The Fable of the Zealot

Chapters

Chapter II: Feels Like Home
Chapter III: The First
Chapter IV: The Assignment
Chapter V: Departure
Chapter VI: The Forest King
Chapter VII: Old Friends, New members
Chapter VIII: The Broken Swordsman
Chapter IX: S Rank
Chapter X: The Informant
Chapter XI: Family
Chapter XIII: Meet the Parents
Chapter XIV: Taking Flight
Chapter XV: The Amulet
Chapter XVI: It's Only A Mask Right?
Chapter XVII: Chatting
Chapter XVIII: Savior
Chapter I: The Fable
Chapter XII: Djinn

Chapter II: Feels Like Home

Chapter II

Feels Like Home

Throwing a party was a tradition in Ponyville, thanks to a certain pastry chef. Pinkie had combined the Guild opening party with Sunny’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party.’ Drinks were poured, songs were sung and a good time was had by all.

“I’m telling you man, somethings missing.” Crimson said as he looked at Cobalt.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Just not sure what though.” The two continued in deep thought as they looked over the checklist.

Name: Check

Symbol: Check

Armory: Double check

Library: Check

Dungeon: Check

Cobalt gave up when Thunderlane, Caramel and several other members of the male populace walked up to them. “Sup guys? Enjoying the party?” Cobalt said as he looked t the group.

“Yeah its awesome.” Caramel said with a smile.

“We just have one question concerning Crimson.” Thunderlane said as he looked at the red haired mage.

“What’s up?” Crimson asked as he looked at the flyer.

“Me and the guys have noticed that you and Twilight have been spending a lot of time together.” Thunder said as he and the group folded their arms in perfect sync like they did in those old greaser movies. “We were just wondering if you guys were a couple.” A long silence fell over the building. The music stopped and all the attention was put on the red mage.

“Um, yeah we are.” The mage heard several cups fall to the ground and the crowd erupt with cheer. Crimson saw a few of the guys sobbing at the news of their crush being taken away. Several cries from the women of the town followed suit as they looked at the scholar who was blushing brightly.

“You always did like to cause a scene.” Cobalt chuckled as he looked at the mage.

“Ha, ha.” Crimson mocked before he was grabbed by the mob of guys and was pulled into a fusion of sobs and pats on the back. Twilight was receiving the same treatment, though she was getting more jealous looks from the other girls. Thunderlane had a drink in hand and was chatting with the red haired mage.

“So Crimson, how is Twilight anyway?” Crimson looked at him in confusion.

“She’s doing fine. Why?”

“Not like that dude. How is she in bed?” Crimson’s face went bright red and he frowned at the grey winged flyer.

“That is none of your business!” He said as he slammed back his drink. “We’ve only been dating for a month and we’re taking things slow.”

“C’mon dude, me and every other guy here is wondering if-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there and I’m just going to assume that you’re already drunk and that’s why you’re asking this. Cause if you ask again then I’ll just have to take you out back and beat you like a drum.” Thunder charged by the man’s challenge and the alcohol in his system smirked and slammed back his drink.

“Thongs or panties?” Crimson frowned and handed Cobalt his drink before cracking his fist. He pressed both his hands together and the floor started to shift. People got out of the way as the hard wood started to move and a circular pit came into view. Thunder gulped and felt himself being pushed down into the pit. The man landed with a thud and saw stars before Crimson leapt into the pit on the opposite end and removed his jacket.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Cobalt said as Sunny handed him a microphone. “In this corner, weighing in at 165 pounds. Thunderlane!” The crowd gave a cheer. “In this coming in at 170 pounds Crimson Storm!” The red mage cracked his neck and grunted. “In order to keep things fair, no wings, weapons or magic allowed. Just your fists and feet. Ready?”

“Bring it!” Thunder said in a drunken tone.

“Ring the bell.” Cobalt nodded and a bell sound was rung. Thunder charged forwards and tried to land a punch on the man. Crimson leaned back and slammed his fist into the flyer’s jaw. The force propelled Thunder out of the pit and into a table. Cobalt flew over to the man and saw that he was out cold. “Next?” Crimson said as he cracked his neck.

The other crowd members backed off and the man jumped out of the pit with ease. He brushed himself off and smiled. “Now it feels like home.” The man said with a grin.

“All right folks, party is over. See yourselves out.” Cobalt yelled. Several people grumbled as they made themselves scarce. Soon only the guild members remained and they made their way back towards their homes.Twilight gave Crimson a goodnight kiss and walked back to her library.

Author's Note

Sorry for the short chapter. Next one will be WAY better.

Chapter III: The First

Chapter III

The First

Celestia’s sun rose over the sleepy town of Ponyville and filled the red haired man’s room with light.

“Go away sun.” Crimson said in a groggy tone. Despite the man’s protests the sun did not go in reverse and instead only seemed to shine brighter. “Fine you win.” As Crimson started to move he felt a weight on his chest. The man looked down to see the librarian.

What the hell? He mentally screamed. I thought she went home last night.

Are you complaining?

No. Crimson tried to break free from the scholar’s grip but she just pulled harder on the man and pulled him closer so her mouth was next to his ear.

“No.....not done yet.” Crimson looked at her and noticed that she was still sleeping.

“Not done with what?” He asked hoping to get something out of the scholar.

“Playing with you.” She said in a groggy tone. The next few minutes were filled with the sleeping scholar whispering things into the man’s ear. Crimson’t face grew redder and redder as she continued to tell him, in full detail, of everything she wanted to do to him. Crimson looked at his girlfriend in surprise as he realized how much of a dirty mind she possessed. The whispers spoke of tight fitting outfits, restraints and odd scenarios.

Crimson lightly tapped the scholar on the forehead and she stirred. Her purple eyes opened and she looked around to see the man’s room.

“Um Twilight,” The girl then looked at Crimson. “not that I’m complaining or anything, but why are you here? I thought you went home last night.”

“I did. I remember going to the library and going to bed.” She said as she rubbed her eyes. “I was having such a good dream.” She whined.

“Yeah I kinda know.” Twilight looked at him in confusion. “You talk in your sleep.” Twilight gulped as the man leaned in close and whispered back the things the scholar said while she was snoozing. The woman’s face went bright red and she tackled the man onto the floor and was now sitting on his chest. Crimson chuckled as Twilight stared down and pressed her forehead against his.

“You tell no one about what I may or may not have said or else I’ll find you, do exactly what I want with you, torture you then tell Celestia to send you to the moon.” The man gulped as a wave of fear and arousal over came him. The man tried to force the thought of Twilight Sparkle, the dutiful student tying him down on his own bed and being tortured by her.

The door was then kicked in by the blue haired flyer. The sword-man froze when he saw the two mages on the floor. His face went red and his wings slowly started to become erect.

*Pomf*

Cobalt you immature jackass. The red haired man thought with a grunt.

“I guess I’ll come back in five...ten minutes pending.” He said as he closed the door. Minutes ticked by. Twilight was frozen in shock and couldn’t bring herself to move. The woman then felt a small pinch on her hand.

“Um Twilight. Mind getting off me?” Crimson said with a red face. The scholar nodded and got off the man. As Crimson stood up he saw that Twilight was only wearing a short sleeve lavender T-shirt that was cut off just above her belly button and a pair of short shorts of the same color. The man turned away and heard the scholar teleport into the restroom. “I’ll see you downstairs in a few.” The man said as he threw on a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

The red haired man made his way downstairs into the main room where the other guild members were having breakfast. Cobalt had a sly grin on his face.

“Morning Crimson.” Sunny said with a smile.

“Hey.”

“So did I walk in on some sort of rape-bondage-sex-scene or something?” The green haired woman spat her drink out in surprise. Crimson glared at the flyer.

“There was no bondage, no rape and NO sex!” He said as he folded his arms and scowled. Ivy then leaned in with a smirk.

“Much to your disappointment I’m sure.” Crimson ignored her comment and went into the kitchen and started frying some eggs. A few minutes later Twilight came down wearing a white collard shirt under a purple sweater vest that matcher her pants.

“Morning.” Twilight said with a gulp.

“Sup?” Ivy said as Sunny brought her a plate of eggs. “So Cobalt here tells me that he saw-”

“Nothing happened! I don’t even know how I got here last night.” The scholar said as she blushed. The scholar bit her lip and motioned for the girls to come closer. Cobalt took the hint and made his way into the kitchen. “Mind if I ask you guys a personal question?”

“Shoot.” Twilight bit her lip and tried to find the right words to use.

“I’m just wondering,” The girl made sure that the two males weren’t listening. “have you guys ever....ya know?” The girl said with a bright blush on her face.

“I’m just going to assume that you mean, have we had sex?” Rouge asked. Sunny then left the conversation and went into the kitchen.

“Y-yeah.” Twilight said with a gulp.

“Duh.” Ivy said in a flat tone.

“Ivy!” Rouge said with a sigh. “Yeah neither of us are virgins.” She said in a cam tone. “Why?”

“I was just wondering.” The girl then made sure that the males were still in the kitchen. “I heard that the first time hurts. That true?” The Changeling looked at the flyer and shrugged.

“Yeah at first, but you get used to it.” Ivy said with a shrug.

“If you don’t mind me asking who was-”

“Can’t remember.” Ivy said. “Got drunk at a party, he was gone before I woke up.” Twilight gulped and hung her head in shame.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“Nah it’s fine Sparkle.” The girl chuckled. “That was years ago and I’ve had more than just that one time since then.” Twilight nodded and looked at Rouge who pointed to the blue flyer.

“I take it that there’s a reason why you’re asking us these questions?” Rouge stated. Twilight gulped and shot a glance towards Crimson. “Oh, right. I take it you’ve never done it before?” The scholar gave a slow nod. “Figured.” Rouge stated.

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure why I’m acting like this.” She said with a sigh. Rouge raised an eyebrow and saw the scholar shifting in her seat. The Changeling’s eyes glowed and her vision shifted.

“Twilight, are you in heat right now?” The scholar’s face went bright red and she shifted in her seat more.

“Maybe.”

“Okay and how do you usually deal with it?” Ivy asked.

“I take these pills that....lessen the urges.” The two warriors looked at one another in surprise. “Don’t you girls do that?”

“Yeah, when we were younger.” Rouge said. “I’m assuming that you’ve ‘relieved yourself’ before?” Twilight’s blush intensified. “Relax Twilight, everyone’s done it.” Twilight just shrank back. “So from what you’ve told us, you want Crimson badly right?”

“Y-yeah.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“It sounds like your magic is acting on it’s own to fulfill those...desires. Even going as far as to teleport you while sleeping, which is extremely risky.”

“Why?” Ivy asked as she looked at her friend.

“If the spell wore off mid way then she could have teleported inside a wall or half of her could end up somewhere else.” Ivy’s jaw dropped.

“Oh so you mean like Georgia?”

“Yup.”

“Who’s Georgia?” Twilight asked.

“She was testing a long range teleportation spell. She accidentally activated it in her sleep.” Ivy explained.

“What happened to her?”

“No one knows they never found her.” The two warriors gave a moment of silence. “Any who, the only way to make sure you don’t end up like her is to fulfill your urges.” Twilight’s face went red at the thought of her and the man becoming...intimate. The girls then broke apart as Cobalt and Crimson came out with a few plates with eggs and bacon on them.

“Okay, soups on.” Crimson said as he handed Twilight a plate.

“You can cook?” Twilight said in surprise.

“Oh yeah.” Cobalt said as he took a mouthful of egg. “This guy was our cook when we were on long missions.”

“Somebody had to know how to cook. You and Ivy can’t make ice.” He said as he sat beside Twilight. The scholar took a bite of her food and her taste buds exploded with flavor.

“This is so good.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Crimson said with a smile.

“Where did you learn how to cook like this?” The scholar asked.

“Just something I’ve picked up over time.” He said as he ate. The group finished their meals and took care of the dishes. “Well, I’m off for some training.” The man said as he cracked his back. “I’ll see you later Twilight.” The man gave her a quick kiss before going out the door.

Twilight made her way out of the guild and back down to her library. She opened the door to see Spike looking around.

“There you are Twilight!” He said in an irate tone. “Where have you been?”

“Sorry about that Spike. I must have accidentally teleported in my sleep.” The dragon’s jaw dropped.

“You did what?” He yelled. “Isn’t that like dangerous or something? You could teleport inside a wall or something like that!”

“Yes, I know.” She said with an embarrassed smile.

“Need breakfast?”

“No thanks Crimson cooked me some eggs before I left.” The boy shrugged and went about his chores as Twilight sat down and opened a research book.
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The warm air hit against the red haired man’s skin with a light breeze as Crimson made his way through the Everfree Forest. The large untamed wilderness was like the perfect training ground. Dangerous animals, unknown weather changes and surprises behind every tree. Crimson stopped as he came to clearing and snapped his fingers. A scythe with a black handle and white curved blade appeared in his hands. The blade edge was dark red and had a certain shine to it. Crimson looked at the blade as he remembered the shade that wielded it before he took it for his own.

“Okay, let’s see what you can do.” The man turned it in his hands and felt the weight. “Light.” He plucked one of his hairs out of his scalp and pressed it against the blade. The sharp metal sliced it in half with barely any effort. “Very nice. Not sure why that punk threw you away.”

He got cocky. Crimson flinched when he heard the voice. The man looked around looking for the source of the voice. Relax genius, no one but us. The voice was female and the man looked at the blade.

“You’re a soul edge?”

Bingo. Crimson felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Might wanna look behind ya. Crimson pulled a 180 and saw a large Manticore in a pouncing position. Time for a test run. The voice said with a chuckle. Crimson got in a defensive stance and waited. The red eyes locked with the amber eyes of the beast and sighed. The manticore charged and swiped at the man. Crimson jumped back and slashed the beast.

“Okay fur ball.” The man said as he cracked his neck. “My move.” Crimson gripped the handle and charged forward. He used the back of the blade to parry the scorpion tail. As Crimson got ready for another parry he felt the weapon move on it’s own. The force caused the man to spin in the opposite direction. Crimson heard the blade make contact with the Manticore. After completing the move he looked to see that the Manticore’s head was laying beside its body.

“Hey!” Crimson said as he smacked the blade. “The hell was that?”

Decapitation. What’s with the hit?

“Hey how we fight is my call. Got it?”

Whatever. Crimson made the weapon vanish and he looked at the sky.

Just what I need. Another weapon with an attitude. He thought with a groan. The man then saw the manticore’s body and sighed. “Well, it’d be a shame if all this meat just went to waste.” Crimson walked over to the bleeding body and sealed the wound. He put a hand on the pelt and it vanished. “Dinner is taken care of.” He said as he started to make his way back towards the guild.

As the man walked back inside he saw Spike sitting down at one of the tables. The dragon hybrid got to his feet and walked up to the man. “Hey Spike. Need something?”

“Twilight asked me to come get you.”

“What for?” Crimson asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She didn’t say. Only that it was important.” Crimson scratched his head and sighed.

“Okay, let me just drop something off in the kitchen first.” Crimson walked behind the bar to see the golden haired Changeling. “Hey Sunny.”

“Oh hello Crimson.” She smiled.

“Hey Sunny, I just came to drop off an ingredient.” The man opened up the meat locker and summoned the manticore body. The man levitated it up and slung it on one of the meat hooks. The Changeling looked at the body and gulped. The man came back out where the hybrid was waiting for him. The two then started to make their way towards the library. The two kept silent.

Crimson didn’t know that much about Spike, aside form him being Twilight’s adopted brother and that he was a dragon that was turned into a human by the scholar during a test. As Crimson was about to say something the two were approached by a black eyed Thunderlane.

“Hey guys.” He said with a weak grin.

“Need something?” Crimson asked as he crossed his arms.

“Yeah,” Thunder said with a sigh. “look I was really, really drunk last night and-” Crimson put a hand up.

“Relax. We’ve all done stupid things when we’re drunk.” The flyer let out a sigh of relief. “Just make sure that it doesn’t happen again ya hear?” Crimson said in a rough tone.

“Sure no prob.” Thunderlane flexed his wings and took off from the ground. Spike looked up at the man.

“What was that about?”

“Nothing. Just guy stuff.” The two continued into to small town and approached the library. Spike saw a curtain move and the door opened to show the scholar.

“Thanks Spike. I can take things from here.” She said with a smile.

“You sure?”

“Yeah Crimson and I are just,” The scholar quickly thought of an excuse. “going to do some magical research about magical relativity and-”

“That’s my cue.” Spike said as he started to walk away. “I’m gonna go see if Rarity needs help with anything.” The two watched the dragon go off towards the boutique. Crimson then walked inside the tree house.

“Um mind if we talk upstairs?” Crimson raised an eyebrow and shrugged. When the man started to make his way upstairs Twilight quietly locked the front door. When she got upstairs she saw that the man was using the restroom. She quickly darted into her room. Crimson came out of the restroom and saw that the scholar’s door was cracked open.

“So what did you want to talk-” The man froze in his tracks. The room was covered in scented candles. The thick scent of lavender was affluent in the air. The man’s jaw hit the floor when he saw Twilight sprawled out on her bed wearing purple colored lingerie that accentuated her natural looks.

“Ready to do some hands on reading?” She said in a seductive voice. Crimson heard the door close behind him and the lock click shut. The man took off his coat and made his way over to the bed. He put both his hands beside the woman’s head and he stared into her amethyst colored eyes.

“Look Twi, I don’t want to rush you or anything. You don’t have-” He was cut off as the librarian wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him into a deep kiss.

“I want this and I want it to be with you.” She said with a smile. “Now loose the cloths. I feel kinda under dressed here.” She said with a giggle.

“Yeah, where did you get that outfit anyway anyway?” He said as he kicked off his boots and removed his shirt.

“Rarity sells more than dresses you know.” Crimson laid down beside the girl and brushed the strand of hair out of her face. The man wrapped his arms around the girl and pressed his lips against hers. “Just one thing.” Twilight’s hands glowed and the man felt a tingling sensation around his nether region which caused a small yelp.

“What was that?” He asked as the feeling started to fade.

“Temporary sterilization spell. I think that we can both agree that neither of us want to be parents just yet.”

“Agreed. Wouldn’t want that the first time.” He said as the feeling vanished. “Now where were we?” He asked with a smirk. The woman then swung herself on top of him and had a smile on her face.

“I think here.” She said as she straddled his hips.
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Ivy and Rouge were walking along the dirt road with a few shopping bags in hand. Rouge noticed that several people were still uncomfortable with her appearance. They didn’t giver her any trouble with Ivy watching her back. Even though she could take anything they could dish out and then some. The two girls then saw Spike sitting in front of the library with an annoyed expression on his face as he kicked the dirt with his shoe.

“Hey Spike.” Ivy said as they walked up to him. The hybrid just rolled his eyes and sighed. “Something bugging you?”

“You find Crimson?” Rouge asked.

“Yeah and now I’m locked out.” He said as he pointed his thumb towards the library.

“What did Twilight need anyway?”

“She said something about magical physics. Wasn’t really paying attention.” He said with a shrug. “After that I went over to Rarity’s to see if she needed a hand with anything. She didn’t so I came back here and the door is locked.”

“Can’t you send her a message?” Ivy asked.

“I’ve tried at least ten times now.” He said with a sigh. “I’m not sure what they’re doing in there, but it must be important.” The two girls looked at one another.

“I can find out for you.” Rouge said as she put her bag down.

“How? The doors locked.” The Changeling snapped her fingers and the Changeling turned into a small purple spider. “Dude that’s creepy.” Ivy scooped the tiny bug up and raised her up to the tiny window at the top of the door. The spider crawled inside and the girl returned to her normal form. The Changeling wasted no time in searching.

The lab was deserted along with the main floor. The girl then heard a thump and started to quietly sneak up the stairs. She closed in on the noise coming from the scholar’s bedroom. Rouge changed into her spider form and managed to squeeze underneath the door. What she saw next will haunt her for possibly forever.

Her mind froze as she saw the two mages intertwined with each other. The moans were loud and the smell of passion was affluent in the air. The spider quickly mad her way back out into the hallway and stayed in her spider form hoping not to interrupt the two lovers.

She came out the same way she came in and walked onto Ivy’s hand. “Well, did you find them?” Spike asked as the girl took her original form. Ivy noticed her flaring cheeks and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry Spike, but they are doing really hard work in there.” She said trying to keep her composure. “Like crazy magic stuff.” The dragon grunted as Rouge whispered to the green haired flyer who was stifling her laughter.

“Um Spike, how long ago did you bring Crimson here?” The flyer asked. Spike looked at his watch.

“I’d say an hour and a half ago.” The girls looked at one another with mouths agape.

“You can stay at the guild till they finish up.” Rouge said as Ivy bit her lip to stop her laughter.

“Nah, I’ll just go see what the CMC are doing.” He said as he made his way away from the library of lust. The two girls then made their way back to the guild in silence.

“So, how much did you-”

“I saw everything.” The Changeling said as she entered the guild. Cobalt was at a table with a bored look on his face.

“There’s my love bug.” He said with a smile. “What did you two buy at-” The Changeling then looked at him with a deep glare.

“You. Me. Bed. Now.” Cobalt blinked and saw that his girlfriend’s eyes were filed with lust.

“I just ate and-”

“Now.” She said as the man whimpered. The blue flyer knew there was no reasoning with her and reluctantly allowed her to drag him up and have her way with him. Sunny looked at Ivy with confusion on her face.

“What was that about?”

“Let’s just say that we are the only two not getting laid.” Ivy said as she went up to her room.
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“Well, that was....exhilarating.” Twilight said as she cuddled with the man beside her. Crimson had his right arm wrapped around Twilight’s waist and had a bead of sweat on his forehead.

“To quote Rainbow Dash, that was awesome.” He said as Twilight gave him a peck on the cheek. Crimson looked at the time and he sat up much to the scholar’s disappointment. “Sorry Twi, but if I don’t get back then one of those idiots will try to cook and end up burning the place down.” He said as he put his clothes back on. He gave her a quick goodbye kiss and vanished in a flash of light.

He appeared outside his guild and made his way inside where the other four mages were talking. “Hey guys sorry I’m late I-” He stopped talking when he saw that they all were grinning ear to ear. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“No reason.” Cobalt chuckled. Crimson raised an eyebrow as he made his way into the kitchen.

“Make sure you wash those hands lover boy~” Ivy teased. The connection clicked and Crimson felt a deep blush appear on his face. The shame he would have to endure would be a reckoning in itself.

“So if that was only for heat,” Cobalt started. “I wonder what will happen if Crimson has an overdue library book.” The man was quickly silenced by a pan hitting him square in the face.

“Another comment like that and I’ll feed you to Cliff Mr. ‘I like it when my girlfriend plucks my feathers out.’” Cobalt’s face went bright red and Ivy roared in laughter.

“Dude, that hurts like hell.” Ivy said with a shiver. Most flyers just let their feathers molt, but actually plucking them is almost equivalent of getting teeth pulled.

“I know.” He said with as shrug.

“Okay, new rule. No talk about sex while eating.” Rouge said. “All in favor?” The other four mages held up their hands. “Good. Now I need something to eat. I’m starving.” The Changeling said as the man started to cut up the manticore.

Chapter IV: The Assignment

Chapter IV

The Assignment

The next day started off slow. Slower than a turtle stuck in the mud in the middle of a heatwave. The job board wasn’t up and running yet so the four combat mages had to busy themselves. Crimson was giving Twilight the grand tour of the guild and he stopped in front of the library.

“Okay now before I take you in, you gotta promise me that you won’t drool on the floor.” Twilight rolled her eyes and looked at the door. It wasn’t any bigger than a door you’d use for a broom closet and the floor plans didn’t show anything as big as a library.

“Fine.” The scholar said as she crossed her arms. Crimson opened the door ad Twilight’s jaw dropped. The interior was at least three times bigger than her library and bookcases stood at least twenty feet high. “How did? Is this? Huh?”

“You’re cute when you don’t know what to say.” The red haired man chuckled. Twilight was too mesmerized by the collection to fire back one of her famous zingers at the mage.

“It’s bigger on the inside!”

“I love it when they say that.” The two turned around to see Golem. He was an average looking man with tan skin and dirty blonde hair. “Special clay mixed with dimension magic.” He said as he walked by the room and made his way outside.

“Every book from the Academy must be in here.” Twilight said as her eyes boggled.

“Not every book. All the stuff in the restricted sections stay at the Academy. We don’t want just anyone having access to magic like that now do we?” Crimson stated as he dragged his girlfriend out and closed the door behind them.

“Why can’t we stay longer?” She whined as he pulled her along.

“Because I need to finish up the paper work for this place and it’s gonna be a pain.” He groaned. “The downsides of being a guild leader.” He walked up to the office at the top of the building and saw three large stacks of papers that needed to be signed and initialed. “It’s gonna be a very long day.”
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Across town Rouge was walking down the street with a book under her arm and was wearing a dark purple T shirt and black jeans. The woman then saw three small girls making their way towards her. A young girl with orange wings was pulling the other two in a wagon that was hooked to her scooter. One had a dark red bow in her hair and had a yellow T shirt under a pair of faded blue overalls. The other had on a pretty white dress and her hair was like curly cotton candy with a light purple tinge to it. The final was more tomboyish than the other two and had short purple hair and orange wings that matched her T-shirt.

Rouge had met the group of girls before thanks to Rarity and Applejack. She also knew that the girl’s club the Cutie Mark Crusaders or the CMC were also the cause of most of the trouble around the small town.

“Howdy there Ms. Rouge.” The farmer said with a smile.

“Hey girls.” The Changeling said with a smile. “Did you need something?”

“We were just wondering something.” Sweetie said with a smile.

“How’d you get your Cutie Mark?” Scootaloo asked. Rouge froze. The color drained from her face and her eyes shrank as she remembered ash falling like snow and her home being burned. The Changeling snapped back to reality and shook her head. “You okay?” The young flyer asked.

“Yeah, sorry girls I don’t remember how I got mine.” She lied with a smile. “It was just there one day.” The three girls groaned.

“Darn it. Ah thought that we might get a hint of what to do.” Applebloom said with a sigh. Rouge then eyed the scooter.

“Hey Scootaloo, why are you using a scooter to get around?” The girl hung her head.

“I can’t fly yet.” She said in an embarrassed tone.

“Didn’t anyone teach you?”

“I tried!” The girl yelled. “My parents are always working and Rainbow Dash is too busy to teach me.” Rouge felt guilty about asking the flyer about her insecurity. The flyer’s eyes then grew wide with hope. “Could you teach me?” Rouge looked at her own butterfly like wings and sighed.

“Sorry kiddo, but next to Crimson I am the second worst flyer in the guild.” The flyer sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes. “Cobalt on the other hand is the best. He was the one who actually taught me and Crimson how to fly correctly. I’m sure he could teach you something.”

“What if he says no?” Sweetie asked. Rouge had an evil grin on her face.

“Just tell him I sent you and he’ll do it if he knows what’s good for him.” She said with an evil smile. The three girls then high tailed it across town in search of the blue haired man.
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Cobalt sat in the middle of town on a bench looking at his broken blade and sighed as he looked at his reflection in the shining metal. He felt someone drop down behind him and relaxed when he saw that it was Ivy.

“Sup dude?” She asked as the man sheathed the blade.

“Not much just chilling. What about you?” The man said as he stood up.

“Was about to go practice. You want in?” Before he could answer the two saw the three girls come up to them. “Hey girls.” The green flyer smiled.

“Hey Ivy.” Sweetie said. “Hey Cobalt, you busy right now?” The blue haired man raised an eyebrow.

“Not really, no.” He said as he folded his arms. “Why?” Scootaloo then stepped forwards and gulped.

“Um, I was kinda wondering if you could teach me how to fly.”

“You can’t fly yet?” Ivy said in surprise. Cobalt scratched the back of his head and sighed. Sure he liked kids but he was never really comfortable around them.

“I don’t know girls. The way I learned was a little...extreme and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” The girls were about to leave when the farmer remembered what the woman had said.

“Rouge said that you would ‘if you knew what was good for ya’ whatever that means.” The man felt his spine stiffen and the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the thought of his angry girlfriend.

“Well, in that case I may be able to teach you enough to get you started.” He said as Ivy chuckled. “Let’s head to the park I guess.” The three then high five’d and followed the man as Ivy went off on her own. The man stopped in the center of the field and looked at his surroundings. “Okay Scootaloo, show me what you got.”

“Huh?”

“Show me what you can do and I’ll take it to the next level.” The man said as he crossed his arms.

“Okay.” The young girl then took in a deep breath and started to flap her wings rapidly. The girl strained as she hovered off the ground for a few seconds before falling down on her back. “How was that?” She asked with a pant.

“Terrible.” Cobalt said as he face palmed. “You’re technique is all wrong. Flying for people with wings like ours doesn’t mean you flap a hundred times a minute like a bug.” He said as he helped her up. “If you were a Changeling then that would work.”

“How?”

“Changelings like Rouge and Sunny have insect like wings and skeletons. It makes them lighter than any other person so they can get along with stuff like that. We on the other hand,” He said as he gestured to the girl and himself. “have normal bones and wings.”

“I don’t get it.” The tomboy said as she scratched her head. Cobalt looked around and saw a large bird.

“There. Watch.” The girl turned her head and focused on how the bird flew. “You need to make big powerful flaps that can carry you through the sky.”

“Okay I’ll give it a shot.”

“Not just yet. You still need to be conditioned for that sort of thing.”

“Conditioned?” She said in surprise.

“I’m not saying your out of shape. Just that you need to build up more muscle in your wings before we go any further.”

“How do we do that?” She asked in anticipation.

“Simple, you follow a strict training schedule that I’ll make up.” He said with a smile. “I’m warning you now that I don’t mess around. I’m strict, and I don’t like complaints.” He said in a serious tone. Scootaloo gulped and gave a nod. “Also, my job is important. So keep that in mind. So if you want to train without me then make sure you have someone with you in case something should happen.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” She asked as the other two girls walked up to him. Cobalt scratched his head and bit his lip. He crouched down so he was eye level with the three.

“Okay if I tell you guys something, promise to keep it a secret?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The three said in unison as they made a few gestures.

“What was that?”

“A Pinkie Promise.” Sweetie chimed.

“Once ya make it you can’t break it or you’ll lose your friends forever.” The farmer stated.

“Forever!” The group heard Pinkie yell out from nowhere.

“Okay, fair enough.” He said as he looked around to make sure it was only them. “You guys know who Soarin is right?”

“Isn’t he a Wonderbolt?” Sweetie said as she rubbed her head.

“Correct. He’s also my oder brother.” The three girls’ jaws dropped. “I trained with him since I was a kid by his dad, Storm Shocker, a former Wonderbolt Captain.” He said with a grunt at the name.

“You don’t like him?” Applebloom asked.

“We had a small argument about a month ago. He didn’t approve of me dating Rouge and things got complicated. Soarin and Spitfire backed me up, but Storm has yet to say a word to me.”

“That’s not nice.” Sweetie stated.

“Yeah but it’s expected considering I’m not actually his son.”

“Huh?”

“Soarin’s parents adopted me after-” The man stopped talking as he felt a chill run up his spine. “Anyway, we’ve always had our differences and that’s how I know so much about flying.”

“Cool!” The three said with a smile. Cobalt felt the gem in his pocket glow and he pulled it out. The image of the red mage then appeared over it.

“Cobalt, the mission board is up and running. Better hurry before all the good ones are taken.” Crimson said before the message cut out.

“Sorry girls that’s my cue.” He said as he cracked his neck. “I’ll make up that schedule for you and make sure you follow it.”

“Got it. See ya coach.” She said with a salute. Cobalt then took to the sky and flew towards the guild. The blue flyer flew through a window and landed near his friends. A board holding several cards was right next to the bar.

“Okay guys the mission board is all set.” Sunny said with a smile. There was only one good mission and the other’s were crap.

“We draw straws.” Rouge said as she narrowed her eyes. The group nodded and they each drew a straw. Cobalt got the shortest one.

“Hell yeah!” He said in victory.

“Hold it.” Crimson said as he looked at the mission statement. “It’s a Ranger A rank mission. That means someone has to go with you.” He said as he shuffled the straws again. The three picked and Ivy got the short one. The two flyers high five’d as the other two warriors groaned.

“Damn it.” Crimson said. “Well there are two-” Rouge then held up another mission card. “Really Rouge?”

“I plan ahead.” The Changeling said as she grabbed her backpack and made her way out of the guild. “I’ll be back in three days.” She yelled as Crimson looked at the only one left and groaned.

“Trader escort. Hunter C rank? Oh come on!” He complained.

“Oh quit bitching.” Ivy chuckled. “I’m sure that there will be a better one when you get back.” Crimson nodded and he saw Twilight open the door to the guild. The scholar entered along with the dragon hybrid.

“Hey Twi, what’s up?” He asked.

“Hey I need a favor. Can you watch Spike for the week?”

“Twilight, I don’t need a babysitter.” The young boy said as he crossed his arms. “I’ve stayed home before.”

“Yes, but not for a week.” She said in a worried tone. The boy huffed and bit his lip. Twilight motioned for Crimson to go into the kitchen where they couldn’t be heard by the group. “Sorry to ask this out of the blue, but I’ve got no choice. I just received an urgent letter from the Princess. She want’s me in Canterlot to go over the next phase of my studies.”

“Couldn’t AJ keep an eye on him?” Crimson asked.

“Helping out her cousin in Appaloosa.”

“Rarity?”

“In Manehattan for a fashion show.”

