It was early in the morning when I started to come through and my eyes finally opened. Light washed in through the cracks in the curtain that covered the window directly in front of me. I let out a soft waking moan and slowly picked myself up and sat up on the bed. I looked over to my left and saw twilight and thunder still both peacefully sleeping in the bed. i let out a soft yawn and stretched my hooves. The sliver of light cutting through the curtains lay directly across my face and beyond me it cut the clock in half and separated the darkness. It was enough light to work out the time shown on the clock. It was early indeed, not even six yet. I haven't been able to sleep well lately, I think I just need to go and freshen up or something. I looked back over twilight and thunder one last time before slowly and quietly crawling out of the bed and not disturbing them. I walked up to the door and used my magic to quietly pass through it like a ghost to avoid opening the squeaky door.
I looked to my left again and down the hall I could see the bathroom. The lights were off in the hall and the curtains were closed so it was dark. I started making my way down and used my magic to slowly open the curtains up along the way letting some kind of light in, even though there is only one window it will have to do. I got to the door to the bathroom and slowly pushed it open. I turned the knob on the oil lamp hanging where it usually is and the bathroom lit up brightly. It may be a different universe but everything still seems to be the same. And with the female version of me living here there are still tons of hair care products everywhere and other toiletries. I didn't bother with them and walked over to the cluttered sink which was surprisingly void of any kind of makeup whatsoever. Which was strange, I thought all girls wore makeup. Oh well, I'm proud of my female self for not wearing makeup. Scarlet's probably a lot tougher than she seems, she is me after all… but to a lesser extent.
Feeling myself getting lost in my thoughts I shook my head and placed my hoof on the faucet handle. I turned on the water and let it run for a few seconds so it could get cold. Once the water was cold enough I placed my hooves in the water and leaned my head over the sink. I started splashing water into my face to wake me up. I still felt drowsy no matter how cold the water was. I splashed my face one last time and turned the water off. I looked up and looked at myself in the mirror. Water dripped from my wet white fur and soaking black mane. My wet fur clumped together and made spikes of fur all over. I let out a deep sigh and the warmness of my breath caused the mirror to fog up around my face. I stared at the mirror until the fog faded and I could see my face again. I grabbed a towel to the right of me and dried off my face. it wasn't very noticeable now but my fur and face still felt damp and cold which should help wake me up. I guess I could go for a morning walk, like I always used to do, it might be nice a change of pace.
I let out a brief smile at the idea and placed the towel back down where it was. I turned away from the mirror and shut off the oil lamp as I exited the bathroom. I started making my way down the hall and wondered where I would go. My mind is still a bit foggy and I don't remember my way around as well as I used to. I can remember the path I would walk from my house, I walked it whenever I had free time and now the path is burned into my head. I don't know my way around the part of town twilight lives in though. I don't think it could be that much of a problem; I've gotten pretty good with directions. I kept thinking as I reached the end of the hallway and started making my way down the stairs and into the main lobby.
"Awake so early…" said a familiar voice that I couldn't see. I think it was scarlet; her voice was coming from downstairs. As I got into view of her she had a saddlebag on and a smile spread across her face. "Not surprising when you think about it, we are the same pony technically." She said. Seeing her made me smile slightly.
"Yeah, technically." I said. Her smile seemed to widen even more. Its awkward being around yourself, but comforting at the same time.
"You wouldn't happen to be going for a walk now… would you?" she asked.
"Yes actually." I said.
"Figures, it might be nice to go for a walk after soaking your face, that's what I was planning." She said.
"How did you know I soaked my face?" I asked as I stepped off the last step and onto the hardwood floor. I walked over to scarlet who stood by the door.
"I saw you walk into the bathroom and I heard the faucet running… plus your fur is still damp, and I don't think you took a bath in our sink." she said. I chuckled lightly to myself.
"And others wonder why I laugh at my own jokes." I said. She smiled and giggled lightly.
"I know, I cant help it when I'm so funny." She said. I smiled at her and she did the same.
"So do you want to come with me, we do have a lot of stuff to talk about." She said. She opened the door and took a few steps outside before looking back.
"Sure…" I said following her out the door. Once I was past the doorframe I used my magic to close it behind me and me and scarlet started on our way. It was very early in the morning and the suns light was just beginning to creep over the edge of the world. The air was moist and everything was covered in a mist of dew. The birds where just getting up and singing their songs, the ponies however were still snug and warm in their beds. The wind blew through the trees and made the air crisp and cold. "Why don't you lead the way, I've forgotten my way around town." I said.
"Really!? I would have figured you would have known your way around town." She said.
"It's been a while, almost two months since we began our quest." I said. "I'm a bit rusty." I made her giggle slightly and move onward. "And besides, I don't know the path around this part of town as well; I live off ways a bit towards the everfree forest, in a house I built myself."
"Built yourself huh. Impressive." She said. By this time we had made it halfway down the road and already passed a few houses. All of the houses looked the same, everything was the same from what I can remember, but I guess it's just the ponies that have changed. I looked over to the blooming trees and flowers and saw the sun slowly starting to creep its way above the horizon. And as I looked at the sun I saw a cloud of darkness slowly rise up over and cut across the horizon. At first I thought it was some strange cloud but another look gave me a clearer view… it was smoke.
"hey… look, smoke." I said pointing out the column of smoke building up above the horizon. Scarlet looked over and was struck with interest.
"That's where fluttercoy lives!" She said starting to take off. I followed quickly after her and started to think about where that smoke was coming from, and then it hit me. Quivercoy must be the alternate version of fluttershy. That must be her… um, his, cottage. As we ran scarlet quickly spread her wings and shot right into the air and I followed after her. We tore through the air and the ground passed under us at incredible speeds. The large stack of smoke was growing close but we had far passed the boundaries of ponyville and into the everfree forest. Once we noticed that we both stopped. "Well the smoke isn't coming from quivercoy's cottage." She said. "That's a relief."
