiences… small talk really. Then, once we were done, I paid the bill, and walked her home. When we got back she… umm” I noticed how Fluttershy was looking at me. Almost with longing. I don’t think she knew she was making a face. “She gave me a kiss and I returned here. That’s about it.” As I wrapped up the short story, Fluttershy relaxed, but maintained a gloomy look about her. ‘Is she… jealous? No, no, certainly not… is she?’

“Something wrong, Fluttershy?” I asked, “You look troubled.” I was beginning to think that Whitewash might have been onto something the other night…

“Oh… no. I’m happy that you got to go on a date,” she smiled, but I didn’t buy it.

“Ok… thank you. Perhaps we can find you a nice colt too… eh?” She smiled again, but with less luster. ‘Perhaps Whitewash WAS right… could this squeamish, quiet, mare possibly have feelings for ME?’

I shook off the thought as she continued to eat, nodding me off. We finished breakfast in silence. I washed the dishes, and Fluttershy left me in silence to go to her animals. I sat alone in the living room in silence, sipping a cup of tea. However, my mind was filled with thoughts.

‘Might she love me? Do I love her? How can I know? How could I be sure it’s not just my imagination?’

‘You can’t, but it’s a safe guess that though she may not love you, she certainly harbors feelings of some sort.’

‘Don’t be foolish. She doesn’t love YOU. She simply sees you as a roommate. Nothing more.’

‘And how, pray tell, how would YOU know that?’

‘Because who has every truly loved you? Nopony.’

‘That’s not true. What about sister Scarlet Rain?’

‘She abandoned you. Left you for father and mother. They probably aren’t even LOOKING for you.’

‘Gentlemen, please. Let us settle this rationally. Is it not possible she DOES share feelings for him, if not love him?’

‘Perhaps.’

‘Fat chance.’

‘Then let it be said, that until further notice, Fluttershy is Red Storm’s Crush.’

‘Very well.’

‘Good enough.’

‘I can live with that.’

I came back to as she re-entered the room again. ‘My Crush. I like that thought… wait... did I just have a four-way conversation with myself?’

“Pray tell, Fluttershy. What are we going to be doing today, anyway?” She stopped, and cocked her head sideways, thinking about it. “I mean, not like I have anything planned.”

“What about Ditzy Doo?” she said, frowning.

‘She has the hots for you.’ A voice said.

‘Shut it!’ I curtly responded to the voice. I returned my attention to Fluttershy.

“I think it is safe to say that that was a friendly rendezvous.” I said, and she just looked at me the same for a moment, before returning to some sort of normality. It seems like I am really having a negative influence on the yellow mare, because she is much different from when I first met her. The quiet, jumpy frightened mare is never to be seen whenever I was present, at least not for several weeks.

‘Perhaps… she feels more comfortable around you?’

‘…Perhaps. That does make sense…’

I must stop talking to myself like that.

“Ok. I guess I can live with that. Besides, wasn’t Pinkie preparing a party for tonight? Shouldn’t you be preparing for that?” My heart skipped a beat.

“T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t…”

“I guess if forgot to mention that she told me to tell you last night, didn’t I?” I merely continued sputtering:

“T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-” before finishing with: “t-t-t-Tonight? I do need to get prepared! How many ponies will be there?”

“Lots… maybe everypony in town.” I gaped for a moment before shutting my mouth.

“I must make myself presentable! How’s my mane? My coat? I must shower, and brush my teeth! I must do everything I can to look my very best! This is a once-in-a-lifetime event! Not like I will ever get another “Welcome Party” ever again.” As I scrambled to get myself ready, Fluttershy stood for a moment before asking:

“You can always have another “Welcome Party”… unless… you’re planning to stay?” I didn’t look to her for several minutes as I searched for my toothbrush. When I found it, however, I turned to her with a caring smile and replied:

“Yes, in fact, I do plan on settling here. I feel like there may be a future here for me… But for now, I must prepare for this PARTY.” I swiftly killed the moment by running into the bathroom to prepare, leaving Fluttershy alone again.

As the sun began to creep down again, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in my own skin. Nopony has ever thrown me a party before, and the only celebration I ever got back home was a day of relaxation and no training… and that was on my Birthdays.

“So, are you sure I look ok? I feel… incomplete.”

“Red Storm, you are wearing Mithril chainmail under your suit, and even the suit seems a bit much. How did you find a suit at this hour, anyway?” I looked at her sideways before saying:

“Firstly, the Mithril is traditional, lightweight and incredibly strong, not to mention plain awesome. Secondly, one must always, always suit up for big occasions. Occasions such as parties. And I got the suit from Rarity, for your information,” I said, trying to sound snooty, but failing when I chuckled. She just giggled lightly, rolling her eyes.

“You know you look silly, right? You’re in a full suit going to a party where nopony else will be wearing anything?”

“Oh well. Where is the party, anyway?”

“At Sugarcube Corner, why?” I gulped.

“Very well, let us get there as soon as possible. My nerves are being tested as we speak.”

We arrived at the party minutes later, and when we finally arrived, the whole building was simply bouncing. There were strobing lights coming from the windows, the thump-thump-thump-thump of a bass stereo pumping. The windows rattled, and if I didn’t believe that everypony in town was there, I would have suspected somepony to be calling some sort of law enforcement due to the party “Disturbing the Peace”.

We trotted up to the door, where a familiar pink mare stood, wearing shades and a vest, obviously trying to be a bouncer… how queer, seeing as everypony was already inside. We neared her, and Miss Pie nodded curtly to us, before asking:

“Name?” I couldn’t help but be confused.

“Pinkie, its Fluttershy and me, Red Storm, and why are you dressed like that?”

“You ain’t on the list.” She said, making her voice gruff. “But you are,” she said, pointing to Fluttershy. Without another word, she pushed the yellow mare inside and followed her in, before stopping at the door, turning to me.

“If you ain’t on the list, you don’t get in. Sorry pal, it’s the rules.” She then stepped inside, and locked the door. I stood there, for several minutes, utterly confused.

Out of nowhere, the door blew open, and Pinkie Pie jumped out in a hail of streamers and confetti, no longer in her bouncer outfit.

“Just kidding!” She said, laughing. “No way I would keep the stallion of the hour out of his own party! Come on in!” She stepped aside, and allowed me in. What met my eyes was spectacular and near-seizure inducing.

Author's Notes:

Is anyone even looking for my references anymore? Cause no one's sayin' jack about finding them. There are two vauge ones in this chapter alone... come on! Throw me a bone here, people! Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story and everything like that.

Pony Rock

Author’s unnecessarily Italic note: Just wanted to throw this out here, I am portraying Ditzy as intelligent and social for this story. So… yeah… Read the story, Tina…

I entered the dark room, only to be blinded by about twenty different coloured lights flashing and blinking in my eyes. I let my eyes adjust, and when they did, I saw that everypony in the room was staring at me. I blinked once, twice, and before I could absently blink a third time, Pinkie Pie grabbed me by the shoulder, standing on her hind legs with a glass of what appeared to be punch in her free hoof before yelling:

“THE GUEST OF HONOUR HAS ARRIVED! NOW LETS REALLY GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!” A huge crowd of mares and stallions of all colours cheered, pumping their drinks in the air, including the other mares whom I had met earlier that autumn. I even caught a glance of Big Macintosh in the corner, holding up a large mug, grinning my way. Pinkie then pointed to a certain white unicorn in shades that was currently mixing some admittedly gnarly rifts, saying:

“DJ! PUT A RECORD ON! LETS PARTY ‘TILL THE SUN COMES UP, AND THEN SOME!” I was nearly deafened by the shouting of the pink party mare, and the blaring music didn’t help. Then, as the new track began to play, the party-crazed mare turned back to me:

“I’M SO GLAD YOU MADE IT! IT WOULDN’T BE A ‘WELCOME TO PONYVILLE, RED STORM’ PARTY IF YOU WEREN’T HERE FOR US TO GREET, HUH?” I nodded nervously, as I scanned the rest of the room. I quickly spotted my friends, and made my way around the crowd, nodding off the greetings I received. I walked up to the mares, but one was missing… Rarity (who was formally dressed, like me)… Fluttershy… Rainbow Dash… Applejack…and Pinkie Pie, who had somehow materialized on this side of the room…… Where was Twilight Sparkle? I said hello to my friends:

“Hi there, everypony, has anypony seen Twilight?” the group shrugged, except Pinkie Pie who saw something and ran over to it, leaving the area as quickly as she appeared.

“I hadn’t seen her since she got here. She snagged som’ punch and wandered off.” Said the orange mare, shrugging. I scanned the room quickly, and soon spotted her purple coat next to a red one. She stood, chatting with Big Mac, while sipping her punch. Every few minutes they would share a light laugh before continuing to chatter. I couldn’t hope to eavesdrop from here, being halfway across the room and having the music playing, backed with the noise of ponies dancing and talking. ‘Perhaps I ought to leave those two alone… just in case.’

“So… what’s everypony doing?” I said, adjusting my collar.

“Not much. Just hangin’ out,” the cyan blue Pegasus said. “What do you think about the party that Pinkie threw you? Pretty cool, huh?” I simply nodded.

“Pray tell, Red Storm, how do you like your suit?” I looked nice and hard at the suit for the first time tonight. It was a dark-grey colour with a red undershirt and had rubies for the collar clips.

“I love it, really. However, I’m feeling rather unnerved here. Do you know where I can get something to drink, punch perhaps?”

“Please, darling, do you honestly think that there is just punch here? The bar is over there,” the well-dressed unicorn said, pointing to a bar area that I had somehow missed.

“Yeah! I mean, what’s a party without stiff drinks?” Rainbow Dash added. I nodded in thanks, and as I walked away, I could hear the five mares chirping away with each other. I made my way to the bar, trying not to step on anypony’s hooves in the dark, and sat myself down. I was surprised when a young dragon popped out from behind the counter, with a moustache and a bowtie… got to admit, the ‘stache was pretty cool.

“So, what can I get for the stallion of the hour? Something lightweight,” he leaned in, before winking, “or something hard?”

“Just a light cider, Spike. Nice mustache, by the way.”

“Thanks. So, you’re already drinking, huh? I take it parties aren’t your thing.” He said this while filling a glass cup with the cider, and I nodded.

“I don’t like parties. I was excited coming here, but now I know that it isn’t my style.” The purple dragon raised an eyebrow as he glided the glass across the counter into my hoof flawlessly.

“You know, there are formal parties, right? What you might call a ball or gala. We have those too, just not as often.” I simply nodded again, and he walked away to tend to another pony. Suddenly, there is a tap on my back, and I spin around and grab the pony by the neck out of instinct. I don't like being touched or surprised.

It was Ditzy.

“Oh my lord! I am unfathomably sorry! I didn’t hurt you, did I?”I set her down, brushing her mane and patting her back as she tried to cough out a response.

“I-*cough*- I’m ok. What has you so jumpy?” I settled back into my barstool, sighing.

“I’m just like that whenever somepony startles me. Again, I’m sorry.” She just nodded, sitting next to me, rubbing her neck. She waved over Spike and ordered an appletini, to my surprise.

“My, I would have never guessed you drink.”

“You have to, being a single mom.” My brow furrowed. She giggled.

“That was a joke. But really, I just like to have something… different every once in a while.” I shrugged as I took a long swig from my glass, before looking at it sideways. It was light. It was like drinking apple juice. I shrugged again as I finished my glass and Ditzy received hers, all in relative silence, if you could ignore the blaring music.

The music was likely the worst part of the whole event… in a way. I like the music, but it was far too loud. And the lights could give somepony into a seizure, not to mention the lack of real lighting. Although I found myself bobbing my head to the music, I was otherwise annoyed by it.

Ditzy downed her drink and ran over to the dance floor, and I simply sat there, flagging Spike down for another round.
“Perhaps you can give me something stronger…”

“Sure. We have so much here, I almost wonder if Pinkie killed somepony for all of it.” Right as he said that, Pinkie Pie jumped out of a cabinet behind him and pinned him to the counter, hissing in his ear:

“Tell NOPONY.” He just nodded nervously before she jumped off of him, mantling the counter and running off somewhere. I was almost shocked at her feral behavior, but I assumed I was no better earlier that week in the hospital. Spike straightened his tie and moustache before pouring me a glass of what looked to be scotch. I took the glass and sipped it as the current song ended.

Suddenly, Vinyl Scratch put on a new record, this one a slow dance. She lowered the bass, and changed the lighting so that the room turned a velvety-pink colour. It was a piece with what appeared to be almost all strings, which was rather calming. I saw that a good dozen ponies had cleared the dance floor, making room for the couples to dance.

“This one is dedicated to the pony of the hour, Red Storm! All you colts out there, grab a filly, and have some fun! I’m talking to you, big guy.” As she finished, a spotlight shined on me, dousing me in pink. I slowly got up, and made my way to the center of the room, all eyes on me. The room was quiet except for the heavenly music wafting through the air. I looked around me, looking for somepony to share the dance with. I saw Ditzy, and she smiled my way. I thought about asking her, but then I saw those aqua blue eyes behind her.

I absentmindedly made my way over to the eyes, enchanted by them. But that wasn’t the only thing guiding me across the room. The pink mane, the buttermilk coat, and the overall beauty of the mare; Fluttershy. I trotted over to her, some ponies stepping out of my way, others following my gaze. The mare was not looking at me, but instead was looking at the bottom of a plastic cup, sitting at a small round table. I stopped in front of her, bathing us both in the light. She looked up at me, and her eyes went wide. I dropped to my knees and said:

“May you give me the pleasure of this dance, Fluttershy?”

"Yes," She breathed silently.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, straining my ears.

“Yes, I would love to, Red Storm.” I took her hoof in my own, and I led her back to the dance floor. We took our positions and began to dance a ball dance.

“I didn’t know you knew this dance,” I whispered in her ear.

“I do. Thank you,” She whispered back.

“For what?”

“For choosing me.” I looked into her eyes, and she smiled. I leaned in, almost touching her ear, and I responded.

“…How could I not?” She blushed, and I held her closer. I hadn’t even noticed that some couples had joined us in the dance, including Big Mac and Twilight. Even if I did, I wouldn’t care. I was dancing with the pony who I loved, and I was lost in the moment. Neither god nor devil could spoil this for me, and I thought I was the happiest pony in the world. However, in my love-struck trance, I let my guard fall. Because of this, I failed to notice a black unicorn mare in the corner of the room.