“Fluttershy?”

“Away at an animal expo.”

“Rainbow?”

“Wonderbolt training.”

“Pinkie?”

“She’s watching the store while the Cake’s are visiting family.” Crimson sighed.

“What about Sunny? She likes kids.”

“Spike is still a little...touchy about Changelings and I don’t know Sunny well enough yet.” She said with a weak smile. “So can you?”

“Really wish you asked me ten minutes earlier. I just accepted a job and I’m leaving tomorrow first thing.”

“Can’t you cancel?”

“Nope. This place needs money.” Twilight then saw the golden haired Changeling.

“Can’t Sunny go instead?”

“Sunny doesn’t go out on missions anymore and Golem’s magic isn’t meant for combat.” He said in a flat tone.

“Why doesn’t she go out on missions?” Twilight asked. Crimson bit his lip as he looked at the Changeling who was busy listening to the other three mages.

“It’s....complicated.” He sighed. The scholar had a disappointed look on her face. “Sorry Twilight, but I gotta do this.” Twilight sighed as Spike walked into the kitchen.

“I understand. I’ll just have to send Celestia a letter saying we’ll have to re-”

“Or you could just let me stay home. I handled myself just fine when you all went to the Crystal Empire and you had to meet with that Equestria Game representative.” He said with a sigh.

“That was only a day trip. I’ll be gone for at least a week, maybe longer.” Spike was frustrated. He knew that Twilight was always worried about him as an older sister should be, but sometimes it just got overbearing. The boy’s final strand of patience broke and he glared at the scholar.

“If you’re so worried about me being alone then why doesn’t Crimson just take me with him then?” He yelled loud enough for the whole guild to hear. Time seemed to freeze and the tension in the room intensified.

“No way.” Crimson stated. “Out of the question Spike.”

“Why?” Spike asked as he glared at the red warrior.

“This isn’t a game Spike.” Crimson said in a stern tone. “I’m putting my life on the line and I can’t-” He then felt Twilight grab his arm and pulled him aside. Crimson looked at Twilight and he sighed.

“How difficult is the mission your going on?” Twilight asked.

“Are you nuts? You’re uncomfortable with him being home alone for a week but not about going out and-”

“How difficult?” The scholar said with a sigh. Crimson pulled out the mission statement and read it over.

“I gotta escort a trader from point A to point B and protect him and his stuff.”

“Protect him from what?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a C rank mission in the Hunter class. Meaning from simple things like, timber wolves, maybe some bandits.” He said with a sigh. Twilight bit her lip and shrugged.

“Look I know you have a job to do, but I want you and Spike to bond a little.” She said with a sigh. "Spike really doesn't have a lot of male role models and I want you two to get along."

“This isn’t a game Twilight.”

“I know that you’ll look after him.” Crimson sighed and looked at the woman.

“Spike is only twel-”

“I’m thirteen!” The hybrid said in a cross tone.

“Sorry.” He said as he looked at the hybrid. He then turned back to the scholar. “I can’t guarantee his safety. He has zero combat experience and isn’t ready for something like this. Hell, it was years before I even went on a mission like this one.”

“Please?” The girl made a pouting face and looked at the man. An idea then came to the scholar and she gave him a pair of bedroom eyes and leaned in as she whispered something in his ear. The man’s face turned bright red. He looked at the scholar who still wore an innocent looking grin. She had used the one weakness all men had no defense against. Sex. The way girlfriends and wives had dominated their spouses since the dawn of time. In the back of his mind he silently cursed Ivy and Rouge who probably taught her how to wield the power.

“Sometimes I forget how craft you are.” He said with a gulp. Crimson then turned to Spike and sighed. “Okay Spike you’re on.” The mages looked at him in shock. “Report back here tomorrow at six o’clock. We’ll get you outfitted.”

“Got it. Should I bring anything?”

“Only what you can carry.” He said in a flat tone. The scholar gave him a quick kiss and thanked him before leaving. Crimson sighed and walked back out to see the other mages.

“Relax dude, it’s a C rank.” Cobalt said in a nonchalant tone. “What’s the worse that could happen.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” The red mage said as he walked up to his room.

Chapter V: Departure

Chapter V

Departure

Crimson sat in the guild waiting for Spike to sow up. Ivy and the blue haired flyer had already left on their mission. It was to clear out a troll nest just outside of Trottingham.

Lucky jerks. The man thought with a sigh. The front door opened to show Spike and Twilight. The scholar had brought a large bag that looked more like one of Rarity’s large suitcases.

“Um Twilight.” He said as he eyed the suitcase.

“Yeah?” She asked in a happy tone.

“What is that?” He pointed to the large bag.

“These are Spike’s supplies.” Crimson looked down at Spike who discretely moved his index finger in a circular formation next to his head.

“Twi, that is way too much stuff.”

“I told you.” Spike said with a sigh. Crimson pulled out a single strap backpack. The strap went across his chest and connected in a diagonal fashion.

“This much stuff is all that’s needed. We’ll only be gone three to four days.” The scholar looked at him in surprise. “It’s one thing to be prepared but being over prepared can be counter productive. He should be fine with just a backpack’s worth of supplies and I can help him along the way.” Crimson said as he crossed his arms. Twilight sighed and Spike pulled out a small backpack of his own.

“I figured that this would happen so I planned ahead.” Spike said with a shrug. Twilight felt defeated. “I’ve go the essentials.” Crimson looked at his watch.

“Okay, out client should be here within the hour. That should give us some time for you to get a weapon and some practice.” Spike set his bag down and followed the man towards the back of the guild. Crimson stopped in front of a black door and gripped the knob. When he opened the door, the two visitors’ jaws dropped.

Rows and rows of guns, swords, axes and any other type of weapon you could think of were neatly organized and on display. “Since you’re a dragon, I’m guessing you use fire magic.”

“I only use it to send letters to the Princess.” He said with a shrug. Crimson shrugged and grabbed a sword and looked at him and then at Spike. He set it back and continued to rifle through the weapons. He pulled out a small sword that was about the length of the boy’s arm.

“You right handed or left?”

“Right handed.” He walked over and handed him the blade.

“Move it around a bit.” Spike gripped the blade and waved it in a horizontal and vertical fashion. “Too heavy? Too light?”

“No, feels okay.” He said as he looked at the blade. Spike looked closer and saw that there were carvings in the metal. “What’s up with these symbols?”

“That sword has an enchantment.” Crimson said as he looked at the sword. “It magnifies the user’s magical element and adapts to it.” Spike looked at him in confusion. “Run your magic through it and the blade will be on fire.” Spike’s eyes widened. The group then heard a knock on the door and looked back to see Sunny.

“Um Crimson. The client is here.” She said in her usual timid tone. Crimson gave a nod. Crimson grabbed something else and put it on the bench. It was a long sleeve shirt covered in chain mail. There was pants made of the same materiel. Spike held it up and found that it was surprisingly light as silk.

“What is this stuff?”

“It’s called Plume Armor. Light as a feather but stronger then tempered steel. Its also enchanted to deflect low level magic blasts and can stand up to some sword play. Mind you it won’t stop a point blank stab or a close range bullet, but it should protect you against claws, fangs and some blades.” Twilight gulped. “Put that on under your clothes and meet me outside.” The man and scholar then left for the teenager to get dressed.

“You will protect him right?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll do my best. It should be easy, but nothing always goes according to plan.” Twilight gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Crimson hid his blush as the two rounded the corner. The red haired man then saw a man standing at about 5’1” with a brown beard and mustache. He looked like he was in his mid fifties and was donning a brown button down shirt that matched his pants and boots. Crimson walked up to the man and crossed his arms.

“You the guy escorting me?” He asked in a husky tone.

“Yup, names Crimson.” He said as he shook the man’s hand.

“Call me Fetch. Is it just you?”

“No, one other person is coming.”

“That won’t cost me extra will it?” Fetch asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“No. Mind if I ask what you’re hauling?” Fetch reached into his coat and pulled out a manifest. Crimson gave it a read and handed it back to the man. Crimson looked over his own shoulder and saw Spike with the mail on and his purple hoodie over his head. The sword was clipped to his belt and his backpack was secured on his back. “Heres our number two now.”

Fetch looked at Spike and back at Crimson.

“A kid? Is this some kind of joke?” Spike frowned at the man.

“Spike here is our probie. He may seem young, but he has some fight in him.” Crimson said.

“Probie?” Spike asked.

“Probationary member.” Fetch looked between the two and sighed.

“Fine I’ll buy it. Beggars can’t be choosers.” The trader said as he walked outside.

“Right, now about our payment.” Crimson said as the two followed the man.

“There’s a halfway point. You’ll get the first half there and the other when we get to the end.” Spike and Crimson saw the man’s carriage. It was about twenty feet long and ten feet wide. The wagon was being held up by four wooden wheels with a few spokes missing. The man put his fingers to his lips and gave a hard whistle. The wagon seemed to move on it’s own accord towards the man. Spike and Twilight were awestruck.

The magical cart looked like it was moving on it’s own to the untrained eye. Crimson however saw differently as did the trader. The cart was being pulled by two horses who’s skin was jet black and clinging to their bones like a wet shirt to the owner’s body. Each horse had a set of wings that were webbed and were the same shade. The spot where their eyes should have been were only vacant holes and gave them an even more ghostly appearance. Crimson looked at the trader who nodded. “We’d best get a move on.” The trader said.

“Right.” The man then turned towards Spike. “Better say your goodbyes now. We gotta get moving.” Twilight came up to Spike and crouched so they were eye level.

“Spike, listen to everything Crimson says and be careful.” The scholar said as she hugged the teenager.

“I know.” The boy said as he returned the hug.

“Don’t forget to get plenty of rest.” She said as she tightened her hug.

“I know.” Spike said getting a bit annoyed.

“And don’t forget-”

“Twilight, I’m gonna be fine.” He said as he broke the hug. The scholar sighed and wiped a tear from her eye.

“I know, but you’re my little brother and its my job to worry about you.” She said with a sigh. Spike nodded and gave her one last hug. Twilight walked over to Crimson and gave him a kiss for good luck. Twilight watched as the two men got into the cart and went off into the distance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many years ago.

A thirteen year old boy with jet black hair and emerald green eyes was laying back in the branch of an old oak tree. In his hand was an alchemy book with several different spell circles on the cover. He adjusted his rectangular glasses and sighed as he turned the page. The man felt a vibration through the tree and looked down to see the headmaster. His name was too tricky to pronounce so everyone just called him Teach. The man was in his mid fifties and had fading brown hair that matched his robes.

“Figured you’d be here Crow.” The old man said.

“Need something Teach?” He asked not taking his eyes off his book.

“Figured I’d introduce you to one of your new squad mates.” Crow rolled his eyes. He had been transferred from squad to squad and it always ends the same way. The others were completely incompetent, leaving him to pick up the slack.

“Why can’t you just let be on my own?” He groaned.

“Because you need to learn the essentials of teamwork.”

“Tell that to the last few squads that didn’t listen to me.” He scoffed. Crow had developed a reputation for being the only one to get out of bad situations while the rest of his squad caught most of the damage. “How many more morons are you guys gonna throw at me until-” Was all he got out as a bolt of magic hit him in the side and knocked him out of the tree.

The teenager caught several branches on the way down before landing on his stomach. The boy groaned and bit his lip. “What the hell was that for?”

“For calling me a moron.” Crow’s eyes shrank when he heard a girl’s voice. Crow looked up to see a girl with long wavy red hair that went down to the middle of her back. The girl was donning a pair of black pants and a brown vest that matched her boots that clung to her legs and had a slight heel to them. On her left arm was silver gauntlet with a rose engraved in the metal.

“Crow, this is our new student. Rosario Vermillion.” The older man said as Crow got to his feet. “Rose, this is Crow Blackbird. Crow show her the ropes.” The boy sighed. “Play nice.” He said before vanishing in a flash of light. Crow sighed and looked at the girl, she looked about three years older than him.

“Sorry about shooting you out of the tree.” She said as she crossed her arms.

“Look, I don’t want any help okay.” Crow said as he cracked his neck. “Bad enough that I have to be on a team, but with a rookie?” Rose frowned at the boy. “Lets just find the other two, do a mission so I can get transferred.”

“Jackass.” Rose said as she followed the boy back into the building. The two teenagers kept silent as they walked through the halls of the castle.

“The fire spitter started it!” A gruff voice yelled from a doorway.

“Oh great, them.” Crow sighed as he face palmed.

“Yeah right.” Another voice said. The door in front of them opened to show a boy with jet black hair and deep red eyes. Another had silver colored hair and brown eyes.

“Both of you can it!” The voice of the headmaster bellowed as he walked out of his office. “You two have been butting heads since you both entered here.” The headmaster notice Crow and Rose. “Perfect timing. Rose meet Orion Comet and Silver Streak, your other two squad mates.”

“Hey.” She said with a smile. The two boys then saw Crow and looked at one another before looking at the headmaster.

“I this some joke?” Streak yelled.

“You’re pairing us with him?” Orion complained. Crow rolled his eyes at the two. He always got caught in the crossfire of their feuds, most of the times without injury. The same can’t be said for other bystanders.

“Yes, and that’s the end of it.” The two grumbled. “One more complaint and I’ll kick both of your behinds out of this place faster than you can say ouch.” That shut both of the rivals up.

“I still don’t see why we have to deal with the rookie and Creepy Crow.” Orion said under his breath.

“For once we agree on something.” Crow said as he walked up to the other two. “You two are the last people I wanna be paired with, not to mention the rookie here.” He said as he pointed over his shoulder. Rose cracked her neck and tapped the young boys on their shoulders.

“Hey guys.” The three turned to look at her only to be met with a swift punch that knocked all three of them off their feet and onto the floor. The three looked up to see the girl cracking her knuckles and dark red aura coming from her body. “Call me a rookie again and I’ll put you all in an early grave. Got it?”

“Yes.” The three boys said out of fear.

“Yes what?” She asked as she glared at them.

“Yes, ma’am.” The three blurted out.

“Good.” She said as she helped Orion and Streak up. She offered Crow her hand but the raven haired man pushed it away and got up on his own. Teach looked at the girl and grinned. She had just single handedly dropped the three most troublesome boys in the school with only one fist.

“Ms. Vermillion,” The group turned their attention to the older man. “congratulations. You are now the Captain of Team Castle.” Rose’s jaw dropped. “Let’s see if you can tame the untamable and don’t be afraid to get rough with them.”

“Believe me sir, there won’t be any problems.” The girl then turned her attention back towards the boys. “Will there?”

“Nope.” Orion gulped

“I’m good.” Streak said as he straightened his posture. Rose looked at Crow who just rolled his eyes.

“I’m out of here.” The man’s body glowed a dark green and his body turned into a flock of crows that flew down the hall and rounded the corner.

“What is with that guy?” Orion asked.

“Got me.” Streak stated as they started to show Rose around the school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present

Crimson was sitting next to the trader at the front of the cart. It had been over two hours since the three had left the small town. Fetch looked back at Spike who was fiddling with his hands and staring down at the floor boards.

“He your son or something?” Fetch said breaking the silence. Crimson gave a chuckle.

“No, he’s my girlfriend’s brother.”

“The purple haired girl?” Crimson nodded. “So you’re stuck babysitting.”

“Bonding.” Crimson corrected. The red haired man looked ahead and saw a few police men with a road block in front. The cart pulled to a halt and Crimson dismounted. “What’s going on here?”

“Rockslide.” One of the officers said. “The way up ahead is completely blocked by rocks. Damn near took out everything on the side of the mountain.”

“When will it be cleared?”

“Three weeks at the earliest.” The red haired man sighed and walked back over to the cart where Spike and Fetch were waiting.

“We’ve got a snag.” Crimson sighed. “Rockslide took out the road ahead and the road won’t be clear for at least three weeks.”

“Three weeks?” Fetch yelled. “My boss will kill me if I’m that late.”

“Calm down.” Crimson said as he pulled out a map from his bag. “I’m sure that there’s another way.” He set the map down on the cart’s seat and the three boys looked it over. “I doubt those things can fly with this thing right?” Crimson said as he looked at the Thestrals.

“Nope.”

“What things?” Spike asked.

“I’ll explain later.” Crimson said as he turned his attention back to the map. All the other main roads that lead to their destination would take weeks to get to. All the main roads seem to go around a massive forest. Spike looked at the map closely and noticed a small trail running through the forest.

“What about this?” The boy said as he pointed to the small trail. Crimson shivered and his face went pale.

“The Smog? Forget it!” Crimson stated.

“The Smog?” Fetch asked.

“A small trail that cuts through the Smog forest. The trail ends just before the town where this midway point of yours is.” Crimson said as he tapped on the map.

“How long will it take us?”

“We’d get there by tomorrow.” Crimson stated. “But I’m warning you, its nearly impossible to navigate.”

“How bad could it be?” Spike asked.

“One does no simply walk through the Smog. The water goes from boiling hot to sub zero in a matter of seconds. The air coming from the bogs will choke the life out of you.” Crimson sighed. “It makes the Everfree look like an arboretum.” Spike gulped at the words.

“Well, then you know where I’m going.” Fetch stated as he climbed aboard his cart.

“Are you insane? There’s no way you’ll be able to make it through.”

“Sounds like you’ve been there before.” The trader said as he scratched his chin.

“Yeah and I, along with my team, barely got out of there alive!” Crimson said as he looked at the cart. “There are worse things than manticores and wolves in those woods!” Crimson yelled.

“Well, that’s where we come in right?” Spike said.

“If Ivy or one of the other’s were with us then maybe and if we do this then you are going home.” Crimson said as he looked at Spike.

“What?” Spike yelled.

“The Smog is no place for a child.” Spike gritted his teeth. “I promised Twilight that I’d look after and protect you. Sending you home is the best course of action.” The hybrid was fuming as he was being talked down to by the man. An idea came to him. He quickly pulled out a quill and started writing something down on a piece of paper. “What are you doing?” The hybrid finished writing and handed the man the message.

Dear Twilight,

Guess what your boyfriend did? He sent me home on my own while he decided to go an alternate route with the trader. Sure there are bandits, manticores and wolves out there that are just looking for an easy target such as myself, but I’ll be fine.

Your little brother,

Spike.

P.S. If I don’t make it back, tell Rarity I love her.

P.P.S. Line my casket with gems so I have something to snack on in the afterlife.

Crimson gulped at the thought of Twilight, the rest of the elements and three Princesses converging on him. The man quickly ripped the letter up. Spike whistled and held up a perfect copy of the torn letter.

“I can write a hundred words a minute thanks to Twilight’s yammering.” He grinned. “Wouldn’t it be a shame if Twilight got this?” The boy took in a deep breath of air and Crimson saw the green flames building in his mouth.

“Okay fine! You can come.” Crimson grumbled.

“Ha! Nice one kid.” Fetch said with a laugh. Spike pocketed the letter and hopped in the back of the cart. Crimson sighed and started to lead the two back towards the entrance to the forest. The man had a gut wrenching feeling in his stomach and prayed that he wouldn’t run into them.

Chapter VI: The Forest King

Chapter 6

The King of the Forest

The Smog, The Forbidden Forest, Forest of Death. The names go on and on, none of them appealing. Most Academy agents were taught to avoid the forest at all costs. The place was filled unnatural magic and made the red mage’s skin crawl as he lead the trader and the dragon hybrid through the swamp. Clouds covered the forest, blocking out the sun. The tree roots were thicker than the man’s thigh and were covered in moss and slime.

The air was thick with mist seeping from the bog which seemed to be bubbling. For seven agonizing hours the man lead the two unsuspecting males deeper into the forest. The man kept his guard up and used his blade to cut his way through the foliage. The group came to a clear spot beside a lake and looked around the area. The ground was level for the most part and had a cushy bit of moss and grass.

“What’s up?” The trader asked as he looked at the man.

“We’ll make camp here for the night.”

“Why? It’s only four o’clock.” The dragon hybrid stated. “I’m not tired.”

“It ain’t about being tired. It’ll be dark soon and we don’t wanna go tripping over these roots with zero visibility.” Crimson stated. “Besides, most of the animals here are nocturnal and we don’t wanna run into most of them.” Fetch shrugged and started to make camp. “Fetch, set up camp. Spike, see if you can find some fire wood.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna set up a perimeter around camp. In case something does try to jump us I’ll get a heads up.”

“Wait!” Spike yelled. “What if I get lost?” He said with a gulp.

“I was just getting to that.” Crimson sighed and slammed his hand on the ground. A red cloud of smoke engulfed the spot and a husky sized three headed dog appeared.

“The hell is that?” Fetch said in surprised.

“This is Cliff. He’s an expert tracker and fighter. If there’s a problem then he’ll communicate to me and I’ll come running.” Crimson stated.

“How? There’s three of us and only one of-” The trader stopped talking as the three headed dog split itself into three individual dogs of the same size. “Oh.”

“If I’m not back in an hour then I’m most likely dead.” Crimson said as he and one of the dogs walked away. Spike gulped and looked at the forest in front of him. The dog barked and started to walk ahead. The hybrid kept his hand on the handle of his sword and started picking up the dry sticks he could find. The red dog also picked up a few sticks in it’s mouth before resting them on it’s back.

The dog’s ears perked up for a moment and scanned the area with it’s dark red eyes. The dog let out a low pitched growl and Spike decided that it was time to go. With two armfuls of wood, Spike and Cliff started making their way back to the camp. The two found themselves back at the camp fairly quickly thanks to the dog’s sense of smell. Fetch had put out a tripod with a fire ring over it. The two gulped when they heard the bushes rustle.

“When did you guys get back?” Crimson asked as he and the third dog made their way through the brush.

“Just now.” Spike said as he held up the sticks. Crimson set up the wood in a log cabin configuration and pulled out two shiny rocks. He scraped them against one another and a red spark ignited the kindling. Spike saw the three dogs morph back into their original body and lay down next to Crimson. The red haired man reached into his bag and pulled out a cooler the size of a lunch box. Crimson reached inside and pulled out a a few slabs of meat.

“What’s that?” Fetch asked.

“Manticore meat.” Spike gulped. Crimson tossed three of the slabs to each of the dog’s heads and the animal chowed down. Crimson then pulled out a few sausages and stuck them on a stick. “I like to have a good meal after a long day.”

“Mind if I try?” Spike asked. Crimson nodded and handed him one of the pieces of meat. After a few minuted of roasting the meat to perfection, Spike and Crimson each chowed down. The green haired boy was surprised at the flavor. “Pretty good.”

“I try.” Crimson said as he swallowed.

“Hey you said something about Thestrals. What are those?”

“Twilight never mentioned them?” The boy nodded. “They’re what’s puling the cart.” Crimson said as he pointed to the wagon.

“I don’t see anything.” Spike said as he squinted.

“Most people can’t.” The man stated as he reached inside his bag and pulled out a glasses case. He opened the case to show a pair of old wire rim glasses. “Put these on and you’ll see.” Spike held them up to his face and in an instant he saw the monstrous looking winged horses.

“Dude that’s creepy. What are they?” He asked as he looked at them.

“No one knows for sure.” Fetch stated. “They date back to the Discord era.”

“You can see them too?” Fetch gave a nod. “How come I can’t?”

“They can only be seen by people who have seen or embraced death.” Spike gulped. He knew that Crimson saw his parents die and that he was a conduit tot he creature that did so.

“So how did....Never mind.” The hybrid said as he adverted his eyes from the trader.

“My wife. Two years ago.” He said in a flat tone. “Bad case of feather flu.”

“Sorry.” Spike said in a guilty tone.

“It’s all right. Ain’t exactly a fresh wound and I've moved on since then.” Crimson finished his meal and sent the dog away in a puff of smoke.

“Spike, get your sword.”

“Why?”

“Might as well teach you how to use it.” Spike got to his feet and un sheathed the blade. “I take it that you’ve seen movies with sword fighting right?”

“Of course.”

“Good I want you take all that info, gather it in one spot in your brain and dump it like its expired milk.” Spike raised an eyebrow. “All that stuff in movies is fake.”

“Figured.”

“Okay, first I’m gonna teach you how to block.” Crimson said as he pulled his sword out. “You have to think of your sword as an extension of your arm and extremely hard and sharp extension.” Spike chuckled. “You need to make slow, fluid and strong motions.” Crimson said as he swung his blade.

“How come yours is different than mine?” Spike asked as he pointed to the longer blade.

“Well, yours is a standard enchanted blade with a a double edge, meant for chopping and throwing your weight around.” Spike gave the blade a swing. “Mine is meant for clean and fast strikes. The blade has two enchantments on it.”

“Two?”

“It can neutralize an enemy’s magic if I hit them with the back of the blade.” Crimson then grabbed a rock and banged against the blade so that a small chip of metal broke off. “The second one is in the blade for cutting.” The man cut into his own hand and Spike gulped. The blood seemed toe seep into the blade and the chip was repaired. “The blade can absorb the iron in blood and use that iron to repair itself.”

“What about your hand?” Fetch asked. Crimson slid a finger over the wound and it closed.

“No problem.” Crimson said as he took a fighting stance. “Now get ready.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later the three fell asleep as Luna’s moon shined brightly in the sky above. The moon’s light reflected off the water like a mirror as it just started to lower in the West and Celestia’s morning sun just started to peek over the hills in the East. Two shadowy figures quietly made their way into the camp where the three slept. One of the shadowy figured pulled a knife and held it over the red haired man. The other figure shook his head and the shade sheathed the blade.

“Why not? This is easy!” One of them said in a hushed tone.

“That’s not the job.” The other said in a low tone. The two started rifling through the boxes looking for something. “Jackpot!” One of them said.The other came over and pulled out a small box out from a bag of rice.

“Now isn’t that interesting?” The two shades turned around to see the two red eyes of death itself.Crimson slammed both his fists forward into their jaws and threw them out of the carriage. The two attackers got to their feet and got in a running position. “I wouldn’t do that If I were you.”

The two turned around to see a menacing looking three headed dog growling. “Cliff here loves a game of tag.” Crimson said a firm hit collided with the back of the thief’s necks and crumpled to the ground. The red haired man hauled them over to a tree and tied them up. Crimson then walked over to the small box and looked inside. Crimson gritted his teeth and walked over to the sleeping trader and stomped his foot right next to his head.

“Get up!” Crimson bellowed.The hybrid stirred and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Spike asked as he got up.

“We need to talk.” Crimson said as he grabbed a bucket and filled it with water from the bog. The other two boys followed the man over to the two people tied to the tree. Crimson splashed the water on them and they both gasped. “Wake up time assholes.” He said as he ripped the masks off them. A man with jet black hair and tan skin shook his hair dry. Next to him was a woman with dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Who the hell are they?” Fetch asked.

“That’s what I wanted to know.” Crimson said as he crouched down and stared them both in the eyes. “Out with it. what are you two doing here?”

“We ain’t talking!” The woman said as she spat in the man’s face.

“I don’t need you to talk.” Crimson said as he pulled out a small pocket knife. “All I really need you to do is bleed.” Both of them gulped. Crimson grabbed the man’s hand and ripped his glove off and pricked his finger so a small bit of blood appeared on the knife. The thief cursed. “Oh don’t whine.” He said as he licked the blood off the knife. The other people around the mage raised an eyebrow as Crimson closed his eyes.

“Your name is Silent Filch, age twenty-three and is currently in a relationship with Ms. Tip-toe Sneak here.” He said as the two gulped. “It’s also your first mission from the Black Claw Bandits.”

“Who?” Spike asked. Crimson pointed to a black claw painted onto their clothing.

“They’re a small group of bandits that like to raid traders and pillage small towns.” Fetch growled. “Now that introductions are out of the way, we can get down to why they’re here.”

“For this.” Crimson said as he walked over to the small box. The man opened it to show a pendant with a bright red jewel in the middle.

“What in the name of the sun is-”

“Alicorn Amulet!” Spike yelled as he pointed at the object.

“The what?” Fetch said.

“It’s an old amulet that’s said to amplify a mage’s magical energy ten fold, in exchange for the user’s sanity and sense of reasoning.” Crimson stated.

“So why do these guys want it? If they were mages then they would have used magic.” The trader asked as he looked at the two.

“Better question is why do you have it?” Crimson’s red eyes focused on Fetch like a hawk does on its prey.

“I have no idea! I’ve never seen that thing in my life!” Fetch yelled. Crimson sighed and looked at the man who was keeping his mouth shut. Crimson walked over to the woman and pricked her finger.

“Leave her alone!” Silent yelled. Crimson tasted the blood and closed his eyes for a moment.

“They got hired by someone name Mrs. Smith. Typical code name. Their mission was to lead the trader with the amulet into the Smog forest and steal it by any means necessary.” Crimson stated.

“How did you know about our ambush?” The woman asked.

“Cliff here caught your scent while he was with Spike.”

“No way is that mutt that good.” Silent scoffed. The three headed dog walked over to them and bared it’s teeth.

“I’m a lot smarter than you think I am.” Everyone except Crimson was struck in surprise.

“That thing can talk?” Fetch yelled.

“I think we’ve established that.” Crimson said as the dog chuckled.

“Can I eat them?” The thieves gulped as the dog licked it’s chops.

“No, Creator knows where these two have been and you had your manticore last night.” The dog whined as Crimson made the cerberus vanish in a cloud of smoke. “Now about you two.” The man turned back towards the two tied thieves. “Since I am a generous man and you have caused no harm to me or my associates, I’m going to let you both go.”

“You what?” Fetch and Spike yelled.

“However, if I see you guys with that bandit mark again. Then I’ll kill you both so fast that you won’t even know you’ve passed from this world to the next.” Fetch tapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you nuts? These guys will just come after us again!”

“For their sake,” Crimson then looked at the blonde haired woman. “and the sake of their kid they’d better not.”

“Kid? What kid?” Silent asked as Tip-toe gulped and bit her lip. “Tip what’s he talking about?”

“Umm.” She said as she tried to avoid her lover’s eyes.

“Well, it looks like you two have something to talk about.” Crimson said as he started to pack up his and the other’s belongings. “That rope is magically enchanted. Once we’re far enough away it’ll come undone and you’ll be free to go.”

The group packed up their belongings and continued to make their way through the forest. After a good hour of walking Crimson snapped his fingers and a bunch of rope appeared in his hands.

“Hey Crimson,” The man looked back at Spike. “how did you know all that stuff about them?”

“Blood never lies my friend.” Fetch’s ears perked up and looked at the man. "I can absorb people's blood. Through that I know everything about them. Their age, name, memories, what kind of magic they use, anything."

“I thought so. So you’re a blood mage then.” He said as he frowned.

“Yup.”

“Weird, here I thought they were extinct.”

“Guess you thought wrong.” Crimson stated.

“Extinct?” Spike said in confusion.

“Never mind.” Crimson said in a flat tone. The man continued to lead the group through the dark forest. By some miracle they managed to avoid most of the hazards with little difficulty and made good time. Crimson stopped for a second and threw up his hand.

“There a problem?” Fetch asked.

“Shhh!” Crimson summoned his scythe and took in his surroundings. He could hear the birds chirping and the tree creaking in the wind. He felt the humid air beat against his face and a smell lingered in the air. It smelt like fresh mulch after a rain storm. “Get back!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” The group heard a monstrous roar coming from the forest. They heard what sounded like trees crashing against the forest floor. Tremors rocked the ground beneath the mens’ feet and Spike fell back on his rump. A larger tree seemed to rise above the others and come into view.

“What’s up with that tree?” Fetch yelled.

“That’s no tree.” Crimson said as another roar shook the ground. The trees in front of the group were thrown aside. There standing in front of them was a twenty foot tall figure made of wood. The bottom of it’s legs looked like the trunks of trees. The legs were covered in old bark that looked like it was rotting away.

The chest looked like a convergence point for the wood. The arms were like the legs and were covered in moss and bark. The hands looked more like the oversized roots the group had seen the day before. The creature’s eyes were like two small yellow dots in a field of green moss that hung off its form like a cloak. The top of it’s head was like that of a tree top in the winter. Devoid of life, leafless. The creature looked down and saw the small cart and the three humans. It tilted it’s head to the left in confusion.

“Maybe it’s friendly!” Spike said in a hopeful voice. The large creature then let out another loud roar that shook the ground.

“Run!” Crimson yelled as he jumped and fired a few bolts of magic at the creature. The beast roared in anger and grabbed a rock the size of a house and hurdled it at the man. Crimson just barely dodged the boulder. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Spike and Fetch zoom forward and rocket down the trail. Crimson snapped his fingers and summoned Cliff.

“Lead them out of this death trap!” The dog whimpered. “Go!” The dog barreled after the two. Crimson then turned to face the giant. “Okay, my turn.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike felt his heart beating against his chest. He thought that if he stopped then it would break out of his chest. He saw a red blur run up beside him and get in front.

“This way!” The dog yelled as he made a right. The cart was right on the child’s heels. Spike felt a strong hand reach down and grab him by his hoodie and seat him down on the wagon. The two saw the dog charge ahead and they saw a speck of light in the distance. The wind was whipping at their faces and dodged tree branches from taking their heads off their shoulders. Soon the cart roared out of the forest and into a clearing.

As the wagon came to a sudden stop. Spike felt himself launch out of the seat and land in fresh, soft green grass. The hybrid groaned and sat up as the red dog walked over to him.

“You okay Spike?” Fetch asked as he ran over to the teenager.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said as he got to his feet. “What about-” The boy was cut off as he saw a dark red object fly out of the forest and crash into the grass. Spike heard a familiar grunting noise and hurried over to the red mage. “Crimson!”