"Yes but if the smoke is coming from a fire it could spread… or worse." I said.
"True, we should investigate." Said scarlet now taking the lead and flying onward once again. I followed right behind her and stayed close just in case this smoke is coming from what I think it is. We flew right over until we could smell the smoke and it clouded our vision. The smoke was thick and black so it clouded our vision of what laid beneath along with the thick brush of the forest. Scarlet let out a few coughs from the thick smoke and we made our descent. It was difficult to see but not long after we started descending we hit the ground. Scarlet and I touched down and she covered her face with a wing and started coughing. She looked back at me and her eyes were watering. I do have to admit the smoke was thick and had a strange…smell to it.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Yeah… but the smoke is killing me, but I don't think its from any fire, so what could it be?" she asked.
"I think I know." I said spreading my wings out to the side as they began to glow bright white and started to shine through the fog. "Let's shed some light on the situation." I took one deep breath and focused all of my energy to my wings. I thrashed my wings forward and summoned a great gust of wind from behind to blow away all the smoke. Scarlet covered herself from the gust of wind and soon all the smoke was gone and everything was visible now. And just as I though, lying in front of us was a dragon, sleeping, but now sprouting to life from the gust of wind I had created. Scarlet looked back at the dragon and a look of shock spread over her face.
"A…a dragon!" she said.
"Just as I thought." I said. "The smoke was abnormally thick and concentrated to be a fire, and it did smell something foul." I said. "The smoke a dragon snores out when it sleeps." We both looked at the large menacing dragon. It had long sharp scales and vicious and twisted spines sticking from its back. It was blue and its scales and underside were a lighter shade of blue, almost white. It had large orange eyes with black slits. It gave off a threatening huff of smoke and fire before rising up and presenting itself and spreading its vicious and hooked wings. The tissue between each arm of the wing was ragged and torn slightly in some places. The dragon himself seemed weathered and ancient; he must be an old dragon.
"Why do you disturb my slumber tiny ponies?" he asked. I was somewhat surprised he decided to just speak instead of roar. But if I was right about him being an ancient dragon then he should be a great deal wiser than most dragons and won't resort to instinct and violence right off the bat, but even then I don't really want this to resort to violence.
"Uhm… yeah, sorry… we uh… we uh, thought the smoke, you uh, made was…fire." Said scarlet. I was somewhat surprised at how timid she was for this kind of situation. The dragon lowered his head to look closer at scarlet and I could see she was nervous and sweating. The dragon squinted his eyes once and picked his head up and away. He carried himself over to look at me.
"You seem more… well, you seem well grounded." Said the dragon "is what the mare said true?" he asked.
"Yes, we came here at first thinking of a forest fire, but I had my suspicions." I said.
"The smell and thick smoke gave it away." said the dragon.
"Plus we're in the everfree forest, a damp and muddy wasteland of trees and brush." I said. "A forest fire here would be like finding a lake in the desert."
"Hold on one second… uhm, great and powerful dragon." Said scarlet jumping in between me and the dragon. "I need to talk with my friend for a second." The dragon seemed somewhat surprised but drew his head back and scarlet turned and faced me. "Are you crazy!?" she whispered loudly. "You're talking to a dragon… A DRAGON!" she whispered again.
"And? What's the problem… are you afraid?" I asked in a normal voice.
"y-yes… dragons are terrifying." She said still whispering. "We should just go, he's not hurting anypony." She said.
"You remind me of a friend of mine." I said smiling and walking past her. I took one look back at her and saw she was a bit nervous. "There's no need to be afraid. This dragon isn't like most dragons, I think his fire breathing and pony eating days are a bit behind him… uh, no offense of course." I said looking back to the dragon with a blank look on his face.
"I no longer try and hide my age, it is true I am old, and that I am not so active anymore." He said. "So maybe we can go about this in a more…civil, manner." He suggested.
"I was thinking the same." I said. "Now, why are you here?" I asked.
"I wish to rest." Said the dragon.
"But why in the middle of the damp dark forest, most dragons I know sleep on piles of gold in mountain caves… is there something else?" I asked. The dragon glared at me and I gave him a determined look. Before he could answer the silence was disrupted by a flock of birds suddenly bursting from the brush further down the forest. The dragon took a look and I gave a curious glance as well. He gazed off for a few second and glared at the direction the birds left from. He turned his head back to me and kept the same judging glare. He kept his glare and I kept my look before his stare soon became more relaxed and he pulled his head back and gave me a somewhat trusting look.
"There is something about you… the both of you… are not what you seem." Said the old dragon. "Perhaps you can be of assistance to an old dragon." He said.
"So there's more to this than you let on… I thought so." I said. "Tell us dragon, if you need help and the cause is pure… I will help you." I said with a fierce determination. The dragon seemed to crack a slight smile and I gave a determined smirk.
"For the last month now, I've been running from poachers." He said. I could see a wave of surprise rush over scarlet and I admit that I was interested as well, I've never heard of poachers going after dragons. But just that fact that they are poachers is somewhat reason enough to trust him and listen.
"And how is it you came here, and where did you come from?" I asked.
"I came from the north, from the Heavens-Reach Mountains." He said. "While often riddled with dragons of every shape, size, and age I thought it was a safe place. I stayed mostly towards the bottom since these old bones aren't as tough as they used to be." He said. "But that was my mistake, because poachers found their way into my den, and they took advantage of my age." He said.
"Did you fight them off?" asked scarlet. She seemed to be starting to warm up but was kind of anxious about something.
"I did my best, but my flames aren't as splendid as they were two hundred years ago, and there were many of them, well armed." He said. "I fled the cave in hopes that the gold in the cave would be enough to satiate their greed but I was wrong, they came after me again and again. I'm sure that they want me dead." He said.