A mare with eyes split like those of a cat’s, and eyes as red as blood.

I also failed to see this mare charging a spell, one that could kill everypony in the room. I failed to see her halt herself, and step out the door.

I failed to see the mare whom I had spent my entire foalhood with.

I failed to see my older sister, Scarlet Rain.

I stumbled out with Fluttershy at about three in the morning, and we were ecstatic, never mind the time. We chatted all the way home, about how much fun we had, about the dance, and about how embarrassing it was towards the end. At some point, we even sang karaoke together. We also were very drunk right about now.

‘Looks like I’m going to need some more Wake-Up-Juice tomorrow, but I think it was totally worth it… after all, I got to share a night of bliss with the mare who I hold such strong feelings for.’

We stumbled inside, laughing together for no reason. We went upstairs, and fell into bed, giggling like little foals. But when the mare began to try to snuggle with me, I pushed her off, regaining some sobriety.

“No… don’t try it. I don’t want to do anything foolish that we may regret later. Let’s just…*yawn* get some sleep…” The mare yawned soon after me, muttered something about fruitcake, and passed out soon after that. I covered her up, before wrapping myself up. As the sun began to rise, I began to fall into my dreamscape.

Sleep Tight, Night Knight

I slept in relative peace until something seemed wrong. I was no longer sleeping on the soft surface Fluttershy’s bed, and instead felt hard ground. I opened my eyes, and there I was, lying in a forest clearing. This was, however, no ordinary field. The grass was orange and the trees were purple with blue leaves. As I rose to my hooves and stretched, I realized I was dreaming. I looked up to a blue sky and saw dual suns, but they gave no warmth. That, I found odd as everything else was real enough, from the grass underhoof to the breeze blowing through my mane.

I gathered myself, and upon seeing if I was lucid, I was most certainly not. When I tried to fly, I found my wings to be missing. When I tested my strength by bucking a tree, I was shaken instead of knocking it down, as was my intent. ‘How ironic that in the one place that I could truly be a god, I am stranded as a weak, mortal earth pony.’ I thought with a small chuckle as I regained my bearings. I looked around, and upon seeing a small checkered path nearby, I decided it would be best to follow it. This obviously was not going to be a fun “Do whatever the hell you want” dream. One doesn’t have a sense of time in a dream, as an in-dream minute could be a month in reality, and vice versa, so I should not dally.

I trotted along the path at a reasonable pace, passing a few oddities (likely born from fractures in my psyche) such as a juggling minotaur, flying, dancing sausages, and a lobster playing a bass guitar. Very queer indeed.

Further down the road, I met a burly squirrel who was blocking the path. Conveniently, the shrubbery had grown so dense so that passage around the squirrel was impossible. As I drew near, the squirrel pointed a furry finger at me and asked with a tangy drawl not unlike Applejacks:

“Are you Dirty Dan?” I blinked a few times before responding:

“Cry your pardon, but I do not understand the question. I was expecting a riddle… in this a riddle?”

“Are. You. Dirty. Dan.”

“No. My name is Red Storm.” Upon hearing this, the squirrel shrugged before exploding into flames. I leaped back, startled, but returned to my normal stance as the fire died down. All that remained of the squirrel was a pile ash, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for it. That is, until I remembered that this is a dream, promptly stepping over the ashes to continue. As I continued on my way, the trees slowly cleared forth before disappearing entirely, cobblestone taking place of the grass. I also noticed it was growing darker. Upon searching the sky for the reason, I noticed that the once blue sky was now a dreadful crimson, filled with black clouds. ‘This does not bode well,’ I thought, as I entered what appeared to be Ponyville.

The new red lighting brought on an eerie feeling of dread to the town, and the shadows cast from the clouds danced alone the once cheery streets, causing me to look over my shoulder more than once. As I walked along, alert of movement or sound, something caught my attention. Down the street, I saw what appeared to be another pony, hopping and skipping to the tune of some unknown song. As the figure approached, I could more clearly see a bouncing pink mane. Pinkie Pie. However, upon closer inspection, I soon realized this was not the Pinkie Pie I had come to know and love(?).

This Pinkie Pie wore a red jumpsuit, with a large air canister on her back, paired with a gasmask that somehow allowed her mane to flow freely while concealing her entire face. As she skipped closer, I heard her singing a tune, but due to the mask, it came out as muffled “Mmphs”. Something else I noticed was that she was being followed by… a balloon. It was in the shape of a pink unicorn, and floated idly by her shoulder. “Balloonicorn” was the only word that came to mind when I saw this… thing. I simply stared in disturbed silence as the mare hopped right up to me. She stopped, looked at me sideways, and pulled out a cupcake, which she then offered to me. I took it reluctantly, and she started to hop off again. The Balloonicorn stared at me as she left… it stared at me. Anyways, as soon as she and that devilish balloon were out of sight, I examined the cupcake she gave me.

It was a cyan blue with rainbow icing on top. I sniffed it, and there was something about it that seemed irresistible, yet odd. I took a bite into it, and I immediately spat it out. A red liquid seeped out of the cupcake where I bit it. ‘Blood…’ I thought with disgust as I tossed the cupcake to the side. I searched for the twisted mare who gave me the gory treat, but she was long gone, and the blood was beginning to pool around the discarded cupcake, staining its cyan blue form sanguine.

I began to trot again, now wondering if this was simply an aimless exploration of my psyche, when I heard a familiar voice sound from behind me.

“Red Storm… Wait!”

I spun around to face the owner of the voice, and about forty paces behind me stood the mare from my Funeral nightmare. Without thinking, I ran in the opposite direction of the mare at a full sprint. I kept running until I was out of the pseudo-Ponyville and into a new area of my dreamland. A rather unnerving forest with dead trees all around, but in such number that they made up for their lack of leaves with sheer volume of branches. In short, I was lost and couldn’t see buck. Suddenly, a raven flew down and perched itself on a nearby branch. I felt the odd need to speak to the black bird, so I asked it:

“Strange beast, what is thy name?” It simply sat there, before cawing:

“Nevermore.” Before I could comprehend its meaning, the ground disappeared, and I began to fall into oblivion. Amidst my filly-screaming, I decided to look down. I saw what appeared to be the dead forest, just miles below. Knowing I would surely die a brutal(and quite messy) death on impact, I calmed down and let myself fall. No need to die soiling myself. Then, after I straightened myself out, I noticed that an older stallion with a beard and an orange-and-purple suit was falling next to me. He was sitting at a tea table which was also falling at the same rate as us, and he was also sipping a teacup, waving for me to join him. I have dreamt some weird things, but damn! This tops it all. I paddled through the freefall to get to him, and sat down on the chair across from him. I then noticed we were coming no closer to hitting the ground, whilst obviously falling, so I decided it was good as time as any to answer some questions.

“Who are you?” I asked the strange and almost certainly mania-induced stallion.

“Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? And would you like a biscuit?” He answered with a thick Trottish accent. I blinked few times, startled by how odd he really was, and watched as he ate the biscuit he had just offered me. He was more than likely a manifestation of my madness, I realized.

“Would you happen to know what’s going on right now… us falling nowhere for instance?” I asked as he sipped tea floating in front of him in freefall.

“Why would I have any idea what’s going on, lass?” I flinched when he called me a “lass”, but I let him continue. “It’s your head! I’m but a humble figment of your maddened mind, making me mad too!” He paused to laugh before continuing. “Though I have one word of advice for you, seeing as you’re here to learn something: Trust nopony. You’re family’s out for your head, and in the end, there can be only one. You, or your father, I mean. When you realize the fact that one of you has to die, only then will your mind begin to mend itself. In the long run however,” he ran a hoof through his white mane, “That problem is just the tip of the iceberg of your many, many problems… then again, why should you listen to me? I’M COMPLETELY INSANE!” He laughed again before the table disintegrated and he began to fly away. “Gotta fly, and you’ve got an appointment! And remember, no matter what: DON’T LAND IN THE BROCCOLI!” Before I could find meaning to his madness, I looked down and found that the ground was rising rapidly to meet me. ‘Hello ground!’ was all that ran through my head as I landed in a broccoli patch, and the world exploded.

I opened my eyes and found that I was back in Fluttershy’s room. Something was not right, however, as when I searched the sheets for the mare, I found nothing. She could not have been up and about, as it was still nighttime. Suddenly, the door to her room exploded, and a huge, and I mean BUCKING HUGE stallion stood at the doorway. He had a long, scraggly beard, and long scraggly mane. He looked like a mountain of a pony, and was an earth pony too. I thought that even my father would have a hard time bringing down a pony as sturdy as this. He spoke, and I steeled myself:

“Yer a unicorn, Red Storm.” Was all he said. I looked at him sideways, and realized I was still dreaming. Then everything exploded… again.

I woke up again, and this time I felt a lump lying next to me. I relaxed and laid back in bed. However, when I shifted my weight, I found that the mass next to me rolled around. I took a deep breath, and turned on the lights. What met my eyes was a horrendous sight. Lying there, next to me, was Fluttershy’s head. She wore an expression of pure terror, and the blood was seeping into the white sheets, turning them a bright red. I screamed. And screamed, until my throat was raw.

I was shaken awake, and Fluttershy was leaning over me.

“Red Storm! Are you ok? You sounded terrified! You just kept screaming in your sleep… what’s wrong?” I looked into her eyes, before holding her close.

“I dreamt that I had lost you. That you were dead. I… I was so worried.” She smiled lightly before responding:

“It’s ok now, Red Storm. I’m here. I’m alive. And nopony’s going to hurt me, because I know you will protect me.” I also couldn’t help but smile as she said this. I was now her protector, and I wouldn’t let anypony hurt her. She snuggled up against my chest, and I closed my eyes once more. Then… I felt a light ‘whoosh’ of air hit my nose. My eyes flew open, and Fluttershy’s were already open. She stared into my eyes, burning holes into my very soul. Then, she began to cough up blood. I lay there, shocked as blood gushed from her mouth, spattering onto my muzzle and chest. Before she collapsed, she said one thing:

“Red Storm…” Then the life drained from her eyes, and they shut forever. The smell of blood reached my nostrils, and a tear formed in my eye. I saw a gaping wound in her back, blood gushing from it like a fountain, and all I thought was: ‘I failed you before I could even begin to protect you… my Fluttershy…’ From the darkness behind her, I saw a new pair of eyes. Red as blood, slit like a cat’s, and glowing with evil. My father stepped out of the dark, and into the light. He wore a smile across his face, and he had a look of satisfaction.

“You… killed her… you killed her… I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS!” I roared as I flung myself at him. With the speed of a daemon, he sidestepped me, grabbed the back of my head, and threw me against the wall. Wood splinters showered me as I hit the hard surface face-first, and I felt my nose break. As I got to my hooves, blood streamed down my mouth and chin. I stared at Red Wing with the fury of a hundred thousand revenants from hell, and heaved with all the hate that came with it, but he simply laughed.

“Foalish child! I raised you better than that. Do you really think you stand a chance against me? Even here, in your dreams, I can kill you again and again, and you wouldn’t even touch me.” I looked at him with burning hate, but also confusion. ‘Another dream? But… it’s so REAL. The smells, the pain…’ He obviously noticed.

“You don’t really think this is real, do you? I may have not found you yet, but believe me, I would do far worse to your beloved than that.” He motioned to the still-warm corpse of the yellow mare.

“I would rather die,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Allow me to oblige you, then.” He shot forward, but before he could touch me, a blinding white light enveloped the room.

“ENOUGH!”

The image of my father was dispelled, and I found myself instead facing the mystery mare that has been following me. In the light, I could see her features much clearer. She was a dark blue, not black, alicorn dressed in a royal garb. I knew this to be the mare from my family’s dark history. The Princess of the Night. The Night Mare. The Princess of Dreams. Almighty Princess Luna. She then spoke to me.

“We are Princess Luna, and we have been trying to locate you all night.” I couldn’t help but blush at the fact that I had been unintentionally avoiding the Princess. “We are to guard the dreams of all in Equestria, and although there are other ponies in need of our aid, we found thine dreams most distressing of all. What ails thee, Red Storm?” she paused to think about something, before adding: “And who is thou, for that matter?” I stood tall, and wiped the blood from my face before responding:

“I am Red Storm, son of Red Wing, and heir to the Sanguine throne… and my ailment is of the conflicting emotions variety.” I finished this statement by falling back to my knees, lowering my head. The princess’ brow furrowed.

“Thou ist the descendant of Redmane?”

“Aye, that I am,” I said, not looking at her.

“Why is thou here?” she asked accusingly, not unlike how Twilight Sparkle had on our first meeting. I looked at her with a glare.

“To get away from my evil and corrupt family, your highness. With all due respect, but can we not talk about this?” She nodded slowly, and I returned my gaze to the ruined floor. “I’m not here to spy, or invade. I just wanted to get away from the bloodshed and lies and find a new home.” I turned to the gored body of Fluttershy. “And a new life with somepony that I care about. The problem is, that I’m afraid that my presence here may lead to her injury, or even her death.” Luna simply nodded before a flash of light bust from her horn, and engulfed the room. When it subsided, the room was clear of debris and Fluttershy was gone. She then put a hoof on my shoulder and spoke:

“While these fears have fertile ground to grow upon, as I know your family and their potential, it is up to thou to overcome them. For that is all these fears are. Fears. While we can make no promises, we can assure thou that if Red Wing does set his hoof on Equestrian soil, our sisters and our self will personally make sure that he is expunged. However, on the subject of thine love for another… that is beyond us. Perhaps it would be better for thou to speak to our sister Cadance? Otherwise we can impart no wisdom to thy, Red Storm… we have no experience in such a field.” I nodded to this, but the Princess continued.

“We can, however, shed light on your nightmare problem. Thouest mind cannot rest easy until thouest heart does! That is all we can say for now…” With that, she began to fade away. She added, with her voice echoing: “Until next time, Sanguine Prince. And perhaps on better terms.” She gave a wave, and I waved back until she had faded completely. I got up, walked across the room, and collapsed onto the bed.