“Hey, you guys okay?” He said as he panted. Spike could see that the man was bleeding from his scalp and bruises forming on his face. The dog vanished again and the man sighed.

“What the hell is that thing?”

“Forest King. Never thought I’d run into one of those.” Crimson groaned.

“Forest King?” Spike gulped.

“They’re ancient creatures. Usually the servants of a master druid and peaceful. Looks like this one has reached the end of it’s life cycle and his brain has literally started to rot.” Crimson sighed. “Damn thing absorbed a lot of my magic, so I can’t keep Cliff around to help us out.” The trio then heard the same roar. “Fetch how close is the mid way point?”

The trader looked towards the sky and saw evidence of smoke coming from the opposite direction of the forest.

“There! It’s only a few miles down the road.” He said as he pointed to the smoke.

“Good.” Crimson looked at Spike and crouched so their eyes met. “Spike, I need you to go with Fetch while I deal with this thing.”

“No way am I leaving you!” Spike said in a firm tone.

“This isn’t a democracy.”

“But I-”

“Twilight told me to protect you and this is the only way I can!” He said as the beast cleared the tree line. Crimson grabbed spike under his arms and quickly dodged a punch from the tree monster. Crimson pulled out his blade and slashed through the beast’s leg. He gulped when he saw the wood instantly grow a new limb and slam its foot down on his back. Crimson felt blood fill his mouth. A bright green object then cut him free and the creature roared in pain.

Crimson looked to see Spike holding the sword that now had the blade engulfed in green flamed with purple tips. The beast screamed in pain at the burning sensation and went to smash the small green object. Spike was frozen in fear. Despite the orders his brain was giving, his body wouldn’t respond. Spike closed his eyes and waited for the pain. He felt something grab him by the scruff of his neck and throw him out of harms way.

The young drake opened his eyes to see Crimson barely holding back the creature’s fist. The roots in the tree’s hands started to latch onto the red haired man and sap him of his strength. “Spike!” Crimson yelled. “Use your fire!”

“But my fire doesn’t work on something like that!” Spike said with a gulp.The conduit felt the reserves of his strength fading.

“Think of everyone that will be in harms way. Think of Ponyville. Think of Twilight.” An idea came to the man. It had to work. “Think of Rarity!” The words echoed through the young drake’s head like a siren going off.

Spike felt a burning sensation in his chest. It was as if he had swallowed a hot ember that was now trapped within him. He felt smoke coming out of his nose and mouth and pour coursing through his body. The boy let out a devastating roar and felt his teeth grow longer. His nails became razors and purple scales covered his wrists and some spots under his now fully spliced eyes.

The boy's body was seeping out torrents of green magic that had a purple tint to it. A long purple scaled tail came from his back along with a pair of purple webbed wings. The boy grabbed his sword and charged forwards with green flames dancing along the blade. He slashed wildly and set the red haired man free. Crimson backed away and dropped to knee as he watched the child charge forth.

Spike slammed the blade against the monster’s tough bark and the blade started to crack. Soon the blade broke and the young drake opted for his now scaled fists. As he pounded away at the bark green flames encircled his hands and started to light the large beast on fire. The forest King screamed in pain and dropped to it’s knees. Spike was acting on instinct as he felt something building in his throat.

Spike opened his mouth and shot a massive green fireball with purple tips swirl and become a raging inferno. The Forest King felt the massive fire ball hit him square in the chest and cried in pain as the flames ate away at it’s body. After a minute the beast was nothing more than burning pieces of wood. Crimson looked at Spike who was panting heavily and his tail had receded back into his body. Spike felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Crimson smiling at him. The drake then felt the adrenaline wear off and everything went black.

Chapter VII: Old Friends, New members

Chapter VII

Old Friends New Members

Spike woke up with a pounding headache and felt sore all over. The drake looked at his hands and saw that thy were wrapped in bandages. He felt as though his body was on fire and his back was aching as though he had been using it to lift a cart. He looked around the room to see that it was a small hotel room with another bed beside his own along with a TV on the dresser.

“Ah good you’re finally up.” Spike looked towards the bathroom to see the red haired man. “How do ya feel?”

“Okay I guess.” Spike said as he sat up. “Where are we?”

“Where we were headed.” Crimson so said as he poured him a glass of water. “We are in the town of markets.” Spike took the glass and sipped it. “You’ve been out for a day.”

“A day!” He said in surprise.

“Yup, when we got to the trader camp their doctor patched you up and we spent the night. They said that you weren’t in any danger and Fetch had a schedule to keep.” Spike sighed and turned his attention to his bandaged hands.

“What happened to me?”

“You don’t remember?” Spike closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He remembered catching the thieves then seeing that giant tree thing. His eyes shot open and his jaw dropped.

“Holy guacamole!”

“Remember now?” Spike looked down at his bandaged hands and couldn’t believe the fact that he managed to take down that over grown tree. “Even by my standards that was impressive.” Crimson chuckled. “Course it’s not surprising. You’re part dragon after all.”

“Why does my back feel weird?” Crimson pointed to a mirror that hung on the far side of the wall. Spike looked and was shocked to see that he now had a pair of purple wings coming from his back. “Whoa!”

“Yup, you are definitely strong.” Spike hung his head and bit his lip.

“So what happened to that tree thing?”

“The Forest King? I believe he’s now a pile of ash.” Spike gulped and sighed. Crimson came over and sat beside the boy. “Spike, you did nothing wrong. He attacked us and you not only defended yourself, but Fetch and I as well.”

“I know it’s just that.” Spike clenched his fist and sighed. “A year ago on my birthday, I got a bit greedy and I turned into a fifty foot monster that nearly destroyed Ponyville.” Crimson raised an eyebrow at the boy. “Luckily I managed to snap out of it before I really hurt someone and I haven’t hoarded since.” Crimson could see where this was going. “I’m just worried that-”

“You’ll lose control and hurt Twilight or someone you care about.”

“Yeah!” Spike said with a nod.

“Trust me Spike, if anyone knows how you feel its me. I was always afraid that my ‘roommate’ would burst out at any given moment and hurt everyone I hold dear.” Crimson sighed. “It’s okay to be afraid Spike. Shows that you’re human.”

“But what if-”

“Let me finish.” Spike closed his mouth. “It’s okay to be afraid, but don’t let that fear control you. If you do that then you might as well give up now.” Spike gulped. “Everybody is scared of something, me, Twilight, hell I’m sure even Celestia and Luna have a fear.”

“So how do you deal with it?”

“I accept it.” Spike was dumbfounded at the response.

“Accept it?”

“Of course.” Spike cocked his head in confusion. “Fear tells you what your weaknesses are and once you know your weakness, you can become stronger.” Spike looked down and clenched his fist. “Also, remember that you never have to face fear alone. You’ve got Twilight and her friends to help you out when you need it.”

“What about you?” Spike asked. Crimson chucked and ruffled the boy’s green hair.

“Yeah, the guild an I have your back. You’re our probie after all.” He said with a smile. Spike let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding and relaxed. “On a side note, how did you know about this thing?” Crimson said as he pulled out the amulet he took from the thieves.

“There was this performer that caused some trouble a little while back.” Spike growled. “She was a total show off and brought an Ursa Minor into town.”

“An Ursa? Seriously?”

“Well, not on purpose. Some kids somehow managed to get an Ursa to follow them into town so they could watch her beat it since she said she could. Turns out she couldn’t and Twilight stepped in and stopped it before it did any real damage.”

“Remind me to never piss your sister off.” Crimson gulped.

“Trust me, Twilight is crazy when she’s mad.” The hybrid shivered as he remembered the last time he made the scholar angry. “Anyway, a few months later the performer came back with that thing and challenged Twilight to a magic duel. Twi lost and the loudmouth banished her from Ponyville.”

“Banished her? Couldn’t Twilight just walk back in or-”

“Not when she put up a magic bubble over all of Ponyville and she went all King Sombra on us.”

“So what happened?”

“Luckily, we managed to find out what the amulet was and Twilight tricked her into removing it.” Spike said with a grin. “Zecora then took it and put it back where it was.”

“So what happened to the show off?”

“She ran off somewhere after apologizing. No idea where she is now.” Crimson sat back and bit his lip.

“Well, the whole Ursa thing was the kids’ fault.”

“What?” Spike said in surprise.

“Hey it’s not her fault that those kids brought an Ursa there. Not like she told them to do it.”

“But she’s a show off!”

“That’s like complaining to me that I’ve hurt people. It’s my job and I do it however I can.” Spike sighed and saw the logic. “Trust me I know how annoying a show off can be. As for the amulet thing, I know that it has mind altering effects, but I guess she had that coming for using a piece of dark magic.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Well, while you were napping I had a friendly chat with Fetch’s boss. We started off calmly then we got into aggressive negotiations.”

“Aggressive negotiations?”

“Negotiations with a scythe.” He chuckled. “Anyway, turns out he made a deal with a bandit member to smuggle the amulet to them for a lot of money.”

“So what happened?”

“Guards arrested him for dealing with bandits and Fetch is now running things.” Crimson then put the amulet back in his pocket. “I’m gonna hold onto this until we get back to the guild and I contact Crow. He’ll know what to do.” The hybrid got to his feet and cracked his back. “You okay to walk?”

“Yeah, I’m fine to leave anytime.” The boy said with a sigh.

“Fine. Let me just check your hands first.” Crimson unwrapped the bandages and saw that the wounds were fully healed. “Alright, you’re good to go.” The man then heard a growl come from the hybrid’s gut.

“Heh, heh. Sorry, haven’t eaten in a day.”

“It’s okay, I haven’t had breakfast either.” Spike went into the bathroom and put back on his armor before following the man towards the front desk. Crimson paid the receptionist for the room and the two went to the closest diner. Spike ordered a stack of pancakes while Crimson had an egg and cheese sandwich.

“We’re not gonna have to walk back through that forest are we?” Spike asked as he swallowed a mouthful.

“Nope, there’s a train station in the next town over. We’ll catch a ride back to Ponyville there.”

“How far away is it?” Spike asked.

“If we leave by ten then we should get there around three.” Crimson said as he finished his cup of coffee. Spike finished the last of his pancakes and Crimson paid the bill. The two ventured out into the street as a dark cloaked figure hid in the shadows.

The two had spent the last few hours walking down the dirt road idly chatting with one another.

“Hey Crimson.” Spike said as he walked beside the man.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to my sword?” Spike asked in confusion.

“You only went and broke it.”

“How?”

“Your magic was too great for the sword to hold. Like filling up a water ballon until it bursts.”

“Oh sorry.”

“No problem I’ll just dock it out of your pay.”

“What?” Spike whined.

“Hey you break it, you buy it.” Crimson then reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small pouch. “Oh and on that note. Here.” He said as he tossed the pouch. Spike caught it in his hands and looked inside. His jaw dropped when he saw it filled with at least two hundred bits.

“Holy Celestia!” He said in surprise.

“I already took out what the sword cost. Thankfully Fetch gave us a little extra for the whole amulet thing.” Crimson stated.

“Hey mid if I ask you something?” Spike asked as he pocketed the money.

“What’s up?”

“Fetch said that he thought blood mages were extinct. What did he mean by that?” Crimson stopped walking and felt the wind brush over his shoulders. Spike stopped and looked at the man. “Um Crimson?”

“You can come out now.” He said as he turned around and faced the baron road. “I know that you’ve been tailing us since we left town. You’re a master at stealth, flawless timing, unshakable confidence and I barely heard you coming. On any other day I would applaud your efforts, but I’m not looking for a spy.” Spike watched the road in confusion and saw a dark cloaked figure walk out.

The figure was covered from head to toe in a dark cloak. She stood about a foot shorter than Crimson and had a slim physique. A mask with a light blue wolf face stenciled into the mask covered every inch of her face.

“No wonder those two failed.” The voice was icy cool and belonged to a woman. “I never suspected that the Academy would send the Red Death for such a simple mission.” Crimson frowned and Spike gulped.

“I take it that you're Mrs. Smith then?”

“Correct.” She said as she started to walk forwards. “I’d like to avoid any bloodshed so I’ll be taking that amulet.” The woman extended her slender arm. Crimson raised an eyebrow and took the amulet out.

“Now why would a bandit need such a trinket?” The man then saw her hand glowing and a bolt of blue magic shot from her hand. Crimson grabbed Spike and jumped back with the boy under his arm.

“That is the key to my freedom.” She said as she cracked her neck. “I’ll ask you once more, hand that amulet over to me.” Crimson sighed and set Spike on his feet. Crimson sighed and summoned his red scythe.

“Afraid I can’t do that.” He said as he took a defensive stance. “I’m telling you now to walk away.” The woman then unsheathed a large machete. "Spike, take cover and don't come out until I tell you. Understand?" The boy nodded and ran off to the side. Crimson and the woman locked gazes and let their magic seep out of their bodies. Spike stood behind a tree and watched with anticipation.

The young drake only saw two blurs collide with one another and heard the grinding of steel. The two fighters were eyeball to eyeball, each looking for a foothold.

“Mind if I ask what became of the two thieves that were in your employment?” Crimson asked as he secured his footing.

“Not sure, I cut em loose after they failed.” Crimson’s eyes shrank.

“The girl was-”

“They were alive the last time I saw them. Not sure where they are now.” She said a she applied more force. “I’m actually surprised you let them live.”

“It wouldn’t sit right with me if I killed an innocent unborn child.”

“This is a surprise. A demon with a heart.” The man frowned and force the attacker’s blade up and tried to slash her. If anything the girl was nimble and easily dodged the blow. The man then fired a few bursts of red magic that the woman deflected. The woman threw down a smoke bomb and Crimson waited.

A large object came from the smoke and Crimson countered the woman’s blow and was locked in a stale mate. Crimson felt dampness on his arms and saw the girl’s weapon turn to pure water and wrap around his body and start to solidify. He saw another bit of water go between his legs and take the form of the girl standing behind him with sword in hand.

“Water clone huh?” As the copy got ready to swing she felt a burning sensation on her back. The clone vanished and the girl looked to see the purple winged child from before. Spike gulped and the woman was now furious. Crimson slammed his magically charged fist into her face. The attacker retreated back and caught her breath. She looked at the man and saw that he wasn’t even breaking a sweat. She had heard that he was good, but not this good.

The assailant opted for a different tactic as she threw down another smoke bomb. “The same trick won’t work on me twice!” Crimson said as he slashed the air and a red blade of magic cut through the smoke. The woman parried the blast off and Crimson slashed the woman down the middle. In the smoke he saw another figure dash past him and the girl in front of him was another clone. His red eyes shrank as the attacker aimed for the small child.

Spike felt fear paralyze him as the attacker descended on him with the sword raised. On instinct the boy raised his right arm hoping for it to somehow stop the blade. The girl’s eyes shrank as she saw purple scaled appear on his arm. The blade came down Spike’s arm. The hybrid felt as though his arm had been hit with a hammer and lumped back but not before feeling something very hard and sharp come down on his face. Before he could scream the man felt a pair of slender, yet strong arms wrap around his neck and a cold blade pressed against his throat.

Crimson was snow fuming as he looked at the bandit who was holding spike at swords edge. The man saw that Spike was bleeding from his right eye as a large vertical cut was easily visible even from the man’s distance.

“Let the boy go. He’s got nothing to do with this!” Crimson barked.

“The boy’s health is entirely up to you and whether or not you’ll give me the amulet.” Crimson bit his lip as the woman pressed the blade harder against the boy’s skin. “I’d prefer not to kill a child.” Crimson bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and threw his scythe down on the ground and pulled out the amulet.

“You let him go, I give you the amulet.”

“No, I’ll let him go after you hand it to me.” The man grunted and started to make his way over to the bandit who conjured up another water clone in front of the hostage. As Crimson got within ten feet something caught his eye and he gulped. He stood in front of the clone and looked at Spike who had blood stained tears in his eyes.

“Everything’s gonna be okay Spike. Trust me.” The drake gave him a nod and gulped as he started to hand the clone the amulet. Time seemed to slow and the bandit’s eyes boggled at the amulet’s power. “Duck!” The man forwards just in time for the clone to see a large purple arrow flying straight for her. The clone was destroyed on impact, but the arrow kept going.

Spike felt the grip on his neck loosen and used all his strength to break free. The boy immediately hit the dirt and covered his head with his hands. The assailant was fast, but not that fast. She had no time to defend and opted for her agility. The woman bent backwards and managed to dodge just enough for the arrow to catch her hood and scrape against her mask.

The assailant heard a loud thud and saw a purple blur rush beside the man and grab Spike. “Cutting it a little close there Rouge.” Crimson said as the purple haired Changeling raised one of her crossbow pistols at the attacker.

“Like you’re one to talk.” She chuckled. The attacker gulped in fear. One agent was bad enough but another? If she fought them and wasted any more time then she would be found out and then all her plans would be for not. “Now what’s this about?” The Changeling asked as she glared at the girl. The assailant grunted and threw another smoke bomb. This one was much larger that the other ones and covered a good twenty feet in black smoke. By the time the smoke cleared the attacker was gone.

Rouge immediately turned her attention to Spike who had passed out from the excitement and started to look his wound over. Rouge’s hand started to glow and waved it over the child’s body.

“How is he?” Crimson asked with a gulp.

“He’ll live and the injury didn’t hit his eye.” Crimson sighed in relief at the words. “Since when does Spike have wings?”

“Long story.” Crimson then looked over and saw a small bag on the ground where the attacker once stood. He picked the bag up and opened it to see several bandages and vials of medicine. “Interesting.” He said as he brought the bag over to the Changeling. Rouge opened one of the vials and sniffed it.

“It’s a disinfectant.”

“Why would she leave something like that?” Rouge shrugged and returned her attention back to Spike. “Mind if I ask how you found me?”

“Well, I was coming back from my mission when I heard what sounded like a fight. Followed the sounds and I see you, Spike and that bandit. I figured you could handle it, but when I saw Spike get taken hostage I decided to lend my expertise.” She chuckled. She finished the bandage around Spike’s eye and sighed. “He should be fine after he gets some rest.”

“Must still be worn out from the other day.” Crimson then picked the child up and put the kid’s arms over his own shoulders. The three then hastily made their way towards the next town and the train station.

Hours later, Spike’s eyes opened and his ears took in the steady sound of the train car rolling along the rails. He rubbed his head and only saw darkness from his right eye.

“Morning sunshine.” Spike looked across to see Rouge sitting with her legs crossed and book in hand. She closed the book and smiled. “You’ve been out for a while.”

“Rouge? Where am I? Where’s Crimson?” He asked as he sat up and looked down at his hands. “And why can’t I see too well?” He gulped.

“Okay I’ll just go in order. You, Crimson and I are on a train to Ponyville. Crimson is in the restroom and you have an eye patch on.” Rouge pulled out a small mirror from her bag and handed it to the drake. Spike looked to see a bandage over his right eye. “I gotta check your wound.” Spike closed his eyes and felt the bandages come off. He blinked twice and looked around the train car. “Uh-oh.”

“What?” The boy yelled. “Is it gone?”

“No, it’s fine.” The Change ling said with a smile. “There’s no infection and the blade didn’t even tough your eyeball.”

“They why did you say uh-oh?”

“There’s gonna be a scar.” Spike took the mirror in hand and looked to see a line of scar tissue running from above his eyebrow to just above his cheek bone. “I’m sure that I can whip up my scar hiding solution once we get back.” Rouge then saw Crimson making his way back to them. “Although, I’d keep it. It suits you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah and ladies love scars. Makes guys look tough!” She said as she flexed her muscles. The drake chuckled and looked in the mirror.

“How ya feeling Spike?”

“Tired, but other than that, I’m fine.” Crimson looked at Rouge who nodded. Soon the dinner cart came around and the three had their meals.

“So how did the troll hunt go?” Crimson asked as he sipped his soup.

“Easy. Led them into a corner and dropped a mountain on them.” She chuckled. “What about you two?” Crimson looked at Spike and chuckled.

“Went through the Smog and Spike took down a Forest King.” Rouge’s eyes shrank and she spat her drink out in surprise.

“You did what?” She said in a surprised tone. “The Smog are you insane?”

“I wanted to go back, but this one,” The man shot Spike a glare. “and our escort wanted to risk it.” Crimson then went into detail about the thieves, the Forest King and their encounter with the water bandit.

“Wow, didn’t know you had it in you.” Rouge said as she looked at Spike. The drake gave her a smile.

“Spike is pretty tough.”

“I managed to save your butt.” The group chuckled as the train pulled to a halt. Spike looked out the window and saw the familiar town of Ponyville. It was about seven o’clock as the three made their way off the train station. The group mad their way toward the library and Rouge went ahead. Spike reached for the knob and the door opened to show the indigo haired librarian.

“There are my two boys!” She said as she grabbed Spike and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Twilight!” Spike whined as he tried to break free form the scholar’s grip. The drake then looked at Crimson who was chuckling. “Is this what it’s always like for you?”

“Sometimes, course Ivy’s hugs usually break a bone or two.” Twilight put Spike back down and squinted before her eyes went to the size of pin tips. Her gaze then fell on Crimson. The man then felt his blood turn to ice and his throat dry up.

“Crimson, why does my little brother have a set of wings and a SCAR OVER HIS EYE?” Crimson couldn’t be sure but he thought that his girlfriend’s hair was slowly turning into a small inferno as her eyes locked onto the man. Crimson had faced the impossible before, but now he was facing one of the things every man feared and angry girlfriend and he had no way to defeat this opposition by his own means.

“Wait! It’s not his fault!” Spike said as he stood between them. Twilight looked down at her brother in confusion. “I didn’t listen to Crimson when he told me to take cover and well.” He said as he pointed to the scar. “Thankfully Crimson saved me and we ran into Rouge who patched me up.” Twilight looked at her brother and then at Crimson before she let out a sigh.

“Well, so long as you’re all right.” Crimson looked at the dragon in disbelief. He had just defused the ticking time bomb of crazy magic that is Twilight Sparkle without breaking a sweat. Crimson then felt something vibrate in his pocket and pulled out the gem to show the purple haired Changeling.

“Hey Rouge.”

“Crimson you gotta get her now. We’ve got a...situation.” The message cut off and Crimson sighed.

“Sorry guys but that’s my cue. See you round Spike.”

“See ya!” Spike said as he bounded up the stairs. Twilight hugged the man and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks for looking after him.” She smiled.

“No issue, the kid is tough.” He said as he broke the hug. As he started to leave he felt Twilight come up behind him and rest her chin on his shoulder.

“I’ll come by later and show you my thanks.” She said in a soft and sultry voice. Crimson stiffened and she lightly nibbled his ear and the man blushed like a tomato. Crimson quickly regained his senses and made his way towards the guild. As he came into range he saw Rouge waiting outside fro him with a worried look on her face.

“So what’s up Rouge?”

“Um...how can I put this? Maybe we should wait for-” Crimson put a finger to her lips.

“Rouge, I’ve had to go through the Smog, protect a trader from a Forest King and rescue a dragon hybrid from a bandit. How bad can it be?” He said as he opened the door and the man froze in place. Standing at the bar were four people. One clad in a long brown leather coat and matching hat with two six shooter pistols on his leather belt and a long rifle on his back. On the other end was a tall black winged man with tan skin, green eyes and jet black hair and was sporting an elegant and menacing looking saber.

Next to the gun slinger was a prim and proper man with green hiar and a few decks of spell cards attached to his belt along with two arcane blades. The one in the middle was a woman with long silver hair and donning a silver armored chest piece with matching shoulder guards, gauntlets and boots. The woman was also wearing pants that were made out of chain mail that had been painted white. A saber that was about seven feet long was on her back. As the woman turned around he felt ice in his stomach. Across her left eye was a white eye patch.

“Oh buck me.”

Chapter VIII: The Broken Swordsman

Chapter VIII

The Broken Swordsman

A feeling of dread hung over the guild and Crimson didn’t catch a wink of sleep last night due to his rival only sleeping a room away. Even the company of the indigo haired scholar couldn’t quell his anxiety. The next morning, he and Twilight were enjoying their breakfast as they heard foot steps on the stairs. Soon the white mage and her three compatriots came down and sat across from the red mage.

“So Ivory, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked as he put his coffee down. “Last I heard you and the Saints were over in Griffonia.”

“True, but things were getting boring after we took out the reigning drug lord and his entire syndicate.” Ace stated as Sunny brought them each a cup of coffee. “Thanks Sunny.”

“So we decided to try our luck back in Equestria and we just so happen to hear that you were stationed in an S rank zone.” The black winged man said.

“What our captain means to say is, can we join your guild?” Bandit asked. Crimson grew a wide grin and sat back.

“I’ll do it if Ivory admits that I’m better than her.” Before the building could explode with magic the front door to the guild opened and the group of mages gasped. Ivy’s arms and legs were covered in bandages and was being supported by the blue haired flyer who had his right arm and left wing wrapped.

“What the hell happened?” Rouge asked as she approached her boyfriend.

“Ask him.” Ivy said as she glared at the blue flyer. Crimson took Ivy and lead her towards their med bay where they had a few healing pods. “Thanks boss.” She said as she sighed in relief.

“Mind telling me what happened?” He asked as he looked at Cobalt. The flyer hung his head in shame.

“I can’t use my sword.”

“What? I don’t think they heard that!” Ivy yelled in frustration.

“I can’t use my sword!” Cobalt yelled.

“What do you mean?” Crimson said in confusion. The flyer unhitched his sword from his belt and tried to pull the blade from the sheath.

“It won’t come out and when I tried I got hit with magic backlash.” He said as he held up his bandaged arm. Crimson took the handle of the sword and pulled it out with ease.

“Really now?” He said as he saw that the blade was still broken. “You still haven’t fixed this yet?”

“You know that these weapons don’t get repaired like normal ones.” Cobalt said with a sigh. The flyer then noticed the other four agents. “When did you guys get here?”

“We got in yesterday around noon.” Bandit stated. Crimson pulled the blade out again and ran his hand over the metal he felt a small pulse come from the blade.

“Cobalt come with me. Rouge look over Ivy here.” The Changeling nodded and summoned her medical bag. Crimson lead Cobalt up to the meeting room and locked the door behind him. Crimson summoned a spell book and sat down with the sword in front of him. Twilight, Ivory and the rest of her squad were off to the side and watched.

“I hate this part.” Crimson said as he cut his hand on the broken edge. The man closed his eyes and the sword was wrapped in dark red magic and the sword started to shake. A ball of magic then came from the blade and levitated before the group.

“What?” The ball said in an aggravated tone.

“Been a while Warren.” Crimson said. “Cobalt here tell me that you’ve been difficult with-”

“I refuse to be wielded by one who is so weak willed!” The ball then formed the torso of a man wearing a red mask. His hair was long a and silver and he shared the same markings on is skin as the sword.

“Who are you calling weak?” Cobalt yelled.

“The one who lost so pitifully to that silver haired woman.” Cobalt remembered how he was barely able to scratch Ivory when they fought. “Not to mention that you’ve taken your eye off the ball.”

“What are you talking about?”

“See? You don’t remember!”

“Remember what?”

“I suppose that Azure didn’t mean that much to you then if you’ve forgotten her so easily.” Cobalt’s eyes were filled with rage and he glared at the spirit with pure hatred. “Remember now?” Warren stated. Cobalt was gritting his teeth and wished that the sword would catch on fire. “Consider our partnership over.” The spirit then went back inside the sword.

Cobalt tried to grab the sword but was hit with a magic blast. The man grunted and stormed out of the room as Crimson picked up the lade and sighed.

“What was that about?” Twilight asked.

“It’s complicated.” Crimson sighed. “Since Cobalt lost to Ivory, Warren thinks that Cobalt is weak willed,” Twilight gulped. “and it looks like he’s right.”

“How can you say that?” The scholar said in a shocked tone. Crimson pulled out the sword and showed the broken blade.

“Soul edge’s aren’t like normal weapons. Their strength is only determined by the user’s will and spirit. If one is broken, it means that the user has lost confidence in themselves.” Ivory shrugged at the comment. “The only person who can fix this is Cobalt.”
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The blue flier stormed out of the guild and made his way into the small town. The man kicked a rock in frustration and sat down on a park bench. He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small locket. It was round and silver. He opened the lock and a small jingle started playing. He looked at the picture of a small girl. The name Azure was written on the other side of the lid. Under the name was ‘July, 13’ scraped into the metal. The man held it in his hand and waited for the chime to end. Before closing it and putting it back inside his shirt.

“Hey Cobalt!” A voice called out.

“What?” He said in a rough tone. The man turned to see the orange winged girl with a surprised look on her face. “Oh, sorry Scootaloo. Didn’t see ya there.”

“You okay?” She asked as the man stood up.

“Yeah, just a rough morning.” He said as he took a deep breath. “So what’s up?” The man asked.

“I did everything on that schedule you gave me.” She said as she held out the paper.

“Okay, how often?”

“Everyday since you gave it to me.”

“Okay, show me what ya got kid.” Scootaloo nodded and did fifty push-ups before rolling on her back and used her wings to lift her back off the ground. She did that twenty times before flapping her wings and hovered for a few moments before falling down.

“Darn it!” She said in frustration.

“Not bad, technique is a bit off but, other than that no problems.” He said with a smile. The man then summoned what looked like leggings and one of those skin tight athletic shirts. “Question, how much do you weigh?”

“Um, about one-hundred and eight pounds.”

“Okay and how old are you?”

“Twelve. Thirteen next month. Why?” Cobalt tapped the clothing and Scootaloo saw a bright gem on the front. “What is that anyway?”

“This is training gear that will help you build up more muscle.” He gave the girl the suit and the two wen to Sugar Cube corner so Scootaloo could get changed in the bathroom. She came back out with the long sleeve shirt on under her orange T-shirt and shorts. The man then heard a growl come from her stomach. The young flier blushed and rubbed her head.

“Sorry, I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

“What? That’s crazy! You need your strength especially for training.” He said as the two grabbed a seat and Pinkie walked over to them.

“Hey guys! What can I get ya?”

“Um, I guess a bagel.” Scootaloo said. “With jam?”

“You got it!” The girl said as she zoomed off to the kitchen and returned a minute later with the girl’s order and a cup of coffee for the blue haired man.

“Hey Cobalt can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How can you do magic?” The young flier asked as her food arrived. “I mean I know that people with wings can control the weather and all, but I’ve never met someone with wings who can use magic like Twilight or Rarity.” Cobalt thought about how he could answer the question in a way so she could understand.

“Okay, so you know that everyone has magic in them right?” The girl gave a nod. “Mages can project it outwards into spells like Crimson, Twilight and Rarity. People like you, Rainbow Dash and myself express it in our ability to control the weather. AJ, Mac and Caramel have a strong connection to the earth and elements.”

“I already knew that.” Scootaloo said in a bored tone. “So how are you able to shoot lightning from your finger tips?” Cobalt sighed and scratched his chin.

“It matters how you manifest it.”

“Manifest it?”

“Okay, lets say that magic is like music. Theoretically anyone can learn how to do it given enough time and practice. However in order to use spells, there needs to be certain requirements.” Scootaloo leaned in closer to listen. “People like you, AJ and myself need a regulator.”

“What’s a regulator?”

“You’ve heard an electric guitar play before right?” Scootaloo gave a nod. “Good. Hearing an electric guitar that’s unplugged from an amplifier isn’t too exciting. However, when you plug it into an amp it makes sweet, sweet music.” Scootaloo processed the info and scratched her head.

“So what you’re saying is, that you need an amplifier to use magic?”

“Bingo.”

“What is it?” Cobalt sighed at the question.

“It was my sword, but in the event that I can’t use it I have this.” Cobalt rolled up his sleeve to show a bright blue gem on a wrist band. “This acts as a mini regulator. Granted it makes me use up way more magic than I need to.”

“What about Twilight and Crimson? Don’t they need regulators too?”

“No, mages have a natural regulators they inherent from their parents which determines the amount of magic they can use.” Scootaloo’s eyes widened.

“So I can use magic too?”

“Well, it depends. Is either your mom or dad a mage?”

“No.”

“Okay, no problem there. Magic can skip generations form time to time. What about grandparents or other family?” Cobalt asked as he sipped his coffee.

“Not that I know of.” The girl scratched her head and thought. “I think I remember my mom saying that our family have always been flyers.”

“Oh.” Cobalt said as he scratched his neck. “Then probably not.” Scootaloo looked at him in confusion.

“Why? You just said that all someone needs is a regulator.” The girl said in a firm tone.

“True, but the regulator needs someone’s magic to be a certain level in order for it to work.” Scootaloo had a confused look on her face. “Okay, lets look at Crimson. Both of his parents were extremely powerful mages with two types of inherent magic.”

“Inherent magic?”

“It’s a special magic that only members of his family can use. That being said, he is very powerful with spells. Ivy is similar, only that she choses to use a regulator.”

“Why?”

“While she can use magic without it, it’s not as strong as Crimson’s. So she uses it to give herself a power boost.” Scootaloo nodded. “Ivy’s father, Silver Streak belonged to the Dragon Slayer Dynasty. They are easily in the top ten most powerful families, magic wise. Her mother Fern was a Druid, but Fern’s father was a flyer with no magical abilities, so Fern’s magic wasn’t as strong as it could have been if her mother married someone who could use magic.”

“So what about Ivy?”