"But why would poachers go after an old dragon?" asked scarlet. "it doesn't make sense, but wouldn't the bones and hide of a younger dragon be more valuable?" she asked.
"Not necessarily." Said the dragon. "Dragon bones are dragon bones, old dragons simply make easier targets, and most of the old dragons have more gold and gems since they've had longer to acquire them, plus we live lower down on the mountains, less of a trek for poachers."
"Plus dragon scales only grow sharper as dragons grow older." I said. "And dragon blood is magical and a very useful ingredient to make many powerful spells and potions."
"So now that you know, and I am here… will you help me?" he asked. "Or will you take advantage of the opportunity in front of you and slay me and make a profit from my body?" it was a good moral question. This dragon is just sitting here and he's a walking goldmine, easy pickings… but that's not the kind of pony I am.
"Don't worry dragon… we'll help you" I said giving him a determined smirk again which made him give off a smile of hope. "Right scarlet?" I asked looking back. She was a bit taken back, but I saw the good in her eyes. After all… we are the same pony, how could she say no.
"Of course we'll help," she said. "We'll teach those poachers to mess with somepony their own age." She said.
"I think I heard something… this way."
"Shut up you idiot…. Do you want them to know were coming?" said two voices coming from the thick shrub. Those must be the poachers. It wasn't hard to listen to them; we all heard the two ponies. Even the one telling the first pony to shut up was loud as well. Using my advanced hearing I could track their steps through the forest and they were coming this way. From what I could tell I count… ten, no…fifteen. It might take them a bit to get here; the voices were faint but close by. Suddenly and idea shot into my head and a devious smile spread over my face.
"What's that look you've got on your face?" asked scarlet.
"Have you come up with a plan?" asked the dragon making sure to stay quiet so they don't hear us.
"Oh absolutely, and it's so simple." I said. "But first, scarlet." I said whispering over to her. "How good is your acting?" I asked.
"Are you kidding me…? I could be in Broadway." She said with a smug smile.
"Perfect…" I said. "Dragon… can you play dead?" I asked watching a smile spread across his face as well as both scarlet and the dragon started putting the pieces of the plan together.
"easily." He said. He lay down and feigned death. I motioned for scarlet to come over with me and she ran up beside me. We turned around and looked over the dragon just in time for the poachers to draw out of the bush and into our trap. Before they came and faced us I looked at scarlet and gave her a stern look.
"Follow my lead… this'll be fun." I said.
"We got you now dragon!" shouted one pony behind us as he and several others started jumping out of the thick shrub. Putting on our act we turned around somewhat surprised with blank looks on our faces. "Huh… what the hell?" said the pony. All the poachers seemed to be wearing heavy armor and weapons along with utility belts stocked with useful things. Not only that but they had bags full of supplies they would need to hunt animals. And to finish it off, they had tools like nooses and rods by their sides tucked under the bags along with their weapons being shown off.
"Huh… who the hell are you guys?" I asked. They looked at me scarlet and the dragon and their eyes darted between the three of us as they stared in disbelief and confusion. Soon that confusion turned into anger and for obvious reasons too.
"Hey, hold on, I should be asking you that question." He said. "Now get away from our dragon, we've been chasing him for a month now and the two of you aren't going to stop us." He said. He seemed like the guy in charge. He was wearing tight leather armor that was black and covered in buckles and straps. It looked like he kept some kind of knife along every possible part of his body, and some were very well concealed. Most ponies wouldn't be able to see them… most. He had dark brown fur and medium length, spiked hair. His mane was white and his tail was cut short. Just by looking at him I can tell he has a short temper which will only get him in trouble, especially with me, I know how to work ponies with short tempers. I noticed to the side there was one large pony that was holding the leashes to three large and mean looking dogs which were snarling and foaming at the mouth.
" huh…" said scarlet going along with the act. "oh… you must be poachers. Well if you are you aren't very good at it." she said. his eyes grew smaller and her grit his teeth.
"WHAT!?" he said in anger. The rest of his team was getting pretty angry as well at that remark, it was a good one.
"My partners right…" I said. "I mean c'mon… really? You mean to tell me that you've been tracking this dragon for a month and haven't killed it yet, and we get up this morning and kill this dragon without any trouble… you guys are pathetic." I said.
"You're right, these guys are pretty bad." Said scarlet. "Why don't you go back home and catch yourselves some simple fish or something." She remarked making them even madder. They grew mad enough that they all drew their weapons. Some held heavy maces and blunt weapons while others drew swords and daggers and held them angrily in their jaws.
"You better step away from that dragon right now before we skin you alive like the spineless snakes you are." she said angrily drawing out an evil twisted dagger.
"Actually snakes have spines… that's one of the only bones they have other than ribs and a skull." Said scarlet toying with them. She really is like me, which works perfectly in any situation.
"That's it… I'll cut out that sharp tongue of yours and feed it to the hounds." He said which caused the three large dogs from before to start parking and pulling at their leashes. The pony holding them had to tug back to calm them down. "Or I could just have them fetch it for me… sick 'em boys." Said the pony as the guy holding the leases let go of his grip and the three dogs came bolting towards us. I could tell scarlet was a bit shaken and was starting to choke but she didn't let it show so that we don't blow the act. I gave her a reassuring look and she seemed to settle down. Just as the dogs came running at us I turned to watch them. They bolted past the leader of the poachers and came rushing at scarlet. I lazily stepped in front of her just as the dogs were feet away.
I closed my eyes for one second and reopened them to stare down at the dogs with my infamous death gaze. The three dogs looked me each in the eyes and stopped. Their snarling and barking ceased and they came to a halt. Their ears fell limp; they tucked their tails between their legs and began whimpering. I stared them down some more until they ran off into the forest whimpering with their tails between their legs. There was silence for a second and I kept my gaze set in the direction the dogs started running hiding my eyes from the poachers.
