<<25 years ago>>

Cerberus gently snored on the steps that descended into the depths of Tartarus. The soft music kept his three heads in dream land. A pair of souls walked slowly past the sleeping hound. The unicorn mare in the lead played gently on her flute, sedating the beast. The demon behind her kept watch, making sure that no soul was following them in their attempt at escape. At least, he was watching in between glances at the flanks of the mare in front of him.

The mare developed an angry blush, knowing that her partner in crime was perversely staring at her flanks. She didn’t dare stop playing to scold him, for if she did, Cerberus would awaken.

The duo continued to trudge up the stairs, their objective in sight. Of course, fate always has to be a bitch. Just as they passed the hell hound, the mare stumbled, losing her telekinetic grip on her flute. The instrument clattered to the ground. Both souls stood motionless, horrified at the noise. Behind them, the hell hound began to stir. One of its head’s eyes blinked open and spotted the duo.

“RrUuNn, YyOoUu FfOoOoLl!” The demon’s horrid double voice screamed. The pair bolted up the stairs, terrified of Cerberus’s teeth snapping at their tails. He began to get ahead of the mare, his longer legs easily outrunning hers. He burst through the gates, finally at the surface. The demon looked back, only to see the mare held in Cerberus’s teeth. Her lungs were punctured by a huge fang. The demon wanted to help her, but knew it was pointless. The mare was already dead, so how could Cerberus kill her again? If he went back, he would be dragged back into Tartarus with her.

The Demon shed a tear of blood, mourning his failure to protect such a beautiful mare. Granted, he never even knew her name, but that’s beside the point. He protected those of the fairer sex.

Giving one last look at the entrance to Tartarus, He turned towards the city he could see in the distance and began to walk.

The demonic soul slowly walked through the streets of Stalliongrad. None of the ponies gave the invisible figure any problems. He phased through one drunk stallion, snagging a small portion of his victim's soul in the process. Savoring his last meal before his fast, the demon continued onto his goal.

He at last reached the building he wanted. Making his hoof solid, the demon rang the doorbell. As soon as the chimes sounded, he began to work. His body shrank, becoming solid and visible. Some of his more horrible features vanishes, being replaced with those of a normal colt. His age reversed until he was visibly only a few weeks old. Lastly, he sealed away his powers and memories for later.

When the orphanage director opened the door, she found a little grey unicorn colt crying on her doorstep. She scooped up the poor thing and brought it inside. "Hush now. Everything's going to be alright. I'll take good care of you."

The baby smiled at her kind words.

<<10 years ago>>

White Smile slunk into class via the back door. He wasn't late, but had just come in at the very last moment. It was best for him to avoid any attention. He felt worthless. Whoever herd of a 15 year old blank flank? All the other foals got theirs before they were 12. Needless to say, they teased him constantly about it.

"Hey, look! The blank-flanked freak's here!" Brick said. He was the leader of the ponies that regularly teased White. The teacher, of course, ignored the jock's insult to White Smile.

"Hey, maybe the freak's gonna try to get his cutie mark in magic again," jeered Golden Cup. The filly was referring to his deformed horn. White Smile's horn was curved upwards, a very unflattering deformity amongst unicorns. Combine that with his abysmal magic usage, and his classmates had yet another thing to tease him about. At least they didn't flaunt the fact that he was the only orphan in the class.

"Hey, Smiles, don't go crying to mommy. Oh wait, you don't have one!"

Never mind. White Smile groaned as he banged his head against the desk. After a moment, he sat back up and put on his trademark smile. He wasn't going to let months of torment bother him. Nope. Not. One. Bit.

His smile wavered a moment, then returned full strength.

Little Peach walked up to White Smile. The Neighpanese exchange student was White's only friend, united by a common bully. The little earth filly asked the colt if he wanted to walk her home, to which he readily agreed. The two were the last ones in the classroom. They turned to head out, only to be stopped by Brick and his group of thug friends.

"Where do you think you're going, freak? We have business to discuss," Brick said, smirking.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Little Peach cried out.

"Oh ho ho, It's White's little bitch. Tell me does the pervert feel you up, too?" Brick laughed. He followed up his insult by punching the small filly in the face. There was a sickening crunch and Little Peach collapsed on the floor.

"LITTLE PEACH!" screamed White Smile. He ran over to his friend and scooped her up. He cradled his friend, desperately trying to wake her, but she would not stir. The gang of colts laughed at the pair's misfortune. White Smile put his hoof on her cheek, gently stroking it, trying to comfort the filly. It was after a moment that he felt something, or rather, he noticed what he wasn't feeling: her breath. He put his hoof next to her thought, desperately searching for a pulse, but to no avail. Her head hung limply, eyes staring at nothing. Little Peach had breathed her last.

White Smile remembered something, something intentionally forgotten. He smiled with murderous intent; he had the power to take his vengeance. White turned to Brick, and spoke, "YyOoUu KkIiLlLlEeDd HhEeRr."

Brick only had a moment to process the change in White Smile's voice before the bully erupted in an explosion of blood and gore. It took only a second before the rest of his gang began to scream. They were each slaughtered one by one. In a matter of moments, the only whole pony stood soaked in the blood of his enemies. The shell shocked teen could only think one thing: 'RUN.'

He didn’t see his new cutie mark underneath the blood on his fur.

<>

The stallion known as “Red” packed up his belongings. Books, blood rune covered scrolls, knives, parchment, and bits all made their way into his saddle bags. He adjusted the bandages that covered almost every inch of his body, except for his joints. He still needed to be able to move. The bandages were worn by choice rather than necessity. Instead of covering wounds, the bandages themselves were covered in blood runes that were hidden against his body. Red’s face was covered by a cloth mask that hid all but one of his eyes. Under the mask, anypony cold tell that he was smiling just to hide the pain that lingered in his eyes.

Red looked back for the last time at the room that he had lived in for the past eight years. He dropped of his keys at his former landlord’s desk, and set off into the frigid northern Canadeerian. Just south of the fabled crystal empire, Canadeer was the coldest populated area in the world.

Red headed to the train station, glad to be leaving deer territory and heading to the warmer pony lands. The warmth runes on his bandages were struggling against the frosty wind. Upon finally reaching the station, he paid nearly the last of his bits and boarded the heated train. Red sat down on the bench, glad for the warmth in the air taking the chill from his bones.

For the first time in nearly a decade, Red was returning to pony country. He could not help but think of Little Peach.

Author's Note

*Ding* Have a story!

So, this story came to me while I was reading Naruto fanfics. This isn't a crossover. I just got a little inspired by one of the OC's in that story.

Red = White Smile = The demon that escaped Tartarus.

Red can only remember fragments of the demon's life, but has full access to and understanding of the demon's powers. He also has had a decade of practice as a pony. He cannot use normal unicorn magic.

Canadeer = Canada WITH DEER!

FYI This is probably the darkest chapter I have planned. Yes, there will be plenty of gore in this story, but it won't be so emotionally dark. I'll try to stay within rule of funny territory.

If you want a preview of what I'm going for with Red's personality/powers, It's Sanji (One Peice) + The Deadmen (Deadman Wonderland) + Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland). Well, partially. I don't know. This story is primarily characterization practice.