“Thankfully, Ivy’s Dragon Slayer nature compensates for her weak Druid powers and that power far exceeds the requirement for a regulator.” He said with a sigh. “I on the other hand need one because my mother was an average mage and my dad was flier.” The man finished. “In order to use my magic at full power I need to use my sword.”

“So I can never do magic?” The girl said with a sigh.

“Not exactly. We do have non-mage members.”

“How does that work?”

“While they themselves are not magical, their weapons are enchanted. Do you know Bandit?” The girl shook her head. “Tall guy, brown hat, brown coat, usually has two pistols by his side and a rifle on his back.”

“Sounds like something out of a western movie.”

“Well, he is from the West, but more importantly he has very little magical energy. He can’t even levitate an egg. Any kind of spell he uses has to come from his guns that act as his regulators and shoot compressed bits of his magic that he can either draw up from within himself or use magical bullets that he’s stored different types of spells in.” The girl had a confused look on her face. “Are you understanding any of this?”

“Yeah, sort of.” The man paid for their food and drinks and the two left. “So now that I have this thing on, what now?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the odd training gear.

“Okay, what this does is add weight.” Cobalt then pulled out a what looked like a small digital watch. “I’ll start you off on a five pound increase.” The man gave Scootaloo the watch and it seemed to meld with the odd clothing. She looked at the watch face and saw +5lb displayed on the face. She felt tingling over her body and immediately felt heavier.

“Whoa!”

“You see, this watch uses gravity magic to make your body heavier. Once you get used to five then crank it up to ten then add five to that and so on.” The girl jumped and felt the weight. “Not so easy starting out, but you should get use to it soon enough.”

“Scootaloo?” The two heard a female voice say. The flyers looked over to see a woman with bright red wings and long, light purple hair. She was dressed in a purple polo shirt and tan pants. The woman saw her daughter with the man and hurried over to them.

“Hi mom.” The girl said with a smile.

“Hello dear. Who’s this?” She asked as her dark brown eyes focused on the young man.

“This is Cobalt. The guy who’s teaching me how to fly. I told you about him last week.” The young girl said in an annoyed tone. The older woman face palmed and sighed.

“Oh I’m so sorry.” She said as she stuck her hand out. “My name is Gale Whirl.”

“Cobalt Striker.” He said as he shook her hand. The woman only looked like she was in her late twenties, early thirties at the most. “I hope you don’t mind me teaching your daughter a few things about flying.”

“Of course not. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so young.” She said with a smile. The woman then looked down at Scootaloo. “Come on dear, we have to visit your grandparents.”

“Ugh, do we have to?”

“Yes, they’re family and family members like visitors every once in a while.” Scootaloo blew a razz-berry at the words. Cobalt frowned at the girl.

“Your mother’s right Scootaloo. Ain’t nothing more important in this world than family.” He said in a strong tone. Scootaloo said goodbye and the two flew off into the sky.

Chapter IX: S Rank

Chapter IX

S Rank

Many years ago

Rosario, Orion and Silver stood in the courtyard across from the raven haired mage. A woman with dark brown hair stood in between them. Crow kept his hand on the handle of his rapier and cracked his neck. Rosario pulled her saber out of it’s sheath, Orion summoned his hammer and Streak was sporting two trench knives on each hand.

It had been three months since Crow had been reassigned to Rosario’s team and things had not been going smoothly. More than twice had the team fumbled on a job and their standings were starting to drop on the leader board. They were easily in the bottom percent out of the Academy. Rather than letting wounds fester the four had decided to handle things in a more direct way.

“Alright, are you four ready?” The woman yelled.

“Yup.” Rose said as she cracked her neck.

“Lets get this over with.” Crow said with a sigh. The four students got into their positions and waited.

“Begin!” Silver was the first to charge forward. Crow blinked and jumped back just as the man’s fist grazed his cheek. Crow spun on his heel and slammed his elbow into the boy’s jaw. Orion then spun his hammer and was aiming to flatten the raven haired mage. Crow charged forward and dodged the hammer and delivered a swift uppercut. He felt Silver charging his magic behind him and shot a silver colored fire ball from his mouth.

Crow grabbed Orion and threw him at the large fireball. Streak saw an object come through the flames and felt Orion’s head, guided by Crow’s hand, slam into his face. The two teenage boys landed in heap and he heard groans of pain. Crow’s green eyes then picked up a red flash and quickly threw up his blade in defense.

“Why did you just use him a shield?” Rose said in a venomous tone.

“The rules say to complete the mission, one must be forced to make sacrifices.” Crow said in a flat tone. He and Rose were locked in a struggle of strength and skill as the air seemed to be filled with the sounds of clashing steel. Rosario saw an opening and slashed the teenager across his chest. Her eyes shrank as something black spilled out from the wound and his body vanished. The woman was then surrounded by dozens of black birds made of shadow, pecking at her exposed skin. The more she tried to shake them off the more they seemed to replicate. The two teenage boys regained their senses and rushed to help their captain.

Streak focused his magic into his hands and shot small fire balls out like a machine gun. The birds soon flew off and fused back into the raven haired man who was now panting heavily. Orion helped rose to her feet and her emerald colored eyes cut like knives as she looked at the boy. Crow’s eyes were stagnant, devoid of any emotion or remorse as he sheathed his blade. He pressed both of his hands together and a massive spell circle formed on the floor in front of him.

The three mages felt the floor rumble and saw a massive bird fly out of the circle and land in front of them. The bird had bright red eyes and it’s feathers were ruffled, a scar was over it’s right eye and it’s powerful wings sent hurricane force winds at the mages who were barely holding their ground. Orion shot off several bolts of magic at the large bird and Rose did the same.

The black bird spread it’s massive wings and let loose a barrage of black feathers. The quill part of the feathers were like massive spiked that could impale a manticore. Luckily, the young dragon slayer had gathered up whatever magic he had left and let loose a massive fireball that took the form of a dragon and engulfed the feathers and the bird. The large raven then vanished and Crow was nowhere to be seen.

“Idiots.” The three then felt their bodies freeze. An invisible force was holding them in place. The three turned their heads to see three shadow like hands coming from the boy’s shadow and wrapping around their bodies. As the boy drew closer the three felt the squeezing increase. As he got into range Rosario focused her magic and managed to break one arm free and slam it into the boy’s face. Crow saw stars as he was sent careening back into the ground and his hold on the three broke.

Crow had now run out of magic and was on the ground. Rose limped over to the boy who was motionless. She tapped him with her foot and he grunted. He slowly stood up and sighed. “A bargain is a bargain. I won’t second guess you on your decisions, even if they’re the wrong ones.” The man stated as he picked up his blade and sheathed it.

“Good.” Rose said with a pant. The boy then turned into a flock of crows and zoomed away. Rose then hurried over to Streak and Orion as the medical team arrived. The two boys sat up and saw the flock of crows fly off.

“Man what is with that guy?” Streak asked.

“Why don’t we just kick him off the team?” Orion asked as a medic approached him and examined his wounds. Rose shrugged and saw the headmaster approach them.

“Good point.” Rose said as she looked at the older man.

“When you get cleared by the medics, come see me in my office. There’s something you should know about Crow.” The older man said as he vanished in a flash of light.
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Present.

The cane wielding man sighed as he made his way into the meeting room where eight other images were sitting. Each member of the council had their own school to run and communicated through a psychic network. Crow took his seat and withdrew a bright green crystal.

“Everyone here?” He asked.

“Yes.” The other eight answered.

“So what’s this meeting about?”

“We’ve received reports of increased bandit activity around Trottingham.” Clay answered.

“Several of our attempts to infiltrate and get close to the bandit King have proved ineffective.” Sparrow stated.

“This must be dealt with.” Deus said.

“I agree, but who to send?” The man said as he folded his hands. “Artemis is still on a mission over in Draconia.” Crow said as he sat back.The door burst open and a small raven was carrying a letter in it’s beak. “Edgar? That a message?” The bird landed and squawked as it dropped the letter. Crow sat that there was a magic seal on the back and tapped it once with his finger. A seal opened up an image of Sunny appeared.

“Hello Headmaster Crow, I’m just writing to tell you that everything in the guild is running smoothly.” The image Changeling said with a warm smile. Crow smiled at the news. “In fact we’ve just recently gotten a new addition to our guild.” The other members of the council raised an eyebrow. “Ivory and the rest of team Saint have just officially joined the guild.” Crow’s smile shattered and the other Council members either chuckled or gulped. “I’m not one to boast or anything but I think that Fable is now the strongest guild in the system. That’s all for now I’ll update you if anything changes.” The image vanished and all eyes were on the raven haired man. As the letter dropped from his hands the man’s chair fell back and his head collided with the hard stone.

“Crow?” Clay asked as the image looked over the table.

Dear creator. With those two working together they really could destroy a town, no a city in no time at all. The man shook his head and sat back up. Even though they were only transmitting their images he could feel Deus’s glare on him. “Now where we?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the sleepy town of Ponyville Crimson was leading Spike towards the guild. The teenager saw a serious look on the man’s face and kept quiet. A day ago Spike had discretely asked Crimson to teach him magic, but refused. Perhaps he reconsidered? Will he learn from one of the strongest mages he’d ever seen? Will he possibly win Rarity over with his new found powers?

All these thought and more buzzed around in the child’s head like bees in a hive that had just been hit with a rock. Soon the two came upon the guild and Crimson opened the door to show the gunslinger, blue winged swords-man and green dragon slayer sitting at one of the tables. Ivy saw the red haired mage and waved him over.

“Hey dude.” Ivy said with a smile. “What’s up?” Crimson looked at the flyer and thought about how to say what he had to say.

“Ivy say hello to your new trainee.” He gestured towards Spike.

“Say what?” The girl said.

“Spike here wants to learn how to use his magic and you’re the best one to teach him.”

“Why can’t you?”

“C’mon Ivy, you of all people should know how unpredictable dragon magic is.”

“Back up, this kid is a dragon slayer?” Bandit said as he looked at the boy.

“No, I’m a dragon that got zapped by a spell and now I’m half human half dragon.” Spike said as he crossed his arms.

“Spike this is Bandit, our number one gunslinger. Bandit this is Spike. He’s Twilight’s little brother.” The man tipped his hat to the teenager.

“So your girlfriend is making me do this?” Ivy asked.

“No, Spike asked me himself and we both agreed that Twilight best be kept out of this little arrangement.” Ivy bit her lip and looked at the child with skepticism in her eyes. “I should let you know that Spike here burned a Forest King to a crisp when we went through the Smog.” Cobalt and the other two felt their jaws hit the floor.

“He took down a Forest King?” Ivy said in surprise.

“Yes, and just a reminder to you that I still have pictures from that night.” The flyer’s face went dark red and then to marble white in a flash.

“You said there was no film in that camera!” She yelled with a growl.

“I lied.” He chuckled. Ivy searched her mind for something she could use against the man. Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face.

“Okay Crimson, I’ll train Spike,” Spike smiled at the words as Crimson sighed. “if you do something for me.” Her tone was like honey covered barbs.

“What?”

“The one thing you swore you’d never do again.” Crimson raised an eyebrow at the words in confusion. Ivy then made it as though she was playing an air guitar. The man’s eyes shrank and he blushed profusely.

“Absolutely not!” He yelled. “No way in the nine circles of hell am I ever doing that again!” He yelled.

“That’s my price.”

“Isn’t there anything else you want?” He asked in a pleading tone.

“Nope.” Crimson stood silently cursing the green mage. “Ya know, maybe I should just go tell Twilight about out little conversation.” The flyer got to her feet and made her way towards the door. Crimson was clenching his fists hard enough for his nails to draw blood. He looked down at Spike who had a disappointed look on his face.

“Wait.” He said in a raspy voice. Ivy grinned and turned around. Crimson’s face was red with anger and she could see the vein in the middle of his forehead pressing against his skin. “I’ll.” He gritted his teeth and it looked like the man was fighting his own body to say the words. “I’ll do it.” He looked as though he had just swallowed a mouthful of troll droppings.

“Now was that so-”

“Don’t push me Evergreen.” He hissed.

“Fine, I’ll train Spike after you hold up your end of the deal which will be fulfilled upon my return from my mission.” She said as she summoned her bag and chuckled. “I’ll be back in a week. See you then Crimy~” The man’s right eye twitched and he calmed down. Crimson sat down and started banging his head against the wooden table.

“What just happened?” Spike asked.

“Crimson just agreed to do the one thing he hates more than anything.” Cobalt chuckled.

“Which is?”

“We’re getting the band back together.”

“Band?”

“The Academy didn’t just teach us how to kick ass and take names. Everyone had to pass a music class.” Bandit said. “I can play the guitar, harmonica and banjo.”

“Bass guitar for me, piano for Rouge, and drums for Ivy along with vocals.” Cobalt said.

“What about Crimson?”

“Electric guitar and vocals.” The red haired man groaned.

“Is he bad?”

“Bad? You kidding me? Crimson is awesome at it!” Cobalt chuckled. “On another note, did you really take down a Forest King on your own?”

“Yup along with some crazy bandit girl.”

“Who?” Cobalt asked.

“Some crazy chick in a mask that jumped us and gave Spike that scar.” Crimson said as he pointed to the boy’s eyelid.

“Yeah and she had some crazy design on the mask.” Spike said. “Some sort of wolf.” Cobalt looked at the boy with stern blue eyes.

“A silver wolf?” Cobalt asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Cobalt grabbed the child by his collar and bore holes through his eyes.

“And you just let her get away?” He yelled. Spike gulped and felt a wave of fear creep up his spine. Spike didn’t know Cobalt that well and came to the conclusion that he was the laid back comic relief of the team. His once calm blue eyes now looked more like two deep pools of anger. Spike then felt the back of his collar being grabbed and was ripped from the man’s grip.

“Cobalt!” Crimson said as he set Spike down on his feet. “She got away before we could do anything. So chill!” The flyer grunted and stormed upstairs.

“What was that about?” Spike asked.

“Cobalt has a history with the bandit group that woman belonged to.” Crimson sighed.

“What group?” Bandit asked.

“Silver Fang Marauders. Why?” Bandit scratched his chin and bit his lip. Crimson saw the man’s eyes sharpen like knives. “Spike, I’m sure Twi is looking for you. Might wanna head back.”

“Good idea and thanks for getting Ivy to agree to the training thing.” The boy said as he walked out of the guild. Crimson looked at the gunslinger and raised an eyebrow.

“I heard a rumor on my last mission.”

“What kind of rumor?”

“The kind that could possibly get us in a heap of trouble.” He grinned. The two men walked up to the blue winged man’s room and knocked on the door.

“What?” They heard the flyer yell.

“We gotta talk about something.” Crimson stated.

“Not in the mood.”

“Even if it includes the Silver Fang Marauders?” The hat wearing man said. The two waited and heard the lock to the door unlock to see the flyer with a scowl on his face.

“This had better be good.” The two men walked inside and Cobalt closed the door. “If this is a joke then so help me-”

“It’s no joke so calm down.” Bandit said with a sigh. “On my last job I heard a rumor The Silver Fang Marauders looking for recruits.” Cobalt snarled at the name. “I just so happened to overhear them and they have a recruitment station set up in Dodge Junction.”

“How long ago did you hear this?”

“Two days ago.” Bandit said as he crossed his arms. “If we leave today then-” He was cut off as Cobalt grabbed a bag and started packing. Crimson sighed and went off to pack his bag. He soon headed back downstairs and saw Sunny looking at the job board.

“New mission Sunny?”

“Yeah see for yourself.” The girl said as she went back into the kitchen. Crimson saw the post and a massive grin spread across his face. He quickly took it form the job board and stuffed it in his coat pocket. Crimson then saw Bandit and Cobalt each with their bags.

“You two ready?”

“Been ready for years.” The flyer said as he made his way towards the armory. He grabbed a standard long sword and hitched it to his belt. Bandit checked the ammo in his guns and put them in their holsters. The three men made their way out of the guild and headed straight for the train station.

As the trio made their way down the busy street and spied the CMC. The young flyer ran up to Cobalt and she smiled.

“Hey coach. I managed to add up twenty pounds on the suit.”

“Keep up the good work.” The man said as he walked past her. His voice was like a sharp knife that cut through the air. Scootaloo saw that the man had a stern look on his face and felt a small bit of fear stir up within her. Crimson took a knee next to the girl.

“Don’t mind him. We’re just about to go on a serious mission so he’s preparing himself.” The man said as he stood back up. “He’ll be in a better mood when we get back.” Scootaloo nodded and the three girls ran off. The three were then approached by Twilight and Applejack. “Hey Twi.” Crimson said with a smile.

“Hey boys. Off on another mission?”

“Something like that.” Cobalt said as he took flight. “I’ll see you two at the train station.” The man then flapped his wings and rocketed towards the train station.

“What’s his problem?” AJ asked.

“He’s just anxious about the mission we’re going on.” Crimson said with a sigh. “What about you two?”

“Ah was just taking a break from the working. Now ah’m heading back.”

“I’m gonna finish a report from the Princess.” The girl smiled. “What are you guys gonna do on your mission?”

“Gonna go wipe out a bandit group and kick enough ass to make our quota for the next few years.” The gunslinger chuckled.

“Well, here’s something for good luck.” The indigo haired girl then gave Crimson a quick kiss on the lips.

“Hey what about me?” Bandit said as he crossed his arms..

“Get your own.” The scythe user said. The two then regrouped with Cobalt just as the train pulled into the station. The three got on and waited to arrive in the old western town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blue haired flyer soon nodded off and Bandit motioned Crimson to follow him. The two went to the last car. The car was empty and was well furnished.

“Why Cobalt is so testy?” Crimson bit his lip at the words. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this.” Crimson sat back and let out a sigh.

“Look, it’s not my story to tell. All I can say is that Cobalt has damn good reasons for hating bandits and highwaymen. Especially the Silver Fang Marauders.”

“C’mon man I need something to go on.” The gunslinger said in an agitated tone. “Keep in mind we’re dealing with my informant.” Crimson frowned and let out a sigh.

“Ever heard of Mist Villiage?” The name buzzed in the gunslinger’s mind and rolled it around in his head. A few minutes went by and the man’s eyes shrank and his face went pale.

“You mean he-”

“Yup and don’t let him know that you know.” Crimson said as he stood up and made his way back to their seats. The two heard a small chime and saw the man holding a locket. Cobalt closed the lid and looked at the two men.

“We should be there in an hour.” Crimson said as he sat down. Cobalt gave a nod and went back to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around three as Rouge made her way back into the small town with a tired look on her face. The girl had just taken care of a pack of timber wolves that were threatening a farm outside of Trottingham. As the girl walked through town she immediately felt glares on her. Rouge ignored them and continued to make her way down the road. Rouge then saw Twilight leaving with Spike from the quill and sofa shop. The Changeling walked up to them and saw Spike carrying several bags of quills and parchment.

“Hey guys.” Twilight gave her a smile.

“Afternoon Rouge. How did things go on your mission?”

“Good, got a few nicks, but can’t really complain.” The girl then walked alongside them as they headed towards the library.

“Mind if I ask something?” Spike asked.

“Shoot.”

“Cobalt said something about you all being in a band.” The girl’s face then flushed red and she gulped.

“Why?”

“Um...Crimson lost a bet with Ivy and now you all have to perform.” Spike lied with a grin. Rouge’s eye twitched and she growled.

“Remind me to kick his ass later on.”

“Crimson can play an instrument?” Twilight asked.

“Yup, electric guitar.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Cause he hates when he has to perform as do I.” Rouge grumbled. “Why would he bet that?” Spike gave a shrug and felt a little bit guilty. “Anything else?”

“Oh yeah, Cobalt freaked out earlier.” Both girls looked at the teenager in surprise.

“Cobalt freaked out?” Twilight said in disbelief. “Over what?”

“All I said was what happened on when Crimson and I tangled with that bandit chick.” Spike shrugged. “Sounded like Cobalt knew her by the silver wolf emblem on her mask.” Rouge thought back and she never did get a good look at their attacker. “Some sort of bandit group call the Silver Fang....can’t really remember the rest.” The Changeling froze as she pictured the emblem.

“Silver Fang Marauders?”

“Yeah that’s it.” The girl’s face went pail and she had a frightened look on her face. “You okay Rouge? You look sick.”

“Where is he now?”

“I saw him, Crimson and Bandit heading for the train station.”

“They say where they were going?”

“No, why are you so freaked out?”

“Look that is a very sensitive topic to Cobalt.” She said with a sigh. The Changeling dropped her illusion and flapped her butterfly like wings. The girl flew towards the guild with Twilight and Spike following in hot pursuit. Rouge arrived at the guild and rushed in to see Sunny examining the job board. The golden haired girl looked back to see the other Changeling.

“Oh thank the creator you’re here Rouge. I need your help.”

“Sorry Sunny, but I need to know where Cobalt went.”

“That’s what I mean!” Twilight and Spike caught up to her and looked at the girl in confusion. “The new mission that was posted here this morning is gone! I think Crimson, Cobalt and Bandit took it.” She said in a worried tone.

“So what? I need to know where they went.”

“It was an S rank mission.” The words hit the Changeling like a ton of bricks and she sat down.

“I didn’t think that they would be that stupid.” The purple haired Changeling said as she face palmed.

“S rank?” Twilight asked.

“Every mission gets ranked by difficulty, pay and location from E to A; E being the lowest and A being the highest.” Sunny explained. “In order to accept missions you have to have an Academy agent that is the smae rank or higher on your team.”

“So what ranks are they?” Spike asked.

“Cobalt, Bandit and I are C rank Agents. Ace, Crater and Ivy are all B class but, close to A class which is Crimson’s category.” Rouge said.

“What about Ivory?”

“She is what’s known as an S class Agent.” Sunny said. “S class agents are considered the elite among the elite. There are currently only a few S rank agents in the entire Academy.” Twilight gulped.

“It’s almost a requirement to become S class if you plan on joining the council.” Rouge added.

“So only Ivory was allowed to take on that mission?” Twilight concurred.

“Exactly. Those three idiots just broke a huge rule in the Academy system.” Rouge face palmed.

“I don’t see the problem.” Spike said. “I mean Crimson and Cobalt are strong. Not really sure what Bandit can do, but I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” The group froze and slowly turned around to see Ivory, Ace and Crusher standing in the doorway.

“D-did you hear all that?” Sunny asked with a gulp.

“I knew Crimson was dumb, but not that stupid!” She yelled.

“Hey!” Twilight said. Ivory only casted a stern glare at the scholar who immediately shrank back in her seat like a frightened turtle.

“Where did they go?”

“I think the poster said Dodge Junction.” Sunny said.

“Next train won’t come till tomorrow.” Ace sighed. “Want us to come with you?”

“No, I’ll handle this personally.” The woman said as she cracked her neck. “Sunny, get Crow on the horn. I’ll be down in a minute.” Sunny gave the woman a nod as she made her way upstairs. Twilight gulped and looked at the card user and black winged flyer.

“What was the mission anyway?” Crusher asked.

“To take out some big time bandit leaders.” Sunny said.

“Well, better Ivory handle them then the Shadow-” Crusher clasped his hand’s over Ace’s mouth.

“The what?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing. He’s tired doesn’t know what he’s saying.” Crusher said as the two men stood up and made their way upstairs. Twilight had a confused look on her face as she and Spike stood up and exited the guild.

Sunny and Ivory walked into the meeting room with the large table in the center. Sunny pulled out a green crystal shard and levitated it in the center of the table. The gem glowed and an image of the cane wielding man appeared.

“Ah Ivory, nice to see you again.”

“You too sir.” She said with a nod. “I can’t say I’m calling for pleasantries.”

“Somehow I have a feeling it involves Crimson.”

“He took the new S rank mission.” If the man had not been wearing his glasses he would have face palmed hard enough to break his nose.

“That idiot.” He said with a sigh.

“Not just him, but Cobalt and Bandit went with him.” Sunny added. The man groaned as he rubbed his temples.

“Permission to pursue.” Ivory stated.

“Granted, just be sure to keep them in one piece.”

“Can’t promise anything. Just try to keep them at bay until I get back.” The woman said as she turned to leave.

“Um Crow there is something you should know.”

“What?”

“Cobalt seemed very determined to go.”

“Why’s that?”

“I believe they mentioned a bandit group named The Silver Fang Marauders.” Crow’s face turned grim and he scratched his chin. The man sighed.

“Sunny, bring Ivory back in here.”

Chapter X: The Informant

Chapter X

The Informant

The three got an early start the next day and ventured out into the small town. Tumble weeds danced in the breeze and the wind whipped at their faces. The flyer and red mage followed the cowboy down the road. He stopped in front of an old bar.

“What are we doing in a brothel?” Cobalt asked.

“Recon.” The man said.“If shit hits the fan then I’ll do this.” The man took his hat off and used it to fan himself. “If you see that, then we run and regroup.” The three walked in and Bandit went to the back where a few men were setting up a poker game.

“Got room for three more?” Crimson asked. The man was older, mid fifties and had silver hair and mustache.

“Sure, one guy is in the can.” The three sat down and waited. Soon a man with jet black hair and tan skin. Crimson’s eyes shrank and glared at the man. He instantly recognized him as the thief that had attempted to steel the smuggled Alicorn Amulet.

“How ya doing Filch?”

“Oh shit!” The man attempted to run but was immediately tackled by the red haired mage.

“Oh shit is right ass hole.” Crimson said as he shoved the man back into the rest room. Bandit and Cobalt followed the man. Crimson had his forearm to the man’s throat and was pinning him off the ground against the wall. “I gave you a chance to walk away a month ago and then I find you in a shit hole like this.”

“Who’s this guy?” Cobalt asked.

“Tried to jump Spike and my client while in the Smog.” Crimson turned his attention back to the thief. “Surprised to see you get out in one piece.”

“Please.....you don’t....understand-” Crimson applied more pressure.

“I don’t understand?” The man said as he slammed his free hand into the wall and made the wood crack. “I gave you a choice for you, your girlfriend and kid to-”

“They’ve......got......Tip.” The man managed to breathe out. Crimson raised an eyebrow and let the man fall to the floor.

“Explain. Now.” The man was on his knees and was gasping for breath.

“My boss found out about how you caught us trying to steal that jewel.”

“That masked girl?”

“No, she just hired us. My boss as in the bandit leader.” He said with a sigh. “He said I gotta pay him 500,000 bits for compensation.” He said as he stood up. “If I don’t then he’ll kill them. That’s why I’m here, to earn money.” Crimson looked at Bandit and Cobalt. The flyer had a stern look on his face while the gunslinger was scratching his chin. Crimson and the other two huddled up.

“What do you guys think? Use him?”

“No goddamn way.” Cobalt said.

“Cobalt, right now we have nothing to go on. He may be useful.”

“Then I’ll make him talk.” He clenched his fist and electricity arced between his fingers.

“Bandit, you know guys like this. Can we trust him?” Bandit looked at the thief and ran his eyes over him.

“He’s obviously scared and you can confirm his girlfriend kid story?”

“Blood never lies.” Bandit nodded and the three turned their attention back to the man. “Good news Filch, we’re here to solve your problem.” The man looked at him in confusion. “A little birdie said that there’s some big meeting going on soon. Know anything about that?”

“Why?”

“We’re offering you a deal.” Bandit said. “You help us find out where that meeting is, we’ll make sure that you, your girlfriend-”

“Fiance.”

“And your kid never see him or any of his cronies again.”

“How can you guarantee that?” Cobalt walked forward and cracked his neck.

“By putting a bullet in his head.” The flyer said in a stern tone. The man gulped and bit his lip.

“I don’t know anything about any big time meeting.” Cobalt gripped his sword handle. “But, there’s a gathering tonight with my division officer. If anyone would know anything like that then it’d be him.”

“Where’s the meeting?” Crimson asked.

“Don’t know. Guys blindfold scrubs like me and take us to the meeting place.” Crimson bit his lip and sighed.

“Here’s what we’ll do.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the small town Rouge was biting her nails as she sat in the park. The Changeling sighed and grabbed her book off the seat and started to make her way through town. Rouge was then approached by Rainbow and the other five girls.

“Hey guys.” She said with a nod.

“What’s with you?” Dash asked as she saw the Changeling’s glum expression.

“Just worried.”

“I’m sure Ivory won’t be too rough with them.” Twilight said in a hopeful tone.

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” The girl gulped. “I’m worried that Cobalt will do something drastic.”

“Like?” Rouge let out a sigh and looked at the girls.

“Cobalt hates bandits with a burning passion. The Silver Fang Marauders more that any other.”

“Why?” Pinkie asked.

“Let’s just say that Cobalt has a history with them. A long, painful history.” The group gulped.

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Do you have newspapers at your library?” She asked as her eyes focused on the purple haired scholar.

“Yeah I think so.” The girls then made their way towards the library. As they opened the door they saw Spike on the couch reading a comic book.

“Look up July 13th from fourteen years ago.” Twilight nodded and levitated a massive scrap book filled with news papers. Rouge turned the pages to the year and found the month. After scanning the articles she reached into the folder and pulled out the paper. The girls read the title and their faces went pale.

‘Infamous Bandit Group Raid Mist Village Leaving One Survivor.’

The girls felt a feeling of dread wash over them.

“Cobalt was that survivor.” Rouge said in a saddened tone. “He lost his little sister, mom, dad, everyone.” The Changeling heard what sounded like a balloon deflating and saw Pinkie’s hair become straight and darker.

“What about Soarin?” Twilight asked.

“Soarin and his folks were away on vacation. They came back as soon as they heard.” The girl said with a sigh. “When they got back they took him in.” The room was silent for several minutes and dread filled the air. “I could go into more detail but it’s not my story to tell.” The Changeling said with a sniffle. “I’m worried that if Cobalt gets revenge then he’ll change.”

“How?” Dash asked.

“Vengeance blackens the heart and corrupts a person until they become the very thing they want to destroy. I’ve seen it happen to too many people.” Rouge said in a low tone. “Hopefully Crimson, Bandit and Ivory can keep him under control.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fourteen years ago.

Pain. That was the only thing that could describe what Cobalt was feeling. He opened his deep blue eyes and saw a white ceiling was above him. He heard the sound of a heart monitor and felt a mask over his nose and mouth. He inhaled deep and sat up. He looked down at his small ten year old body and saw several bandages across his chest. He grabbed his head in pain as his mind was flooded with images.

July 13th.

The child’s father kicked in the door to their home and ordered the boy, his mother and sister to hide. As the words left his lips a large sharp blade was shoved through the man’s back and came out of his chest. The other three screamed in terror as the man dropped to the ground and blood came pouring out of his mouth.

“R-run.” He said as another blade stabbed him through the throat. The child felt his mother’s strong grip around his arm and pull him. The boy quickly grabbed his five year old sister and ran after his mother. The woman spun around and shot a cyan lightning bolt at their pursuers. One of the men dropped to the ground and groaned in pain. The three kept running until they reached the forest on the outskirts of town.

As they neared the forest the woman felt a splitting pain in her back. She dropped to the ground and clutched her chest. The two children rushed to help their mother. She was bleeding from her left shoulder and was coughing up blood. The child put his mother’s arm over his shoulders and the three hobbled towards one of their neighbor’s house. They saw that the door was broken in and there was fresh blood on the walls. The woman covered her daughter’s eyes and Cobalt refused to look.

They hobbled to the bathroom and found bandages. Cobalt applied pressure and tried to stop the bleeding. Blood spurted onto his face and he heard his sister crying.

“C-Cobalt, listen to me.” The woman’s voice was filled with sadness and regret. “Grab Azure and fly away.” The boy had tears in his eyes. “I can hold them off for a few minutes, you need to get yourself and Azure to safety.” She coughed up more blood as she stood up. The three then heard the door being kicked in. “They’re coming. Go!”

“B-but mom-”

“I said go!” A bandit with a large scar over his right eye rounded the corner and charged with a knive in hand. Cobalt saw his mother radiate blue magic from her body and fire a bolt of magic that blasted one of the bandits out the window. The three then heard something crash through the window. The three quickly made their way into the kitchen and the woman’s eyes shrank. A timer with a few wires were rigged to a detonation crystal. Five-seconds remained.

Time slowed as Cobalt felt saw his mother grab Azure and her hand glowing with magic.

Four.

The child felt his body being hit by what felt like a freight train and was propelled out the window.

Three.

The force knocked him through a tree trunk. He felt at least five bones break upon impact and felt blood fill his mouth.

Two.

The boy’s vision was fading and could just make out the outline of his mother and his sister making their way out the window.

One.

A flash of light and a deafening explosion. The heat felt like a dragon had just roared and incinerated everything he knew. He fell face first on the grass and managed to make out a glowing blue object. His mother was lying face down half burnt to death. As he slowly started to get up he saw a seven foot tall figure. He was wearing a white mask with a silver wolf imprinted on it. He stood seven feet tall and had a large cleaver on his back.

The figure looked down at the woman who had a defiant look in her eyes. The man reached inside his coat and pulled out a large pistol. The woman looked back at Cobalt and the child saw tears in the woman’s eyes as she smiled. A loud bang and smoke filled the air as the bullet went through the woman’s head and her lifeless body fell on the ground.

The child screamed and the figure locked his dark orange eyes with his own. Cobalt attempted to run but the explosion had burned his legs and wings. He heard the man heard the heavy footsteps approaching and scrambled to get away. He felt a heavy boot slam against his back and cracked a few more bones. Cobalt turned over and saw the barrel of the gun pointed right at his head. He heard the hammer on the gun being pulled back.