I awoke again, but this time I knew I was truly awake. I was met with sunlight and the delightful smell of breakfast wafting through the air. And then my hangover kicked in. Nonetheless, I grinned as I walked down the stairs to see the mare I love.

“Thouest mind cannot rest easy until thouest heart does!”

‘I will keep that in mind, Night Mother Luna,’ I thought as I joined Fluttershy at the table. I gave her a huge hug, which surprised her, and sat down across from her. As she handed me a cup of the dreaded “Wake-up-juice” she gasped, and said:

“Red Storm! Your nose is bleeding! Are you ok?”

‘This does not bode well…’

Author's Notes:

Holy crap! Thought I would never get this done! I was actually going to release it sooner, but the bloody computer blue-screened and I just said 'buck it!' and waited 'till today to re-write it and post it. Hope you liked it! I'm gonna try to get some more out soon... also, Red Storm's bloody nose was from the dream. 'mind over body' and all that. NOT for the reason you were thinking, you dirty person.

Act II Transition

Well then!… It’s done! Act II that is. Alas, my co-writer isn’t here to help me here, so it’s up to me to do the Reference Re-cap! Just to say, the re-cap is in chronological order.

-Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy-ch11… A vague reference, but anyone who has read the book or seen the show or has even seen the movie should have noticed my nod to “the answer to life, the universe, and everything”.

-Pi-ch12… I don’t think explanation is needed. If you missed pi, then shame on you.

-Weird Al Yankovic-ch12… This is a reference to one of his songs about refusing opportunity with near-perfect women for little faults. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.

-For Whom the Bell Tolls; by Ernest Hemingway-ch13… This one was so obvious it hurts. If you missed it, then… *sigh*

-Rocky(again)-ch13… I tried to make this one obvious, but it’s understandable if you never saw the movie and missed it.

-Annie Get Your Gun-ch13… Ah, a wonderful musical. If you are unfamiliar with it, watch it. You may gain some class.

-Thor-ch14… The newer live-action marvel movie, not the actual mythology. An easy-to-miss ditty.

-Back to the Future: Part III-ch16… If you never saw the movies then… I just don’t even know what to say.

-Fallout: New Vegas-ch17... Try your luck at the Lucky 38!

-French Cuisine-ch17… I said I would be doing culture too, no? Very vague… unless you’re French of course.

-SpongeBob Squarepants-ch18… Squidward, technically, but oh well. If you couldn’t find this one, think: “Super bowl Sea critters”

-Lord of the Rings-ch18... Ah, yes. The wonderful "silvered steel."

-Napoleon Dynamite-ch19… Find the reference Tina… find it…

-Pony Rock Anthem-ch19… A nod to the gnarly brony parody of Party Rock Anthem… find it here

-“Totally Worth It” meme-ch19… It’s just that. I just told you everything you need to know to find it. If you can’t find it now, I think you should see if you hit your head recently. No offense to those who actually did, like myself… wait, what?

-Alice in Wonderland-ch20… Strange, discolored plant life, dreamlike world, strange animals and delusions…? The whole bleeding chapter is a nod to the iconic story.

-Invader Zim-ch20… Come dance with us into oblivion!

-“Rock Lobster”-ch20… Come on, a guitar-playing lobster? There are some hard ones in this chapter, and this is not one of them.

-SpongeBob Squarepants(again)-ch20… I’M DIRTY DAN! NO! I’M DIRTY DAN!

-The Dark Tower; by Steven King-ch20… If you missed Roland’s signature apology, you have forgotten the face of your father.

-Team Fortress 2-ch20… Do you believe in magic?

-Cupcakes; by Sergeant Sprinkles-ch20… Never again… no… NOT THE CUPCAKES!!! Find it here...

-The Raven; by Edgar Allan Poe-ch20… Quoth the Raven: “Nevermore.”

-The Elder Scrolls-ch20… SHEOGORATH, THE DAEDRIC PRINCE OF MADNESS!!!

-Highlander-ch20… Come on man. There are two types of people in this world. Non-highlanders, and people who run around cutting off each other’s heads.

-A Wrinkle in time; by Madeleine L'Engle-ch20… Technically the last book in the series, but oh well. Broccoli. Don’t land in that s***.

-The Godfather-ch20… (In raspy Italian accent) How ‘bout this? You read my story, or you’ll find a horse head in your bed.

Wow. Quite a few more than last time, eh? Either way, I hope you enjoyed looking for them as much as I enjoyed making them. Stay tuned for Act III! Thanks for reading, and all of your support everyone! /) Brohoof to you all, and see you next time!

(P.S: I will have my co-writer Elizabeth doing the transitions in their entirety from now on. Don’t worry, we share the same sense of humor.)

Nightmare Noon

Author’s note: Hey, sorry for the wait, but here I am! Just gonna inform you all of my buddy on FanFic.net: zeno518. He is currently making a story about what if I, Alexander Ericson, had used a Quantum Singularity to turn the world into Equestria. Its jolly good fun, and I suggest you check it out here. Thanks for your support, but do please read on:

…One Week Later…

I tightened the fastenings on my steel carapace with my teeth as Whitewash did my legs. This was not my royal armour, just something I threw together for Nightmare Night. As I finished some adjustments, Whitewash handed me the matching steel helm. I slid it over my head and fastened it so that it fit snugly on my noggin. I was preparing for the local celebration of “Nightmare Night” and like my father always said: “Go big, or go home.” I wasn’t planning on coming back home anytime tonight.

Apparently, the point of Nightmare Night was that, during the Nightmare Moon crisis, ponies would disguise themselves at night in order to avoid Nightmare Moon, fearing she was going to eat them or some rubbish like that. After Princess Luna’s imprisonment, however, it quickly became an annual tradition in which ponies dress up in (usually scary) costumes and collect candy from neighboring homes. They then give some of this candy as a mock-offering to their memorial of the Nightmare Moon crisis near the Everfree forest “in exchange for their souls.” I chucked lightly at that. ‘Tonight, I’m more likely going to be giving my soul to the devil drink.’ The only thing that I found intriguing was the whole “dress up in scary costumes” part, which I adopted with much gusto. Having a professional illusionist and transmuter helps. When we finished Whitewash began her three-part spell to make me into a figure of fear and darkness… or more so at least. She came up with the idea of using both transmutation and veils to make my costume… epic, for lack of a better word.

I had smithed the steel armour for her to work with for the transmutation, after all, why have veil armour that doesn’t work when you can have real armour that does? Anyways, Whitewash was going to use transmutation magic to re-mould my simple steel plate into a much more fearsome uniform. She was also going to use veils to change my appearance to something horrific. She never delved into what that would entail, but seeing as she was a Sanguinary Guard for twenty years of her twenty-six, I hold faith that she understands the meaning of horror better than most.

“Ok… let’s do this. You’re all suited up and ready, right?” the creamy yellow mare asked. I nodded. “Ok then… believe me, when we are done, it’s going to be legen- wait for it…” Her horn lit up, and blasted me with blinding white magic. Funny how her magic was white… it was quite distinguishable, not to mention matched her name.

“Wait for it…” she said, beads of sweat appearing on her brow as she tried to be “cool” while doing her spell. This was obviously putting a huge strain on her, as her horn was now shooting sparks, and she was struggling to stand. I felt my armour shift and mold into a different shape and my body felt like a light fabric was being passed over it. Then the light subsided, and Whitewash collapsed, grinning widely.

“-dary. Here… a mirror.” She floated over a mirror to me, still panting, and I saw what I momentarily thought to be a daemon from Tartarus. Then I remembered that this was a mirror.

My armor was no longer simple steel plate. It resembled Dread Armour from the myths of Dread Knights, the soldiers of death and the underworld. It shone as red as blood, and was adorned with many spikes, rivets, and simple gems. The helm now matched the armour with spikes jutting from the back of the head, and ox horns protruding from either sides of the helm. Then, saw that my face had changed drastically. Although the helm covered most of my head, my muzzle and eyes were left showing. My eyes seemed to no longer have pupils, and my golden amber eyes gleamed like gold bits in my skull, giving off an odd glow. Grinning, I also noticed that my teeth were sharper, to the point of looking like knives. Something else I noticed is that when unfurling my wings, they were leathery and pointed, much like a bat’s. Then, the most shocking part of the ensemble hit me. My mane and tail were on fire, nay, were consisted of fire… or so it appeared to be. Its flames flicked back and forth, mimicking a real flame, but did not burn me or give off heat. I looked like something of myth and legend… the type of thing mothers warn their foals of to eat their vegetables. I looked like the Devil’s scarier cousin… like… evil incarnate.

“Thank you so much, dear Whitewash. This is perfect,” I said, noting that my voice was now much deeper. “I thank you for going the extra mile just for me. Thank you.” Whitewash just blushed and waved her hoof in a nonchalant way.

“Anything for my favorite prince, hubby.” She said sarcastically. “But seriously, thanks. I think it came out really well. The hardest part was definitely the transmutation. Also, the transmutation will not wear off, so that suit is like that forever, and just a word of warning, the veils will dispel themselves at dawn. I also forgot to ask, where did you get the armour from?”

“I made it with Spike. He’s a surprisingly good blacksmith. You know, I’m thinking of making him an apprentice. Maybe teach him the field, because seeing as he’s a dragon, he’s flame retardant, has fingers, and can breathe fire. I may even teach him how to forge Bloodsteel, if he’s up to it,” I said with a hint of madness. Whitewash flinched at this, and showed noticeable concern on her face. I shook of the feeling, and returned my gaze to her.

“You ok there, big guy? You never used to do that back home,” she said, her voice filled with worry.

“I’m fine. That just happens sometimes. It’s no big deal, really.” Whitewash looked worried, and she placed a hoof on my spiked shoulder.

“You don’t seem fine, and it is a big deal if that sort of thing happens regularly. If you need to talk, I’m here.” I brushed her off, and stood tall.

“It’s ok. I’m fine.” She said nothing, but then there was a knock at the door.

“Hey! What’s taking so long? We don’t have all night you know! Some of us actually want to enjoy tonight.” Rainbow Dash. A real tom-colt if you ask me. Whitewash sighed and answered:

“Hold on! I still need to get my costume on!” Her horn began to glow again, but this time much less brightly. I watched as she dispelled her current veil (which was a simple chameleon veil) and her silverette armour appeared, covering her whole body.

“Do you ever take off your armour?” I asked, my voice rumbling.

“No reason to… unless there’s a curious mare involved,” she said with a wink. ‘Right… forgot she swings that way…’

Her horn flared once more, and her armour disappeared, and was replaced with a black lace dress which was actually quite sultry. But that paled when I saw her body veil. She was slightly taller, with a paler crème coat and her mane was now a dark velvet-red and was much longer, along with being rather wild, but in an attractive way. Her eyes were also a different shape, and she was also lacking pupils. However, the only thing that remained the same was her emerald green iris. I was beginning to wonder if she couldn’t change her iris colour, but I realized that was silly. I felt almost enchanted by her appearance, but I shook it off when I realized why. She had a faint aura about her, and I realized she had cast a petty “Want It, Need It” spell on herself. She was a Succubus daemon, and she took her illusion to heart. Whitewash then nodded to the door, signaling for me to open it with a devilish grin.

I moved to the door, and as Dash pounded on it once more, I opened it quickly, to catch her off guard. But what really surprised her was my elaborate costume. Her eyes dilated and her wings faltered, which were keeping her afloat. What followed was a series of thumps descending the stairs and a continuous “Whoa”. That and several swears as she hit the bottom of the stairs. Once quiet returned, Whitewash picked herself up and headed downstairs. She motioned for me to hold as she passed, and I listened to her descent. I heard some “Ooohs” and some “Aaahs” and a Miss Dash exclaim something about “Damn Wing Boners”. Finally, I heard Whitewash start:

“Steel yourselves, my fellow mares, for what is about to descend those stairs is no longer the Red Storm you knew. He is now the vessel of a greater blood daemon; he is now a Dread Knight from the depths of Tartarus itself!” I took this as a signal to descend. I thought the Tartarus part was a nice touch, as most ponies forget there is an Underworld, and with that, an afterlife. I slowly stepped down the stairs, as I wasn’t paying any attention to the other ponies, but I was paying more attention to myself, trying to maintain an intimidating posture and trying not to trip. That would most certainly suck. However, as I reached the bottom, I realized the caution was not needed. Simply looking like that lives in the Devil’s closet was enough. Rainbow Dash scrambled away from me in horror as I heard a “Sweet Celestia” and a “Good Heavens”. As everypony stared on in awe, I took the time to examine their costumes.

Twilight Sparkle was wearing a flowing pink gown and a matching princess’s headpiece, likely the “Damsel in Distress” type of costume. I wonder who the “Knight in Shining Armor” was. Rainbow Dash was in what appeared to be a cat suit outfitted with a harness and night vision goggles. Reminded me of that Trott Clancy fellow… Rarity was clearly a vampiress judging from her “spooky” garment, along with the fake blood and teeth. Lots of rubies too, almost too many. Fluttershy was a difficult one to guess, but I understood it momentarily. She was a Spriggan, or forest spirit, and a lovely one at that. She had dyed her coat a lime green, and her mane a grassy green. She was also wearing an ensemble of vines, leaves, and flowers… ‘Very creative… and very seksy,’ I thought. Applejack appeared to be an easterner swordpony… a samurai, if my memory serves me correctly. She wore a long, white, cloth garment along with wooden sandals and a hairpin to keep her normally long hair up in a bun. I will have to ask her why she chose such an odd costume later. But, there at the end of the line, I saw her. Seemingly straight from my nightmares was Pinkie Pyro as I had dubbed it. She stood there, wearing that same red jumpsuit, that same air canister, and that same, damnable gasmask. It covered her whole head, (excluding her mane) and concealed her eyes behind unnerving tinted lenses. ‘SweetjumpingbabyLunaonaunicycle; that is the scariest bucking thing I have ever seen. And I have seen some scary stuff,’ I thought with a shiver. The most unnerving part is that her head was tilted slightly to one side, and who knows what she could be thinking. I certainly did not, with her wearing that mask. I pushed the thought to the side as the “Spriggan” spoke up.

“You look very scary Red Storm,” Fluttershy said with a barely audible murmur.