"What the hell was that?" he said confused and somewhat furious. I quickly shot my gaze at the poachers and gave them my death gaze as well. I started taking a few steps forward and scarlet moved out from behind me. She took one look at my eyes and stopped. The poachers stared at me and started to cringe somewhat. "You listen to me punk…" said the poacher. He seemed to stop and I halted only two feet from the poachers looking him dead in the eyes with my petrifying gaze.
"Well… what is it?" I asked staring him down. He seemed to begin receding somewhat and was becoming nervous. I decided to close my eyes having him escape my gaze and opened my eyes back up and stared them down normally. "Let me tell you something." I said. "It took you and fourteen other ponies a month to even find this dragon, and me and my partner slew it in one morning." I said. "and look at us, neither of us have a single scratch on us… and we even killed this dragon without weapons… what chance do you really have?" I asked glaring at him.
"I'll show you." He said grabbing a sword and quickly whipping it out. He thrust forward and lunged out at me. I stood still and glared at him. He swung the sword and slashed me across the neck. It wasn't really much of a slash though, the buried the sword deep into my neck forcing my head to tilt to the side a little and blood to gush from my neck. He let go of the sword and back up a few paces. Scarlet let out a gasp of shock and horror. I stood there completely still.
"Poor guy… died standing up." Said a pony in the crowd of poachers. Blood kept running down the side of my neck. Suddenly from behind the dragon began to rise up and looked over to me in shock.
"No…" he said in a subtle and shocked tone.
"The… the dragons not dead." Said one of the poachers. "But that means…"
"It was an act." Said the leader. Soon a wide smile spread across his face. "That's too bad little lady, I guess that tongue of yours wasn't so sharp as you thought, but we'll find out soon… after we have some fun with you." He said as he and the others pulled their blades up and wicked smiles spread across their faces.
"Stay back… I'm warning you." Said scarlet getting ready to fight. I'm sure she can handle this on her own, but this asshole tried to chop my head off and I'm kinda pissed. The leader took one step forward and I turned my head back up so it wasn't tilted anymore. Everypony in the forest seemed to stop and stare at me. The poachers looked in horror but scarlet and the dragon looked on with hope.
"Did… did he just." One poacher stammered before being interrupted.
"No of course not… it must be the wind or something." Said the leader. Since they didn't get it before I decided to try again by looked turning my gaze to the left and looking at the leader. Now the other ponies stared in horror and looked at me. I stretched out my hooves slightly and flapped my wings. I trotted lightly in place and rolled my neck. I grabbed the sword with one of my wings and pulled it out of my neck. A spurt of blood shot out from the gash in my neck where you could easily see my spine and the openings to my esophagus and trachea. I twisted my head to the left and let out a few cracks in my neck and did the same the other way. With the sword out of my neck the bleeding worsened and my white coat started turning red with blood along the right side of my body.
"You know…" I said. "That kinda hurt."
"No… that's impossible…" he said. "You should be dead."
"I should have been dead a lot of times." I said as a quick remark.
"What are you…" he said quaking in fear now with the rest of his friends.
"Oh, that's simple…" I said. "I'm a peacekeeper; I keep the peace and help balance out the pure with the evil. And quite frankly… you're disturbing the peace." I said. "Now… turn around… go home, and I won't have to stain the ground any more than it already is." He looked at me in horror but started to grit his teeth and growl.
"Tough talk for one pony." He said barking out his words. "Blue, get him." He said looking back to a pony with a bow. The pony was hesitant but he looked at the leader of the poachers and pulled back the arrow on his bow and fired it right at me. I stared him down as the arrow traveled through the air towards me. Before it even pierced me I used my magic to stop it in its tracks only a few inches from my left temple.
"How easily the weak follow the blind." I said. "Tell me… blue, why did you fire this arrow?" I asked toying with the confused poachers mind.
"Be-because storm…storm told me to." He said
"And do you believe that what he told you to do was the right thing?" I asked.
"Stop this now… blue fire again, he can't stop every arrow." Said storm barking orders again at the now morally and mentally confused archer pony to the left of the group.
"Do you mind…?" I said looking at storm. "This is an important question…. Well." I said looking back at the archer pony.
"Yes… of course." Said blue. "Storm is our leader and he's made us plenty rich to do his work…" he said confident in storm.
"Huh…" I said. "I figured you to be one of those 'young and confused' types… ah well… no matter, that was still the wrong answer." I said giving him my deadly gaze. Before he could even finish his breath large spikes of light shot broke through the ground and macerated the young pony. Blood and pieces of flesh flew up into the air and a red mist haunted the air around the white spikes. The others looked in shock and horror. I pulled the spikes back into the ground to reveal the mangled and obliterated body of the former pony archer. As his mashed up body fell and spilled all over the ground the others cringed and one pony turned and puked out on the ground.
"Oh god… oh god blue." Said one of the ponies on the other side. I turned my deadly gaze to him and the feeling on my eyes on him called to him and he turned to me and ours eyes met. As he stared at my gaze his eyes shrunk with absolute fear and I could feel the crushing defeat weighing him down as he knew what was coming next. I used my powers to shoot a blade up from the ground under that pony as it sliced him across the stomach and chest. He twitched slightly from the pain and the sharp blade of light curved back into the ground. He stood there for a minute as the others turned their gaze to him. Soon the cut in his underside opened up and all of his vital organs and blood started to spill out from the open slit. Kidneys, stomach, pancreas, liver, all of it came spilling out all wrapped in intestines. the cut even reached high enough to his chest and broke his ribs as even his heart and lungs all started spilling out along with pieces of rib, all intact. He fell down in a pile of his own, still working organs and quickly began to bleed to death.