As the man pulled the trigger he was immediately swarmed by a flock of angry crows. The bullet missed Cobalt’s head but landed in his right shoulder. The figure dashed back and Cobalt saw a tall man with black hair and a rapier in his right hand. Several other people came out of the woods and opened fire on the bandits. The dark figure fired off several shots from his gun as he retreated. Cobalt saw two figures standing over his mother’s body. One shook its head and the boy soon passed out as he felt pressure on his gunshot wound.

July 14th

Cobalt looked down at his bandaged hands and angry tears filled his eyes. He felt a tingling over his body and saw electricity arc across his finger tips. The air became statically charged and the machines started short circuiting. The door flew open to show a doctor and frightened nurse.

“Young man calm down and-” He was cut off as a blue bolt of electricity struck him in the chest and he was launched out of the room.

“Where. Is. Mom?” He said as he got out of his bed. The man he saw before he passed out walked into the room. He was using a cane for support and had a stern look on his face.

“You recovered quicker than I expected.” The man tilted his head just in time to avoid a blast.

“Answer my question!” He yelled. The boy felt exhaustion overtake him and started to collapse. The man rushed forward and caught him. He picked him up and put him back in the bed.

“Before hand how about we introduce ourselves?” The man said in a calm tone. “My name is Crow Blackbird. I’m an agent with the Academy.” Cobalt had heard the stories of the legendary Academy agents. “Now it’s your turn.”

“C-Cobalt Striker.” He said.

“Nice to meet you Cobalt, I truly wish we could have met under better circumstances.” His voice had sadness present in it. The man pulled up a chair beside the boy.

“Where’s mom and dad?” He asked with a gulp. Crow lowered his head.

“I’m sorry Cobalt, but they’re gone.” The words felt like a ten ton weight had been dropped on his head. The child gripped the hospital sheets and tried to hold back the tears. “Don’t hold it in. It’s better to let it out.” Cobalt bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and opened the flood gates. The boy cried harder than he ever had or ever will in his life. Crow put an arm around the child and held him close.

“Wh-what about everyone e-else?” He asked in a shaky tone.

“There were a few others, but they died in surgery.” The child cried harder. Everyone he’d ever known, his family and friends. Gone.

“It’s my fault and-”

“No, there was nothing you could have done.” Crow said with a sigh. “There’s two people named Soarin and Spitfire waiting in the lobby. Do you want to see them?” The boy sniffled and gave a slow nod. “Okay.” Crow got up from the bed and walked back towards the lobby to see two children of the same age. One with light blue wings and hair. The other had bright golden wings and hair like fire. Both had tears in their eyes.

“I-Is he okay?” The blue haired child asked.

“He’s going to be fine.” The two let out a sigh. “If you want to see him then you can. Just keep it brief. He needs his rest.” Soarin gulped and followed the man to his friend’s room. He opened the door and Soarin saw his friend covered in bandages. The child felt dread fill his heart as he looked into Cobalt’s eyes. They were the same he’d always known, but different. Colder, devoid of any hope or happiness. The child rushed forward and hugged his friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The man felt a nudging of his shoulder and awoke to see Bandit looking down at him. The man rubbed his eyes and say up.

“It’s time.” The gunslinger said. The flyer cracked his neck and got to his feet. He hitched the replacement sword onto his belt and followed the man out of the crappy hotel room they had rented. The man followed the gunslinger up to the roof where they watched Filch outside the brothel. The two waited until they saw him get approached by another bandit member.

“Ready?”

“Let’s just get this over with.” Filch said with a sigh. The two made their way down the road with the flyer and gunslinger following them on the rooftops. They trailed them towards the outskirts of town the man had a bag thrown over his head and lead to the end of the road where a horse drawn wagon was waiting for them. They saw the man get into a wagon with a few other people that were bagged. The driver whipped the horses and the wagon took off.

“Now what?” Cobalt asked.

“Shake the tree, see what falls.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bag over the man’s head was ripped off and a light was shined in his face. He winced and saw other men with the bags being taken off. He gave a nod and lead the men into what looked like a cave. The men walked single file deeper into the cave. The man then saw another man wearing a black vest with the wolf symbol imprinted on his back. In the corner Filch spied a few barrels of gunpowder and explosive crystals.

“Evening Gents.” The man said with a wicked smile. His teeth were crooked and stained yellow. “Let’s get to business then.” He took a seat and lit up a cigarette. “The Old Man is coming here?” The group all gave a gulp and looked at one another nervously. “I don’t need to tell you how important and dangerous this is to us. One wrong move,” The man made a slicing motion across his neck. “and that’s it.”

“Sir,” One of the men said. “are the stories about the Old Man true?” The group looked at him. “I heard that he burned an entire village to the ground in a single night.” Filch gave a gulp. The leader cracked his neck and sighed. Fast as lightning he pulled out a pistol and shot the man in the chest.

“Keep your mouth shut you idiot!” The man was crying in pain as he tried to stop the blood from pouring out of his stomach. “He has eyes and ears everywhere.”

“So where is this meeting going to take place?” Filch asked.

“Set up in the Lone Mountain. He should be arriving tomorrow.” He said with a chuckle. “Course if I were you I’d be more worried about paying your debt.” Filch gave a smile and started to laugh. “What’s so funny? I wouldn’t be laughing if my kid was being put on the squeeze.”

The man snapped his fingers and two men appeared and they had the blonde woman’s arms secured in their iron like grip. The girl struggled to break free but the men were too strong. She looked at her lover with worried eyes. The man gave her a wink and Tip saw that his eyes were blood red.
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Back outside, Bandit and Cobalt were waiting just outside the entrance. They saw the two guards at the front with weapons by their sides. Bandit was laying on his stomach with a scope attached to his rifle. A magic indicator could be seen over the two guards’s faces through the scope.

“How long has he been in there?” Cobalt asked as he scratched his neck Bandit looked at his watch.

“Half hour.”

“Okay remind me again why we’re out here?”

“Crimson said he’d give us a distraction so we can move in. For now we have to wait.” The sharpshooter said as he focused on his targets. “What do you think he’ll do for a distraction?”

“I don’t know. Probably throw a rock, make a noise. That's what I'd-” The flyer was cut off as the two heard a loud explosion. The ground shook and the entrance was filled with smoke. “Or he could do that.” As the two guards moved, Bandit pulled the trigger and two bolts of golden magic erupted from the barrel and dropped both men before they could yell out.

“I think he’s a lot better at distractions than you are.” The cowboy said as he grabbed his rifle and the two charged into the cave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filch continued to chuckle as his pupils turned dark red. The man’s body started to shift and he bit his finger hard enough to draw blood. The red liquid poured out of his skin and he shot his hand forward. Two spikes jutted out from his bleeding finger and stabbed the two men that were holding the woman. Before they could react, the man’s hair changed to a deep red and he changed into the agent Tip had encountered in the forest. Crimson dashed forward and shot a blast of magic towards the stockpile. As the magic salvo hit the powder, Crimson threw up a dome shield around him and the woman.

The smoke soon settled and Crimson dropped the shield. The woman was looking at him in amazement, shock and fear. Several more men then filled the room.

“You might wanna find cover.” Crimson said as he summoned his scythe. The woman ducked behind some crates as the man charged forward and started slashing his way through the horde. One snuck up behind him with a mace but felt a magic blast propel him to the side. Crimson looked behind him to see Bandit with a revolver in each hand and Cobalt with the sword.

Tip watched as the three easily cut down over thirty bandits. The air was filled with red and blue slashed with some gun shots thrown in the mix. Ten minutes later the dust had settled and the three men relaxed. Crimson walked over to the woman and looked her over. Bandit heard a groan and saw a man trying to limp his way out. The gun slinger fired a round that hit the man’s leg.

Cobalt walked over to him and picked him up by the throat. The flyer slammed him against the wall and bore holes through his eyes. Cobalt raised his sword to impale the man but felt a hand grab his arm.

“Cobalt!” Crimson said as he looked at the man. “We need him to talk.” The man said as he glared at the bandit leader. “Okay shit for brains, I’m gonna give you one chance to talk before I let my friend here do whatever he wants to you.” Cobalt let out a huff. “That meeting you mentioned, Silver Mountain Marauders will be there?”

“P-Probably.” He gulped.

“Any of them from a torching that happened fourteen years ago?” Cobalt asked.

“I don’t know man. I just got this position three months ago.” Cobalt pressed the blade on the bandit’s neck. “Look what do you want from me? All I know is that The Bandit King is supposed to be there.”

“Bandit King?” Crimson asked.

“Rumor has it that there’s one guy thats in control of all the major bandit groups.” The gunslinger said. The three then focused on the captured bandit.

“They call him the Old Man.” The captive said. “Never seen him myself, but I’ve heard rumors. He’s got a specialty for lighting things on fire.” Cobalt’s eyes shrank. “Most who’ve seen him usually don’t live ti tell the tale or are in his inner circle.”

“So how will we know who to look for?” The flyer asked in an annoyed tone.

“Before I go say anything else what am I getting out of this deal?” The man said.

“Your life.” Crimson said with a scowl. “Along with a nice cozy jail cell.”

“That all?” Cobalt grunted and bore holes through the man with his cold blue eyes.

“Well, I could just drink your blood and leave you to rot from the inside.” The men looked at the blood mage in confusion. “You know why blood mages like myself are so dangerous? It’s not in our polymorphism, not our strength, not even in our regenerating ability.” The man bit his thumb and felt his blood pour out. “It’s our ability to manipulate our blood outside of our bodies that makes us so terrifying.”

Crimson grabbed the man’s jaw and forced it open. The man was struggling to wiggle free as Crimson put his bleeding thumb over his mouth. A small drop formed on the tip of the man’s finger and dropped into the man’s throat. Crimson motioned for Bandit and Cobalt to step back. The bandit dropped to the ground and coughed.

Crimson raised his right hand and cracked his neck. “Right now my blood is mixing with your own.” The man twitched a few fingers and the bandit’s arm moved on it’s own. “Like a puppet on strings.” Crimson bent his index finger and the man’s wrists started to turn on their own. He screamed in pain as the group heard bones crack.

“There’s no point in resisting. It’ll only make it more painful.” The man said in a flat tone. The bandit grunted in pain. “Should I do the leg next?” The man cried in pain as he felt pain in his already shot leg. “Or should I just make every cell in your body combust only leaving a large red stain on the ground?” The other two men looked at Crimson and saw a dark look on his face.

“Fine! Fine! Fine! I’ll tell you whatever you want!” Crimson dropped his hand and looked down at the bleeding man who had pure fear in his eyes. “The Old Man always has his bodyguard with him.”

“Bodyguard?” Bandit asked.

“She’s called the Serpent. She uses water style magic and always wears a mask with the Marauder symbol on it.” Crimson raised an eyebrow.

“What weapon does she use?” Cobalt asked.

“A machete with a serrated blade on the spine.”

“Her again?” Crimson said as he remembered the assailant. The group looked at him in surprise. “She tried to jump Spike and I while on our way back from the mission we went on.”

“She’s at his side at all times.” The man gulped. “I met her once. She’s....confusing.”

“How?”

“She’ll take your arm off without batting an eye, then treats your wounds as if you were her best friend.” The man was obviously scared just thinking about her. “That’s all I know I swear!” Crimson raised his hand over the man’s bullet wound and the group gulped when they saw blood coming out of the wound.

“I removed my blood from your system.” The man said in a firm tone.

“I still say we get rid of him.” Cobalt said in a firm tone.

“No, he’s worth more alive.” Crimson said.

“Worth more?” The flyer said in confusion.

“Never mind. Point is he held up his end of the bargain.” Crimson said as he grabbed the man and summoned a box that looked like a coffin. He shoved the man inside the coffin and made the box vanish. The three men and woman made their way back into town. As they came into view of the brothel Filch ran up to them and hugged the woman.

“Oh thank the Creator.” He said with tears in his eyes. “Are you hurt Tip?” He asked as he looked the girl over.

“I’m okay.” She said as she wiped the tears away. “Thanks to these guys.” She said as she gestured to her rescuers.

“Your should give him more credit.” Bandit said. “It was his plan.” The man lied as he shot Crimson a wink.

“Correct. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bounty to collect.” Crimson said as he made his way towards the police station. A few minutes later, Crimson dropped the bandit off at the station and received a bag of bits. Afterwards, Cobalt and Bandit were staring at him. “What?”

“What did you mean by ‘worth more alive?’” Cobalt asked.

“There’s something you’re not telling us.” Bandit said as he frowned. Crimson sighed and reached into his coat.

“While you two were busy packing, a new job showed up on the board.” The two men raised their eyebrows. “Since we were most likely going to do this anyway, I just figured we should get paid for it.” Crimson withdrew the job poster and showed the two men. Their eyes shrank and looked at the poster.

“You took an S Rank quest? Are you insane?” Bandit yelled.

“We were gonna do it anyway.”

“Did you know about the mission before you told me about the bandits being here?” Cobalt asked in an angered tone.

“No, it was a coincidence.” Cobalt looked into his friend’s eyes and saw no trace of deceit. The three then started to make their way back to the motel. Bandit still had a scared look on his face. “Calm down Bandit.”

“Calm down? How can I calm down?” He yelled. “You broke a major rule of the Academy and Cobalt and I are accessories.”

“Oh don’t act like you’ve never broken protocol.” Cobalt said.

“You do know that Crow will have our heads for this right? Not to mention what Ivory will do to us if she finds out.” The three cringed as they approached their room.

“Oh god, not the breadsticks!” Crimson said with a gulp.

“The what?” Cobalt asked. Crimson grabbed his friend’s shirt and had a panic filled look on his face.

“The breadsticks man! I didn’t think she could find a way to use them as a weapon. I was wrong! I was wrong!” That was one ass kicking method the blue flyer did not want to witness.

“I will never look at pasta night the same way again.” The gunslinger said with a shiver.

“But I know a way out of this.” Crimson said as he calmed down.

“How?” Bandit asked as he inserted the key into the door lock.

“We just complete the mission and no one’s the wiser.” The door flung open and the three men froze. There sitting at the table was the white armored angel of death with a stern look in her right eye.

“Oh really?” Ivory said in a stern tone. The three gulped and saw the woman approach them. Ivory cracked her neck and bore holes through the gunslinger who felt fear in his stomach. “Honestly, I expected this kind of stupidity from these two.” She pointed to Cobalt and Crimson.

“Hey!” They yelled.

“But my own teammate?” She face palmed.

“S-Sorry ma’am. I-”

“Save it.” She said in a flat tone. “First thing in the morning, we’re going home.”

“No.” All eyes turned to the swordsman. His arms were crossed and had a determined look in his eyes.

“Fine.” Ivory then summoned a broad sword and pointed it at Cobalt. “Then I’ll drag you back.” The tension in the room rose and the minutes ticked by. Cobalt grabbed the blade of the sword and pointed it right at his chest. Ivory looked at him in shock and knew that he wasn’t going to back down.

“Every night since I was ten years old I have been haunted by the images of the men that took everything from me.” Lighting started to radiate off his body. “This is the only chance I have to nail them. Take that away then you might as well kill me.” Ivory stared at him and frowned. Memories of her living on the streets came rushing back to her and she dropped the sword at his feet.

“What’s the plan?” She asked as she sheathed the blade.

Chapter XI: Family

Chapter XI

Family

Soarin, Spitfire and his family were arrived in the hospital lobby just as visiting hours started. The children were anxious to see their friend and make sure he was okay. Soarin’s father, Storm Shocker approached one of the doctors.

“Excuse me doctor, we’re here to see Cobalt. Is he awake?” The man looked at the flyers and sighed.

“I think you’d better see for yourselves.” Storm gulped and feared the worst. He hesitantly lead his son down the hallway. The man stopped in front of the door and let out a sigh. “Before you see him I need your help to do something.”

“W-what?” Soarin asked with a gulp.

“Find him.” The doctor opened the door to show an empty hospital bed. The group gasped at the vacant room. “Security shows that he took off around four in the morning. His wings are still broken so he’s on foot.” The group started looking around his room. “I know you are close, so is there any place where he might go?”

Cobalt slowly walked down the burnt streets that was once his home. The school was now only a mountain of bricks, metal, and glass. Frames of houses still stood, but seemed to creak in the morning breeze. He came to the remains of his home and saw police tape across the front door. He went under it and started looking around. Most of it was trashed or burnt. Their family portrait was cut with large blade and was burnt to a crisp.

“Hard to imagine, isn’t it?” Cobalt spun around to see Crow standing in the doorway of the home.

“What do you want?” He asked in a frown.

“You shouldn’t be out and about yet.” The man said as he stepped inside.

“Still didn’t answer my question.” Crow sighed and looked at the boy.

“You may not believe me, but I know what you’re going through.” Cobalt just gave a snarl at the words. “So what are your plans now?”

“I’ll go to school and-”

“Boy, don’t bullshit me.” Crow said in a firm tone. “I can smell bullshit a mile away and you’re reeking of it.” Cobalt frowned. “I also know,” The man reached into his own pocket and pulled out a silver service revolver issued by all officers of the Equestrian Royal Air Force. He also moved his coat aside and showed a long officer’s sword. “that these are what you’re after.”

“Give those to me. Now!” Cobalt yelled.

“Can’t do that kid.” Crow said in a flat tone. “Tell you what, if you can take them from me then you’ll never see me again and I’ll give these to ya.” He said as he took off the weapons and laid them on the floor. The child locked his eyes on the man and charged forward. He lashed out randomly at the man. With one swift motion Crow raised his cane and used the end to whack him in the head.

Cobalt grunted in pain and continued to fight. Crow easily caught the blow and brought him in a headlock. “You’ve got spunk Cobalt, but spunk ain’t gonna bring your family back.”

“Screw off!” He yelled as he struggled to get free.

“I know you want revenge.” Crow said in a flat tone. “But those men are trained to kill and they enjoy it. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that.” The boy was still wiggling. “What if I told you I can help you?” The boy stopped moving and looked at him in confusion. Crow let him go and folded his arms.

“What exactly are you saying?” Cobalt asked.

“I’m sure that you’ve heard of the Academy right?” The boy gave a nod. “We house you, educate you and train you.”

“So?”

“So when we find the sons-of-bitches that did this. You’ll be ready for them and you can take your revenge with honor.” The young flyer looked down at the floor. “I can promise you that these people will be brought to justice.”

“When?” Cobalt asked.

“Can’t tell, but I promise that you’ll be the first to know.” Crow heard a knock and saw a man with light blue hair and wearing a royal guard uniform. “Sergeant Armor?”

“We found one.” He said in a stern tone. Cobalt looked up at the man. “Seems like just a foot soldier, but it’s something.” The man then saw the young flyer. “He the one?”

“Yes, he’s-”

“I wanna see his face.” Cobalt said in a stern tone. Crow gave a nod and led the boy out of the home he once had. Cobalt saw a man in chains. He was lanky, tall and had a large scar over his face. The child recognized him as the man that invaded their home.

“You recognize him?” Crow asked.

“Kicked in my door and killed my dad.”

“You sure?” The guard asked. Cobalt just stared at the man.

“Not something that’s easy to forget.”

“Regardless, he’s getting life in prison.” Armor said with a sigh. Two guards came up beside him and started to haul him off. Cobalt then saw Soarin and his family running up to him. Everything happened at once. The chains around the bandit’s wrists broke and he head butted one guard. The other got a swift kick to the groin and was on the ground in seconds.

Soarin felt a strong arm grab the scruff of his neck and another arm wrap around his neck. A woman screamed and men started yelling as guards pulled their swords out.

“Nobody move or the brat dies.” The guards and academy agents looked at one another and frowned. “All weapons on the ground now!” The grip around the boy’s neck tightened.

“Do as he says.” Armor yelled. The guards dropped their swords and guns. Crow and the other agents did the same. As armor reached to unhitch his sword he found it missing.

“What do you want?” Crow yelled.

“Just look the other way and-” The man felt something slam into his back. It was sharp and heavy. He looked down at his chest and saw a silver blade sticking through, just a few inches above Soarin’s head. Blood quickly filled his mouth and Soarin felt the iron grip falter. He gathered his strength and broke from the hold into his parent’s arms. The guards quickly picked up their weapons and trained their sights on the criminal.

The man dropped to his knees and fell forwards. The man grunted in pain as his face hit the dirt. He felt the blade being pulled out and looked up to see the child he had chased after the night prior staring at him with focused blue eyes.

“That was for my dad you son-of-a-bitch.” Cobalt said as Crow rushed forwards and took Cobalt away. The guards and agents were immediately on the criminal. Cobalt walked over to Shining who looked at him in shock. He handed him his sword back and turned to look at Crow. “I’ll go with you.” Crow gave a nod.

“If that’s what you want.” Crow said with a sigh.

“If you’re interested, the Royal Guard is always-” Cobalt’s eyes were like daggers as he looked at the sergeant.

“I saw the guards stationed here run away like dogs with their tails between their legs.” Shining frowned at the child. “Rather join something that’ll make a difference.” Soarin and Spitfire then ran up to him. Cobalt felt a burning sensation on his chest and looked down into his shirt. On his left pectoral muscle was shield with two crossed swords wrapped in electric sparks.

“You saved my life man.” Soarin said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Soarin’s father ran over and looked at Cobalt in shock. He’d known the child since he was a week old, but he looked as though Cobalt was a stranger. There was a storm behind those eyes that had been awakened.

A month later Crow traveled to Cloudsdale where Cobalt had started to live with Soarin and his family. According to Soarin, Cobalt had been spending every minute awake training his body for the Academy. He had put on a lot of muscle and had nearly doubled his wing power to what it was. Cobalt said goodbye to his adoptive family and left to start his new life in the Academy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late. Around ten o’clock at night when a horse drawn carriage pulled up to the base of the Lone Mountain. It was bigger than all the other ones that had surrounded it and was the only one with a snow capped peak. The carriage stopped and a man standing at seven feet tall donning a dark cloak. Beside him was a woman standing at 5’ 5.” A mask with a silver wolf was over her face and a blue hood covered the rest of her head. The man hastily made his way inside as a smaller man ran up to the woman. The two waited until the taller one was out of range and they stepped to the side.

“Where are they?” The woman asked in an icy tone. The man felt sweat forming on his brow and gathered his courage.

“They’ve been completely wiped out ma’am.” The girl looked at him in shock. “rumors say that some people from the Academy are in the next town over.”

“Which ones?” She asked.

“I don’t really-” The woman then pulled out her machete. “I don’t know! All I know is that there’s four of them. One has white hair and a long sword. Another uses guns, theres a flyer with a sword.”

“The last one?”

“Red hair and a scythe.” The woman grunted in frustration.

“Damn him!” She said as she cracked her knuckles.

“What do we do ma’am?” The woman thought long and hard. Thanks to the red haired mage the coup was going to be a lot harder on her. She still managed to get a few followers but not enough to combat an entire army. This was her only shot.

“No change. Continue with the plan.” The man nodded and ran back down the cave. The woman sighed and quickly made her way back into the cave where the tall man was waiting.

“Trouble?” His voice was gravely and husky.

“I thought I heard someone scouting us.” She lied.

“You worry too much my dear.” He said as he put a hand on her shoulder. The woman would rather have a scalding iron being pressed against her than the man’s calloused hand. He nor any other bandit dared try to force themselves on her, else they’d get something chopped off. The woman was using all her restraint to not stab the man right then and there, but advised against it. She knew that he could take anything she could dish out and then some. She needed him distracted.

The two arrived in front of two large steel doors that stretched to the ceiling. The man opened the door to see a large table with several other bandit leaders. The each had a position at the table with one vacant at the far end. The large man made his way to his seat and cracked his back.

“Good evening everyone.” He said as he removed his mask. He was in his late forties and had a large striking scar running across his face in a diagonal formation. His hair was dark brown with bits of gray scattered about. The woman kept her mask on and stood beside the man ready to cut down anything that moves. The guests looked at the figure in confusion. “My personal guard and lieutenant.” The other men nodded.

“Now shall we get down to business?” A bald man said in an annoyed tone.

“Yes, how goes the expansion in the West?”

“We’ve got two more bandit groups signed on.” The bald man said.

“Excellent.”

“Sir,” The voice came from a man with shoulder length black hair and was sporting a beard. “why have so many?”

“Just do what I tell you.” Before any of them could react, the group heard a loud explosion coming from the cave.

Damn it! They got impatient! The woman thought as she bit her lip. The tall man pulled out a communication crystal and saw a man in bandit gear..

“Report!” The man barked.

“Sir, intruders.” The man ducked as a magic bolt went over his head. “They took down our first battalion.” The man said as he pulled out his pistol and fired a few rounds.

“Who is it? The Dark Claw?”

“No, it’s-” The feed was cut off and the man screamed. The group of thieves then heard what sounded like footsteps.

“Corporal?”

“Sorry, he’s a bit tied up at the moment.” The woman’s eyes shrank as she heard the red haired man’s voice. “I am a Zealot from the Academy, if you surrender then you will be given a fair trial and there won’t be anymore bloodshed.”

“Interesting offer, who exactly am I speaking to?” The crystal showed it being picked up and the red haired man’s face came into view. The group all gave a nervous gulp at Crimson. “I’m guessing that you are the Red Death?”

“Since you know my name then you obviously know how I deal with people who refuse to co-operate. This is your one and only chance to surrender.” The bandit leader chuckled and soon burst out laughing.

“Listen here boy, I have an army of bandits just itching for a fight and tear you to ribbons.” Crimson sighed. “So, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

“Then prepare yourselves.” The image cut off and the group fell silent. The man Sighed and looked at the woman.

“My dear, would you please deal with our guests?”

“Gladly.” She said as she walked out the door. After she left the man waved his hand and the doors locked. The other two men felt their neck hairs rise and looked at the bandit King. He reached into his coat and pulled out a large handgun and placed it on the table in front of him.

“Now gentlemen.” He folded his hands and sat back. “Lets talk business.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crimson and the other three agents made their way past the feeble defenses that the bandits had set up. They soon came to three separate passageways. Each had lights running down from the ceiling.

“Looks like we split up.” Ivory stated. “I’ll take the left.” The woman said as she unsheathed her blade and charged down the passageway. Cobalt took flight and went down the center. Bandit looked at Crimson who took out his scythe.

“Follow him.” The gunslinger nodded and hurried after the flyer. Crimson charged down the right tunnel and hoped that he would get to the bandits before his blue haired comrade. The man raced through the tunnel until he saw a large room. The man froze and cracked his neck. The masked woman who he had encountered on the mission with the dragon hybrid. The woman pulled out her large machete and pointed it at the man.

“You screwed up everything you know that?” The woman yelled in frustration. Crimson sighed and heard the door lock behind him. “Months, no, years of planning down the crapper.” The woman said as she charged. Crimson raised his weapon and the metal clashed.

“How so?” He asked as he pushed her away and took a defensive stance.

“Noticed how some of the guards were ready for you?”

“Thought someone tipped us off.” The two started walking in a circular pattern. The woman chuckled at the words.

“Nope.”

“Then I’m gonna guess a coup.”

“Correct.” She said as she charged agin. Crimson pulled the sword out of the scythe’s sheath and locked blows again with the woman. Her skill with a blade was impressive. Enough to be on par with him, maybe even Ivory. The slashes came so quick that it only looked like black and red blurs. Crimson managed to get a few shallow slices on the woman and she him. The man sighed as he wiped the blood off his face.

“So you wanted to take down your boss.” Crimson said as he firmly gripped his sword. “Course a man like him knows his way around a fight and you had no hope of fighting him. At least, not without help from the Alicorn Amulet.” The two continued to slash at each other and the floor was soon coated in pools of blood from both fighters that were now deadlocked.

“Only question is why? For his position? The reward?” The woman chuckled and then started to laugh.

“I’d do it for free.” She said in a malicious tone.

“Some friend you are.” He said in a sarcastic tone. The woman froze and looked into the man’s red eyes with her own icy blue ones. A long silence fell over the room and Crimson felt the girl’s magic rise. She slashed faster than before across the man’s chest. Crimson jumped back and felt his blood spilling out.

“Friend? What kind of friend destroys your home? Takes away everything you’ve ever loved?” Her magic was spiking to massive levels and she was firing water bolts that could cut through solid steel. Crimson kept dodging for his life. “He took everything from me!”

“You could have come to us!” Crimson yelled. “We could have helped you nail him.”

“Too late!” She yelled as she summoned a large amount of magic and compressed it into the size of a volleyball. “This ends here and now!” The woman threw the swirling ball of magic at the man and Crimson countered with an energy blast of his own. The two were locked in an epic struggle of magic power and Crimson felt himself loosing ground. He looked into the woman’s icy blue eyes and saw rage, sadness and revenge.

Crimson focused and his white mask appeared on his face. In an instant his energy over game the woman’s and the blast kicked her back against the wall. The magic blast burnt her hood off and shattered her mask. The woman fell the ground in a heap and her body was smoking. The right side of the mask was broken off and laying beside her.

Her hood burned to reveal her icy blue hair. She grunted in pain and tried to move but her body wouldn’t obey her brain’s commands. “If you’re going to kill me then kill me.” She said as Crimsons saw a tear roll down her cheek and wet the ground. “I gambled everything on this one chance and I lost.” Crimson walked over and made his mask vanish. He sat the girl up and looked at her face. There was a scar above her right eye and she had a few burns from the blast.

Her blue eyes shined in the light of the cave and the conduit could see that she had truly seen horrors that no one should ever see. “Just do it.” She hung her head and waited for the inevitable. Crimson sighed and raised his blade and swung as something glinted in the darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ivory quickly made her way down the tunnel and came to a large area where tables and all sorts of drugs were being made. The area easily held over eight hundred people and she grinned. Several of the bandits saw her and attacked her with weapons drawn. Ivory removed her sword and easily dispatched them. One tried to get behind but soon found the woman’s boot in his gut.

Ivory kicked the man into a small group and cracked her neck. Several more men with swords surrounded her and she chuckled.

“Okay fellas,” She took a stance holding her sword over her head. “who’s first?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cobalt and Bandit came to a large iron door and snuck up on either side of it. Bandit had his pistols at the ready and Cobalt had his sword in hand. The two heard two loud gun shots and screams of pain. The door was locked and Cobalt cursed in frustration. Bandit reached into his coat and pulled out a few explosive crystals and lined the door with them.

The two got some distance between themselves and the slabs of metal. Bandit raised his hand gun and fired one shot into the crystal. An explosion made the entire mountain shake and smoke filled the area. The two ran inside the room with weapons drawn. Two dead bodies were on either side of the room and each had a bullet wound in the head.

“Ever her of knocking?” A gravely voice got both mens attentions. At the far end of the room sat the older man with a pistol in his hand.

“You the Old Man?” Cobalt asked.

“What of it?”

“People say you know everything about bandits.” He said as he raised his blade.

“Possibly.” The man was completely relaxed and sat back.

“The Mist Village Massacre.” Cobalt said in a stern tone. “Who was in charge?”

“Why do you care?”

“They took everything from me.” Cobalt said in a stern tone. “So out with it. Who was it?” The man sat back and folded his arms. Bandit shot a bullet at the man that hit his chair.

“We want answers now.” Bandit said as he took aim.

“Ho, ho, ho. It looks like the Bandit Hunter is still alive and kicking.” He chuckled. Bandit frowned at the man. “Now as for you,” He turned his attention to Cobalt. “Who exactly did they kill?”

“I’m sick and tired you bandits giving me the run around whenever I ask this question.” Electricity started to arc across his hands. “Tell me the truth or I’ll shock it out of you. You scum.” The Old Man frowned and started to chuckle. His chuckling soon evolved into one that belonged to a mad man.

“Congratulations brat,” He said as he removes his mask and his orange eyes shined like two flames. His face had many scars on it and his skin was like leather mitt. “you’ve finally tracked down your killer.” Cobalt gritted his teeth and zoomed forwards as Bandit fired a shot from each gun. The man raised his gun and fired three shots. Two collided with the bullets and stopped them dead in their tracks while the third hit the gunslinger in the stomach. Bandit felt the bullet pass through him and he grabbed the wound and tried to stop the blood from gushing out.

Cobalt launched himself at the man and slashed. The old man jumped out of his chair as the man’s sword cut straight through the wooden seat. “You know, I vaguely remember you.” He said as he ducked another blow. The man grabbed his own sword and pulled out the his large cleaver. It had many scratches and nicks in the blade. “Your mother begged for her life like a bitch.”

The flyer slashed out with murderous intent. Cobalt channeled his magic into his sword edge and the blade glowed blue. His rage drove his sword and the man continued to laugh. The man continued to slash at the man and looked for an opening. “You’re good kid,” The Old Man parried the blows and slashed Cobalt’s chest and he yelled in pain.

The flyer dropped his sword and panted as he clutched his chest. A firm kick to his face sent the flyer to the ground and he grunted in pain. “but I’ve seen better.” The old man saw something glinting on the ground and picked up the locket that was cut off the blue haired man’s neck.

“Give that back!” Cobalt yelled as he got to his feet. The Bandit King opened the locket and heard the chime.

“I know this jingle.” He said with a smirk. “I’m a fair man,” He said in a mocking tone. The bandit walked away so that he was standing twenty feet away from the man. Cobalt saw that his sword was lying halfway between himself and the man. “when the jingle stops go for the sword.” He said as he threw his gun to the side and sheathed his blade.

Cobalt listened to the jingle and his eyes focused on the sword. He was fast, but not that fast. Against an opponent who had decades more experience than him, this was one fight he knew he couldn’t win. As the jingle came to an end both fighters’ ears perked as they heard the tune start up again. The two looked towards the door and saw he red haired man standing in the doorway holding another locket making the same tune.

