Okay, something I should probably clear up here. For those of you who don't know yet, the reason this story hasn't been updated lately is that after the previous chapter, it got continued in Wind Warrior, which is the same story, just under a different name because it was an adaptation of another piece of media other than MLP FIM. So if you have not read that yet, please do, or you'll be completely lost.

Cobalt closed his eyes against the rough winds of the dimensional portal. It had changed since the last time… or maybe this was an effect of the darkness transporting him instead of travelling by means of the chaos emeralds/elements of harmony. He felt like his very essence was being drained, weathered away from him by the winds, leaving him barren and dead.

He took at least a little comfort in the fact that he was going home, and the fact that he had been able to resist the darkness this long.

Alas, he was horribly mistaken, for as we remember and he does not, he lost control of his own physical form, his will trampled and his consciousness shoved into the corner of his mind. But now, his memories rewritten and a false sense of successful resistance put in his mind, he could not dream of ever losing himself.

With a feeling like he was being thrust into a vacuum, he was thrust out of the portal, landing on soft clouds. Getting up, he saw that he was in a remote corner of Cloudsdale. This made him panic, as the last time he'd dimension-warped back into Equestria, he'd come back in a dream-distorted version of Cloudsdale, where there wasn't anypony around and the whole world felt barren. Thankfully, he noticed as he glanced up, there were pegasi in the distance, flying around and kicking dark clouds.

He let out a sigh of relief, training his vision on the clouds themselves. There was something weird about them… they seemed too dark, too dense, and too numerous. As he looked closer, he noticed that the pegasi he'd assumed were tending to the storm seemed panicked, flying about it faster than if they were simply nudging it in the right direction.

But then he didn't have more time for scrutiny, as a hoof struck him square in the back, knocking him onto the ground. He grunted and rolled onto his back to lash out against whomever had dealt the blow. A shout rose to his throat, but it was silenced as another blow came out of his spotty vision and slammed into his neck, leaving him unable to speak and gasping for air.

As his vision cleared, he made out the smirking faces of three ponies he'd said that if he never saw them again, it would be too soon. The three bullies that had apparently tormented Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as foals, Dumbbell, Charger, and Hoops.

"It's him." one of them said. Cobalt couldn't tell who was speaking due to his still somewhat blurry vision, and the shadows that fell on their faces.

"Well, well, well." This time Cobalt recognized Dumbbell's voice. "Cobalt Spikes. Say, do you remember that last time we met, when you threatened to rip out our throats?"

Cobalt vaguely remembered saying something of the sort. He'd told them that he was dangerous, he remembered that. If they only knew…

But right now, he didn't feel very threatening. He tried to speak, but simply ended up wheezing and once again gasping for precious breath.

"I guess you do, then. Well guess what?" Dumbbell thrust his face close to Cobalt's, the fury in his eyes plain. "Ponies just don't forget threats like that!"

Another blow struck Cobalt in the ribcage, and another hit him square in the eye. He began to feel like he was suffocating, and then as the next strike hit him in the side of the head, his vision went black.

BACK IN THE LIBRARY

Twilight looked up at the sky in worry. The rain was now pouring out of the sky in torrents, and the ground was covered with splotches of mud and puddles. A crowd had begun to gather outside of the library, all looking up at the sky confusedly, and Twilight now exited the building and joined them.

Rainbow Dash was in the crowd as well, bandages streaked down her side to cover the gash. She looked over at Twilight and pointedly turned her back. Twilight sighed, knowing that the polychromatic mare now had proper cause to be angry with her, even if she didn't remember it.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the crowd of ponies backed up as one in fear of the unexplained storm. Twilight stood her ground and stared up at the clouds. As she watched, a bolt of lightning streaked down out of the sky, accompanied by a distant scream. But before Twilight could fully comprehend that, new screams came from the crowd around her. The wind picked up as the sky darkened and the rain gained power.

The crowd scattered around her, and as another flash of lightning illuminated the clearing, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash flattened against the ground, staring up at the sky in panic.

Then thunder crashed, and she had to retreat into the library.

IN CLOUDSDALE

The three bullies kicked and punched Cobalt's unconscious form for at least a minute after he blacked out. Then they turned to leave, their job complete. But before they could go more than a few steps, they were interrupted by a low, menacing laugh. They turned around and saw Cobalt, now standing and glaring at them, a malevolent grin on his face.