"You… you're not a keeper of peace… you sick fuck… you're some kind of twisted and demented demon sent from hell." Said a pony in the back of the group. I struck him my deadly gaze as two tendrils of light shot from my back and grabbed him. One wrapped around his waist and the other wrapped around his neck. I raised him up and kept my gaze on him.
"You don't seem to understand." I said. "I'm a keeper of peace, I maintain balance between good and evil, not only in the world but in myself too." I said. "I am an angel in the eyes of those who are good but a demon to those who have strayed on the wrong path." The pony I was holding up tried clasping for breath but he had more things to worry about. With one swift tug I ripped the ponies head off from his shoulders and his body went limp. The head came clean off along with the spine and showered the surrounding poachers in blood. I dropped both the head and the body to the ground and the tendrils of light retracted back to my side as more tentacles of light broke out and writhed behind me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them my eyes glowed bright white as symbols of power began glowing and showing up all along my body.
"WH-what are you?" asked the poacher leader quaking in fear.
"I am the one thing scum like you fears…" I said in a godly second winded voice. "Now, leave this dragon and this place, and never come back. Or face my swift sovereign wrath."
"We should go boss… I know I am." Said one of the ponies running off into the forest with a few others. Some remained here frozen in fear unable to move.
"Cowards… all of you, I'll show you why they call me the jack of all blades." Said the pony leader turning back to me. "I'll teach you to call me scum and come between me and what I've worked hard for." Some of the ponies who stayed stopped being frozen in fear and grinned devilishly as the leader got into a wide stance and glared at me. I sat the intrigued and watched and waited for something to happen.
"Crimson!" shouted scarlet behind me. I turned back to look at scarlet who had a worried look on her face. "I've figured who this guy is, he's sword storm, the jack of all blades."
"What?" I said quietly under my breath just as the pony started to growl loudly and then let out a fierce cry as a gust of wind came from all directions to cover the pony in a hail of wind. Suddenly his showing teeth became shiny and metal as they began to sharpen and his eyes started to turn a violent red. He let out another breath of hatred as his hair began to harden and sharpen until his hair was made of strands of sharp metal, like blades. His ears flattened backwards and became sharp as well. This was becoming interesting. He let out a terrible yell just as spine like blades started popping from his back and two bladed wings burst from his back. A small blade started emerging from his skull like a unicorn's horn, but it was a dagger, and sharp on all sides. The gust of wind stopped and he stood there covered in metal and blades. Even his gaze was sharp enough to cut through metal.
"Are you ready freak…? Because this is how you die!" He said. "Another fallen to the jack f all blades."
"You're not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve." I said. "But I must say that is quite impressive." I said.
"No trick you have can save you from the sharpness of my steel." He said.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that… but before we fight." I said. "How is it you can do this?" I asked.
"It's none of your business punk." He said growling. "Now…DIE." He shouted thrusting his horn up and large curved blades started shooting up from the ground towards me. Since we were close there wasn't enough time for me to dodge, but I did have enough time to summon my armor onto my body. I was covered in blades now and hidden from sight. One of the blades started to puncture my chest but my armor cut it off. The other blades shattered against my armor. The blades around me stayed up and gave me some time to let out a sigh of relief. If that attack hit me dead on I would have ended up like that first pony I macerated, that would have been ugly.
The blades slowly began to lower and my armor started to glow and shine. Soon I was back within view and it made for quite a surprise to see I had survived the attack. The first thing I saw was the look on scarlet's face. She was filled with horror but at seeing I was alright she gave me a confident smile knowing I could win this fight. The next thing I saw was storms face who was quite bewildered at my sudden change of clothing. I gave him my same deadly gaze and he just flashed me a subtle smirk and started laughing.
"Ha…ha-ha, good. You survived, it would have been boring if the fight ended that quickly." He said. "Now have a taste of this." He said thrusting his horn up again as spikes shot out from right under me with incredible force. Because of my armor they didn't skewered me but the jet of spikes did send me flying. I tore through the air and tried to gain some kind of leverage so I can recover quickly but just as I was getting my bearing I grew closer to the ground and started smashing through trees. I broke through several trees and ended up in some kind of field there I hit the ground and rolled a few more feet before catching the ground with my hooves and making a clean recovery. I looked around and I was out of the forest… and, back in ponyville. Or at least the outskirts of ponyville. I could see to the right of me a cottage.
Outside of the cottage I saw a stallion with a bunch of animals all around him. He looked just like fluttershy. He had a butter yellow coat and short, light pink hair and tail. He was a bit dirty from being with all these animals and being a gardener just like fluttershy. He stared at me in fright and quickly ran off back into his house, just like fluttershy would have, if she didn't know me that is. I watched as he ran into his house and using my hearing heard a faint click as he locked the door. Next to the door was a window where my perceptive vision was able to see him peeking out the window at me. All the animals he was with ran off too. I pulled myself away from the cottage at the sound of something drawing near. I quickly snapped back to see storm jetting towards me in the sky and flying right at me.
"There you are!" he shouted diving right at me. I quickly jumped back wards using my wings to give me a good boost and make some distance as he crashed into the ground. He landed on his hooves and created a crater in the ground. After the smoke cleared I could see him clearly and he was different now. He had more blades covering his body like thorns, but there was a pattern to them, they weren't just random. He must have given himself a suit of blade armor, which is smart for ponies who use brute force and physical attacks. It won't work as well on me though, but if he tackles me that could be a problem, my armor isn't indestructible and soon enough it will shatter. "What's the matter, scared?" he asked with a devious smile on his face. He rushed towards me and got read to charge me.
He jumped at me like he was going to ram me and one of the blades on the back of his head elongated like a sword ready to strike. I quickly grabbed my sword in my teeth and pulled it up and blocked the attack with it. It was a clash between his blades and my sword. I looked at my sword and remembered that this was the sword Celestia gave me. The sun at the base of where the blade and the hilt meet. The intricate design and glowing, golden blade. He pushed back against my block and I pushed back as well, this guy is surprisingly strong, I am somewhat surprised it took him an entire month to hunt an old dragon. He pushed harder against my blade and I put all my strength I one last push and knocked him back with sheer force. He stumbled back and the blade receded and he looked over to me with the same devious smile that shows his sharp steel fangs.