“Thank you, my dear,” I said, my newly acquired demon-voice rumbling. “I will take that comment as a complement.” I felt the urge to scary to dillies out of my friends with my new form, but resisted the urge, as like I said: they were my friends. I also felt bad for intimidating them in the first place, but hey, it’s Nightmare Night. Thankfully, everypony else is fair game.

“Hey, everypony! I almost forgot; there’s supposed to be party at the Cat’s Eye Café! How about we check it out?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to lessen the uneasy atmosphere. Pinkie Pyro jumped when Agent Dash said “Party”, and kept trying to speak. Alas, to my dismay, all that was heard were muffled “Mmphs”… Sweet Luna it was horrifying. We all nodded and left the comfort of the cottage for the chill of Nightmare Night

Decaffeinated Enthusiasm

Author’s Revelations: Something occurred to me recently. Seeing as Twilight Sparkle hatched Spike when she was a young filly, doesn’t that mean Spike is just a few years younger than her? Alas, ages are never confirmed in the show, but if my estimations are correct, and Twilight is indeed in her late twenties… that means Spike may be up to twenty years old. Just something interesting (if not disturbing) to think about…

We were entering Sweet Apple Acres, as Twilight said she needed to “check on something”. Samurai Applejack informed me that they were heading over to check up on Big Mac, who was going to be taking care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike while we were at the party. We trotted up to the big red stallion who was currently holding down the fillies and baby dragon (one under each hoof) to try and keep them from running about. When he saw the group, he stood up. When he saw me, he went slack, and the quartet wriggled from his grip and ran over to us. They swamped my friends, and I watched from a distance as I took in their costumes. Big Mac was in a bulky but clearly fake suit of armour, likely filling that “Knight in Shining Armor” role I was wondering about. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were wearing Pink, Blue, and Green costumes, respectively. Spike was wearing an odd tuxedo-ish costume, a long black wig that hung down past his eyes, and lugging a large guitar case behind him. Then the little ones spotted me.

“Wow! You’re costume is sooo cool!” squealed Scootaloo. “What are you? How’d you get your mane like that?”

“You’re super scary! You look like a monster!” said Sweetie Belle.

“I’m not sure what you are, but its bucking cool!” said Spike. Twilight made a “Tsk-tsk” at the young dragon’s profanity, but he either didn’t notice, or was simply ignoring her. However, I noticed that Big Mac was swooning over Succubus Whitewash, and Twilight was soon trying to pry him off of her. Applejack then bucked him upside the head to get him back to normal again. I chuckled at the sight, but nopony seemed to notice this. The Princess and Knight then retreated to the barn where they talked. I managed to eaves drop on them, but only just. I heard Twilight say: “Don’t look at her,” “I will be fine,” and “Are you sure about it.” I heard Big Mac say: “Eeyup,” “Eeyup,” and “Have fun, sweetum.” It’s official. They were sweet on each other.

“Despite the sheer awesomeness of my costume, I would love to know what your costumes are.” My voice surprised the quartet, but they quickly gathered themselves and began. The three fillies stepped up first, and began, starting with Applebloom taking a heroic pose:

“Appleblossom!”

“Sweetie Bubbles!”

“Bitterscoot!” The two others struck similar poses before they said in harmony:

“We are the Cutiepuff Fillies! Devoted to fighting disharmony, and the FORCES. OF. EVIL!” The last sentence blew me backwards with concussive force, but I landed gracefully on my hooves and re-gained my balance. The three blushed in embarrassment, but I gave them a round of stomping nonetheless. Then spike walked up, head tilted down so that the wig covered his eyes.

“By day I am but a humble traveling El Mariachi, but by night-” Like a well-oiled machine, he threw down his guitar case, slammed his hands onto it, and it flew open, and two dartguns flew into his outstretched hands, before he fired both at me.

“-BY NIGHT, I AM EL DESPERADO!!!” Both darts struck me in the forehead of my helm, and he kept his stance for a moment, before relaxing. I blinked a few times, my fiery mane crackling in the night’s cool breeze, before I broke out laughing. Not in a mocking way, but in a delighted way. I pulled the darts off of my helm and handed them back to him, and said:

“The lot of you got very creative, and I love your youthful enthusiasm. Especially you, Spike. Pray tell, how did you figure out such an ingenious spring-mechanism?” I asked the dragon as he replaced the dartguns into his guitar case.

“Wasn’t too hard,” he said, shrugging. “You taught me a lot about torques and switches when we made that armor together, so I just got a book about making clocks and made this. The dart guns too, ‘cause most are made for hooves and all.” I nodded in understandment and praise. Then, I asked:

“Say, while the ‘big ponies’ chat, how about we play?” I got cheers from the little ones as a response, and I began to chase them about making “Rwaars!” and other foalish fun things.

While the mares and Big Mac talked, we fooled around, which mainly involved me getting “gunned down” by Spike, or tackled by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. ‘I love little ones. I can’t wait to have my own one day.’ By the time Twilight said it was time to go, Spike had announced that he had “Slain the mighty demon” while standing on my back triumphantly while I feigned death. The fillies were pretending to swoon over him when I jumped up and caught the flailing dragon in my mouth. I gently placed him back down, and re-grouped with my friends, while Big Mac rounded up the fillies and dragon. We waved goodbye to the quintet for the night as we made our way back into town. Big Mac said they would be departing soon, so I was not worried that the young ones would miss out on the sugary bliss that is Nightmare Night.

“So now we’re heading to the party?” complained an annoyed Whitewash. She was annoyed as she did not like to be kept from a party, and also because Twilight had put a paper bag over her head for until we got there. By now, everypony had realized how devious her magics were, and seeing as even Twilight couldn’t reverse it, and Whitewash wouldn’t, drastic measures were made.

“Yeah, we’re headed there now, so quit yer moanin’. I’m still pretty annoyed that ya swooned ma brother like that.”

“It was an accident! How was I supposed to know he was so weak-willed?” the succubus cried in dismay from under her bag. This set off Applejack, who made the motion to buck the emerald-eyed unicorn, but stopped herself. I trotted over to the orange earth-pony and left Whitewash to herself at the back of the group.

“Beg your pardon Applejack, but I have been meaning to ask, what is your costume anyway?” The orange mare rolled her eyes before saying:

“Aw, shucks, this get-up? The Cutie Mark Crusaders made it fer me. I reckon they got their hooves on one of Twilight’s foreign culture books, and thought “Samurai Applejack” had a ring to it. So here I am, and I can’t help but admit I like it.” I nodded in acknowledgement, before leaving Applejack and moving towards Fluttershy, who was to the right of the group.

I moved to her side, and gazed upon her momentarily. Even with a glance, I was bathed in her beauty, which was magnified even further with the aid of the combination of her makeup and the moonlight. In the light, her features were defined in an alluring way, and her stunning aqua eyes looked like shimmering pools of water, lit up by the delicate light. I looked at her for a few more moments longingly, but she then turned to me, finally noticing that I was next to her.

“Fluttershy, have I ever told you how lovely you are? Your beauty is unmatched in this world, and I feel privileged to be in your presence.” I said, in a dreamy, dazed state; just loud enough for her to hear, and her only. Just then I realized the meaning to the words that had passed my lips, and before I could follow-up, she said:

“…Thank you, Red Storm. That is the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me… And just to let you know, I think you are rather handsome.” She said this as a blush swept across her face, both from my admittance and hers. This much was obvious to me. I had just unintentionally taken the first step to forming a romantic relationship with the pony I loved, and I had gotten a positive response too! Happy days! She looked away, still blushing, before rushing to join her friends. My jaw hung slightly slack, and I thought: ‘And handsome! She called me handsome! Things seem to be looking up!... but for how long?...’ Then a hoof landed on my shoulder. I didn’t have to look to see who it was, because I only know one pony who has the guts to touch me in such a manner.

“You should totally ask her out. She seems interested, and I think you two would look cute together,” Whitewash said, which for some reason put an enormous strain on my sanity. I started to hear voices... again.

‘maim… tear… kill… feast…’

‘start with the pretty one… the pegasus mare…’

‘kill them all… War… kill them all…’

I fought the urge to go along with those plans, which actually seemed appealing for a moment. The voices went on prattling as I tried my best to maintain a conversation with Whitewash.

“I didn’t ask you for your opinion, Captain,” I spat. This caused her to recoil, removing her hoof from my shoulder. “I don’t suppose you remember that little conversation we had on the matter, all those nights ago? It doesn’t matter if we would look cute together. What does matter is that should we fall in love, the hour my father comes to town, she will be the first to die, just to make a point. And don’t try to tell me that ‘It’s not going to happen’ or ‘He will never find us here’; he will. I refuse to form a relationship with anypony here beyond a friendship-” I looked longingly at the mare of my dreams just twenty paces ahead of me. “-so that they survive long enough to stay my friends.” I look back to Whitewash, who was still wearing her paper bag. Even though I could not see her face, I could tell from her emerald eyes that she was moved from my words. I think I even saw a tear well up, but I may have been wrong. This made me fire up again.

“I’m not asking for your damned pity, I’m just asking you to stop trying to be ‘Miss Matchmaker’ and leave my lovelife alone.” Her eyes regained their natural fiery glow again, and she snorted:

“Very well, my liege. I will leave thy Highness to his own business. If you change your mind tonight, odds are you can find me plowing some drunk mare at my suite. Goodbye, Prince.” And with that, she galloped ahead of the group, tearing off her paper bag in the process. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her usage of the word “plow”, despite the rather harsh verbal lashing I had just given her. ‘Oh, how I envy her ability to just shrug off such things and go right back to normal afterwards… if one could call her normal’

I and the remaining mares traveled onwards into town, and there we saw a large assortment of costumes, ranging from witches to astroponies, ghouls to pirates, vampires to bees. I found it quite interesting, yet odd. Most were actually foals with chaperones. As we went on our way, dozens of ponies stopped to look at us, and stare at me. Though none came forward, I could tell that my costume was truly something to behold to them. We soon arrived at the Cat’s Eye Café, without any problem. I looked at the café, tilting my head sideways. Something about it gave me a sense of familiarity and dread at the same time. However, this could have just been from my wandering mind. We stepped up to the door, and I motioned for everypony to halt.

“Hold up. I have an idea how to ‘make an entrance’.” I unfurled my leathery wings once more, and this time, I swooped them back, and with all the strength I could muster, I flapped both with force enough that the double doors flew open, bringing a gust of wind with them. I heard a number of gasps at the sudden entrance, and I used this to float in.

“Good evening everypony. Please, do not be frightened. We are simply here for the party!” I roared in my demonic voice. I saw a mare faint in the back of the room, but everypony just stood and stared. Then they cheered, pumping their hooves into the air, like the mob of overly excited and quite possibly drunk ponies they were. I took in the intoxicating amount of energy in the room, and an enormous grin spread across my face. I turned back to my friends:

“This is marvelous! Let us rejoice!” They all began to feel the infectiousness of the vibe in the room, but just as they began to jump to the music, everypony stopped dead. I followed their gaze behind me. I turned slowly, wondering what could have caused such a shock, and as I did, the gay feeling in the room quickly died too. Ponies stopped dancing, and just stared at a mare who I then spotted. She was wearing a long white lab coat that was spattered with red. She also wore a black suit that covered her whole body below the neck under the coat, and had a pair of tinted goggles paired with a surgeons mask. She was a unicorn and had a coat as black as night. Her short and angled mane was dark purple striped with a lighter violet. Then she lifted the goggles from her head, and the shock hit me too. Her eyes were as red as blood. The mask slipped from her muzzle, and hung about her neck as she spoke:

“Hello brother. It’s me, your sister. Long time no see, I might add.”

My Sister Forever

“Come on, brother! You can do better than that!” My sister laughed manically as she fired another volley at me. Her aim had improved with time, and now three struck me in the chest despite my areal maneuvering. I felt ribs crack as my breath was knocked out of me and I flew backwards smashing through the wall behind me, gritting my teeth as I felt liquid trickle from the back of my head. She stepped through the rubble, sneering as I tried to get to my hooves.

“And to think you were a challenge to me so long ago! I am more powerful now than you could possibly know, and you are but an insect.” She laughed again, her blood-red eyes flashing in the dim light. Suddenly, I hear hooves step up next to me and a mare began to speak:

“Scarlet Rain! What do you think you are doing? I think your brother has had enough. Besides, it is time for dinner. I got you O negative, your favorite.” My sister jumped with joy as I struggled to stay conscious.

“Yay! I will see you at the dinner table, brother. We will continue later,” she said, eyeing me like a predator would their prey. The mare stepped in front of me, and I saw it was my mother, Scarlet Glimmer. Her eyes too shone red, but with care and love, not spite and bitterness like my father’s and sister’s.

“I’m sorry your sister treated you like that. The two of you have been training hard, and it seems every day she kills you at least once. Thank goodness that we have such good apothecaries, or you might have actually died a few times.”

“That would have been preferable,” I groaned as my mother put a foreleg around my shoulders and began to lead me to the medical wing.

“Come now, you don’t really mean that, dear. Let’s get you healed up and get you fed. I made you wheat cakes.” A small smile crept across my face as she said this. ‘Wheat cakes… my favorite.’ The smile soon died as we began to climb the stairs to the medical wing, which was on the third floor. The memory fades as I return to reality.

“What are you doing here?” I growled at my sister as I came out of my thoughts. She just smiled and said:

“Is it so wrong for me to wonder where my little brother had flown off to?” She grabbed me with her magic and put me in a head lock, giving me a noogie. “I missed you a lot you know. Living with father without you around is just unbearable.” She let me go, and I scanned her face. She seemed actually happy to see me and her voice wore no traces of deceit. This made me suspicious.

“It is a bit unnerving considering how horrible you were to me just a few months ago. Have you had a change of heart, or are you just as bitter as always?” She recoiled, surprisingly.

“Brother, I never hated you. I have always loved you. Father forced me to treat you like that. He wanted you to grow up strong, not weak. So he had me abuse you to make you stronger… then again, I think he hated us both. But nonetheless, I abused you because I loved you, not because I hated you.” She said this with all sincerity, and smiled a sisterly smile as the last words escaped her lips. I relaxed, and she jumped me.