"Did you just think it would be that easy?" Cobalt asked, his smile tightening.

"Uh, yes?" Charger said dumbly.

"WRONG!" Cobalt shouted, and as he did, lightning split the sky in the distance. He seemed to clear the distance between him and the three faster than they could blink. He hit them across their faces with three swift blows and sent them flying back several yards.

He stalked toward them and looked down at their terrified faces. "This is my real power. Do not attempt to harm me ever again, do you understand?!"

However the three could not answer, as they were unconscious.

Cobalt, deeming his work finished, took to the air and flew back down towards the library, letting the rain and wind crash against him. As he flew, the darkness on his fur receded the tiniest bit, and his eyes turned back to lighter gray. He blinked and shook his head as the memories of what just happened became blurrier and blurrier, eventually disappearing entirely.

A COUPLE OF SECONDS LATER

He skidded on the mud on the ground, and walked up to the library door, knocking on it. He grinned; boy did he have a story to tell Twilight. The grin immediately vanished as he remembered the bad news he had as well.

The door opened and Twilight glanced outside, wondering who would actually come to visit with the weather the way it was. Then she saw Cobalt, and a smile appeared across her face. "Cobalt!" she tried to give him a hug, but he flinched and inhaled sharply. "Ow!"

Twilight backed away and looked at him worriedly. "Cobalt, what's wro–" then she saw his injuries and gasped. "Cobalt, how did you get so beat up?!"

Cobalt looked at himself and frowned as he noticed the many bruises and gashes that covered his body. "I-I don't know." He shook his head. "Look, forget that for a minute. You won't believe what happened to me!"

ONE RELATION OF PREVIOUS EVENTS LATER

Twilight stared at him uncomprehendingly. "So you went to another dimension, saved it, and came back?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Cobalt shrugged. He frowned. "You do believe me, right?"

"Of course, it seems plausible." Twilight reassured him.

"So, how long was I gone?"

"About three days."

"Three days?!" Cobalt spluttered. "No way! I'm so dead at work!"

"I doubt that." Twilight gestured out the window at the raging thunderstorm. "In fact, I doubt that you'll be needed at work for the next few weeks, if this keeps up."

"You mean the uncontrollable weather?" Cobalt asked, and upon Twilight looking at him in shock, he added, "Oh come on, I work there! I know the schedules. There wasn't supposed to be a storm for a month."

"Exactly." Twilight agreed. "And even I'm not sure what's going on, so I think they'll just let the weather be the weather for now."

Cobalt exhaled and looked down at his hooves. "I hope you're right."

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it just as quickly. She debated in her head what she was about to tell him, especially when he was looking so downcast.

As it was, he beat her to saying anything.

"Uh, Twi?" he looked up at her, indecision flickering in his gray eyes (had they always been gray? Twilight wondered). "I've got something… not so good to tell you."

Twilight grimaced. "Uh, me too. You first, though."

Cobalt's didn't meet her eyes as he said, "While I was gone, I, uh, I sort of started to have second thoughts about… us."

Twilight took 'us' to mean their relationship. Inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief that he was feeling the same thing she was. "That's good, I guess… because I did too." She suddenly understood how it felt to not know what to say next. The words she'd planned to say now jumbled up in her throat, and she instead left the next words to a shocked-faced Cobalt.

"Oh, cool then." He said slowly, as if he couldn't comprehend that they both agreed on splitting up.

"I think you did kind of jump into another relationship pretty soon after you broke up with Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. "Speaking of, what motivated you to do that anyway?"

"Spike told me that it would be a good idea."

Twilight facehooved. "I need to have a talk with that dragon about giving relationship advice when he hasn't even been in one." She growled through gritted teeth. She glanced back up at Cobalt and in a much friendlier tone, said, "I want you to clean up those wounds. We can't risk them getting infected."

"Yes mom." Cobalt said exasperatedly, but the effect was ruined by the grin on his face. Everything had almost returned to normal.

But nothing would ever be the same.

Hah! There we go. Another chapter. Next time I'll delve into what I've begun to think of as one of the 'problem episodes' with my story.

Radicool223 out!