"Heh, that's a nice sword." he said "It's going to make a nice piece to my collection." His dagger like horn glowed and a blade rose from the ground. It was a bit short to be a dagger but not long enough to be a sword. The blade was curved slightly and it had a second blade on the other side of the hilt. It was a dual sword. The blades curved and the weapon seemed to be made out of black steel. The carvings were intricate and the blades were double edged and twisted with etchings along the flat ends. He gripped the weapon by the hilt in his jaw so both blades protected either side of him. he gave me the same devious smile as before.
"If you want this blade then you're going to have to kill me first." I said.
"That's the plan." He replied. Suddenly he bolted back at me and reached me in a matter of seconds. He's a lot faster than his figure lets on. He went to slash at me again with the weapon in his mouth and I quickly but sloppily blocked the attack. The force of his attack caused my head to lash to the left just so my sword didn't fly from my mouth, leaving me perfectly open for attack. I feared the worst until he spun around with the direction of his attack and planted his front hooves on the ground. He reared his hind legs and shot them out. I felt a lot of power built up in this one kick and I prepared to go flying again.
He shot his legs out and they made impact with my chest and sent me flying again. I shot through the air after I let out a fierce grunt of pain which caused me to drop my sword. Not wanting to lose the sword I used my magic to summon it back into my hilt as I went flying backwards. As I spun through the air I ended up breaking through a tree or two along my way. And even worse I soon found myself tearing through a house and then another. After I broke through the second house I quickly lost momentum and hit the ground and tore through the ground until I smashed up against a wall. I moaned in pain and opened my eyes to see where I was.
As I looked around I could see that I was in the middle of the trading district of town. I hit the wall of a store and lay up against it. I left a trail of torn up ground leading to me from a whole in another shop. There were ponies looking at me with shock and confusion. I put my hoof to my head and shook myself back into full consciousness. As the world became now more vibrantly clear all the details around me became vivid. I felt a great pain in my chest and looked down. That attack put a good crack in my armor; it also probably broke a few ribs.
"Crimson!?" said a voice to my right. I knew that voice. I looked to the right and saw… twilight! It was her and moonlight standing in front of a stall. Twilight had a confused and worried look on her face, but moonlight who isn't used to seeing me like this had a shocked and horrified look on his face.
"t-twilight?" I said in surprise to see her here. I was going to say more but suddenly storm fell from the sky and right on top of me. He stomped all four of his hooves on me with incredible force and for a second time seemed to slow down. Pain phased through my body as storms from hooves stomped down on my chest breaking even more ribs and his back hooves stomped down near my pelvis cracking it slightly. The force pushed me deeper into the ground and he looked me right in the eyes only inches from my face. His red and soulless eyes stared at me and his evil, metal smile taunted me and my pain. He soon jumped off of me and time seemed to catch up as I let out a cry of pain. He did a flip in the air and landed in the middle of the street. The ponies in the street back away in fear and one mare screamed.
"Is that all you have?" he asked taunting me. "Big talk for somepony who doesn't even know how to swing a sword. He was right, I'm not much of a champ when it comes to swinging a sword, I can without a doubt say there are others better at it than I am, and storm is one of them. There is, however, something that I am good at, and it's kicking ass. I blinked and began to glow again, this time more violently. I summoned all of my energy and burst form the whole in a swirling cyclone of light and energy. I rose up from the ground riding on top of a small tornado of light. My armor glowed bright and a halo formed above my head. I spread my wings out and they burst forth in a flurry of light. They glowed brightly like the sun and showered the street below with sparks of light. I launched forward to the ground in front of storm and my tornado of light followed. I hit the ground and lashed the tornado around me creating a ring of light which I then forced outward as an attack.
The ring sliced through the air towards storm and he shot two blades from his shoulders which went forward but then the blades grew out in front of him in an X shape which he used to guard from my attack. The sharp ring of light hit his blades and started pushing him back. The rest of the ring pushed forward down the street. Some of the ponies closed their eyes thinking the attack would kill them too, but my light only cuts those who are my enemy, so the sharp blades of light just breezed past the ponies like smoke and they opened their eyes in relief. My attack managed to crack storms defense and soon shatter it. Pieces of razor sharp metal fell to the dirt ground and the force of the attack hit storm and forced him back into a stall. He let out a grunt of pain but quickly got up from the wreckage of the stall.
"Why you… son of a bitch." He yelled as a trail of blades shot from the ground after me. I quickly acted by countering with my own trail of spikes and the two trails soon met and clashed creating a spout of sharp blades and spikes of light. "I'll kill you for that." he said rushing from the side over to me. As he ran after me I shot a few spikes of light which branched off from the other spikes from my first attack. He didn't notice them in time and the spiked hit him hard on the side but couldn't break through his metal covering. They were able to poke through and stab him in places where the spikes didn't cover, but couldn't get deep enough before his own blades stopped my attack. He went spinning across the ground but quickly recovered. He was getting mad now, I could tell.
I went to charge at him but before I could move half a foot forward something stopped me. My left rear hoof was caught on something. I looked back and saw a few small blades jetting from the ground and clasping onto my hind leg. I tried pulling but then the blades grew bigger and soon started digging into my hind leg where there wasn't any armor keeping me there in a modified pyramid trap. I grit my teeth in pain as the blades dug into my rear hoof and kept it stuck there. I tried pulling but that caused the blades to cut me even more and dig into my hoof. I looked over to storm who was grinning. He then started to laugh. I sneered at him and gave him a deadly determined look but he continued to laugh maniacally.