“IT’S A TRAP!” yelled Whitewash, rather spastically. Everypony got ready for fight, but I laughed, and everypony relaxed again. My sister was wrestling with me. Here I was, wrestling on the ground with my sister just like old times. Then an annoyed voice sounded from the bar:

“Hey, are you gonna sit around and loiter, or are you gonna buy a drink?” My sister, my friends and I all looked at the owner of the voice. A rather drab looking unicorn stallion stood at the bar, with a deadpan expression. He had a grey coat and slightly darker grey mane, along with deep purple eyes. He was wearing a blue and red scarf, and had a cutie mark of a coffee cup, complete with steam lines.

“Oh, yes of course!” My sister began, replacing her mask and goggles as she stood up. “Hey, everypony! DRINKS ON ME, ALL NIGHT! LET’S PARTY!” She whipped out a coin purse and threw it over to the grey unicorn who caught it nonchalantly, but his eyes went wide as he turned it over and a good dozen Blood Rubies came tumbling out. The whole room burst out in cheers as Scarlet Rain levitated a keg out from behind the counter and began to pass around drinks. I rejoined my friends as my sister got carried around the room, and Twilight said:

“That’s your sister? You made it seem like she was the spawn of the devil.” I nodded and responded:

“Well, I guess it was just a bucked up joke from my father. She was never one to lie, but now that I think about it, she is rather obedient to father. If father told her to kill me once a day, she would do it, no matter how much she loved me as a brother. I trust her though.” Twilight looked at me sideways, but I waved her off. “Come on, we are here to party! Not sit around and loiter as that chap over there stated,” I said, nodding my head to the stallion at the counter who was currently being flooded by half-drunk ponies wishing to get drunker. I made my way over to the bar and slammed my hoof on the counter:

“Bartender! Give me a scotch! A backup scotch and a boiler scotch! That’s a shot of scotch floating in a bigger glass of scotch. Now scotch me scotchface!” The stallion just looked at me as if I was crazy while pouring four other drinks with his magic. I just chuckled in my demonic voice before continuing:

“I’m sorry. Just give me a glass of scotch.” He nodded, and poured me a glass. I sipped it as I watched my sister and Pinkie Pyro have a dance-off to the beat of a rather catchy song being put out by the DJ Vinyl Scratch. I then noticed that she was wearing a strange red duster and matching fedora. She had instead of her normal violet shades she wore ones with red, round lenses instead. She also had red trickling from her mouth, leading me to believe she was also a vampire. However, I liked her costume more than Rarity’s… Vinyl looked like a real Alucard. Suddenly, a hoof lands on my shoulder. I resist the urge to throw the pony over the bar counter and looked at who it was. ‘Ah, Miss Doo.’ She was dressed up as the famous Daring Doo, which was likely a clever pun. Next to her, was a little sheet ghost with their horn poking through a hole in the top.

“Hello, Ditzy. How are you?” She smiled and responded:

“I’m doing pretty well. I see you really went all the way with your costume.” I blushed.

“Yes… thank you. You saw my sister yes? The one who is now doing a duet with the Succubus?” She began to look at them, but I took her head and faced her back to me. “Don’t look. Whitewash placed a ‘Want it Need it’ spell on herself in an attempt to get more tail tonight.” The grey mare blushed in turn at my rather forward remark. I looked back at her daughter, Dinky.

“Why is your daughter here? Could you find nopony to watch her?” The mare shook her head and turned to the bartender, before shouting:

“Decaff! I need a drink over here! Something fruity and something spiked!” She then turned back to me. “It’s not that I couldn’t find anypony to watch her, she just didn’t want to be watched. She is a lot like me; she enjoys a good social event as much as me. Just underage. Hey! Dinky! No beer for you!” She went running after her foal as I stepped up to the dance floor, as another familiar song began to play.

“Hey everypony! Listen up cause this one’s a dozy!” The DJ began: “As it turns out, we have a surprise visitor tonight! Seeing as we had shown her such a good time last year, give a warm welcome to the Mistress of the Night herself: PRINCESS LUNA!!!” There were ‘oohs’ ‘ahhs’ as the Princess stepped onto the floor. Then she spoke up:

“MY BELOVED SUBJECTS, LET THE FUN TRULY BEGIN NOW, AS THE NIGHT IS YOUNG, AND YOUR PRINCESS IS HERE!” More cheering.

As the night progressed, more fun was had. Entire kegs of alcohol were passed around (at Scarlet Rain’s expense), more dancing was had, and at some point, even Princess Luna got tipsy. And to think that I thought there was no such thing as alcohol in this foreign world. I walked along the bar; watching as ponies laughed, while sipping on my fifth scotch. Lights strobed and blinked and swerved across the room. The room rumbled from the beats of a song as ponies danced, and some even embraced in love. As one beam of light passed across one corner of the room, I saw a single stallion sitting alone in a corner booth, sipping on his own drink. He wore a tuxedo and bowtie and had a black smoothed out wig. He also had a small Britmane flag tucked into his breast pocket. I made my way over and sat down across from him.

“Hello there, chap,” I said in a friendly manner, while startling him with my voice. “Why are you sitting here all alone while everypony else is having such a splendid time?” He just sipped his glass while looking at me in a vaguely hostile way. Then he straightened up and put on a small smile.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we have never met. I am Doctor Hooves, or simply ‘The Doctor’. And you are…?”

“Red Storm.”

“Splendid meeting you, but if you excuse me, I would prefer to be left alone.” I frowned.

“How about this, you look like an intellectual. Ask me a set of three riddles, and if I answer true, you tell me your problem. If I fail, then I will leave you alone.” He took a moment to think about it, but then said:

“Very well. I accept your challenge. Just give me a moment to think of a good riddle…” He sat there for several moments before saying:

“I am as light as a feather, yet no living being can hold me for long… what am I?” I paused to think. That makes no sense. Seconds passed and I forgot to breathe, and as I was about to give up already when I sighed. ‘Brilliant.’

“One’s breath.” The Doctor did not flinch, nor show any sign of hesitation as he flung the next riddle at me.

“I am emeralds and diamonds, lost by the moon. I am found by the sun and picked up soon.” Another pause. This time I had no idea where to even start on this one. I sat there, thinking, and watched as the lights danced across the table. Blue and green mingled with the glass of my drink, making a rather pretty display. I sighed again. Then, something about the lights caught my eye. The green and blue lights were not reflected off of the glass itself, but the condensation of the drink. I looked The Doctor in the eyes and said:

“Dew.”

“You are better than I thought. Last one: If you break me, I will not stop working. If you can touch me, my work is done. If you lose me, you must find me with a ring soon after. What am-“

“The heart.” The Doctor went wide-eyed at my instantaneous response. I chuckled.

“Very good riddles, my friend. Almost got me with the first two, but the last one was far too easy. I knew it well, from my days as a soldier. I knew much heartbreak, death, and love back then… but those are tales for other ears and other times. Not now. Tell me, what ails you on this fine night?”

He sighed as I had moments ago, and said after downing the rest of his drink:

“There is a mare over there who I find rather charming, but I haven’t got the courage to ask her out.” I turned to where he was pointing, and there I saw Miss Doo with her daughter on a leash. Interesting how he found her alluring, but that is not of my concern. I chuckled lightly before picking him up and pulling him out of the booth. He squirmed and kicked as I dragged him over to the bar, and Ditzy noticed this.

“Hi, there Ditzy. I have somepony who wants to meet you.” I plopped The Doctor in the chair next to Ditzy and whispered in his ear:

“Just talk to her, it’ll work out fine.” I then walked away leaving them alone at the bar. However, I kept close enough to eavesdrop on them.

“Ah… yes… hello. I am The Doctor. Doctor Hooves, actually. How are you... er, I mean, what is your name?” The grey mare giggled.

“I’m Ditzy. Nice to meet you Doctor.” The brown stallion nearly fainted, but kept his composure. Ditzy showed much interest as they continued to chat for about ten more minutes before they left the party together, with Dinky in tow.

“Ah, young love. How sweet, wouldn’t you say?” I jumped as my sister breathed this into my ear. Then I re-settled myself and turned to her. “You make quite the wingcolt, if I do say so myself.”

“Thanks, but what’s wrong? Why aren’t you partying?” she shrugged. “The Captain is hogging the dance floor as usual, and the Pink One is hogging all the liquor. Anyway, I did have to talk to you about father.” My cheery expression died instantly.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Father is mobilizing all of his forces, even pulling out of some occupied regions. He is intent on finding his War.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Either way, it’s what you are; and you can’t ignore that fact. He actually sent me in advance to try and find you so he wouldn’t have to come out here himself. I won’t tell him about you being here, but that won’t stop him from finding out. You have a year, give or take before he finds out. Spend that time wisely, brother.” She began to leave, but stopped and turned back to me.

“While you’re at it, perhaps you should take your own advice and just ask out Fluttershy.” My jaw dropped and my eye twitched, but she just walked out of the café smiling. Then, I decided she was right. I stepped over to Fluttershy (who was sitting in her own booth alone, and sat down next to her. As she was about to say hello, I took her hoof in mine, and looked her straight in her aqua blue eyes. I said as softly as I could with my demon voice:

“Fluttershy, will you be my special somepony?” She looked into my eyes, and I looked into hers. She teared up and hugged me.

“Yes! Yes! I would love to be your special somepony! Thank you Red Storm… We sat there, in embrace. That is, until Whitewash popped up next to us, drink in hand.

“Hey you lovebirds! Come on! The night is still young, and besides, Luna is about to do a keg stand!” I broke the embrace to glare at her. She shrugged and trotted away. I turned back to Fluttershy, and she smiled meekly, overcome with embarrassment.

“I would actually like to see that,” she said quietly. I leaped out of my seat, and picked her up, giving her just enough time to recover her drink and started for the bar area.

“Come, darling! Let us watch the Princess of the night get totally wasted before frolicking through the night!”

“Yay!” Then, I blacked out again.

Author's Notes:

Ah, young love. Well, it took 23 chapters, but Red Storm finally asked out Fluttershy. If i hadn't made it obvious in the story by now, she had been harbouring like feelings for him. Also, this act will be seperated into three events; Nightmare Night, Hearths Warming, and Hearts and Hooves Day. Things will be taking a turn for the romantic and gooey now. But don't despair, there will still be dark undertones and mania mixed in... Enjoy, my subjects!

Also: What some ponies looked like here:
Scarlet Rain:4G3P000100111111FE171700A11FE0000PD18370040200005100052D7300FE05107F3FCC004CB2
Decaff Grey:4G2T2S51003F3F3FFE1717000002A007CRE1837104000001W0191919FE00001B107F3FCC004CB2
Succubus:453X0J6200F6FECCFE000000A4100FE00RK1837000000000401900007300FE04107F3FCC004CB2

All I want for Hearth's Warming...

Note de l’auteur: I want to apologize for such a short chapter, but I won’t. I will, however, state that the next will be far longer. And that mania I mentioned last chapter? That is coming… or perhaps schizophrenia is more accurate… correct me later. For now, READ!

I stood outside in the snow sipping on my cup of hot chocolate as I inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of winter. I loved winter. I swear I was a penguin in a past life, as I was almost entirely immune to the bite of the cold, needing only a scarf about my neck to keep my warm in below-freezing weather. I surveyed the falling flakes and the ice clinging to the trees when suddenly a certain mare jumped onto my back from behind. I laughed as she gave me a peck on the cheek and I tried not to spill my drink.

“You’re up rather early, Red Storm. Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all, my sweet. I was simply enjoying the morn’. If anything, I would have to ask you why you are up so early. It’s just about six In the morning.”

“I rolled over in bed, and you weren’t there. So when I got up, I found you out here. Anyway, isn’t it a little too cold to be standing around outside this early?”

“Come now love, I’m wearing my scarf. Besides, it’s just a little brisk out. I think it is hardly cold enough for me to fall ill. However, I do see your point.” I trotted back inside with the yellow mare still clinging to my back. As I carried her inside, I kicked the door shut behind me, and I let her down. She nipped me on the ear playfully as she made her way over to the kitchen for breakfast. I sat down on the couch, where Angel sat. As I sipped my hot coco, he drank from a flask, and was wearing a blue bathrobe. He shot me a dirty look, before looking off again. He had gotten more or less used to me over the months, but he obviously did not like the idea of the two of us dating. I about fifteen minutes later, the mare waved us into the kitchen, and a grand feast was spread before me. Carrots, apples, flowers, and wheatcakes. Certainly more than what we usually ate, but I was not complaining. What was fun about it is that the wheatcakes had little smilies on them, made of chocolate chips. I looked at the mare happily, and she wore a small smile, along with a cute flower apron. I helped her take it off, before seating her. I sat down across from her and Angel next to her. As we began to eat, I couldn’t help but chuckle in my mind. ‘I have a beautiful, caring, delicate, and simply amazing marefriend. I don’t think I could be happier.’

We finished the meal in mere minutes, as we didn’t talk this time around. I was thinking about what I should get Fluttershy for Hearth’s Warming, but other things clouded my mind as well. The voices were giving me disturbing if not stupid suggestions.

‘Give her the heart of one of her enemies.’

‘Give her your ear in a box with a pretty pink bow.’

‘Get that filly a hydra head. Fillies love hydra heads.’

Like I said. Disturbing if not stupid.

I washed dishes as Fluttershy went out to check up on the animals. I looked back on the past month and a half blissfully, and recalled how it has been the happiest time of my life. Before we started dating, we would only normally spend time together at home; otherwise she would leave me alone with Angel and visit friends or run errands. Now that we were an item, we could do just about anything together. We would visit friends together, run errands together, take leisurely flights or walks, and even have a weekly romantic date. I will never admit it due to pride, but in order to make ends meet, I have been working at a mine in the mountains for some extra bits every other day. I thought it would be an excellent way to keep in shape, help the local area, and use my skills for something other than killing ponies.

As I finished washing the dishes, Fluttershy returned from outside shivering.

“I don’t know how you can stand being outside in that cold for more than a minute!” she squeaked as I got a blanket from the couch and wrapped her in it. “At least my little animal friends are warm in their trees and burrows. But I’m sooo cold.” She gave me a light smile followed by a shiver as I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Come love, let’s get you to bed for some rest. I have some business to attend to, and I don’t want you to get sick.” She nodded as I led her upstairs, tucking her into bed before returning downstairs. Before I left, I moved to the closet near the door, and I removed a box from within. Inside was my suit Royal Sanguinary Armor, which I began to put on. I had not worn the armour in months, not since my original arrival into Equestria; however the armour had not a speck of dust on it, and shone sparkling gold as it always had. I donned the grey mail before the gold plate, and shouldered the now-alien weight.