The Bandit King reached for his blade but heard a coking noise. His orange eyes trailed over to the badly wounded gunslinger who had him in his sights and shook his head. Crimson walked over to Cobalt’s side and summoned the sword that had rejected him.

“Crimson I can’t, I-”

“You have to.” He said as he handed him the blade. Cobalt hitched it to his side and nodded. Crimson slowly walked back over to the gunslinger’s side and watched. “Now we start.” Crimson said as he held the small locket in his hands and the tune started to wind down. Cobalt closed his eyes and thought back to the night where the man standing before him had taken everything from him and destroyed everything he had held dear.

The group watched in awe as he focused his mind and honed his magic. The group saw that the sword was now turning red and electric sparks of the same color were crackling off the metal. Soon red magic encased the man’s body and a red mask appeared over his face. The bandit King gulped and felt his arm shaking as he looked into the dark blue eyes of death. Somehow the man heard the sound of a neighing horse and felt panic seep through his body.

The tune came to an end and there were two blurs, one of orange and one of blue mixed with red. The two now stood where the other had been with their blades drawn. Cobalt’s sword was glowing a magnificent cerulean color and had repaired itself. The blue flyer felt the skin on his arm split open and he dropped to one knee. He looked over his shoulder and saw a large crack forming on the bandit’s sword before it broke and his chest exploded and his blood poured out.

The man coughed and grunted in pain. Cobalt walked over to the man and held the sword above his back.

“Cobalt-”

“Don’t you dare try to stop me Crimson.” He said as he glared at the man. “This...thing deserves the worst kind of punishment.” His eyes were filled with rage as he looked down at the injured man.

“I’m not. Who am I to lecture you about revenge?” The man said as he looked at the pendants he held. “Theres someone else here you need to see.” He opened both lockets and the music played in perfect sync. “Believe me now?” He yelled through the doorway. The three men then heard boots scuffing against the dirt covered ground.

Cobalt’s blue eyes shrank at the sight of a woman with icy blue hair, matching eyes and bandages on her chest. She looked about five years younger than him and had a familiar air around her. Her face was that of shock and sadness as her eyes started to water. Something was trying to click in the back of the flyer’s mind as she drew closer to him. The woman remover her left glove and showed the back of her fist.

The flyer’s eyes started to water as his eyes fell upon a blue symbol. The man dropped his sword and the mask seemed to evaporate off his face. Cobalt slowly walked towards the girl. He had only seen that image once before. On his little sister’s hand, three days before the attack on their town.

“A-Azure?” The woman gave a slow nod at the words. The two embraced one another and held each other tightly. Cobalt could feel his sister’s tears soak into his shirt and the salty tears stung against his wounds. He didn’t care. Now fourteen years worth of tears and sadness came pouring out of the warrior as he hugged the woman. Crimson sat down next to the man and started to apply bandages to his gunshot wound.

“I-I thought you were dead.” The woman said as she buried her head in her brother’s chest.

“Same to you.” He said as he ran a hand through her hair. “How? I thought you and mom-”

“He,” She said as she glared at the injured man. “gave mother a choice. Me or her. She chose to save me.” The water mage said in a defeated tone. The white haired mage then walked through the door and saw the scene before her. Her boots and jacket were bloodstained and she looked worn out. Her eyes then fell upon the gunslinger and crouched next to her comrade as Crimson quietly explained what happened.

“A-Azu-” The bandit yelled in pain as The woman kicked him in the ribs.

“Don’t you dare say my name you troll shit.” Her voice was filled with malice. “Fourteen years. Fourteen long agonizing years I slaved under you, did your bidding and committed crimes for you.” The woman unsheathed her blade and held it over the man’s back. “Well now, justice is served.”

“Wait.” Cobalt said as he stood on the other side of the man. He unsheathed his sword and looked down at the new blade. “We do this together.” The woman gave a nod and both of them rammed their blades into his back and pierced his heart. The man gurgled and started to choke on his own blood.

“Any last words?” Cobalt asked in a rage filled tone. The fallen King raised his head and looked at the group.

“For....the....Order.” Hiss head dropped to the ground and he was motionless. Ivory walked over to the body and put two fingers on his neck.

“No pulse. He’s dead.” The woman said as Crimson helped Bandit up.

“How are you feeling?” Crimson asked the gunslinger.

“Been better.”

“I’m not Rouge but it should hold till we get back to the guild.”

“Right. About that.” Ivory said as she looked at the men. “You all are in serious trouble when we get back.”

“Right now I don’t care.” Cobalt said as he put an arm around his sister.

“So you’re Cobalt’s little sister?” Ivory asked.

“Y-yes, I’m Azure Wave. You are?”

“Ivory Knightwalker, I’m an S rank mage from the Academy,” Azure gulped at the woman’s rank. Judging from her appearance she had been through quite a lot. “and you are under arrest.” The group fell silent at the last few words.

“What?” Cobalt said in a stern tone.

“She’s a member of an infamous bandit group and she must pay for her crimes.”

“Um Ivory, don’t you think that-” The gunslinger was cut off as the woman’s gaze fell upon him.

“C’mon Ivory, that’s harsh. Even for you.” Crimson said as he stepped beside the woman. Cobalt got in front of her and growled.

“You want her, then you have to go through me.”

“So be it.” Ivory pulled out her sword and was getting ready to strike.

“Ivory! She was held as a captive for over a decade! She was probably forced to work for him.” Crimson protested.

“That’s not my concern.” She said as she raised the blade and Cobalt was readying his. A flash of white went through the air.

“YOU OWE ME!” Crimson yelled at the top of his lungs. The blade stopped inches from the flyer’s neck. Ivory turned her head and looked at her rival. His eyes were deadly serious and looked like two bottomless pools of blood. “I’m calling in the favor.” Ivory bit her lip and gritted her teeth. She lowered her sword and put it in it’s sheath.

“Fine, but I’m still reporting her to Crow when we get back.” She said as she took the gunslinger’s arm and put it over her shoulders.

“I’ll call him myself. My guild, my responsibility.” Ivory nodded and started to walk out of the room with the injured man. He then turned to the blue haired woman. “Sorry about her. She’s not so bad when you get to know her.”

“R-right.” Azure gulped.

“Orders boss?” Cobalt asked.

“We go home. All of us.” He nodded to Azure. “Let me just clean up here.” The man pressed both his hands together and a coffin appeared next to the dead man’s body. Crimson removed the sword and put the body in the coffin. He picked up the blade and held the handle to the woman.

“Leave it. I don’t wanna see that thing ever again.” She said in a stern tone. Crimson nodded and made it vanish. Something caught the man’s eyes as he looked at the dead thug. The conduit took something off the man’s hand and a black and red vortex swallowed the coffin up into the ground. Crimson walked back with his friend and let the two siblings reconnect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Ponyville was buzzing with excitement. Twilight and her friends waited patiently in the guild. In attendance was Crow Blackbird and Princess Celestia. Both of them had received messages from the red haired mage telling them to meet him there. Within the hour, the doors to the guild opened and the five mages entered the guild. Twilight gasped as she looked at their condition and quickly made her way up to the man.

“Oh my Celestia! What happened?”

“Just went out on a mission.” Crimson said in an innocent tone.

“One that was far out of your league.” Crow said as he frowned.

“Nice to see you too Crow.” The cane carrying man walked up to him and hit him over the head with the stick. “Ow!”

“I have half a mind to brain you!”

“Before you reveal our punishment, there’s an important matter we need to discuss.” Crimson said as he and Azure walked forwards.

“Who’s this?” Rouge asked as she came up next to her boyfriend.

“This is Azure Wave. Second in command of the late Bandit King’s forces and Cobalt’s younger sister.” The room was dead silent at the words. Crow looked at the woman and saw the resemblance between the two. “She had been living amongst the bandits for the past fourteen years.”

“Let us talk in private shall we?” Celestia stated. Crimson nodded and lead the raven haired man, the Princess, and the two blue haired mages into the meeting room. Crimson gave in depth detail about their mission and how they found the girl. “You poor child.” Celestia said as she blew her nose into a tissue.

“You always know how to find trouble.” Crow said as he looked at Crimson. “Thank your father for that one.” Celestia stood up and looked at the girl.

“So why are you here?” She asked in a warm tone.

“We want to make a deal.” Crimson said in a flat tone. “Obviously no one is above the law and Azure must pay for her crimes.” Cobalt looked at his friend in shock.

“Now wait a sec-”

“Azure has been living with the bandits for over a decade. She knows who the higher ups are, where they sleep, where they’re stationed. She’s a valuable piece of information if there ever was one.” Celestia raised an eyebrow at the words. “All we want in return for the information is protective custody for her.”

“You mean that she stays here?” Crow said in a flat tone.

“Who better to protect her than us?” Crimson shrugged.

“And you are sure that the Bandit King is dead?” Celestia asked. Crimson snapped his fingers and a coffin appeared across the room. The man walked over and kicked the top off to show the corpse of the late King. “You continue to impress Crimson.”

“Hey I can’t take credit here. Cobalt was the one who did him in.” The two looked at the blue haired flyer and smiled.

“Good work.” Crow said with a smile.

“Would you two excuse the three of us?” Celestia said as she looked at the siblings. They both got up and made their way outside the door. Crimson had soundproofed the meeting room with a spell so no one could overhear what they were saying. An hour passed and neither of the three had come out. Soon the door creaked open and Crimson stepped out.

“Well?” Cobalt asked. Crimson walked over to the girl and stuck his hand out.

“Welcome to the Fable guild.” The girl smiled and happily shook his hand. “You’ll pass along any info you know about bandit activities to our informants and the royal guard.” Azure gave a nod and smiled at the man. Celestia then walked out and smiled at the siblings.

“Well, it was pleasure to meet you all and I hope only the best for your future.”

“It was pleasure to meet you too Princess.” The Princess smiled and she vanished in a flash of light.

“Cobalt.” The flyer turned towards his friend. “Why don’t you go introduce Azure to the others. Crow and I have some paperwork to do.”

“Sure and thanks man.” He said as he hugged his comrade. Crimson returned the hug and watched the two leave. He walked back inside the room and closed the door.

“Paperwork?” Crow said as he raised an eyebrow.

“Before we came back I took something off the King’s finger.” Crimson reached into his pocket and extended his hand. aAs he opened his palm Crow’s eyes shrank. A large silver ring with a broadsword carved into the fine metal shined proudly in the light.

“The Order of the Sword?”

“His last words were ‘For the Order.’” Crow sighed and bit his lip.

“Why would they do business with low lives like the Bandit King?”

“No idea. I’ll ask Azure about it next time I catch her alone.” Crimson said with a sigh. “If they come back then everyone is in danger, not just me.”

“I know.” Crow said as he stood up. “It’ll take a while, but I’ll make the call.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t think for a second that I forgot that you and the others broke the rules.” He said as he threw on an evil grin. “I will not do anything this day, but the storm is coming. Prepare yourselves.” The man then vanished in a puff of green smoke and crimson couldn’t help but cringe at what the mad teacher was cooking up in the witch’s cauldron most people called a head.

Crimson sighed and made his way back downstairs where Cobalt was introducing Azure to the other guild members and Twilight’s friends. The indigo haired librarian then ran up to him as he cleared the stairs.

“Hey Twi.” He said as he gave her a kiss.

“So you have a new recruit?” She said as she looked at the girl.

“Yeah.” He looked around at the happy faces of the teammates and friends. “we don;t get many moment’s like these.”

“Huh?”

“For once, everyone is happy.” He said as he put an arm around his girlfriend.

Chapter XIII: Meet the Parents

Chapter XIII

Meet the Parents

Fear. Pure fear was felt by Crimson as he saw his girlfriend’s right eyelid twitch and pieces of her hair beginning to stick out in multiple directions. Twilight opened her mouth to scream but Crimson quickly put his hand over her mouth.

“Twilight, whatever you do, don’t panic” He said in a pleading voice. “Who do you think they’re gonna be more surprised by, you or me?” Twilight calmed down and her hair returned to it’s normal shape. Crimson got up and quickly threw his shirt on. The two then heard a knock on the door.

“Twilight?” Crimson recognized the female voice from when he met Twilight’s mother in Canterlot. Crimson gulped and saw the door opening. Crimson hid in the corner and Twilight pressed her body against the door, but her mother already got her foot in.

“Sorry mom, I’m still getting dressed.” Velvet’s eyes were the size of pin tips and Twilight followed her gaze. The mirror on the opposite side of the room showed the man hiding in the opposite corner. Crimson was frozen on the spot in fear and gulped. Velvet had a coy smile on her face and heard her husband yell from the foot of the stairs.

“Velvet?” He asked.

“Twilight is still getting dressed dear.” She’ll need another,” She looked at the two young mages. “ten minutes to get ready.”

“Okay, Spike is making pancakes.” He said as Velvet closed the door to the scholar’s room. Twilight’s face was pale and Crimson finally let out the breath of air that he was holding. Twilight sat on her bed and Tried to slow her heart that was beating a million times a minute.

“Twi,” Crimson snapped his fingers in front of her and got her attention. “disregarding what just happened I’m gonna scram, get a change of cloths on and come back here. Okay?”

“O-okay.” She said in a nervous tone. Crimson gave her a peck on the cheek before jumping out the window. The man quickly made himself scarce and headed towards the guild. He was so sick with worry that he didn’t even see the green haired girl until he barreled into her.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going.” Ivy said as she shook her head.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re standing?” Crimson shook his head and saw Ivy. “Oh, sorry about that Ivy. I’m just a bit...distracted.” He said as he helped her up.

“You okay? You look kinda jumpy.”

“Twilight’s parents are here.” Ivy’s face went pale. She had known the fear the man was experiencing all too well.

“You poor bastard.” The woman then took flight and soared into the sky. Crimson quickly made his way to the guild and opened the door to see the other warriors eating breakfast.

“Hey Crimson.” Cobalt said with a wave. “Crow called and-”

“Not now.” He said in a rushed tone as walked over to the kitchen.

“You okay?” Rouge asked.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.” He groaned. The group shrugged and continued about their business as the red mage poured himself a cup of coffee and tried to calm his brain. Soon the man walked up to his room and saw Sunny coming out of hers.

“Morning Crimson.”

“Meh.” He said as he opened his door.

“You okay?” If it was anyone else Crimson would have blown them off, but Sunny was easily more sensitive than Fluttershy. Crimson sighed and looked at the golden haired Changeling.

“Twilight’s parents are here and almost walked in on us in bed together.”

“Oh dear.” The Changeling gulped.

“Exactly. So if Crow calls again, tell him I’m busy.” He said as he opened the door.

“Got it.”

“Thanks.” The man walked into his room and walked over to his closet. “Now what to wear?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The indigo haired mage was donning a lavender shirt with a dark purple, knee length skirt. Across from her was a woman with a white blouse and tan khaki pants. Her hair was a snow white and had a line of purple like her daughter’s. Next to her was a man in a pressed blue suit that matched his neatly combed back hair. His yellow eyes were like two focused lasers ready to pick up anything that shifted.

Twilight was catching them both up on her studies and things that have changed around town. Both parents were surprised to see Spike’s wings and newly acquired scar. Twilight convinced them to meet Crimson first before she tried explaining what had happened. The young dragon hybrid did his best to prevent the purple magical time bomb from exploding, but he couldn’t stall much longer.

“So Twilight, where is this mystery man you spoke of in your letter?” Velvet said with an innocent grin.

“H-he should be here soon.” She said with sweat forming on her brow. The opening of the front door made Twilight sigh in relief. “That’s probably him now.” Twilight got to her feet and walked to the main floor of her library to see the blue winged flyer and the purple haired Changeling.

“Hey Twilight.” Cobalt said with a smile.

“We wanted to ask-” Rouge then saw the two visitors. “Oh, are we interrupting something?”

“Not really.” She said as she looked at the older couple. “These are my parents. Velvet and Nightlight Sparkle.”

“Hello.” Velvet said with a wave, Both warriors let out an ‘oh’ sound and understood why Crimson was so on edge. Rouge felt a small shiver and looked at the man. The man’s eyes glowed for a second before he frowned. “Something wrong dear?”

“No need to call the guards Mr. Sparkle.” Rouge said as she snapped her fingers. Her illusion shattered and the two gulped at her appearance.

“Oh, you’re a Changeling.” Velvet said in a slightly nervous tone.

“I take it you don’t see many in Canterlot.” Cobalt said as he scratched his neck. “No need to worry about Rouge here. She’s harmless, most of the time.” The Changeling stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend.

“So what is a Changeling doing here?” Night asked. Rouge rolled her eyes. She’d gotten the cold shoulder like this ever since the Changeling attack.

“I’m a Ranger with the Academy.”

“Really?” Velvet said in surprise. “I had no idea the Academy had Changeling agents.”

“We have a very diverse staff.” Cobalt said with a smile.

“So you two know this,” Night looks at his daughter. “Crimson was it?”

“Oh yeah. We’ve been on the same team since we were kids.”

“What can you tell us about-” The man was cut off as they heard a knock on the door. Twilight got to her feet and hurried over. She felt weight off her shoulders as she saw the man with a red collared shirt and his signature dark red coat. His hair was combed back and had a bag in his hand.

“Sorry I’m late. Had to get freshened up.” Crimson said as Twilight lead him inside. He noticed his two friends standing in the library. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Nothing, we were just leaving.” Rouge said as she took her boyfriend’s hand and they walked out of the large tree. Crimson watched them leave and turned back towards the couch where the two adults were sitting. He gulped when Velvet gave him a sly smirk and he remembered the woman almost walking in on him and her daughter. He didn’t need to look at Night’s gaze to feel the sharpened eyes ready to cut down anything he said.

“Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend Crimson Storm.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you both.” He said with a smile. Velvet shook his hand and smiled.

“Nice to see you when you’re more presentable.” Both young mages faces went red.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Night asked in a rough tone. Crimson felt the man’s eyes turn to daggers and were now focused on him.

“Well, I ran into Crimson and Twilight a few months ago while they were visiting Canterlot and I may have overreacted when I saw him.” Now it was her turn to blush.

“You hit him over the head with your typewriter.” Twilight said in a flat tone. Night gave a grin at the words and chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it. I can take a hit.” Crimson said with a smile. Night then stuck his hand out.

“Nightlight Sparkle.” As Crimson reached for his hand he felt Twilight’s own wrap around it and pulled him down next to her.Crimson raised an eyebrow at Twilight and saw a worried look on her face. Night frowned at the action and sat down next to his wife. “Now if I might inquire why my son has wings and a scar over his eye?”

“Oh, that.” Crimson said with a gulp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the guild Sunny was looking around the conference room when she saw the communication beacon blinking. She walked over to the small gem and tapped it twice with her finger. The gem glowed a lime green and the image of the cane wielding man came into view.

“Hello Crow.” Sunny said with a smile.

“Morning Sunny. Where’s Crimson? I need to talk to him.”

“Sorry Crow, but Crimson is busy today.”

“Is he on a mission?”

“No, it’s more of a personal engagement.” Crow rolled his eyes at the blandness of the words.

“Could you be a little more specific?”

“He’s meeting Twilight’s parents today.” Crow froze and blinked. Twice.

“Oh. I see.” He said as he adjusted his glasses. “Well, just tell him to call me when he gets the chance.”

“Okay. I’ll be sure to tell him.” She smiled as she cut the magic flow.

Crow sat behind his desk twiddling his thumbs with the crystal ball sitting on his desk in front of him. A thought came to him and the man grabbed his cane. He walked out of the door and saw a woman with dark brown hair, sporting a brown suit writing notes.

“Hazel, hold all my calls.”

“Where are you going Crow?” She asked as she adjusted her horn rimmed glasses on her nose.

“Just making a personal call.” He said with a wicked grin as he chuckled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightlight and Velvet had just finished listening to Crimson about how Spike was injured and how he grew wings.

“So to set the record straight.” Night began. “You took Spike on a mission, he took down a massive creature with his fire. You are then attacked by the Bandit King’s right hand man.”

“Woman.” Spike corrected.

“Right. A few weeks later you and a few other agents raid a bandit meeting where you fight this woman and discover that she is one of your teammate’s long lost sister.”

“Correct.” The red haired man stated.

“And she is now currently living at the guild as she passes off info about almost every-single bandit organization in Equestria.”

“To sum it up, yes.” Night sat back and looked at the man. Velvet’s right eye twitched at the story and looked at Spike who was whistling to himself. There was a long silence in the room.

“Well, that was certainly a story.” Velvet said hoping to break the awkwardness.

“Yes, it was.” Night said as he stood up and heard the tea perking. “I’ll get the tea. Velvet care to give me a hand?”

“Of course dear.” Crimson watched as the two went into the kitchen. Crimson turned towards Twilight and saw her relax.

“So far so good.”

“Yeah, why didn’t you let me shake your dad’s hand. It’s kinda rude not to.” Crimson said in a flat tone. Twilight sighed and looked at the man.

“My dad is a really, really powerful sensor.”

“So?”

“When he shakes people’s hands he can use his magic to scan other peoples’ magic and learn about them.”

“Learn about them?”

“He can detect their personality and the type of magic they use.” Crimson still looked confused. “I’m worried he might find out about your.....um.” The girl said as she pointed to his chest.

“Oh. Right.” He said as he saw the two adults come back in with a tray with a pot of tea and a few cups beside the pot. Crimson poured them each a cup and they continued to talk.

“So what exactly was your job again?” Night asked.

“Dad.” Twilight said in a flat tone.

“Relax Twilight.” Crimson said with a smile. “I’m a Zealot ranked agent and I’m the Fable guild leader.”

“Fable guild?”

“The guild at the far edge of town near the Everfree forest.” Crimson rolled up the sleeve on his right arm to his shoulder and showed the same emblem that was on the sign. “We still only have a few members, but we get the job done.”

“And there are other mages like you there?” Velvet asked.

“Not exactly like me, but we do have a lot of different people there.”

“What kind of magic do you use?” Velvet asked. Crimson and Twilight gulped at the question.

“Well, I can use a variety; some fire, a little ice and a few others.”

“I think what my wife is asking is what your specialty is.” Night said as he sipped his tea. Crimson looked at Twilight who had an uneasy look on her face.

“Most of the time I use shadow magic.” Night sputtered into his tea. “On occasion I use blood magic.”

“Blood magic!?” Both adults said in shock. Blood magic was categorized as a forbidden art, even amongst the most skilled mages.

“I take it you’re familiar with it?”

“Only that it’s a forbidden art.” Night stated. “Where did you learn it?”

“It’s inherent magic from my mother’s side.” Crimson said in a flat tone.

“What do your parents do?” Velvet asked trying to lighten the mood.

“Unfortunately they are no longer with us.” Velvet immediately regretted asking.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. It happened a long time ago and I had a good upbringing.” He said in a calm tone. “They were both Zealot agents in the Academy. They both dies in the demon attack sixteen years ago.” The group then heard a taping at the window. Velvet got up and saw a black crow tapping it’s beak against the window.

“Shoo, shoo!” The woman said as she opened the window and waved her hand in a sweeping motion. The bird squawked and flew into the kitchen. “Oh dear.” She said as she watched the bird fly towards the couch. The bird landed on the arm rest of the couch next to Crimson and preened it’s wings.

“Damn it.” Crimson said as the bird burst into a cloud of black and green smoke. The group heard coughing and saw a a man in his mid forties, sporting a black suit with a dark green tie. A pair of wire rimmed rectangular glasses were perched on his nose and a black cane with a silver raven head was as the handle was clutched in the man’s hands.

“Oh good, for a second I thought I had the wrong place.” He said with a chuckle. Velvet and Night’s jaws dropped at the man.

“Y-you’re Crow Blackbird.” Night said with a gulp. “Seventh seat on the council.”

“And you must be Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle.” He said as he extended his hand. Night had never met anyone from the magic counsel in his life and here he was shaking his hand.

“Wh-what brings such a distinguished mage here?” Velvet asked. Crow put a hand on Crimson’s shoulder and smiled.

“Well, I heard that my son was meeting his girlfriend’s parents so I decided that it was fair that you meet me.” Velvet and Night both looked at one another in shock.

“B-but Crimson just told us that his parents are dead.” The woman stated. Crow frowned and looked at the red haired man.

“You didn’t mention me?”

“I was about to when you came in and joined the conversation.” Crimson said in a stagnant tone. “Crow here is my godfather and looked after me after my parents died.” Both adults gave an ‘oh’ at the words. Bothe Sparkles saw the man in a new light. Not only was he considered a high level mage, but was raised by one of the most powerful warriors of their generation.

“So...I’ve got this thing.” Crimson snapped his fingers and a red scythe appeared in his hands. Velvet and Night looked at the weapon in shock.

“Is that a scythe?” The blue haired man asked.

“It’s also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle.”

“Err...what?”

“It’s also a gun.” He said as he made the scythe vanish. Soon, Twilight brought out another pot of tea and the group continued conversing. Through out the conversation Crimson felt the blue haired man’s eyes on him. Watching him like a hawk waiting to come in and yank the small rabbit out of it’s hole so it can have a meal.

“So you’ve really been to saddle Arabia?” Velvet asked.

“Yeah, had to handle a nasty Djinn that got loose.” Crimson said as he sipped his tea. “Thankfully Cliff and I managed to subdue her and the Sphinx she enchanted.”

“Who’s Cliff?” Night asked.

“Oh he’s Crimson’s dog.” Spike answered.

“What kind? I love dogs.” Velvet chimed.

“He’s...a special kind.”

“I’ll say. He can talk.” Twilight and her parents looked at the hybrid.

“He can?” The three said in surprise. Crimson scratched his head and saw Crow raising an eyebrow at him.

“Can we see the little fella?” The woman asked. Crow gave a snicker at the word little. Crimson sighed and got to the door. The man put two fingers to his lips and let out a whistle that echoed for miles and miles. Velvet looked down at her tea cup and saw the liquid trembling. The ground soon started to shake and heard a loud howl coming down the road. As the vibrations started knocking books off the shelves the parents stood up and gulped. The vibrations halted and the parent’s heard heavy breathing. Night noticed that the nearby window was being fogged up.

Velvet walked to the window and saw a wall of red fur. She yelped back when she saw the wall move and saw a large red pupil and a row of large white teeth. She heard the man snap his fingers and there was flash of blinding red light. Crimson opened the door and the group gulped to see a large three headed dog the size of a husky. The dog noticed the visitors and put it’s ears back as he growled.

“Easy Cliff. They’re friendly.” Crimson stated. The dog looked up at the man and sat on it’s haunches. “They also know about you talking.”

“Great.” The middle head said with a groan. Twilight felt her eyelid twitch as she saw the dog form words.

“Well, at least they look interesting.” The left head said in a higher pitched tone.

“I say eat them.” The right one stated. Crimson gave a sharp whistle.

“Th-thats a Cerberus.” Night stated with a gulp.

“Yeah, don’t worry about him. He won’t do anything without my say so.” The right head snickered. “Most of the time.” Twilight had met the dog before but now that she knew that it was capable of intelligent thought she saw it in a whole new light. Velvet slowly approached the dog and it sniffed her hand.

“Well, he seems well trained.” Velvet said with a small grin.

“Where did you get a Cerberus?” Night asked. He’d heard myths about the three headed dogs, but never believed that they were real.

“That is a very, very long story.” Crimson stated. The group heard Twilight’s clock go off and saw that it was already five in the afternoon. Crow felt a vibration in his pocket and pulled out a small green gem. He ran his magic through it and the image of the brown haired secretary appeared before him.

“Hello Hazel. How goes the day?”

“All quiet for the most part.” She said as she adjusted her glasses. “Your special guest has arrived and is waiting for you.” Crow bit his lip and nodded.

“I’ll be there soon.” He cut the magic flow and sighed. “Terribly sorry everyone, but duty calls.” He said as he straightened his coat. “Wonderful to meet you both.” He said as he shook each of the visitors’ hands.

“Likewise.” Velvet smiled. Crow then shifted into the black bird and flew out the nearby window. Crimson made his way into the kitchen and summoned a few slabs of meat and started to cook Twilight was about to aid him but was stopped by Spike, much to her parents’ relief. The Cerberus had laid down in the corner and was taking a nap. Spike and Twilight continued to keep their parents entertained while crimson finished up dinner. The group sat down at the table and their eyes were boggling over the creation. It looked like a delicacy you see in those fancy Canterlot restaurants for fifteen bits a slice.

“What’s your preference to wine?” Crimson asked as he reached for the bag he brought earlier.

“Red.” Velvet smiled.

“Good. I wasn’t sure.” Crimson brought the bag over to them and unwrapped the bottle. It looked like it had never been touched by human hands. Crimson uncorked the bottle and poured each of the adults a glass. Spike settled for a can of soda. Velvet sniffed the wine as it breathed and her eyes widened.

“This is Cherry Rose wine.” She said as her husband had the same look of surprise. “They only sell this once every ten years! Where did you get this?”

“I know the brewer personally. He had a troll issue and I dealt with it. He was so grateful that he gave me unlimited access to his wine seller and I can take bottles out whenever I want.” He said as he gave a sip of his wine.

“Twilight. Marry him. Now.” Velvet said in a light hearted tone. The group chuckled at the idea of marriage centered around an alcoholic beverage.

“So what are we eating?” Spike asked.

“Flayed Ursa Major with a pinch of rosemary and garlic.” The group looked at one another in surprise.

“Did Twilight ever cook for you?” Night asked.

“No, I don’t believe she has.”

“Then you’re lucky.” Spike stated as Twilight shot him a dirty look from across the table. Night’s eyes were still focused on the man as they ate.

“So what’s Crimson like in your opinion Spike?” Night asked.

“He’s really cool. Took me on an awesome mission and he paid me.” The group raised an eyebrow.

“Spike did a lot of work. Including saved me from an overgrown tree. Figured he should get a reward for his efforts.” Crimson stated.

“He’s also taught Twilight a bit more magic.” He said as he took another bite from his meal. “The downside is the time.”

“Time?” Velvet asked.

“Yeah, I mean he studies with Twilight at crazy hours.” Both young mages gulped at the words. “I mean it’s normal for Twilight to go on crazy study binges but their lessons sound crazy.”

“How so?” Night asked as his gaze sharpened.

“I think Crimson might be teaching Twilight how to exorcise ghost cause I hear moans and-” Twilight kicked her brother’s leg under the table and he bit his lip in pain. Velvet only giggled as Crimson felt Night’s eyes getting ready to cut him down.

“Well, so long as you two are being careful. I don’t think either of you two want to be parents just yet.” Both Twilight and Crimson hung their heads in embarrassment.

“I’m confused. What do ghosts have to do with kids?”

“Spike, why don’t you collect the dishes and put them in the sink?” Twilight stated. The boy shrugged and took his plate into the kitchen. Velvet did the same and brought her daughter with her. Twilight shot Crimson a nervous glance as they exited the room. Now Crimson was sitting across from Nightlight Sparkle. Twilight’s father. Alone.

Night let out a long sigh and folded his hands. His golden eyes were still trained in the man looking at him with a blank expression.

“I don’t understand it.” Night stated.

“Huh?”

“I don’t know why but there’s something off about you.” Crimson gulped at the words. “I can usually get a good read off of people but with you, it’s like looking at a scattered jigsaw puzzle.” He said with a sigh. “Apart from that you seem like a nice decent young man.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Please, call me Night. You’re practically family after all.” He chuckled. Velvet, Twilight and Spike made their way out and took their seats. Twilight and the others continued to converse with one another, but Crimson remained silent. He rolled several thoughts around in his head and let out a sigh.

“Crimson?” Twilight asked as she looked at her boyfriend. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just thinking is all.” Crimson bit his lip and looked at the visitors. “There is something else you two should know about me.” His tone was serious and Twilight gulped.

“Crimson I really don’t-”

“They have a right to know Twilight.” Both parents looked at him in surprise. Crimson let out a long sigh. “How much do you know about the demon attack sixteen years ago?” Both parents thought for a moment.

“Not much. Only what we heard on the news.” Night stated.

“Our son was there.” Night stated. “He doesn’t like to talk about it and we never asked out of respect. He lost a few of his friends in that.” Crimson lowered his head. “We only know that it was a joint effort between the Magic Council and the Royal Guard. Together they killed the beats.”

“That’s....not exactly what happened.” Crimson stated. “It’s impossible to kill a demon. You can only seal it.”

“What?” Night asked.

“When the demon was weakened, members of the Academy sealed the demon spirit inside of a human body.” Both Twilight’s parents looked shocked at the news. “It’s not something we like to talk about.”

“So you know where this...thing is?” Night asked in disgust.

“Conduit.”

“Hm?”

“The term you’re looking for is Conduit and yes I know him, as do you.”

“Who?”

“He sitting ten feet away from you.” A long silence fell over the group. Velvet looked at Twilight who had a guilty look on her face. Night gritted his teeth and glared at the man.

“Are you trying to be funny boy?”

“No joke. The demon that attacked Equestria is sealed inside my body.” Crimson said as the two had a shocked look on their faces.

“Now before anyone says something-” Twilight was cut off by her father standing up and glaring at the man.

“This is an outrage!” He pointed his finger at Crimson.

“Night dear, calm down and let him-”

“I will not calm down Velvet!” He yelled. “I will not have my daughter exposed to the likes of a demon!”

“Now hold on dad!” Twilight yelled. “Crimson may have something bad inside of him, but he has done nothing but help Equestria.”