"Ahahaha…" he laughed. "Now where to go, nowhere to run, ready or not… here I come." He said as the blades on his body grew out to greater lengths. He then started running towards me with an evil look in his eye. Even if I do put up a shield, I'm sure he would break through it, crap… if he rams into me then I'll end up in pieces. Crap what now. As he grew even closer I got ready to close my eyes and brace for impact but before I could close my eyes a beam of light fired from the right and blasted storm away. I was slightly awestruck and relieved at the same time. I quickly looked over to the right and saw a familiar face, it was scarlet. She was glowing too with the same armor on, but modified to be a bit thinner and look more female friendly. Her eyes were glowing bright white too as she smiled lightly.
"Look, scarlet's here." Mumbled a pony in the crowd of onlookers. Soon the crowd started to whisper and mumble.
"I knew that guy looked familiar." Mumbled somepony.
"Do you think they're siblings?" asked one pony to another.
"This guy with the blades is in for it now." Whispered one pony.
"WOOHOO GO SCARLET!" shouted a stallion in the crowd who jumped up and cheered scarlet. He was in full pink. I should have known the male version of pinky pie. The resemblance is uncanny.
"What…? There are two of you!" shouted blade who was recovering from the blast.
"You better believe it jerk." Said scarlet walking over to me and shattering the blades trapping my leg. She gave me a smile and we both turned our deadly gaze to storm. "I'm no innocent girl, and you're going to find that out the hard way."
"I don't think so…" said storm. "I'm the jack of all blades… you can't kill me… I'm invincible; I'll cut the both of you to ribbons." He said charging at me and scarlet. Scarlet looked at me and I at her. She gave me a smile and a wink and I could tell what she was thinking. I smiled and nodded and we both turned to face storm who was getting closer to us. His blades trailed a dark path of energy as me and scarlet began to glow vividly. We both were cloaked in a field of light and I focused all of my energy. Sparks flew from us and white bolts of energy started firing from us and connected with the surrounding area. The ground cracked under our hooves and light shone through the cracks. I let out a fierce shout as the ground trembled and scarlet did the same. Our powers started to resonate from each other and we focused all of our energy.
storm let out a fierce shout as he was close now but we jetted out heads forward like we were stabbing the air with a horn and we each fired a blast of white energy. The two blasts soon spiraled and intertwined creating one large blast which hit storm dead on. He blocked and it forced him back wards but he stayed on his hooves messing up the dirt under him. The energy flowed past him and his blades started to crack. I got one last glimpse of the fear in his eyes as his blades shattered and he was covered in a large blast of white energy. He let out a fierce shout which soon faded and was covered by the rumbling caused form the immense energy from our combined attack. Everything soon faded white as the blast soon faded and everything seemed to revert back to normal. In front of us was nothing but a path of charred ground and sparks of glittering light which was resulting residue from the blast. Scarlet looked over to me and gave me a big smile. I gave her a tired smile as well and soon the crowd around us started to cheer us on our victory.
"We make a good team." Said scarlet still smiling. She was a bit breath taken but still in good condition. The same, however, can't be said for me.
"Yeah… I guess… we do." I said breathing heavily and sweating. My chest and hips where killing me and definitely were not in prime condition. I sat down and tried to catch my breath. I wasn't really expecting to get in a fight this early. "Is… the dragon… going to… be fine?" I asked still breathing heavily and trying to talk over the crowd.
"Yes he's going to be fine." Said scarlet. "The question is, are you going to be fine?" she asked.
"Yeah… I'll be… f-fine." I said. "I just need to rest a bit and catch my breath."
"Wow… that was amazing." Said moonlight rushing over with twilight. "The two of you make a great team, I've never seen an attack so powerful, and it was amazing."
"Crimson… are you okay, what the hell was all that about?" asked twilight being her usual self. "seeing her act the way she does always, and worrying about me made me chuckle slightly.
"don't worry… twilight, I'm going…to be fine." I said. "it was just some trouble with a group of poachers in the everfree forest." I said.
"What in the wide world of equestria where you doing in there so early in the morning?" asked twilight somewhat mad.
"It's a long story twilight." said scarlet answering for me. "We can explain later, but I think crimson needs to catch his breath right now."
"Well I can't wait to hear the story." Said moonlight sitting down with scarlet. "You two were amazing." He repeated making scarlet giggle.
"Yeah, I know." She said leaning her head up against moonlight and giving him a small kiss on the lips.
"I think we should get you to the hospital." Said twilight. "I saw him crush you into the ditch over there, I'm sure that you didn't come out of this unscathed."
"I'll be fine." I said finally starting to catch my breath. "Besides I've been fine before without going to a hospital."
"Not really." Said twilight.
"Well I've been well off enough." I said. "Besides this isn't nearly as bad as other times."
"Alright, I just don't like it when you go off and do stupid and reckless things." She said.
"Heh… I worry about you too twilight." I said flashing her a smile. She seemed somewhat worried but she managed to give back a smile as well. She sat down with us and the crowd had dispersed somewhat. Soon a group of five ponies started making their way over to us, all of them were stallions, who looked awfully familiar, just one look and I knew they were my friends… but male.
"That was a mighty close fight scarlet." said the male version of applejack.
"Thanks Appleseed." Said scarlet. The pony trying to hide behind Appleseed was the male version of fluttershy, I think his name was fluttercoy.
"Are the both of you alright?" asked a stallion with white fur and silky purple hair which was curtained and fashioned well. His tail was the same way and he had the same cutie mark as rarity, which only means one thing.
"Yes oddity, were both fine." Said scarlet. Oddity? Meh, I guess it works. "but I think my new friend crimson here got the short end of the stick." She said gesturing to me. The five of them just looked at me and I gave them a friendly wave. Suddenly the pink pony from before took in a deep breath and a huge smile spread over his face. it didn't take him long to shorten the distance between us to five inches.