The armour was forged from Adamant, a nigh-indestructible metal found only in my homeland, tempered by master Artificers with dragon fire, before being gold plated and enchanted for further protection. It was, however, incredibly light, and fitted especially for me, making it not unlike an impenetrable second hide. Something that always baffled me was the lack of a helmet. Anypony could easily attack the head, ignoring the rest of the heavily armoured body, but I suppose that is what the bright red droplet-shaped Blood Ruby and gold plating was for; to draw attacks to the torso rather than the head. Still, I couldn’t help but think that whoever thought excluding a helmet from the set was a good idea was an idiot, but that was merely my opinion. As I finished tightening some straps, I thought about the letter I had received a few days ago.

“Meet me in the Everfree forest at 5:30 sharp! Saturday! VERY IMPORTANT!”

I only knew one pony who wrote the way that letter was written was my sister, Scarlet Rain. We were on much better terms since Nightmare Night, but I made it clear that we should keep communication scarce, in case my father were to trace the letters. If she sent me a letter, it must be pretty buckin’ important.

I trotted outside and headed for the Everfree forest. The snow crunched beneath my boots, and I observed the snowflakes fall. As I continued along the path, the combination of the falling snow and the cool air made it easy for my mind to wander.

I recalled all of the romances that have occurred in the short span of time since Nightmare night. Twilight Sparkle had admitted to dating Big Mac; a revelation that was news to everypony but Spike and myself, though we didn’t say so. Ditzy and Doctor Hooves are also getting along splendidly, and Ditzy even told me that they are also an official couple. Apparently, Dinky has taken to the Doctor fondly, and I can’t help but admit that I am happy for Ditzy having found a steady relationship.

I made my way into the dark forest, and after trotting along for about five minutes, and then I spotted her about a hundred paces ahead. She was leaning against a tree, and was standing in its shade. She also wore her armour, and although it was purple instead of gold, it was otherwise identical. I trotted closer, but stopped at about twenty feet when I could see her face clearly. It was covered in cuts and bruises, with fur missing in spots. I spread my wings to attempt to fly away, but she reacted faster than I could make lift-off, grabbing me in a telekinesis spell. She straightened up and moved towards me. I could now see that one of her eyes was also screwed shut, as if she was in extreme pain, but I suspected the true reason was far more sinister.

“Hello, brother. It’s been while, hasn’t it?” I glared at her in silence, and she shrugged, losing what little animosity towards me. “Let me apologize to begin with, and let me apologize for what I’m about to say. I think you have already realized that this is a trap, ordered by your father who had found out about you, tortured me, and had me come for you. However, while he still doesn’t know where you are, for he did not ask; he does want to send a message. He wants you to suffer, and I know just how to do it. I’m gonna force you to watch as your world burns and your friends die. Best part is?” Her look of satisfaction turned to one of pure madness. “You’re gonna do it for me.” I simply scoffed at the threat.

“Oh, really? And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Like this.” She tapped me on the forehead with her horn, and there was a huge flash of orange light, and I suddenly understood. I felt my muscles tense up, my jaws clench, and my very irises shrink. Then, came the flood of voices.

‘Yes… embrace us… let the hate flow through you.’

‘Let blood flow down every street like rivers, let every soul scream and perish in fire.’

‘Maim. Kill. Burn. MAIM. KILL. BURN.’

‘Let none suffer to live. Go forth, and KILL.’

‘Death to the weak! REJOICE IN THE SLAUGHTER TO COME!’

My sister let me down, and now I was frothing at the mouth. My mane was wild, and my tail was twitching. Looking around, I realized we were in Ponyville town square, with a crowd forming. I then looked up to my sister, in a crazed way as she leaned in and whispered in my ear:

“Search and destroy, servant. Any force which opposes you is to be crushed underhoof. All obstacles are to be reduced to dust and ash. Search. And. Destroy.” She then disappeared in another flash of orange light, leaving me alone, twitching; surrounded by countless ponies. I looked straight ahead and saw a familiar face that I knew from somewhere before. However, in my maddened mind, all she looked like was a nice, tasty, flesh sack of blood and marrow and etc. I could only watch in horror in my own mind as I lunged forward at the mare, teeth bared. Screams.

...is Miy sAniti

Author’s Warning: Beware! The following chapter is not mandatory to read. This chapter contains a whole lot of ponies dying, blood, gore, and other things under the category of “Unnerving”. If you are squeamish on the subject of blood, gore, swearing, and/or dark undertones, back out now and wait for the next chapter. You have been warned, so don’t b**** about it if you can’t take it. Bad S*** Meter level: Cupcakes

I toppled the white mare as others went running, few standing in awe as Red Storm, the good natured, polite, care-free stallion they had known was trying to kill them. I looked down at the mare, not knowing what I would do next. It was Nurse Redheart. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and I just licked my lips. I said in her ear:

“You know, I never got to repay you for saving my life. So I will save yours.” I slowly rose, and as she got to her hooves, my whole body stiffened with malicious fury.

“JUST KIDDING!” I grabbed her throat in my teeth and snapped my neck back, breaking hers. I bit down harder and felt vertebrae shatter as I tugged on her limp body. I placed one hoof on her shoulders and tugged again, this time ripping her head and her entire spinal column out of her body in a gruesome ballet of blood and sinew. I drank from her body for a few moments before turning my attention to the remainder of the crowd. My coat was slicked red as I clung to the pendulum of a head in my mouth and stared at them. Finally, I spat it out and whispered in their general direction:

“This is the part where you run away.” They took the hint and turned, running and screaming. I laughed as I licked my lips and unfurled my wings, taking flight. I flew forwards and quickly caught up to another pegasus stallion who was too shell-shocked to remember to fly away, instead using his slow, weak legs to try and escape. ‘Ha. Desperation makes people stupid.’ I grabbed him by the wings and pulled him up into the air as he kicked franticly. I bit into his neck, spraying my muzzle with warm, steamy blood as I tore outwards leaving a gaping hole where his jugular once was. I dropped the bleeding pony into the water fountain as I made another pass.

This one, a grey mare with a black mane squirmed as I grabbed her from said mane and carried her up atop town hall. There, she began to cry as I pinned her down.

“Please, please, oh sweet Celestia don’t kill me!” she bawled. I leaned in and let the blood drip from my lips onto her forehead as I said:

“You are the cellist, no? Well, here’s some news for you: There is no Celestia here. Just me.” I then proceeded to stomp down on her forelegs, smashing them both beyond repair. “AND I AM A CRUEL AND UNFORGIVING GOD!” She wailed in agony as I flung her from the top of the building and watched, laughing manically as she dropped to the ground, even going as far as saying “Ouch” as she hit the ground with a sickening *Smack*. Well, not sickening for me, but you get the point.

I watched as a certain white unicorn ran up to aid her marefriend, but it was useless. The grey mare called Octavia was already dead, and I was already descending upon my wings of death. The unicorn stood tall, tears flowing from behind her purple shades.

“You bastard. How could you do this to us? Why? Why cause this much pain to your friends?” I stopped, and I looked at her, and I thought. That was a rather good question, but the answer came as I saw the reflection of my red eyes in her shades. A demented smile spread across my face, and with unimaginable speed, I sped forward and punched a hole straight through her chest, blood spraying onto the broken body of the grey mare behind her. She stood, gaping, blood dripping from her lips as I whispered softly:

“Because it’s fun.” I then gripped her left with the other hoof, and withdrew my hoof from her chest. With lightening speed, I grabbed her other shoulder and I promptly tore her in half from neck to tail. Blood was now running down the street in a gruesome yet gorgeous stream and the water fountain in town square ran red with blood, having been dyed sanguine from the body I had dumped into it. I stood, and inhaled the carnage I had brought; all the while I dreamt what more I should bring in the next several minutes. Suddenly, an enormous force collided with me, sending me flying straight through a building. The building then collapsed on top of me. As I climbed out of the debris, I spotted my new challenger. There, she stood, magenta eyes burning with fury and her cyan feathers rustling.

“Red Storm! What the hay are you doing? Killing innocent ponies is not cool man!” I grinned a devilish grin before responding:

“Is that so, Miss Dash? Pray tell, you have a Rainbow District in Cloudsdale, no?”

“What about it?”

“And you are the weather team leader, no?”

“What are you getting at?”

“You say murder is wrong, yet still, one question floats about: Where do you get your Spectra from? We in the Sanguine Kingdom only know one way to get Spectra, and if your system is anything like ours…” She didn’t let me finish, instead flying straight at me. I met her with my own charge.

I smashed into the mare with all the force I could muster, but to my despair, the same protective magics that kept her safe from the Sonic Rainboom aided her even now, as she shrugged off my blows as well as I did hers. And I was wearing an aegis. Soon, however, I was fed up with the petty games, as I was getting hungry again. I leaned back, and through a very old and very dangerous technique, used the added weight of my body, my total wingpower, and my raw strength to deliver a blow to her that would have decimated a mountain. She flew backwards at insane speeds, smashing through three buildings in a row, before she lay still in the rubble of the third building. I turned my attention back to the fleeing ponies. Some had gotten wise and were flying away. I would catch them later. I flew forwards towards the nearest group of ponies, and there in the middle of them I saw a particularly delectable family of three. An earth pony stallion, a Pegasus mare, and a unicorn foal, all running away together. I tackled the stallion first, and the Mare shouted something, but I didn’t hear it. The stallion told them to run, and to leave him behind. The mare turned quickly and kept going. I looked at my prey who then punched me in the face. This surprised me, and I retaliated by digging my teeth into his throat. He continued to batter me until he lay still and lifeless. I drank my fill before standing up. Then, I examined the body. It was a clean kill, but something was wrong. Then I realized who it was. I had just brutally murdered and fed from The Doctor. ‘He… oh my…’ I shook the strange feeling of guilt away as an enormous force threw me off-balance. I spun around to my assailant, and came face-to-face with an infuriated Big Macintosh.

He charged again, and smashed into me, cracking my carapace. ‘Holy Nightmare Moon! He is no ordinary stallion!’ I countered his attack by catching him in the mouth with a sucker-punch right. He spit out a tooth and came at me again. He threw a right-hook punch and I caught it. He threw a left-hook punch and I caught that one too. We stood there, trying to overpower each other, and even in my augmented state, he was forcing me to my knees. I tapped into my inner strength, using up much of my fed blood to increase my muscle mass, and evening the odds. As strong as he was, he was no match for Sanguine Blood Magic. I forced him to his knees before snapping the ankles in his forelegs. He roared in pain, but kept fighting back, which brought out the sadist in me. I kicked his left hind leg, breaking it with small splinters of bone flying out, before tackling him. I them proceeded to break the last of his legs, all of his ribs, and his jaw; all the while he screamed in agony. Finally when I felt like I had enough fun, I snapped his neck and rose, licking the blood off of my forelegs. Suddenly, a burst of magic struck my side. I lost my balance, but regained it quickly, doing a 90 degree quick-turn on one hoof. There, was Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

“Well, well! The gang is all here... wait… where is Fluttershy?”

“We told her ta hide, in case she’s the target of yer rampage. Besides, she ain’t no good in a fight.” I shrugged in agreement before re-focusing my attention. Then, the orange farm mare saw the broken form of her brother behind me, and she flinched.

“So then, fillies, shall we dance the Danza Macabra? I am anxious to see how well the lot of you are in a fight.” They just stood there, and I held my ground, with The Doctor in a pool of his own blood between us. Suddenly, Rarity took the first shot, (a simple concussion spell-bolt) and I deftly avoided it. I moved at speeds faster than she could track, before I tackled her away from her friends. The moment she hit the ground, I reared back, and I struck her on the horn with enough force to destroy a two-ton boulder. Her horn shattered into sparkling and flickering fragments, and she screamed a blood-curdling scream before feinting. I picked her up, and threw her at her friends. ‘My… friends…’ I shook the feeling of doubt away again as Pinkie Pie shouldered the unicorn.

“Pinkie, take Rarity somewhere safe. Applejack and I will handle this,” explained Twilight as calmly as she could. Her friends were dying around her, and the only way she could end it was to kill me, a friend in my own right. Ultimatums, ultimatums… As much as I would like to say that I enjoyed the bloodshed, seeing my friend like that brought me anguish. However, that feeling too was overcome with malice as when Pinkie turned to leave; I sped past Twilight and Applejack, headed straight for the retreating pony. She turned just in time for me to glide an outstretched wing across her neck. I stopped about five steps ahead of her, with the dust trail slowly rising behind me. I then turned to see a look of horror and agony in the Pink mare’s face, before suddenly, her head rolled off her neck. It fell next to her body, and there her body stood, in mid-step with an unconscious Rarity on its back. Blood was squirting from the open neck like a water fountain, and I had to resist leaning in to take a drink. Finally, after what felt like hours, the headless body fell to the ground, with Rarity rolling onto the cobblestone street.

Applejack and Twilight were absolutely in shock of what just happened. I then began to nonchalantly step towards Rarity, who was beginning to soak in the Pinkie-blood, staining her white coat red. I stepped up to the unconscious body and raised a hoof above her head. Twilight realized what I was about to do, but far too late.

“RED STORM, N-”

*Crunch*

The purple mare fell to her knees. I flicked the brains and skull off of my tread as Applejack growled, brimming with a fury so powerful that I was actually intimidated.

“You…you… YOU SONOVA BITCH! YA KILLED THEM! YA KILLED THEM BOTH! YA KILLED THEM ALL! AND THEN Y’ALL GO AND ACT LIKE NOTHIN’ EVEN HAPPENED! I’M GONNA KILL YA! I’M GONNA KILL YA UNTIL THERE AIN’T NOTHIN’ LEFT TA KILL! I’M GONNA-”

“Applejack… stop.” The purple mare’s words surprised even me. “There’s nothing left for us to do. We’ve lost. Red Storm has killed Rarity and Pinkie. We can’t use the Elements of Harmony anymore. We are not the Elements of Harmony anymore. Even if just one of us were to die, the bond is broken, and it cannot be mended. Just… stop.”