“I don’t care what he has or hasn’t done.” He yelled. Crimson still held his composure at the man’s insults. “Worse is that he’s turned my daughter into some devil worshiping slut who-” The next thing the man saw was a flash of red and something pressing up against his neck. The group gasped when they saw Crimson holding his scythe edge to the man’s throat.

“Now it’s my turn to talk.” Crimson said in a dark tone. Night looked at the man and saw that the white’s of his eyes were black and his pupils were spliced. A pair of horns were also starting to sprout from his head. “You listen to me and you listen to me good because I’m only going to say this once.” Night didn’t dare flinch or gulp for fear of the blade cutting his throat. The sheer sharpness had already cut through his dark blue necktie. “Say whatever the hell you want about me. I’m use to it, but under no circumstances are you to insult my girlfriend like that and I will not sit idly by while she’s ridiculed by her own father.”

“Since you mean a great deal to Twilight I’ll overlook it this time, but only this time, because next time I’ll take off more than just the necktie.” Crimson removed the blade and made it vanish. The horns receded back into his head and his eyes returned to normal. Crimson sat down next to Twilight and let out a sigh. Night rubbed the area where the blade had once been and thankfully felt no blood. The man thought for a long time and finally broke the silence.

“Twilight,” Night said in a calm tone. “I approve.”

“.....”

“Um, what?” The scholar asked in confusion.

“Any man who is willing to go that far for my daughter, even threatening me for your safety has my respect.” Twilight and the group let out a sigh of relief. “While you’re not my first choice, I suppose you’re not the worst.”

“Thanks?” Crimson said unsure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult.

“Now how about some desert?” Spike, Twilight and Velvet left the room to get some bowls. “That was quite the speech there Crimson.”

“I meant every word of it.”

“I sensed that. I also know that there’s more to your story than meets the eye.”

“It wasn’t like I had a choice to house this thing.” Crimson folded his arms.

“So what does my daughter mean to you?” Crimson sat back and closed his eyes as he thought about the times when he first met the scholar.

“Both my parents were killed in the attack and it’s only a haunting reminder of that experience. When you lose something that important to you it leaves a hole in your heart.” The man sighed. “Since I’ve met Twilight she’s helped me fill in those gaps and made the pain easier to bear. The least I can do for her is to make sure she’s happy while I’m still here?”

“And what if you don’t come back one day?” Crimson bit his lip. “ You obviously have a dangerous job. What if something were to happen to you? What then?”

“Then I can only hope that she meets someone who can keep her happy. Whether it’s with me or someone else.” He said in a low tone. “I’ll always try to come back and that’s all I can really promise.”

“I suppose I can accept that.” Night stated. “Now let me make a promise.” He waved Crimson closer and whispered to him. “If you so much as hurt my daughter in anyway then so help me I will ensure that every waking moment of your life is nothing but pure hell.” Crimson gulped and saw the honesty in his eyes. “Oh and don’t think you’re out of the woods just yet Crimson. You may have gained my approval, but you still have a real hurdle ahead.”

“Wh-what hurdle?”

“Tell me, has Twilight mentioned her older brother?”

“Not really. I don’t even know his name.” Crimson stated.

“Well, you are in for a treat then. If you thought I was bad then he is so much worse.” He chuckled.

“How old is he?”

“There’s a ten year gap between them. Twilight is more like a daughter to him and you’ll need a miracle to get his approval.” He chuckled. "I'll also be sending him a letter that we've met you." Crimson gave a nervous gulp. "I won't tell him anything involving what you are. Not my place to tell."

“Great," He said in a sarcastic tone. "and why are you telling me this?” Night sat back and sighed.

“I don’t trust you completely, but Twilight seems to trust you and I trust her judgement and there are some...redeeming qualities about you.”

“Enough that you’ll tell me about Twi’s older brother?” Crimson asked with a sheepish grin.

“Don’t push your luck.” He said in a flat tone. “But in all fairness, good luck. You’ll need it.” He chuckled. Twilight and the others came out with a few bowls of ice cream and cups of coffee. After desert, Velvet and Night departed the tree house and Crimson gave them the half bottle of wine they didn’t finish. Crimson gave Twilight a quick kiss and made his way back to the guild.

Time for some well deserved rest. He thought as he opened the door he saw Bandit and Cobalt fall from the upper levels and landed in a heap. Or not. Cobalt grabbed Crimson’s coat and looked like a train had run over him.

“The bread sticks.” Was all he said before passing out.

“Crimson!” The man looked up and gulped to see Ivory with two large bread sticks holstered on her back As she removed one, it made the sound of a sword being unsheathed from it’s blade. Seriously, what are those things made of? The woman pointed it at the man and grinned. “It is payback time!” She leapt off the bannister with the roll of destruction raised and everything went black as she brought it down on his head.

Chapter XIV: Taking Flight

Chapter XIV

Taking Flight

Many years ago.

It was raining. Seemed appropriate for a funeral. Crow stood beside the other students as they lowered six coffins into the ground. The raven haired sixteen year old paid the crowd no mind to the whispers that had been circulating upon his return. He was on loan to another squad to gather important intel on a nearby bandit group that had been growing in strength over the course of a few months and he was put in charge. He succeeded in gathering the intel, but at the cost of his teammates. He was the only one that made it out alive.

He dropped a single black rose on each coffin and walked away from the funeral. Rose, Orion and Silver were drying themselves off when they saw the man walk past them. Orion could see his notorious thousand yard stare and paid them no mind as he walked down the hallway.

“I heard that he was the only one that made it.” Orion stated.

“And it was his call that got them killed.” A swift hit on the head got both boys’ attention and Rose was glaring at them.

“Knock it off guys.” She said in a stern tone. “Imagine how he’s feeling. He just lost his entire squad.” The two boys rolled their eyes at the words as they went down the corridor and joined the feast that was being held for the families. Rose and the others had recently taken the Ranger Trial, but only Crow and herself succeeded in passing. Crow sat alone at a table and quietly ate his food. Rose and the other two sat down across from the Ranger.

“Need something?” He asked in a stagnant tone.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Rose stated.

“Speak for yourself.” Orion and Silver said under their breath. That comment earned them each a dead leg from the girl.

“I’m fine.” He said in a flat tone. “I’m alive aren’t I?” Crow’s eyes still had that cold gleam to them that sent shivers down the trio’s spines.

“Look, accidents happen and-”

“Accident?” Crow stated. “What accident?” Rose looked at him in shock.

“The mission?”

“That was no accident, it went as I predicted it would happen.” The three mages looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I had a choice to make. The intel or the squad. I chose the intel.” Orion grabbed Crow by the collar and glared daggers through him with his sharp red eyes.

“You heartless bastard!” He yelled. Orion stopped as he felt all eyes on him and decided that this was the worst place for a fight. Crow stood up and went out into the hallway. The fuming trio followed him and Crow leaned against the wall after closing the door to the main hall. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Orion yelled.

“That intel was invaluable in tracking down the bandit trade routes they use to smuggle slaves and drugs.”

“You sacrificed six lives!” Silver bellowed.

“To save hundreds, maybe thousands.” Crow stated as he started to walk away. He felt a firm hand grab him and force him up against the wall. Rosario stared at him with her dark green eyes and was clenching her teeth so hard that she thought they might crack.

“How can you just belittle their lives like that?”

“Don’t you get it yet?” He said in a stagnant tone. “This isn’t a game we’re playing here. We’re soldiers. Pawns. Weapons to be used to attain victory.” The man said as he broke free from the hold and adjusted his glasses. “Seeing your comrades die is part of what it means to be a warrior and if you can’t accept that then you don’t belong here.” The three mages stood frozen as the raven haired teenager continued his way down the hallway.

“Okay, now I definitely hate him.” Orion growled.

“Everything passes right through him I guess.” Silver said as he let out a sigh to calm his nerves.

“Guess that’s why his codename is Phantom.” Rose said as she and the other two rejoined the feast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present.

It had been two weeks since Twilight’s parents had visited the small town of Ponyville and things had started to regulate around the small town. Cobalt was sitting in the park watching Scootaloo attempting to fly. The blue haired flyer was becoming a bit impatient with the girl’s progress. He’d spent close to two months training her and she’s shown little progress. She has the stamina and the form down, but it felt like something was missing. The girl fell on the ground and passed out from exhaustion. Again.

“What am I gonna do with you?” Cobalt said to no one in particular as he walked over to Scootaloo. As he looked down at her he could see the bruises from the training he had put her through and sighed. The blue haired flyer then heard footsteps and saw his sister walking up to him.

“Hey bro.” She smiled.

“Meh.” He face palmed.

“What’s eating you?” The water mage asked. Cobalt nodded towards the girl

“I’ve been training her for two months and there’s little to no progress!” He complained. “I’ve taught her every basic trick I know and still nothing.” Cobalt sighed. “It’s like there’s something missing. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll figure it out.” Azure put her finger to her chin and bit her lip as an idea came to her.

“Do you remember what dad did when you were learning how to fly?” Cobalt thought hard as he sifted through his memories. His eyes shot open and he huffed.

“Guess there’s no other choice.” He saw that the sun was starting to set and he motioned towards the still sleeping flyer. Azure waved her hand and a sphere of water the size of a basket ball appeared before them. The woman dropped the ball on Scootaloo and the girl shot up.

“Ninjas!” She yelled out in surprise. She looked down at her wet clothes and glared at the adults. “Hey what’s the big idea?” She yelled.

“Time to head home Scootaloo.” Cobalt stated. “Come back here tomorrow at around nine’o clock and bring your swimsuit.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re gonna need it. Now get going before you miss the bus back to Cloudsdale.” He stated. Scootaloo huffed and got on her scooter before zipping off to the bus station. The siblings then made their way back towards the guild and kept quiet. Cobalt went up to his room to see Rouge sitting on their bed with her book in hand.

“Hey hun. How’d training go?” She asked as she closed the book.

“Okay I guess.” He sighed as he rubbed his chin. “You doing anything tomorrow?”

“Not really, why?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scootaloo yawned as she made her way off the bus from Cloudsdale and went back to the field. She arrived a it earlier than usual and took the opportunity to stretch out. Soon she saw the blue haired flyer arrive with a smile on his face.

“Sleep well?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She said as she cracked her back.

“Good, you’ll need it.” He said as he cracked his back. “Quick question, since the start of the training have you been going to a masseuse?”

“A what?” Scootaloo asked.

“Have been going to Aloe and Lotus’s spa?” The girl looked at him in confusion and made a foul face.

“No way! That stuff is for frilly girls and is totally uncool.”

“Well, that changes today.” Cobalt stated. “You brought your swimsuit right?”

“No way!” Scootaloo yelled. “That stuff is for sissies!” Cobalt glared at her.

“It’s a part of your training.” Cobalt said as he started to walk down the path. “Trust me it’s an important element to help you fly.”

“How?” The girl whined.

“You’ll have to come to find out.” Scootaloo weighed her option and mumbled under her breath. The orange winged trainee continued to grumble as they approached the sweet smelling shop. Cobalt grinned as he saw Rouge, Rarity and Fluttershy. “Hey girls.” He said with a wave.

“Hello Cobalt.” Rarity said with a smile. “What brings you here?”

“Scoot needs to relax her muscles a bit and I figured that this would be the best place to go.” He ignored the girl mumbling to herself.

“Great idea. I could use a bit of R&R.” Rouge said as the group went inside. The group was greeted by the same pair of twins that they’d seen before. Cobalt and the girls got changed and met up at the hot tubs. Rouge joined her boyfriend while the other three took their individual ones.

“Oh man this feels good.” Cobalt stated.

“Divine as always.” Rarity chimed. Scootaloo kept the top half of her head above the water and grumbled. “Oh calm down dear, it’s not so bad.”

“If anyone catches me in here then my daredevil license will be revoked.” Scoot blurted out.

“Who told you that?”

“Rainbow Dash.” Cobalt rolled his eyes at the words. Over the course of their training Scootaloo had said countless things like ‘Rainbow Dash said this and Rainbow said that.’ The man let it slide and tipped his head back before speaking.

“It’s important to relax your muscles or else you could permanently damage them.” The flyer stated. “Everyone loves relaxing after a hard day’s work, even Rainbow Dash.”

“He right on that note.” Rouge said. “Cobalt here may be dumb, but when it comes to flying there’s no one better.” Scootaloo let out a mumble. Cobalt managed to make out something regarding to the rainbow haired flyer. Soon the two flyer got out and re clothed themselves. Cobalt paid the spa sisters and heard a rumble from the young girl’s tummy.

“You did eat breakfast this morning right?”

“Um, I forgot.” Cobalt face palmed at the words.

“C’mon, you’re gonna need your strength today.” Cobalt and Scootaloo made their way towards Sugar Cube Corner and saw the other two crusaders. The two girls walked up to Scootaloo with smiles on their faces.

“Howdy Scoot.” The apple farmer said with a grin.

“Hey guys.” Sweetie Belle sniffed the air and looked at her friend.

“Um Scootaloo,” Sweetie said as a small smile crept across her face. “why do you smell like Rarity after one of her spa visits?” Scootaloo’s face went bright red and gulped. Apple Bloom was biting her lip as she saw sweat forming on the orange flyer’s brow.

“He made me go!” Scootaloo pointed to the blue haired flyer.

“She went so her muscles could relax.” Cobalt said as the three entered the establishment. “I’m sure you two love a nice hot bath after a hard day of crusading.” Both of the girls tried to find a reason to combat the hard logic, but found no argument. The group found a booth and sat down while Pinkie gave them a stack of menus. “Eat up guys. My treat.”

“Really?” Scootaloo said with a smile.

“Course. You need your strength after all.” Cobalt smiled as Pinkie brought him a cup of coffee. Scootaloo ordered a large serving of pancakes with extra bacon. Sweetie and Apple Bloom each ordered a muffin.

“You sure it’s okay?” Scoot asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Cobalt said as he waved the question off. “Go ahead eat like it’s your last meal.”

“Huh?” Scoot said as she shoveled another forkful of the fluffy pancakes into her mouth.

“Nothing. Just a saying we Academy folk use.” He chuckled. Scootaloo shrugged and went back to eating her breakfast. Fifteen minutes later the flyer was stuffed and let out a happy sigh. Cobalt paid the bill and the group walked out of the establishment. Scootaloo noticed that Cobalt was deep in thought.

“Head’s up yawl.” Apple Bloom said as she tugged on Scootaloo’s shirt. “Trouble ahead.” Scoot followed her friend’s gaze and saw the last two people she wanted to see. A girl about the same age as the trio wearing a tiara decorated with diamond studs that sat atop her light purple striped hair. The other had silver hair that was in a braid and a pair of pink glasses sat on her nose.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here Silver Spoon. A couple of no talent hacks.” The pink one said with a chuckle. “Shouldn’t you losers be off doing whatever it it that you do?”

“Just beat it Diamond Tiara.” The farmer stated as she rolled her eyes.

“Losers like you don’t get to boss us around.” Scootaloo was about to tackle the two but was stopped when she felt a hard hand on her shoulder.

“There a problem here?” Cobalt said as he looked at the two girls. His eyes were hardened and focused on the two girls. Silver and Tiara had seen the swordsman around Ponyville but never up close. “Is there any particular reason you’re picking on my student and her friends?”

“Th-they don’t have a special talent.” Silver said trying to hold her ground.

“Doesn’t mean they’ll never have one.” He said as he looked down at the trio. “They can do and become anything they want. Where your limits are already set and locked in place.” Tiara was grinding her teeth in anger.

“Well, at least I’m not dating an overgrown cockroach or training a talentless flyer.” The girl immediately regretted the words. The girls heard thunder and dark clouds appeared over their heads. The girls also saw arcs of lightning radiating off Cobalt’s body.

“It isn’t wise to insult a man’s girlfriend or student.” He said as he calmed down and the storm vanished from the sky. “I suggest you two beat it before you make me angry again.” The two bullies wisely and quickly ran away from the man who had a smug grin across his face. The trio looked at the man in surprise.

“That was awesome!” Scootaloo said with a wide grin.

“I had to deal with a lot of jerks like that when I was younger, course if you had beef with someone you could just break their legs and be done with it.” He chuckled. “Now before we get started I have a serious question to ask Scoot.”

“What?” Cobalt crouched down so that the two were eye level. Scootaloo gulped as she saw the seriousness in his eyes.

“Do you have a crush on anyone?” Scootaloo felt her face go red at the question and shook her head.

“What!?” She said in a higher pitched tone. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled at their friend’s reaction.

“I’m asking you if you have feelings for someone.” He said with a grin. “You know someone you have close to you.” Nope. She hadn’t heard wrong.

“N-No I-”

“His name’s Pipsqueak.” Sweetie interrupted. Scootaloo slowly turned her head towards the young mage. Her eyes were like two daggers ready to cut into the girl.

“He’s the kid with the accent and the pirate hat right?” Cobalt asked as he scratched his chin.

“Eeyup.” The farmer said with a smile.

“I don’t like him!” She yelled.

“Oh come on.” Sweetie butted in. “You were just talking about how cool he was for standing up to Tiara the other day.”

“He’s cool. So what?” The girl then glared at the blue flyer. “If you tell anyone I’ll-”

“Calm down Scoot. I’m not gonna make fun or tell anyone. Everyone had a crush at your age. Even me.” He said as he stood back up. “Like I said, this is part of your training.”

“How?”

“You’re gonna ask him to hang out with you.” Scootaloo’s face went bright red.

“Say what!?” The girl said as her face turned red as a tomato. “What does that have to do with flying?”

“Simple, you’re scared of doing it aren’t you?”

“No!” Cobalt raised an eyebrow and his blue eyes cut down the feeble words like a warm knife through butter. “Okay maybe a little.” The flyer said as she hung her head in shame.

“Part of flying is facing your fears, else they’ll tie you down to the ground and you’ll never be able to move forward.” Scootaloo still kept her head low and grumbled. “Believe me, it’s vital. Scootaloo was having an internal battle. On one hand she wanted to fly, but on the other she was worried about Pip’s reaction. Cobalt looked at the other two crusaders and frowned. “This is also something you need to do alone, without any distractions.” He eyed the other two girls.

“But we wanna-”

“No.” He said in a firm tone. “You two run along, I think Rarity said she was looking for ya Sweetie Belle.” The two girls let out a huff. “And don’t tell anyone about what’s going on either.”

“Fine.” Sweetie grumbled.

“Pinkie Promise it!” Scoot yelled. The two girls went through the motions before wandering off to Celestia knows where. The orange winged flyer groaned and looked at the fighter. “Do I have to get dressed up?”

“Do you want to?”

“No!”

“Then no. So where is Pip anyway?”

“Probably at his ship.” Cobalt had a confused look on his face. “That ship play set in the park.”

“Okay, then let’s head out.” The two then made their way towards the park. Scootaloo had her head hung low and was mumbling things to herself. Soon the two arrived at the park and sure enough, the pirate hat wearing twelve year old was on top of the wooden ship with fake saber in hand and yelling orders to a coal haired flyer and two other boys in pirate outfits. The ship itself was large, wooden and had a slide running off the stern of the ship and pole that dropped down into a small boat that was off to the side.

Cobalt gave Scootaloo a nudge and the orange winged girl let out an audible gulp as her face went bright red. The man grinned and put a hand next to the mouth. “Hey Pip!” The captain of the boat turned his head. “Come here for a sec would ya?” Scootaloo became stiff as the boy hopped off the top of the play set and grabbed the pole that lead down to the ground. The small child sauntered his way over and looked at the flyers with his unpatched eye.

“Avast ye scurvy dogs.” He said in a poor pirate accent. “Are ye here to join my crew? If yes, then ye be joining the right one. We go adventuring and pillaging all kinds of booty.”

“Sorry, but I already have a captain to follow and all the booty I need.” The flyer said as the purple haired Changeling came to mind. The captain then set his sights on the purple haired flyer who had a bright blush on her face. When she looked back towards Cobalt’s direction she only saw a few feathers floating to the ground. Scootaloo’s face was now bright red and her mind was going haywire. She clenched her fist and gathered what little resolve she had and sighed.

“Hey Pip I was um.” The girl was messing with the dirt with her shoes. “I-I was just wondering if y-you wanted to hang out...with...me sometime?” Scootaloo looked at the pirate hat wearing boy who now had a blush on his face.

“Um...s-sure.” He said as he dropped the pirate accent. “I mean, I’d like to have ye as an ally. The seas can be a dangerous place for pirates like us lass.” He said as he tipped his hat. “We must stand together if we are to defeat the pink kraken and the silver squid that plague these waves.”

“You mean Tiara and Spoon?” Scootaloo added a hint of malice at the names.

“The very same!” He said as he held up his fist. “I’d like to go over strategies with ye.” His face was becoming more red. “Alas, my crew and I are repairing our ship and will take the rest of the day.” Scootaloo felt her wings droop. “Tomorrow after the pillaging of knowledge is when we'll meet.”

“You mean after school?”

“Correct. Sharp as a sword ye are. That is when negotiations of our alliance will take place on my ship.” Scootaloo took a moment to process what she was hearing.

“So meet you here tomorrow after school?”

“Yes!” He then heard a loud bang come from the ship and looked over to see the other two boys tangled in the rope bridge while the blue winged child was trying to get them untangled. Pip face palmed at the display. “Sorry lass, but my crew needs me. They’re hopeless without there captain.” He then gave her a bow and tipped his hat. “I shall see ye when the sun reaches the middle of the sky.” Scootaloo stood frozen as she watched the boy run back to his crew mates.

“Nice work.” The voice made Scoot jump out of her skin. She turned around to see the blue haired flyer grinning at her.

“What did that have to do with flying?” She yelled as her embarrassment was replaced by rage. “I seriously doubt that had Anything to do with flying!” She pointed an accusing finger at the man.

“Look Scoot-”

“No! All you’ve done is order me around and have me do stuff I don’t even need to do. So when are you gonna teach me how to soar through the skies like Rainbow Dash?” Cobalt crossed his arms and frowned at the child.

“Look kid.” His voice was firm and serious. “Everything I’ve done is for your benefit and I never said I was going to teach you how to fly like Rainbow. No one can except for Rainbow Dash.”

“But-” He held up a hand and Scoot closed her mouth.

“I’m not done. I get that Rainbow is your hero and it’s good to have a role model, but don’t you compare me to her.”

“But she’s the best flyer ever!” The girl argued. “Better than anyone I know and way better than you.” Cobalt bit his lip and cracked his neck.

“Then why isn’t she teaching you?” Scootaloo opened her mouth to answer but thought. Every time she’d asked Rainbow to hangout or teach her a trick she always said she had something better to do. The girl lowered her head and gulped. Cobalt let out a sigh. “Look I’m not trying to ruin your image of her, but I’m your teacher and I will get you to fly. I can only do that if you trust me and let me teach you to fly, which if all goes well should be by the end of today.”

Scootaloo’s heart soared and she gave a happy flap of her wings. “Course that’s only if you want me to teach you.” Scootaloo lowered her head and weighed her options. Either quit and go back to hoping Rainbow would teach her to fly or stay with the man that’s been taking time out of his personal and professional life to teach her.

“By the end of today?” Cobalt gave a nod. “I’m sorry. I just want to fly so badly and I thought that the only way to do that was to do what Rainbow Dash does.”

“You need to find your own way to fly.” He bent down so they were eye level. “Tell me, would you rather be you or just an imitation of someone else?” The girl looked at him in surprise. “No one can talk like you, move like you or be you. Everyone has their own path to follow in life and no one can walk it for you, understand?” Scoot gave a nod at the man. “Good. Now before I teach you there’s one last thing I want you to do?”

“What now? You want me to run down the middle of town wearing a chicken suit?” Cobalt chuckled at the thought.

“No, just stretch out. Don’t wanna pull something.” Scootaloo happily obliged to the words and started doing her normal stretches. As she stretched both her hands up she felt a something hard hit her in the gut. Before she passed out she saw the man’s clenched fist connecting with her stomach.

Cobalt caught the girl and sighed. “Sorry about this kid, but you’ve left me no choice.” The man flared his wings and took to the sky with the girl in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scootaloo groaned as she shook her head. The girl felt a dull pain in her gut and felt something across her eyes. “Don’t take that off yet.” The voice of the blue flyer rang in the girl’s head. As the girl stood up she felt wind rushing against her skin and wings.

“Where are we?”

“Don’t worry about that right now.” He said as he helped her up. “Before we start I wanna know how badly you wanna fly. Are you willing to give it your all?”

“Of course!”

“Are you willing to die trying?” Scootaloo let out a gulp at the words.

“W-why?”

“Consider this a test. If you pass then I will open up a whole new world for you and you will become the best flyer you can be.” Scootaloo smiled at the words. “Fail and you are no longer my student.”

“What?” She yelled.

“You lack one vital thing. The one thing that’s been holding you back since day one.”

“What? What is it?”

“Instinct.”

“What’s instinct?” Cobalt face palmed at the question.

“You know when someone goes to hit you, you flinch?” Scootaloo dropped her head.

“Y-yeah.” She said in a sad tone.

“Your natural instinct is to protect yourself. You don’t mean for it to happen your body just does it on it’s own accord. Every person has it, for some it takes a little bit extra for it to kick in.”

“So how do I use it?”

“You need to use the most basic human emotion.” Cobalt turned the girl around so her back was to him and untied the blindfold. The light poured into the girl’s sight and she rubbed her eyes as they adjusted. She blinked several times before they shrank to the size of pin tips. The two flyers were on a cloud so high that she could barely make out the house roofs in the small town. “Fear.” The girl gulped as she felt the man give her a hard push and she fell right off the cloud towards the ground.

Scootaloo started screaming and tears formed in her eyes as the clouds zoomed past her. “Remember the steps!” She heard the flyer yell from the cloud. Scootaloo closed her eyes and thought back to her sessions with the blue haired man.

“The worst thing you can do while flying is panic. That will affect your judgement and make you crash. If you’re ever in a bad situation then just breathe in, count to four and breath out.” The girl could feel her heart beating a million miles a minute. Scootaloo took in several long breaths and her heart calmed down.

“The next thing is to stabilize yourself in the air. You need to keep your back straight and your muscles tight.” The flyer corrected her posture and regained control of her body in the air. "Next, slowly extend your wings. You can’t do it too quickly or the updraft could break them." Scootaloo knew that she was fast approaching the ground and slowly extended her orange wings.

She could feel the pressure being put on them from the fall, but kept going. The air flow changed and she soon felt her body rising and a an odd sensation flowed through her body. Scootaloo felt herself going up and she started to slow down. She opened her eyes and her jaw dropped. The sun was just starting to go down over Ponyville and the sky was filled in orange light.

The girl’s eyes were filled with beauty and she looked down towards the town below. She smirked and felt herself falling back down. She went headfirst and brought her wigs up again and felt the same tugging sensation, but she didn’t care. As she started loosing altitude she gave a hard flap and regained her senses.Scootaloo yelled out a victory cry and soared over Ponyville. Cobalt smiled in pride as he saw the girl soar through the skies. He saw his two comrades on the ground and rushed down to meet them.

“Told you she wouldn’t need the net.” Rouge said as she held out her hand towards the red haired man. Crimson sighed and tossed her a bit bag holding twenty bits. Cobalt landed next to his girlfriend and smiled.

“Nice work.” The man looked and saw a large spiderweb net in between the two buildings overhead.

“Who’d thought you’d be a good teacher?” Crimson said with a grin.

“Shut up. I did just fine.” The three then saw the orange flyer zoom over head. Crimson rubbed his chin and bit his lip.

“Hey Cobalt.”

“Yeah?”

“You did teach Scootaloo how to land, right?” Cobalt opened his mouth, but no words came out. The man’s eyes shrank at the realization that Scoot had no idea how to land except for crashing. “Right?”

“I’ll be right back.” The man flapped his wings and took off in the direction of the orange blur as the other two mages face palmed.

“Idiot.” Crimson said before walking away.

“Where are you going?”

“I gotta go to the train station. I’m expecting a visitor.” The Changeling shrugged and made her way back to the guild.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell had opted to go to Sweet Apple Acres in hopes of getting their apple sauce making cutie marks. Applejack was on a tall ladder picking the apples while Sweetie and Apple Bloom were each holding a bucket. AJ thought she heard yelling, but shrugged it off.

“Holy cow!” Applebloom yelled as she dropped her bucket of apples.

“What?” Sweetie asked as she and AJ looked at her. Apple Bloom pointed to the sky and the two followed her finger. Both girls’ jaws dropped as they saw an orange blur rocketing through the sky.

“What in the name of Ponyville is that?” The stetson wearing farmer said as she squinted. The blur continued to fly through the sky and was getting closer to the ground. Apple Bloom squinted and managed to make out the flyer’s purple hair and orange wings.

“It’s Scootaloo!”

“What!?” The other two said as they looked closer at the object and saw that it was in fact the small girl. If the three had smiled any harder than it would have broken skin. Their smiles soon faded as they saw the girl losing control and descending quickly. The girls heard what sounded like a thunder clap and a blue blur catching up to the flyer.

Cobalt was closing in on Scootaloo and grabbed her under her arms. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to pull up and the two crashed in Applejack’s barn. The three apple pickers high tailed it to the barn. The three saw splintered wood and scattered dirt on the floor. Applejack went in first and saw a shining object where the dirt trail ended.

“Okay. Ow.” She heard a familiar voice say. The farmer then saw the blue haired flyer’s skin was shiny and covered in metal.

“What in tarnation is going on here?” Cobalt stood up and was holding a dizzy Scootaloo in his arms. Cobalt brought her out and his skin shifted back to normal. Cobalt sat her down on the porch and she shook her head. “Are you all right hun?” Applejack asked.

“That. Was. Awesome!” The girl yelled as she stood up. “I’m more than all right! I flew! I bucking flew!”

“Told ya you could do it.” Cobalt said with a smile.

“That was amazing!” Apple Bloom said with a wide smile. The three girls continued to squeal and congratulate the flyer. Scootaloo then ran inside the farm house and ran into the bathroom.

“Ah gotta tell ya Cobalt ah’m impressed.” She smiled. “Just how did you get her to fly?”

“Hard work, determination and hard work.”

“You said that last one twice.”

“That’s because it’s takes twice as much work as determination.” AJ frowned at the man. “That and I gave her a little push.”

“A push?”

“Off a cloud!” He heard the girl yell. The farmer turned her head towards the man and frowned. Cobalt put a finger to his lips and had a nervous grin.

“Now before you bite my head off, Rouge and Crimson were nearby and she wasn’t in any deadly danger.” The farmer huffed and was about to go on a rant.

“YOU’VE GOT TO BE BUCKING KIDDING ME!” The group heard a familiar irate voice yell from upstairs. The two heard stomping noises and saw the angered orange winged flyer with her two friends trailing behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Cobalt asked.

“I still don’t have a cutie mark!” She huffed. “I thought for sure that I’d get it when I learned to fly.” The girl was about to go on another rant but slumped to the ground.

“You okay hun?” AJ asked.

“Yeah, I’m just tired.” She said with a yawn.

“No surprise. You had a big day.” Cobalt chuckled. Cobalt, Sweetie and Scootaloo said goodbye to the farmers and made their way back into town. “We’ll have to work on take off’s and landings next time.”

“So I passed?”

“With flying colors.” The group then saw a woman with bright red wings and light purple hair fly up to them.

“Scootaloo, where have you been,” Gale asked as she looked at her daughter who was covered in dirt from the crash. “and what in the name of Celestia happened to you?”

“Mom you’ll never guess what? I flew today!” Gale’s eyes widened.

“Really?” Scoot gave a sharp nod.

“But I gotta work on my landings.” She chuckled.

“Sorry if I kept her out too long ma’am.” The blue flyer stated. His eyes narrowed onto an odd bruise on her right wing. “Are you okay Gale?” She followed his gaze to her wing.

“Oh that, I accidentally hit a tree branch on my way into work this morning.” She said with a nervous smile. “Anyway, let’s go sweetie. I’m sure your father will be excited to hear about your first flight.”

“That’ll be the day.” Scoot said as she rolled her eyes. Her mother took her hand in hers and she took off. Sweetie looked up at Cobalt and saw the seriousness in his eyes.

“You okay Cobalt?”

“Yeah, run along home Sweetie. Don’t want Rarity to worry.” Sweetie nodded and hurried off towards the boutique. Cobalt started to walk back towards the guild when he spotted a familiar green haired flyer coming from the train station. Ivy hurried up to him and smiled. “Hey Ivy. How’d the job go?”

“Trader escort. Piece of cake.” She smiled. “So what’d I miss?” Cobalt then went into detail about his training session from Scootaloo and Ivory’s payback. He, Crimson, and Bandit would have bruises for weeks. “Ha ha. Serves you right.”

“Oh shut up.” He said as he let out a visible breath. Cobalt blew again and saw his breath as they approached the guild. “Hey is sit just me or is it colder?” Ivy blew a bit and saw her own breath and rubbed her hands together.

“Hey what gives? It’s like the middle of Summer. Is Dash drunk or something?” The two then noticed that there was frost on the ground and a familiar purple haired Changeling was wearing one of Cobalt’s sweatshirts and grumbling to herself outside the guild.

“Hey Rouge.” Cobalt said as he gave her a quick kiss. “You have any idea why it’s cold?”

“See for yourself.” She opened the guild doors and the two flyers froze in place. The dark corners of the room had frost on the floor and the other guild member all had worried looks on their faces. Standing in front of Ivory and Crimson was a girl in her late teens wearing a white cloak.