"You must be new here. Are you and scarlet related? Where did you come from? How did you get your powers? Why do you look the same? What's your favorite color…? Favorite food?" he kept firing off question at me and soon they all just melded together and become one continuous noise. Makes me miss pinkie pie.
"OK, that's enough pinky, leave him alone." Said scarlet. Pinkie huh, I guess not everything changes. I have to admit though, one you find out that your son is all pink there isn't much you can do for names at that point. The continuous noise coming from pinky finally stopped and I could think straight. Scarlet stood up along with moonlight and me and twilight did the same thing.
"Guys this is my new friend crimson and no… were not related." Said scarlet. The two of us both let out armor disappear. The five of them stared at us with awkward looks.
"You lied… look, they're freaking twins." Said the male version of rainbow dash.
"And that mare looks just like moonlight." Said Appleseed.
"The resemblance between the two of you is quite…well, quite uncanny." Said oddity. "What's going on here?" he asked looking at scarlet. I could tell the pressure was getting to her.
"look." I said. "I know there's a lot of reason to be suspicious, but it's a bit of a long story really. One that's better told in private, not on the street." I said to the five stallions.
"Scarlet… how do we know that we can trust this guy?" asked the male rainbow dash floating over to scarlet. "If you ask me I think he's some kind of spy." He said whispering in scarlet's ear even though I could hear everything.
"I'm not a spy…" I said.
"What is it with you and ponies being spies' rainbow blitz?" asked scarlet.
"If I was a spy would I have gone a destroyed an entire street before noon?" I asked.
"I don't know… would you?" asked rainbow blitz.
"That… doesn't even make sense." I said somewhat confused. I think I liked my friends a lot better.
"He's not a spy blitz, we can trust him… c'mon, we should go back to my place, we can tell you all once we're there."
"Alright… but what about this street?" asked Appleseed.
"oh yeah, the street is kinda destroyed." Said moonlight.
"And those three houses I crashed into." I said. "Don't worry I can fix this." I said stepping forward. I blinked my eyes and they began to glow. The large hole where I made impact soon started to rise up and refill the ground and all the black charred dirt started fading back to its original color. The others just watched in awe. All the ponies looked over too. Tentacles of light rose from the ground and reached over to the dented in wall I hit and started to heal the wounds to the building. The cracks in the wall healed up and the dent smoothed out and the cracked glass above melded back together. Next the tentacles of light passed over to the houses I crashed through.
There was a mare standing by the whole in the wall obviously worried about the damage. Once the waves of light passed by her and through the hole in her house she back up and looked in awe and confusion. The waves of light passed through her house and to the other one. Once both houses were full of light they started to mend and fix the broken homes. Pieces of furniture moved to their original places and broken lamps and pictured floated back and pieced themselves together. The wooden walls and ceilings started to mend themselves too and soon the first house I wrecked was fully mended. And the same with the second house. The mare standing outside looked as her house began to fix itself and smiled. Once it was fully healed she closed her eyes and looked over to me with a big smile of gratitude before opening her door and entering the house. The waves of light faded and now everything was fixed, even the stall I threw storm into.
"That's amazing." Said oddity.
"That was so amazingly cool!" blurted out pinky excitedly.
"Wow… I can't even do that." said scarlet still looking in awe.
"well, now that everything's fixed, we should go back to the library, the prince wrote a letter back to me and I was going to wait until you two came back to show it to you." Said moonlight.
"So then why are you here?" asked scarlet.
"We came looking for the two of you; you've been gone for a few hours." Said twilight.
"You usually only walk for half an hour every morning." Said moonlight. "So I and twilight went to find you."
"Speaking of you and twilight." I said. "Where's thunder?" I asked looking over at twilight.
"Still at the library… we should go, he's probably bored out of his mind." She said. She was probably right, I'd be surprised if we got to the library and he hasn't run off somewhere." I agreed and we all started to make our way back to the library. I was curious as to what this world still has in store and wondering what the prince will be like, I figured he'd be kind and humble like Celestia but I'll remain skeptical until then. I almost forgot that I also have to explain myself when we get back to the library as well, and I don't think the others are as understanding as moonlight and scarlet, and we already know how well that went.
Should be fun…
-Authors Note: hey guys hope you enjoyed the new chapter and i should have the next one out soon. also, ive grown somewhat attached to this dimension in particular, because i was more excited about this one, so ive decided that to get to the next portal crimson and friends are going to have to go on another adventure. but before you start freaking out, dont, OK... calm your tits. this isn't going to be as much of a massive adventure as the first one to get to the portal, its going to be much smaller, but still full of tons of goodies. you know, blood, violence and my famous epic scenery. also there's going to be more teamwork between scarlet and crimson. and speaking of scarlet/crimson teamwork, this brings me to an important question that none of us can deny any longer.
are crimson and scarlet going to have sex?
i know everyone has had that thought run through their mind at least once, its undeniable. but the truth is... i dont know.
ive been morally conflicted on this matter for some time now and it has definitely proven to be a topic of interest for a lot of people, ive gotten nothing but messages asking about it or leading up to it somehow...so... I'm going to have you guys decide.
I've set up a poll with this question, and its a simple yes or no question. you can find the poll on my account profile page. just click my blue name up by the beginning of the chapter and you'll be magically whisked away to my profile page. once there find the poll and click your answer. it's a closed poll so you wont see which side is winning or loosing, so it remains a mystery, like always. I'll keep it up for a while and let you guys know when i take it down, but i wont tell you guys the answer. so if later on in the story crimson and scarlet end up doing it or not then you'll all have you're answer. and if any of you are having trouble finding the poll or if it doesn't seem to be working just PM me and I'll try and help, just dont PM me with your answer unless the poll ends up being a total dud and doesn't work for anyone. if that happens then i'll just do it through the message system.
until the next time my friends.
stay shady...