This surprised me even more. Elements of harmony? These mares were the Elements? Ah, but that would make sense now. Either way, she spoke the truth. There was no point in fighting. Even at full strength, they would have been no match for me at my present ability. Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind me:

“Hey, plothole! I’m not done with you!” We all looked up at the owner of the voice, and behind me stood Rainbow Dash. One of her wings was obviously broken, and she appeared to have a skull fracture, but she held herself as tall as ever; once she saw the state of her friends, however, the spirit in her eyes died. She fell to her knees, suddenly overcome from injuries far worse than I could see, and Applejack raced to her side. The orange mare carried the wounded pegasus back to the other side of the street. Glaring at me with pure, unceasing hate all the while. I nodded in acknowledgement, and let them pass. The orange mare continued onwards off to the farm, past the remains of her brother, and out of sight. I trotted slowly up to the purple mare who was now sitting in a pool of blood, dribbling from the remains of her friends. She looked up to me, tears flowing.

“I… I failed everypony. Please, just kill me.” I obliged without thought, crushing her skull between two of my hooves. Her body fell down onto the street with a *thump*, and I walk down the street. By now, everypony had fled the town, and so with nothing more to do, I retrieved a lamp from a nearby home, and proceeded to light buildings aflame. While I was starting a fire in Sugarcube corner, a very familiar voice spoke up behind me:

“What have you done now?”

I turned slowly, as the voice filled me with dread. A dread that numbed my feeling of madness, down to lucidity and near-sanity. I dropped the lamp as I stepped up to the mare behind me. The mare who saved me, took me in, comforted me and gave me the benefit of the doubt. Fluttershy. It struck me just then that if Twilight’s words were true about being the elements of harmony, Fluttershy would without a doubt be the Element of Kindness. Having lived in a medieval castle for my whole life with nothing to do but train and read, I had extensive knowledge on the forces that brought the downfall of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and many others. I looked into the eyes of my marefriend, but it was rather apparent that she had no feelings for me anymore. She was looking at me with cold disappointment and sorrow. She did not, however hold any hate in her gaze.

“Fluttershy, you almost look surprised. I told you this is what I was destined for. It was simply a matter of time.” She slapped me across the face.

“You are destined for nothing. You chose to do this. You. No pony else forced you to do this. You are not the stallion I once knew. I feel nothing towards you anymore, Red Storm. Leave my life, and never come back.” I was shocked at her aggressiveness, even though it was expected. The town was ablaze now, and I could feel the heat on my back. She continued:

“More so, you may think that killing some ponies and burning the evidence is a good idea, but it isn’t. If you excuse me, I must go and evacuate the Everfree forest before the fire spreads and burns that down too.” I snarled, returning to my not-entirely sane state once more. She turned to trot away, but I grabbed her tail and pulled her back. She squealed, and I breathed in her face:

“I’m sorry dear, but I won’t let you leave me now. I gave you my heart, and I expect the same.” Her eyes went wide at what I was implying, and before I could react, I plunged my hoof straight into her chest. She lay in my arms, spazaming as I extracted her still-beating heart in a geyser of blood, and took a bite out of it. I smiled devilishly at her, but all malice left me as an ember of my humanity ignited once more. She was dying in my arms, but managed to whisper:

“Red… Storm… I hate you.” Her eyes closed slowly and I set her down. My heart was heavy after having just murdered my love in cold blood, but my fury kept that from holding me back. I made a funeral pyre for everypony I had killed; after all, it would be rude no to give them their final rights. Once I burned the rest of the town down I flew into the air and reviewed my work. ‘Kill count: ten ponies. Buildings capsized: four. Overall evaluation: a good start.’ Suddenly, there was a flash of light next to me, and my sister was there next to me, levitating herself with her advanced magics.

“Hello brother. Good work! Now, to return your sanity and conscience.”

“I beg your pardon?” she tapped me on the head with her horn, and with a flash of orange magic, I was alone. Not only because she was gone, but because the voices were gone as well. I was not alone for long, however, as just as suddenly as my sister appeared, my conscience returned to me. I cried. For the first time in decades, I cried from despair. I felt like killing myself. But no, I was not worthy of such peace. I decided I would live alone in the Everfree forest, amongst animals like my love once did.

I flew down to the edge of town and striped myself of my armour before heading into the dark forest; with tittering shadows following me, mocking me from the light of the raging fires. I walked aimlessly for some time before I came across a small hut. It had strange tribal glyphs and markings along the outside walls, along with intimidating masks on stakes not unlike lawn ornaments. I felt the urge to enter, and so I went up to the door, and knocked. Immediately a voice chimed within:
“Hello and welcome, my troubled friend. Come inside, so your heart we may mend.” I found the rhyming odd, but I entered.
Inside was an odd sight, even to me. I instantly recognized the furnishing inside as that of a southern tribal, and a Zebra greeted me.

“Hello Red Storm, Zecora am I. How are you doing on a day so fine?” I blinked, before saying:

“Well let’s see here. I just killed all of my friends, burned their bodies, before destroying the town we lived in. I have been having a good day.” She just chuckled.

“You have yet to see this is all a lie. Sit down, and I shall explain to you why.” I felt like she was a bit odd, but that she spoke with much wisdom. I followed her command.

“You have been tricked, and your mind plagued. This entire world, your sister has faked.” I was beginning to understand what she was saying… but not really.

“This is all just… an elaborate illusion?”

“Quite indeed, though hard to explain. The details can become quite a pain.” I nodded at this, knowing that illusions can take many forms, and many levels of complexity. She then handed me a single red pellet. I looked at her sideways. She said:

“Do not fear, for your recovery this treatment must be done. Although I must admit, the waking up process is not any fun.” I swallowed the red pellet, and instantly my head felt like exploding. Then, it did.

Author's Notes:

God damn, was Zecora hard to write for! How the hell do all of those other writers do it? I just eeked by, but the rhymes suck none-the-less. Sorry folks. Also, to anypony who missed the ad at the begining of the story, there is a fellow youtube brony who needs help! Find him and his cool walkthroughs here. Thanks!
Oh yeah, almost forgot...SANITY IS FOR THE WEAK!

...is You, Fluttershy

Autor’s wordy-bitz: Heeyy… Sorry ‘bout the wait since the last chapter, and the length of this one. I have been cracked out on Fallout: New Vegas and my priorities suck. Anyways… ‘ere she is!

My eyes flew open. I was in the hospital again, and Fluttershy was by my bedside, along with Zecora. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise as I shot up straight in bed, and Zecora looked like she was waking up from a nap. However, I soon realized she was using a Dream Walker spell from the incense wafting in the room. The pieces quickly fell into place and I realized what my sister had done. She had cast the spell of “Eternal Night” on me. The spell puts the body of the victim into a comatose, while causing a sensory overload and the illusion of living your greatest fears. Truly a fate worse than death, and I was beyond relieved that it was all over. However… because of the nature of the spell, I was supposed to die in that state. I didn’t, and I felt noticeably different from the experience. I had killed my friends and my lover, as well as several others before I discovered it was a lie. However, the emotions that came from the illusion still linger, and I can’t help but feel slightly unhinged from it. Nonetheless, it was just a Dream, and I should treat it as such.

“Hello, love. I just finished having the worse nightmare. Pray tell, how did I wind up here?”

“I found you lying in the woods. You wouldn’t wake up, so I had some of my animal friends bring you here. When the doctors said that you were in a magic-induced comatose, and they couldn’t figure out why. When even Twilight couldn’t wake you up, I got desperate and had Zecora come here to try and help. She told me that you were under a curse, and that she could help. The two of you were under for several hours and I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up-”

“I’m ok, Fluttershy. It’s all ok. We’re both awake now, everypony is ok.” I shuddered, remembering killing Fluttershy. I shook it way.

“Well… If you say so. But a few minutes ago you were crying. If you need to talk, I’m here for you. That’s what marefriends are for.” I shrugged, and moved out of the bed. I motioned for Fluttershy to head out, and I stopped Zecora at the entrance.

“What happened in there stays between us, ok?”

“The experience that we hold shall not be told.”

“Good! And why do you rhyme all the time?”

“The reason I rhyme all the time, is due to a foalhood trauma involving limes.” ‘Right. There is nothing weird about that.’ I moved towards the door, yanking out the I.V. as I went, and outside the door waiting was my beloved.

“Pray tell, love, how long was I out?”

“A day.” I shudder ran through me. Today was Hearth’s Warming. I needed to get her somethi-

“I know you weren’t able to get me something, between working in the mines and this…” ‘Wait, she knew all along? Wow, I suck.’ “So you don’t have to worry about it. An idea popped up in my head. I leaned in and kissed her, right on the lips. She hesitated, but leaned into the kiss quickly. We stayed locked in a passionate embrace for several moments before we broke away.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, love. I hope you enjoyed your gift.” She said nothing, but instead grabbed me and pulled me into another kiss. ‘Somepony is feeling happy today.’ She pulled away quickly, saying:

“That was the best Hearth’s Warming gift a mare could wish for.” I smiled a gentle smile, but I then remembered that Zecora was behind me. I spun around to say “thank-you” again, but she was already gone, a nearby window open. ‘What is wrong with ponies using the front door in this town?’ I closed the window, and led Fluttershy to the door. I dropped a hoof-full of bits onto the front desk with my bill, and walked out with Fluttershy into the cold outside.

Within a few minutes, we were back home. I opened the door, and stepped inside behind Fluttershy. I stripped off my armour and tossed it into a corner while she hopped off to the kitchen to prepare dinner. In the center of the room was a large tree, along with several small boxes underneath, wrapped in colourful paper. I realized that these were all presents, and out of the six that were present, three were for me. This, was unacceptable. I noticed that the last three, the largest, were for Angel. That furry little bastard.

“Fluttershy, I just remembered that I needed to get something.”

“Ok! Just be back soon! Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes, and after we will open presents.” I was already flying out the door, and I had one pony in mind. Within record time (13 seconds) I was at Whitewash’s door, ringing the bell. She stepped to the door, clad in a kinky red lingerie outfit with a pointed red cap.

“Now is not the best time, Red Storm. I kinda have a mare over…”

“Captain! I have a special assignment for you!”

“Sir-yessir!” She stood tall, and looked rather funny saluting me in her outfit.

“I failed to acquire a present for my marefriend, and I need your help to find one!”

“Understood sir! I know many excellent places to get several in less than ten minutes at reasonable prices, sir!”

“Capital! Let us depart A-S-A-P!”

“Yessir!...” she faltered, “Permission to change, sir!”

“Permission granted!” she bolted into the back room and came back several seconds later in her armour and with an orange-haired mare by her side. The yellow mare with the orange mane looked terrified, and her green eyes flicked between us. Still in my “Commander Persona”, I shouted in her direction:

“Civilian! You are DIS-MISSED!” she squeaked and ran away, out the door and as fast as she could. Whitewash sighed.

“Was that really necessary?” she said, her normal personality back.

“ABSOLUTELY! Let’s move out, Captain! We have FIFTEEN minutes to buy a gift and wrap it!”

“SIR YES SIR!” She bolted out down the hall, and I flew alongside her. We had shopping to do.

I returned home with two colourful boxes in my forelegs (one from Whitewash, one from me) just as Fluttershy began to set the table. I slid the boxes under the tree and moved to the kitchen. I admittedly didn’t know what Whitewash got Fluttershy, but I suppose I would know soon enough. I moved behind her silently, and cupped my hooves over her eyes, much to her surprise. She breathed lightly as I gave her a peck on the cheek.

“I’m back, sweetie. What’s for dinner?”

“I made some nice carrot soup for dinner. I had also prepared a cake while you were in the hospital. I hope you like it,” she said quietly as I moved my hooves from her eyes, and holding her in a hug about the waist instead.

“I’m sure it will be absolutely delicious.” And it was. We ate in relative silence, and I thought solemnly about the horrors I had committed within my own mind. If I did those things in what I thought to have been reality, who’s to say I won’t do them in real life as well? Fluttershy broke the silence.

“Red Storm… what happened to you?” I wondered whether or not I should tell her the truth. I decided yes.

“My love, it has come to my attention that my father wishes me dead. He had tortured my sister until she admitted to knowing where I was, and he sent her to kill me. She had cast a spell called ‘Eternal Night’ upon me, which places the afflicted into a comatose-like state while they dream their greatest fears as though they were a reality. As the spell wears on, it will cause the victim so much emotional agony that they will lose the will to live, and die.” Fluttershy just continued to eat her soup in silence, before asking:

“I don’t mean to pry, but what did you dream of?” Truth, or lie? Both.

“I dreamt that you and everypony else I cared for were killed. It had to have been the worst feeling in my life.” ‘Because I did it.’ She put a hoof on mine.

“Don’t worry so much about it, sweetie,” She said, and I almost jumped at ‘sweetie’… great Celestia, it is good to be loved.

“It was all just a dream. Besides, it’s Hearth’s Warming day! Let’s open our presents!” She jumped out of her seat, and trotted over to the tree. I joined her, and she pulled out one of the boxes that I had brought.

“Red Storm… You didn’t have to!”

“Ah, but I did! Go on… open it up!” She did so, and beneath the colourful wrapping was a box with a small gold locket inside. The locket had a single, glimmering Blood Ruby on the outside (Which had cost an astronomical amount to have fitted in.) Inside, there was a picture of myself, and a small hoof-carved sentence:

“To my dearest beloved; the kindest soul I know.” She just looked at it, a small tear forming. I couldn’t happen but add the “Kindest” part after my revelation on the true status of my friends, but more than that, it was due to her being supportive of me since the very beginning; that very day I woke up in her bed. So very kind…

“Red Storm! It’s beautiful! Thank you so much! You really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to do this for me!”

“Yes, in fact, I did. I could not possibly allow you to give me any gifts without you receiving any from me. Besides, I needed to show my manliness through wasting an absurd amount of bits on such a gift! Only a true stallion can make such poor financial decisions!” My marefriend giggled at this, before putting on the locket.

“Poor financial decision or not, I love it. Thank you.” She then passed a box to me. I tore it open eagerly: this would be the very first actual present I will have ever received for any occasion. Inside the small box was a vial of red liquid, on a chain. I opened it and sniffed the contents gingerly. The liquid was without a doubt blood, and it smelled of the forest. I re-capped the vial and looked at Fluttershy sideways.

“What, pray tell is this?” She looked slightly crestfallen.

“Its… some of my blood. I thought it might be a fitting gift.” I realized the intention. She wished for a part of her to be with me forever. Where I come from, this is the same as a marriage proposal. I let go of the thought as I put the chain about my neck. After all, how could she possibly have known about…? That’s when I saw a small, red book on the coffee table. From across the room I could clearly see its title: “History and culture of the Sanguine Nation.” My mind went blank, and Fluttershy followed my gaze to the book. She made an “eek” as she sped over to collect the book. The damage, however, was done.

“Dear…” I began, still staring at the book, now in Fluttershy’s forelegs. “Are… are you proposing to me?” She simply stared at me, and I stared back. After what seemed like whole millennia, she finally said:

“Maybe…” I jumped up with such enthusiasm that I hit my head on the ceiling.

“Yes! YES! I ACCEPT! YES!” I cried with joy and glee. “I would LOVE to marry you! Nothing would make me happier!” I took her up in my forelegs in a great, big hug. I swung her about the room before setting her down again.

“I accept your proposal, Fluttershy. I would be honoured to be your husband,” I said flatly (but softly) after brushing back down the mare’s mane. I gave her a quick kiss, and tears were forming in my eyes. A quick glance revealed that tears were forming in her beautiful pools as well. We gathered ourselves and continued to unwrap gifts.

Angel got several items of grand material wealth, but simply shook his head and headed over to the liquor cabinet. I unwrapped my last two gifts: a grand helmet that matched my suit of Bloodsteel armour (but was not made of it, alas); and a simply marvelous night-black suit and matching blood-red tie. I gave my new fiancé my thanks, and we opened the last box together: Whitewash’s gift to Fluttershy. I honestly had no idea what she had gotten for her, so I was just as curious as Fluttershy herself. There was a card attached that read:

“Hope you enjoy it, you two! And, congrats on your engagement!”

That was creepy. How the hell did she foresee our engagement? We took off the wrapping paper and looked into the plain box underneath. What was inside was, to put it simply, unnerving.

Within the box were a latex suit, hoofcuffs, and a whip.

I just stared and then looked at my fiancé. She bore a look of surprise.

"I am terribly sorry about this. I will throw this out, and give Whitewash a good tongue-lashing later-” She placed a hoof to my lips, and revealed a sinful grin.

“Now, now. Don’t jump to conclusions, Red Storm. We may want to use these… later.” My mane stood up on end as she brought the box upstairs to the bedroom, still giving me that look. As soon as she left from my view, my wings unfurled in what Rainbow Dash had called a “Wing-boner” I folded them shut again as Fluttershy returned downstairs.

“Now that the presents are done, would you like some cake?” I nodded slowly, and we both made our way to the kitchen.

‘Employed? Engaged? Things are looking up!’

‘I told you, shut up.’

Author's Notes:

I know, I know. The great and deadly engagement. Hey! It has been several months since they got together, and they have known each other for almost six months. I felt like this story needed to progress, and I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! Opps. Sorry. I love you all, and I hope you have enjoyed it so far!

Makin' Our Way Back From Mars

I opened my eyes slowly, and let the early morning light fill them. By my side lay my beautiful fiancé, Fluttershy. She slept lightly, and I could feel her breath on my chest. It was truly the most wonderful thing, being engaged. The two of us shared a love and passion for each other that I could never have even dreamed of. While we burned for each other each day, we still believed it was best to save our virtue, for after we wed. On that note, our wedding was just a few weeks from now, and I am ecstatic. Each day we spend hours planning for each and every possible situation and variable, from one of us suffering from illness, to a full-fledged assault from my father. Nothing was left out, and it seemed like it will be the greatest day of my life… well, actually, I am worried about the honeymoon, as Fluttershy never threw out Whitewash’s gift, and with each passing day I feel like she was serious about wanting to use it. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course. It’s just the thought of my sweet, delicate Fluttershy bending me over with a whip scares me. Either way, I really can’t wait…

‘Oh! Hey, just reminding you… It’s hearts and hooves day today.’

‘No, you don’t say? I knew that. And again, stop talking to me.’

‘Hey. I am the only one around here that can string together proper sentences without shouting something homicidal, so you may as well give me credit for that.’

‘… Touché. Still, don’t bother me. I have things to do.’ The voice ceased its prattling then.

I slowly moved from the bed, being absolutely sure not to wake up my sleeping beauty, before moving downstairs. I moved groggily, as I was still a bit tired, but alas, it would be all but impossible for me to fall asleep now that I was up. I walked past my sister, who was sitting on the couch, and made my way to the kitchen. There, half awake I prepared the romantic breakfast I had planned for Fluttershy and myself. I then returned to the living room after setting everything up, and Scarlet Rain offered me some coffee, which I accepted graciously. I took the cup and sipped gently, before spitting it out, realizing that my sister was here.

“Putain de MERDE! What are you doing here? Please don’t try to kill me again, because I’m getting married in three weeks, and I would rather my fiancé not be put through such grief.” The sleek dark purple mare giggled at my plainly stated plea. I noticed she now bore a scar across her left cheek, likely a reminder of her treachery and torture.

“I’m not here for revenge, brother. I am here to check up on my favorite sibling!” If my brain was powered by a hamster on a wheel, the hamster just stopped running.

“What?” I asked, slightly irritated, but silently as to not awake my beloved above. “Just a few months ago you cast one of the three most dangerous curses in existence on me, and then you just expect me to forgive you? No! What you did was simply unforgivable! I watched as I murdered all of my loved ones, and you come here like we are best friends!” I was now using my normal volume of speech. She blinked a few times, shocked, and obviously hurt.

“Brother… I’m sorry you see it that way. I told you, Father ordered me to, and I had to obey. Believe me; I was having nightmares for weeks about what nightmares you could have had. Not to mention how terrible it was for me to have to deal with the possibility of you being dead. I really, truly love you brother.” I simmered down instantly. Something about my sister when she is like this just melts me like butter over an open flame.

“Very well, Scarlet. I will forgive your heinous deed. But so not expect this from me again. Cross me again and there will be no respite.” She just nodded happily, simply gay at my forgiveness.

“So… you’re settling down, huh?” She asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Yes. Why exactly does it matter to you?” She shrugged

“Oh, it’s just nice to see that my little Red Storm is all grown up. You know, I don’t even have any suitors… Maybe it’s the eyes…” she trailed off as she began gently poking herself in the eye. She didn’t even blink as she jammed her entire hoof into her eye socket. I stood there, slightly unnerved until she stood up, removing the hoof from her eye with a wet *POP* and saying:

“Well, anyway… I was just stopping by. I’m not going to ask what you dreamt, or how you survived. I just wanted to come by to see if you are ok. I’m going to leave now, but do reserve a seat for me at your wedding. I will be there.” Before she could reach the door, there was a knock on the door. We both looked at each other sideways, before my sister ducked behind the couch and I made my way to the door. I opened it, and there stood Miss Doo.

“Ditzy! How nice to see you! And how have you been doing?” I asked, trying to act as if my homicidal sister was just behind me; and I was doing a rather fine job too.

“Red Storm! Hello to you too! I just came by with a letter. Real spooky lookin’ one. All red with a weird wax seal on it. It’s like you’re royalty or something!” She said this jokingly, but the truth could be no closer. “Anyway, while I would love and stay to chat, I have other letters to deliver. Maybe you, Fluttershy, the Doctor and I can all go on a double-date sometime? It’d be fun!”

“Perhaps,” I was looking at the letter, almost nodding her off, “That would be nice.” She flew off, none the wiser, and I stepped back inside. My sister moved to my side as I opened the letter. We both knew this was no ordinary letter, and it showed. This was a letter from my father. I pulled out a sheet of parchment from within, and on it was a message hoof-written in ink.

‘Hello, my son. I have received word of your impending marriage, and I must say that I am proud. While it is no Sanguine Wedding, it is your wedding nonetheless. I send my blessing, and my promise of absolutely no interference, before, during, or after. While I would wish to attend my kin’s wedding, I will only make an appearance at your whim. Your father ~ Red Wing ~’

“What nerve!” I said in disbelief. “My father sends you to kill me, has tried to kill me for almost a decade, and now he expects an invitation to my bloody wedding? Buck, no. He can go to Tartarus.” I threw the sheet at the ground, and as it floated lazily to the ground, my frustration grew. My sister placed a hoof on my shoulder, signaling for me to calm down, which I did quickly. However, while my body calmed, the seas of my mind roared.

‘How dare he! He has got to be the worst father ever, and now he wants an invitation! You should go home now and beat him into submission!’

‘Come now; look at it as your sister has presented it. He just wanted what was best for you after all this time. The assassination attempts were a set of tests to make you stronger. And stronger you have become.’

‘No. I must not let this drag me down. It won’t. I will not let it.’

I brushed my sister’s hoof off of my shoulder, and brushed down my mane with a hoof, as my fury had caused it to become untidy. Then, above there was movement. My sister gave a brief nod, before disappearing out the door. Down came my fiancé, and I greeted her with a hug.

“Good morning, my love. And how did you sleep?”

“Well. Happy Hearts and Hooves day Red Storm.” I chuckled.

“Indeed. Happy Hearts and Hooves day.” The holiday was still alien to me, although I had been studying the holiday for weeks with Twilight Sparkle. It was supposed to be a holiday devoted to the love and joy of romantic partnership. I still did not understand it. After all, I was raised in a country where business was more important than love, and any type of marriage was always for political reasons. Still, I was interested. More so, I wanted nothing more than to show my wife-to-be the best Hearts and Hooves day ever. I had planned (in order) a delightful breakfast, a nice little spot of shopping, a spa treatment, a hiking trip to the most lovely spot I had found the other day, before finishing it up with a romantic picnic. After all, she is truly the most important pony in my life, and deserves the best. I let her go from my embrace, and she kissed my nose before heading over to the kitchen. There, there was a “squeak” of surprise. Excellent. Phase one, complete.’ I made my way over, and there, spread across the table was a beautiful assortment of flowers, fruits, and other things that were both appealing and delicious. The flowers were assorted in multicolor rings of red, yellows, purples and pinks, and the fruit were stacked into a neat pile in the center of it all. I gave Fluttershy a quick kiss before pulling out a chair for her. I pushed her in after she sat down, and I sat myself across the table.

“Go on, eat, my love. I did all this for you.” She smiled before taking some flowers and beginning to munch on them. I then noticed that she was wearing her locket. Now that made me feel warm inside.

“So Red Storm,” she said after swallowing the last of the flowers she was eating, “what have you got planned today? Because, knowing you, you have something spectacular planned out.

“Indeed I do! But, that is for you to find out. Not now. Later. Now, we eat!” I took an apple out of the pile, nodded my head to it, and took a bite. I returned my gaze to Fluttershy, and said:

“Today, I have prepared the ultimate Hearts and Hooves Day date for you. And the secret ingredient of this ensemble is: LOVE!” I grabbed her with one foreleg and ran out the door with her slung across my back. She never even got to finish her breakfast, I realized soon after.

We arrived at the market place in mere moments, due to me flying there with her on my back at Mach 3. She was giggling as we landed and windows exploded.

“That was fun, but unnecessary.” She brushed her mane back down as everypony came out of cover.

“Oh, but it was necessary! I had to make an entrance for my beautiful fiancé!” I turned to a random pony; “Isn’t she beautiful?” He slowly backed away, and I realized I had another psychotic break. I gathered myself, and turned to Fluttershy.

“Anyway, we are here so that I may lavish you with material wealth of your choice. Please, my darling, lead the way!” She nodded with a smile and a blush, and led the way. We arrived at the very same jeweler as the one where I had purchased the locket, but I made no note of this. We stepped inside, and she began to look around. For this, I was prepared. I had been saving money for weeks for just this occasion. I had enough bits and gems on person to buy a solid gold chariot for Fluttershy, and that was merely what I have on me. The stallion who owns the mine that I work in is kind enough to let us miners keep any gems we dig up, as he is there for the iron and minerals. That, plus the twenty-bits-an-hour wage makes for good living with Fluttershy, even though I have been working at night now so that I can share the day with my love.

Fluttershy was trying on a very pretty set of ruby and gold earrings that went marvelously with the locket. It’s eerie, really, how much she wears red these days. She only started this trend after we started dating, but now it seems like she loves the colour these days. Likewise, it has become apparent to me how much I love the colour of aquamarine stones, and I was in fact looking at a dashing set of aquamarine cufflinks when Fluttershy came up to me with the earrings.

“Can I get these? I like them a lot.” I put the cufflinks back and pulled out my coin purse.

“Of course, my dear. We are shopping for you. We can get whatever you want.” I placed the earrings on the counter, the salespony rung them up, and I paid the three hundred bits, all while wearing a smile. I smiled because while I knew that material gifts cannot bring eternal happiness, they can bring momentary joy. And one cannot place a price tag on the happiness of a loved one.

We left, and spent another hour or so shopping, in which we spent over two thousand bits. All the while I smiled. It didn’t matter to me how much I was spending for my love, because if she is happy, then I am in ecstasy. She had bought the earrings, two dresses, and a new pair of shoes, along with a few other things that she wouldn’t allow me to see from a rather suspicious shop. Overall, it was a rather successful shopping trip.

“Are you finished shopping for now, my love?” Fluttershy nodded her head. “Well then, I suppose it is time for our next course of action… wait, can you stay here while I bring everything back home?” She nodded again silently. Peculiar. I gave her a quick peck, and slung the shopping bags over my shoulder before taking off. Seconds later I broke the sound barrier and a few more seconds later I landed in front of the cottage. I made my way inside, and plopped the bags down on the floor next to the couch, and I saw the red letter. I moved to it, and picked it up. I moved to the kitchen, and threw it away. I then made my way back to the door, locked up, and took off again.

Author's Notes:

Heeeeyyy... Just wanted to remind all of you who have come this far to post reviews on what you think! If you see any errors, do tell! And if you think that the story is dying at this point, well so do I! Throw me some suggestions, or even your predictions on what may happen next! On the internet, comments are the lube of a well-greased machine, and I'm getting rusty! Help a brony. Leave a comment.