The figure turned around to reveal her bright blue eyes and snow white hair. At her left side was a long Estoc sword with a pointed end and a six inch dagger was on her right side. The girl was also donning white leather boots and a skirt that ended at her knees. Her chest was covered by white chain mail armor that showed off her natural physique.

“Oh great. The gangs all here.” Angel said with a groan.

“What is she doing here!?” Ivy asked as she let out a fire filled huff. Crimson quickly stepped between the two and sighed.

“Guys, Angel got transferred from the Crystal Empire branch to here. So she’s going to be living here at the guild.” Ivy;s right eyelid twitched at the words and walked up to the red haired man.

“Conference. Now.” Crimson sighed and showed Angel to her room before meeting up with Ivory and the rest of his squad in the conference room. “Crimson, have you gone completely insane!?” The dragon slayer yelled. “Why in the name of the creator did you bring Angel here?”

“I have to agree with Ivy on this one.” Rouge stated. “Angel is crazy and you know that she doesn’t like any of us. So why bring her here?”

“You guys just don't know her like I do.” Crimson said as he crossed his arms.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure we do man. She’s crazy and not the good kind of crazy either.” Cobalt said with a sigh.

“I know. That’s why I brought her here.” The three looked at the scythe wielder in surprise. “Angel has been acting more aggressive as of late and almost no one can handle her.” The three nodded at the memory of when Ivy fought her in the trials. “It’s better that I keep her on a tight leash so she doesn’t do anything stupid.” The three still looked unconvinced.

Crimson shot Ivory a glance who nodded. The man reached into his pocket and threw the silver ring he had taken from the Bandit King’s hand on the table. Cobalt picked the ring up and saw a silver sword etched on the front. “That’s the other reason why she’s here.”

“Those nut jobs again?” Ivy groaned.

“That was on the late Bandit King’s finger.” Cobalt’s eyes shrank. “I asked Azure about it and she doesn’t know anything about them.”

“Crimson, if they’re back and looking for you then-” The man shot a hand up.

“Which is why Angel is here. She’s never faced these guys before and if she does run into them then Ivory and I can back her up.” The silver haired woman nodded. The three sighed in defeat and set the ring back on the table. “Besides, Angel’s social skill could use a little work.”

“A little?” Ivy said.

“I mean it Ivy.” He said as he pointed to the green flyer. “I’ll try to keep her under control, so don’t do anything to antagonize her.” The dragon slayer rolled her eyes and grumbled. The group then made their way out of the conference room and Crimson grabbed the ring before going into his room and laying down to rest.

Chapter XV: The Amulet

Chapter XV

The Amulet

Crow Blackbird sighed as he walked through the stone halls of the Academy with a metal box secured under his right arm while his left occupied his signature cane. His steps echoed through the empty hallway and came upon a dead end with a statue carved into the wall. The statue depicted a phoenix rising from the ashes of it’s death and flying towards freedom.Unlike the white marble that graced the hallway, this statue was made of pure obsidian and it’s eyes were two rubies. The cane wielding man sighed and raised his cane, the man then tapped the head of the statue with his cane twice and the eyes glowed bright red before the statue started to shift.

It’s wings opened and the bricks in the wall started to shift and move. The statue and it’s surrounding area started to rise through the new opening. A set of spiral steps lead down into darkness. The sound of footsteps made the man turn around to see his secretary, Hazel. She was donning her usual brown jacket and skirt that matched her dark brown hair and eyes.

“Morning Headmaster.” She stated in her usual calm demeanor.

“Morning Hazel, what brings you here?”

“I could ask you that same question.” She said as she adjusted her rectangular glasses. Crow looked at the metal box he held in his hand.

“Just tying up loose ends.” The man and woman then descended the dark stairway that was lit by torchlight. the steps seemed to go on for an eternity and the spiral steps seemed to reach into Hell itself. The steps came to a stop and a large door with several glyphs carved into it stood before them. The large door was made of hardened dragon steel and had several incantations placed on it.

Only members of the council were allowed in the Vault where the most dangerous magical artifacts were kept. Crow reached into his pocket and pulled out an amulet marked with the nine pointed star of the council. He placed it into the key hole and funneled his magic through it. The large door started to crack and shift before it split apart revealing a large hallway with hundreds of shelves each with magic containment fields.

Crow and Hazel slowly made their way down the hallway towards the end, past several weapons, amulets, cursed artifacts and found an empty containment box next to a large red vial with a goblet inside.

“So what are you putting inside?” Crow opened the metal box and the woman gasped. The amulet was like an upside-down triangle with the figure of a dark Unicorn’s head at the top, wings on the side and a large red jewel in the center. “Oh. I see.”

“We never did finish that mission.” Crow stated in a low tone as he picked up the cursed amulet and set it down inside the vault and locked it away. As the two made their way out of the vault Crow’s mind drifted to the past.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many years ago.

Crow, now at the age of seventeen, stood beside the red haired sixteen year old girl and the other two boys in front of the current headmaster of the Academy. His rapier was secured at his side and his eyes were focused on the blue robed man who was standing over his desk that had a large map on top.

“Thanks to the intelligence recovered by the late Team Bishop,” The students remembered the funeral that took place three months prior. “our code breaking division has determined the location of the Black Fang Bandit hideout.” The man said as he pointed to a red dot marked on the map. “We’ve also received word that the bandits are in possession of an extremely dangerous magical artifact.”

“Which artifact?” Rose asked.

“We’re not sure, but from what we’re able to decipher it’s an amulet that supposed to increase a mage’s magical abilities ten fold, but at the cost of their sanity.”

“The Alicorn Amulet.” Crow spoke. The group turned towards the raven haired man. “An amulet left over from the Discord era, designed by Starswirl the bearded, stolen by the Scarlet Rogue and repurposed for his own design.” The older man scratched his chin as the other two boys looked at him in confusion.

“How come we’ve never heard of this?” Orion stated as he scratched his head.

“Because I don’t sleep in class.” Both boys growled at the remark.

“According to this intel,” The older man began. “the bandits are due to move in a week. This is our best chance to strike at their major trade route and get back that amulet before it falls into the wrong hands.”

“Yes sir!” The four stated.

“Crow Blackbird, you’re squad leader for this mission,” The other three fighters cringed. “Rosario Vermillion will be your second in command.” Crow gave a nod at the words. “You four will leave at fifteen-hundred hours so get your gear ready and report in front of the courtyard. This is a very delicate mission so be on your guard. You four are dismissed.” Crow gave a nod and left the room while the other three remained. The man looked at the three in surprise.

“Sir, I have a bad feeling about this.” Rose stated in a firm tone.

“You mean you have a bad feeling about Crow?” He said as he folded his hands. The three bit their lips at the words. “I know that Crow isn’t the most social squad mate, but he know’s what he’s doing.”

“He got the last squad he worked with killed!” Silver stated in a rough tone. Teach sighed at the words and shook his head.

“There was no other way. Had Crow gone to save them the he would have died as well and then we’d have no information at all.” Teach said in a firm tone.

“But we heard-”

“The soldiers under Crow’s command refused to follow his orders and they paid for it.” His tone was cold enough to freeze over Hell. “End of discussion. I suggest you lot start packing and try to listen to the boy, he may seem rough around the edges, but he does care for his teammates. Dismissed.” The three nodded and made their way through the stone corridors of the castle. Rose deviated from the boys and made her way to the East wing of the dorms.

She soon approached her door and entered her shared room. The room was simple with two full sized beds. The one on the far left was a cloud bed that was dyed a dark brown color while the one on the right was a dark red color. Towards the window, she saw a girl with dark brown hair and wings sprouting from her back. The girl turned around and smiled.

“Oh, hello Rose.” She said in her usual soft, yet happy tone.

“Hey Fern. What’cha up too?” Rose asked as she grabbed her mission pack and put it on her bed.

“Oh just making a potion.” The flyer then turned her eyes to the bag. “Going on a mission?” The redhead nodded. “With who?”

“Orion, Silver, and Crow, who is the team leader.” Fern gulped at the words. “I don’t like it that much either, but it’s Teach’s orders.” Rose walked over to her roommate and stared out the window. Across the courtyard and into the window where she saw the raven haired man sitting at his desk. Something caught her eye and summoned the scope for her rifle appeared in her hands. She turned the dials and focused on the teenager.

The redhead raised an eyebrow as she saw something fall from the raven haired teenager’s cheek. Rose raised an eyebrow as she pondered what could make Crow, the Black Phantom shed tears. The red head sighed and continued packing her bag and prepared herself for tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present.

The sun shined over the small town of Ponyville, the air was humid and the dew on the grass shined like it had been dipped in gold in the sunlight. The red haired mage, along with his three teammates was busy giving Angel the grand tour of the small town. Rouge and Cobalt were exchanging nervous glances, while Ivy was constantly glaring at the ice conduit. The next place was one that Crimson was dreading, the Golden Oaks Library. Crimson stopped at the door and turned to face the ice mage.

“What are we doing at a library?” Angel asked in an irate tone.

“There’s someone I wan’t you to meet.” He said with a sigh. “You three stay out here.”

“Crimson-”

“I’ll be fine.” He said as he opened the door for the white haired mage. Crimson walked in behind her and saw Angel was staring at Spike who was carrying a stack of books. Several pillars of books were stacked around the library and looked like the foundations of one of his own book castles he built as a child.

“Hey Crimson.” Spike smiled.

“What’s with the book construction?” He asked as he looked at the stacks of books.

“Re-shelving day.” Spike groaned.

“Ah yes, the monthly ritual.” Angel had a surprised look on her face. “Do you know where Twilight is?”

“Yeah, hang on a second.” The hybrid got to his feet and walked down over towards the cellar. “Twilight, Crimson’s here.” Spike then saw the white haired mage. “With a guest.” The hybrid heard footsteps and continued on his way. The indigo haired girl walked up to see her boyfriend and smiled. Her smile then shifted when she saw the familiar white mage.

“Twilight, you remember my student Angel?” He said as Twilight approached the two conduits. Angel vaguely remembers the scholar during the trials.

“Um, we’ve never met professionally.” Twilight said as she stuck out her hand. Angel just stared at it and crossed her arms. Twilight retrated her hand and smiled nervously.

“Twilight here runs the library,” The man sighed at the next part “and she’s my girlfriend.” A long silence fell over the three. Twilight saw the white conduit’s blue eyes look her over and sharpen. The scholar felt goosebumps as the temperature dropped a few degrees. Angel’s right eyelid twitched and she cracked the vertebrae in her neck.

“Nice to meet you.” She forced out through her gritted teeth. After that the white mage left the tree in a huff. Crimson looked at Twilight who nodded, with that, Crimson went after Angel and caught up with her with his three friends.

“Angel, hold up.” The ice mage snarled and continued down the street. Cobalt then flew in front of her blocking her path with crossed arms and a glare that could make a rhino void it’s bowels.

“Out of my way.” She spat out. Crimson caught up with her and let out a heavy breath. He took her by the arm and lead her into an ally between two buildings.

“Look Angel, I know this is upsetting but-”

“Upsetting?” She said in a mocking tone. “I’ve been at your side for years and now just because some librarian shows up you bend your knee to her?” Crimson frowned at the words.

“Angel, we’ve been over this before.” He said as he rubbed his scalp. “I do care about you, I do, but not in the same way you care about me. You are my student and it would be extremely inappropriate.” Angel growled.

“I’ll make that woman-” Crimson shoved her against the wall.

“Her name is Twilight and you will not lay a finger on her.” He said in a serious tone.

“Or what?” Crimson cracked his neck and grumbled.

“You took the oath, you know what’ll happen if you attack a civilian.” Angel thought for a moment and chuckled.

“Don’t try to scare me with those fairy tales of the Shadow Legion.” She snickered. “They’re an old wives tale used to scare the children, and I am no child.”

“Then stop acting like one.” He said in a stern tone. Crimson was at the end of his rope and he ran a hand through his hair. He pointed to Angel, his eyes were like two red arrows. “If I hear that you do anything to Twilight, or anyone, then I will personally take you down.” Angel gulped at the words and saw the seriousness in his eyes. “That’s your one warning, don’t waste it.”

Crimson walked back out of the alley with Angel grumbling behind him. “Now, we have the rest of town to go through. I suggest we continue.” Angel sighed and made her way towards the train station. Crimson looked at Ivy and the other two warriors with concern in his eyes.

“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with her.” The three warriors looked at the man with a shrug. “Oh and before I forget.” He withdrew a small silver case like one that held a necklace. “Give this to Twilight.” Rouge looked at it and reached for the lid only to have the man’s hand stop her. “Not here. Not now.” With that Crimson went after the ice conduit. The three shrugged and went towards the library. The three entered to see the piles of books scattered around the library.

“Well, this is different.” Cobalt stated as though he was looking at a theme park attraction. The three heard a few stumbles and saw the indigo haired librarian stumble out of the maze of books. She dusted herself off and cleared her throat.

“Hey guys.” She smiled.

“I heard you met Angel.” Rouge stated. Twilight sighed at the words. “She’s...difficult to understand.” As Rouge continued to talk to the lavender mage, Ivy walked through the library and found the dragon hybrid stacking books.

“Hey Spike.” The hybrid turned to see the dragon slyer motioning towards her. The boy put the books down and walked over to her. “When do you have free time?” She asked in a hush tone. Spike looked at the clock and scratched his head.

“I should be done around three. Why?” The dragon slayer checked her corners.

“Meet me in the gems fields at three thirty. We’ll talk about-” The woman was cut off as they heard the purple haired Changeling scream bloody murder. The two raced back into the main room to see the silver box on the floor and Cobalt holding his girlfriend in his arms.

“Is he insane!?” Rouge yelled. Spike walked forwards and saw an amulet laid on the floor next to the open box. The amulet was dark red with silver trim and was on a long silver chain.

“What is it?” Twilight asked as she picked up the item.

“That is a Pious Amulet.” Cobalt said with a gulp.

“What’s a Pious Amulet?” Spike asked.

“One of the few things that can keep Angel at bay.” Rouge said as she took the necklace in her hand. “These can subdue, or kill a Conduit.” Both residents of the treehouse looked in surprise. “The amulet acts as a deterrent.”

“How?” Spike asked.

“Like Superman’s kryptonite.” Cobalt clarified. “Exposed for too long and it will kill them.” Twilight gulped at the words and tried to fathom why Crimson would give her such a horrible thing.

“Where did he get this?” Twilight asked.

“Most likely from Ivory.” Ivy stated.

“Ivory? Why?” The three looked at one another and scratched their chins as they tried to word their response.

“It’s complicated. You’re gonna have to ask Crimson about that one.” The Changeling looked at the clock and sighed. “Sorry Twi, but I gotta catch a train to Vanhoover.”

“I’m on my way to Trottingham.” Cobalt said.

“I gotta make sure Angel doesn’t freeze the guild over.” With that the three warriors left the tree house. Twilight set the amulet back inside the box and continued with her regularly scheduled shelving duties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four teammates trekked through who knows how many swamps, bogs, mountains and any other natural landmass that got in their way. They were high up in the Silver Mountains, once flowing with rivers of molten silver from the forges that would blaze all through the night and day to make the richest silver known to man. Now it was nothing more than a relic of happier days. The mines had dried up about twenty years ago and was left to rot. Crow peered through his scope and spied two guards at the entrance to the mines.

“See anything?” Orion asked.

“Just two guards. The convoys not here yet.”

“When will it get here?” Crow looked at his silver pocket watch.

“In about five hours.” Crow and Orion silently got down from their look out perch and rejoined the other two at the campsite where they had a low fire going and a few meals ready to eat laid out. Crow grabbed his meal and went back to observing the bandits. The other three huddled around the fireplace.

“This sucks.” Orion hissed. “Why in the hell did Teach have to pick him for this job?”

“Man up.” Rose stated in a venom filled tone. “You guys don’t know what he’s been through.”

“And you do?” The red haired girl looked up to Crow who was watching the bandits with a look that could make a rhino piss itself.

“I’ll tell you later when we change shifts.” Hours ticked by and the three mages caught some shut eye while Crow kept watch over them. In an hour Crow woke up Rose for the rotation. Once they were sure he was asleep the other two mages met with the red haired girl and all eyes were on Rose. “Okay, Teach told me this after the fight we had in the courtyard last year and this is supposed to be confidential. Got it?” Both men gave a hearty nod.

Rose gave a deep breath before she started speaking. “Have you guys ever heard of Jade Fowl?” Both boys gulped at the name. Jade Fowl, or the Green Hawk of Death, was one of the most powerful mages of the last generation. Her ability to shape shift was legendary and was a brutal combatant. She was also considered the biggest traitor among the magic council for falling in love with a mage who used dark magic.

“Who hasn’t?” Orion stated. “She’s was the one who was executed for practicing dark magic with Onyx Shroud right?” Rose gave a nod.

“Shroud was on the run from the Council and Jade was tasked with hunting him down. She chased him to the furthest corners of the globe but she finally caught him and was instructed to bring him back alive.” The girl sighed. “This is the classified part, the two started talking, a relationship was forged and finally,” she looked over towards Crow. “a child was conceived.” Both of their jaws dropped as they looked at the sleeping mage.

“S-so Crow is-”

“The son of the strongest female mage of the last generation and the son of the most infamous dark mage.” She sighed. “Teach told me he was six years old when the council finally got wind of it. They caught Onyx first and executed him while Jade ran with her son, but no one can run from the Council. They found her and Crow watched as she was sent to the chopping block.”

She took looked at the raven haired mage before continuing. “The council saw that Crow was innocent in the matter and was taken in by the Academy.” Her mind then drifted back to what the headmaster had told her.

“Listen to me Rose, you know that constant scowl Crow wears?” The man did an almost perfect impression of the boy’s furrowed eyebrows. “He wears it like armor to protect himself and those around him. When I look at him, I don’t see the son of the greatest threat to the world or the son of a traitor, I see a sad little boy curled up and crying in the corner all by himself.”

The boys looked at one another and hung their heads as they began to understand why Crow pushed everyone so far away from him, it wasn’t that he thought that he was better than them, it was a kindness. The two boys went back to bed and tried to get some sleep while Rose remained awake. She didn’t even notice the crow that was perched in a nearby branch with a tear rolling down it’s beak.

A nudging of her shoulder and Rose sprang up ready to fight anything. Her eyes scanned the area and saw nothing but Crow standing there with his arms folded. “C’mon, it’s time.” She roused the other sleeping mages while Crow got back to the lookout point. He was soon joined by the other three mages. “Two convoys just went into the mountain three minutes ago, each with at least fifty guards.”

“Fifty?” Silver said in shock.

“Looks like our intel was off.” Orion stated. Crow turned around and sighed as several scenarios ran through his mind.

“Okay, this is the plan.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crimson walked through the streets of Ponyville after getting Angel settled at the guild. He made his way towards the library. He saw Spike exiting and gave him a nod. The interior of library was back in order after Twilight’s crazy re-shelving day. Said librarian came down the stairs with a cross expression on her face.

“Hey Twi, what’s with the face?” Twilight reached into her pocket and pulled out the gem. Crimson immediately recoiled at the sight of it and gulped. “Twilight put that back in the box it came with.”

“Promise to tell me why you gave this to me after?”

“I promise.” Twilight walked over to the small metal box and set it inside before closing the lid. The man let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the couch. “Thank you.” Twilight sat down next to her boyfriend and pouted. “Right then, that jewel is in case Angel tries to attack you. Unlikely, but possible. That will keep her from trying anything.”

“Won’t it hurt you too?”

“Yes, that’s the point.” He took Twilight’s hands in his and sighed. “The demon in me is always trying to get out Twilight and the seal is deteriorating. I can feel it.”

“But I saw you beat him during the Trials.”

“That wasn’t even a fraction of what it can do. All I did was take him down a notch or two, I stalled. That’s all I can do, stall until the seal vanishes completely.” Twilight rested her head against his shoulder. “When that time comes, I can’t bare the thought of harming you or the others. That’s what this is for. To protect you from me.”

“Rouge said you got this from Ivory. Why would she have it?”

“Ivory’s mission in life is to kill me and those like me.” A long silence fell between the two.

“WHAT!?” Twilight yelled in a volume that could rival Princess Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice. “Why? I mean, sure you two are rivals, but killing you?”

“In the event that the demon in me gets loose, Ivory has the power and authority to take me down if necessary. Besides it’s in her nature.” Twilight looked at him in confusion. “Ivory is an angel.”

“I didn’t know you thought so highly of her.”

“No, I mean she’s literally an angel. Like the demon in me there’s an angel in her. Thought that whole halo and wings thing at the trials were for show?” Twilight thought back to the fight and it registered in her mind. “Angels and demons don’t really get along as you can imagine. Not to mention she has the right to kill me.”

“How does she have that right?” Twilight frowned.

“Her hometown is Willow city.” The scholar’s face grew pale at the words as she remembered the city of angry citizens. “I don’t know how, but apparently an angel showed up when the demon inside me did and was sealed inside her body. Deus found her after the battle and the rest is history.”

“So there are different types of conduits?”

“Yeah, three types. Theres ones like me who have a demon, then there’s ones like Ivory with an angel and finally there are ones like Angel.”

“I thought she had a demon?”

“No, her spirit was a human turned into a demon. While mine was born a demon. Angel’s is weaker because of that fact, but can still do some damage. I had to go up to level three the first time I met her.”

“If she’s so dangerous, then why is she allowed to walk around?”

“Same could be said for me.” Twilight immediately regretted the words. “I’m the only one that Angel knows who knows about harboring a creature that powerful, that terrible inside them. Besides she’s had to deal with it far longer than I have.”

“But she’s younger than you.”

“True, she’s got the brain and body of a nineteen year old, but she was sealed away with the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago.” Twilight put a hand to her mouth in shock. “Imagine, listening to a demon’s voice for that long and she’s still sane. That’s incredible even by my standards. I just want to help her.” Twilight rested her head on his chest and put her arms around him.

“You’ll find a way. I know it.” Crimson couldn’t help but smile as he ran a hand through her hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike quickly found his way to the outskirts of the Everfree forest and saw the green haired woman leaning against a tree waiting for him. "You mad it." She said as she stood up. "so, Crimson says you want to learn how to control your dragon magic?"

"Yeah, he said since you're a dragon slayer then you'd be able to teach me."

"He was right. Although I'm not the best teacher so we'll see how this goes." The woman approached the young boy and cracked her neck. "Get in a fighting stance." Spike adjusted his footing and raised his fists.

"How's th-" Was all he got out before a hard fist slammed into his face and was sent flying back into a nearby tree trunk.

"Lesson number one; Dodging." This was going to be a very long training session.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long.

Chapter XVI: It's Only A Mask Right?

Chapter XVI

It’s Only A Mask...Right?

The sun started to rise over the small town of Ponyville as Big Mac made his way up to the guild. He’d become friends with Cobalt, Crimson and Bandit fairly quickly. As he opened the door he saw the golden haired Changeling making herself some coffee. Mac was still suspicious of Changelings, but Sunny’s attitude was similar to Fluttershy’s, she scared easily and she rarely ventured into town unless it was to get supplies. A loud groan was heard from the red haired man as he came downstairs.

“Morn’n Mac.” Crimson said as he shook his head. “What brings you here?”

“Any chance one of ya could come down to the farm and give a hand? AJ got all stubborn and fractured her leg while trying to buck too many trees in one sitting.” Crimson had seen how the golden haired farmer drop kicks the trunk of the trees to make the ripest of the apples fall.

“Hey Sunny.” The Changeling poked her head up from behind the counter. “Any new missions today?”

“No, the message board is slow again.” Crimson groaned. There hadn’t been anything exciting fro him since he and the other four mages took down the Bandit King and his goons. Sure there were always missions, but none that really did it for the mage. Cobalt and some other members came down the steps. Beside Bandit was the black winged Lieutenant of team saint. “Hey gents wanna work on the farm today?”

“Farm work?” The gunslinger chuckled. “Now that brings back some memories.”

“Never really tried it.” Ace stated.

“Ah’ll pay ya’ll for it.” Crimson held up his hand.

“No need Mac, we don’t charge friends.”

“C’mon now, ah gotta give ya something.” That’s one of the things everyone like about Mac, he was fair and stuck to his beliefs like stink on a pig.

“A few barrels of your family’s cider and we’ll call it even.”

“Deal.” Mac shook his hand before leaving. The men grabbed breakfast as Twilight, Spike and Rarity made their way through the door.

“Hey girls.” Crimson waved.

“Morning all.” Rarity chimed. “Where are Ivy and Rouge?”

“Ivy and Angel are out on a mission, I sent Rouge and Ivory to babysit them.” Crimson sighed.

“Azure tagged along to learn the ropes. So while the women are away, the gents will play.” Rarity and Twilight raised eyebrows.

“Ignore him for he knows not what he says.” Ace said stepping in.

“Anyway, we’re gonna be helping Mac on the farm while AJ’s leg recovers.” Crimson stated.

“Yes, we heard about that.” Twilight said. “Where’s that book you borrowed?”

“Up on my nightstand.” The men grabbed a quick bite to eat before following the rusty haired man towards his farm. The warriors’ eyes widened as they looked at the acres of apple trees that seemed to go on forever. The group then saw a familiar blonde haired farmer with a cast around her right leg attempting to hit a tree trunk with her crutch.

“C’mon you mother bu-”

“AJ.” Mac said with a sigh. “Ah thought ah told you to take it easy?” The hulking farmer said as he crossed his arms.

“How can I take it easy when it’s harvest season?”

“Ya over worked yourself, again, and fractured your leg. Keep it up and you’ll mess it up beyond repair.”

“But-”

“No buts missy. Besides ah got help today.” He motioned to the group of warriors. The farmer then picked his little sister up and slung her over his shoulder like a barrel of cider, except cider doesn’t usually flail around or yell obscenities.

“Put me down this instant Macintosh!”

“Eey-nope.” Crimson was biting his lip to stifle his chuckles as he watched AJ give up and Mac set her on the porch bench. The orange plaid farmer crossed her arms and grumbled at her leg. The hulking farmer returned to the group and sighed. “Sorry about that fellas. She’s right stubborn.”

“Mac, have you met the women we hang out with? No need to apologize, we get it.” Mac pondered the blue haired man’s words and had to admit that Ivy’s stubbornness exceeded AJ’s if that were possible.

“Good point. Any way, lets get to work.”

~~~

Twilight, Rarity, and Spike climbed the steps of the guild that lead to the warriors’ sleeping quarters. Twilight recognized the door and opened it up to show a single bed, a nightstand and a desk at the far end next to an old humpback chest in the corner. The scholar saw the book and smiled while Spike walked over to the chest. The dragon boy opened the lid and started rummaging around.

“Spike!” The scholar snapped. “Don’t go through Crimson’s things.”

“Oh come on Twilight, this stuff is cool.” Spike said as he pulled out a white, odd looking mask that had several runes etched into it. The boy was about to put it on when a lavender aura grabbed it from his grip.

“You shouldn’t touch things that don’t belong to you.” Twilight said as she took the mask in her hand and Spike silently grumbled. Twilight giggled as she thought of an idea. “Hey Spike!” The two looked around to see the mask on Twilight’s face and making boogyman noises. The mask’s eyes started to glow and a magic circle appeared under the scholar’s feet. Several ethereal hands shot out of the spell circle and latched onto the scholar’s body.

“What’s happening?” She yelled as she tried to pry the mask off her face. The object seemed to be glued to her skin and Twilight felt herself being dragged down. Rarity jumped forwards and grabbed her friend’s arm in an attempt to pull her out. Spike grabbed her other arm and tried to pull, but the ethereal arms were too strong. The two lost their grip and the scholar was sucked into the spell circle before it vanished.

Spike and the fashionista stood frozen as their brains tried to comprehend what just happened. The dragon boy ran to the window and took flight towards the farm at breakneck speed.

~~~

Crimson was using his scythe to take down several apples with one strike. He halted when he felt a chill run down his spine. The blue haired flyer was nearby and noticed his captain had stopped working. “Something wrong Crimson?”

“Just have a feeling that something really bad just happened.”

“What are you-”

“CRIMSON!” Both men looked up and saw a green haired dragon hybrid flying towards them like a purple winged rocket. The child didn’t slow down as he slammed into a nearby tree. Both men winced as they rushed over to the boy.

“I guess Ivy didn’t teach him how to land yet.” Cobalt said as Crimson helped the boy to his feet. Spike was dizzy and shook his head to get his senses back.

“Crimson, you gotta help me!” The child then started to ramble in incoherent words and Crimson gave a light smack to the child’s head.

“Spike take a deep breath and calmly tell me what happened. I can’t help if I can’t understand you.” The boy took in a deep breath of air and calmed himself down.

“Okay, so Twi, Rarity and I were going up to your room to get that book you borrowed. I kinda looked in your chest.” The man frowned at the words. “I found this mask and Twilight tried it on.”

“Mask? I don’t have a-” Crimson froze and his face went pale. Crimson picked the boy up by his collar and glared daggers int his eyes. “Did the mask have several runes etched into it?” He yelled in a panic.

“It had some sort of writing on it. Twi put it on and then got sucked into some weird portal!” Crimson dropped him and cursed.

“She put on the Armageddon mask!” Cobalt’s jaw dropped.

“I thought you destroyed that thing?”

“I was holding onto it until I found a way to!” Crimson rubbed his face and sighed. “Cobalt, alert the others and get a call into Ivory. You know what to do.” The blue flyer nodded and took flight to find the other men. Crimson summoned a scroll and rolled it out onto the ground that showed a magic circle. “Spike you head back to the guild for now.”

“What about you?” Crimson cut his hand and spilled his blood on the seal that turned into a portal.

“I’m going to hell.” The man grabbed his scythe and jumped into the portal before the paper burnt up. Spike gulped and took flight to chase after the blue flyer.

~~~

Twilight groaned as she felt sand beneath her fingers. She opened her eyes and stood up to see a desolate wasteland before her. The sand was red as blood and several old structures were worn away to almost nothing. The scholar looked up to the sky and saw the sky was dark with a burning red sun in the middle of the sky. “Wh-where am I?” She said to no one.

There was a faint hissing sound coming from behind her. She looked back to see a pair of large red eyes piercing through the shadows. Twilight casted a ball of light and saw a ten meter tall snake towering over her. Her heart sank. The young mage had fought against Nightmare Moon, the spirit of Chaos itself and several other large calamities, but snakes always got the better of her. The beast let out a massive roar and reeled it’s head back to strike at the woman. Twilight shrieked and ran towards one of the ruins.

The snake burrowed under the sand and swiftly made it’s way after it’s meal. Twilight was running as fast as her feet could carry her. She really needed to start jogging if she ever made it out of this place. Her right foot slammed against one of the from the ruins. She looked back to see the snake with it’s mouth open getting ready to swallow her whole. She felt her life flashing before her eyes and waited for the pain.

The indigo haired girl felt a gust of wind and a slashing sound filled the air, accompanied by an angry scream of pain. She opened her eyes to see the snake being cut in half by a tall cloaked figure.

“Wretch!” The snake barked. Twilight looked in shock at the top half of the snake wiggling around. The tall figure sheathed it’s blade and pulled out a long rifle. The shade took aim and fired a blast through the snake’s brain. As the wind came the large reptile seemed to turn into dust and be carried off by the desert winds like the sand. The young woman let out a sigh of relief and silently thanked the maker.

Twilight felt ice form in her spine as the hooded figure turned towards her. The figure was wearing a large black cloak that covered it’s form and was donning a white mask with two red lines coming down over the black eye holes and ending at the chin, along with a red rose in the center of the mask’s forehead. The shade stood in front of Twilight and took in her appearance before walking past her.

“Wait!” Twilight said scrambling to her feet. “Who are you?” The shade looked back at her and pointed to a mountain off in the distance. The hood then gestured for her to follow. The scholar was hesitant at first but realized she had o other choice than to follow this strange warrior. With a gulp, Twilight nodded and the two took off towards the mountain.

~~~

Twilight guessed it had been nearly four hours of walking and fighting their way through more of those strange creatures. More of the stranger hacking and shooting and Twilight watching from a safe distance. Finally they had made it to the mountain. The shade lead her into a cave. The shad lit several candles that illuminated the cave. There were several books stacked high in the corner and a cot with a pillow was close by. The warrior set down its rifle and pulled out a chair.

“Lovely home you have.” Twilight said with a nervous smile.

“Thank you.” Twilight looked at the shade and realized it was a woman under that mask and her voice sounded familiar. “Sorry for not talking earlier. Noise attracts the Shades.”

“You mean those creatures?” The woman gave a nod as she took off the long cloak showing her true form. She was muscular, not more than Applejack but she looked like she could pack a punch. She was wearing a set of light armor on her arms and shoulders with a dark red vest over her shirt. What caught Twilight’s attention most was her long flowing hair. It the color of roses.

“Correct. Souls of the dead, twisted and corrupted.”

“Souls of the dead?” Twilight sat down and panted. “Where the buck am I?” The woman grinned.

“Simply put you’re in Limbo.” She said lighting a few candles.

“Limbo?”

“Some call it the Void, the Abyss, the list goes on.” She chuckled. “Point is you’re in the last place anyone would ever want to be.”

“So am I-”

“Dead? No.” Twilight sighed as she felt her beating heart. “You just fell through a breach.” Twilight still looked confused. “Think of reality like a blanket. There are holes in this blanket that allows things like spirits and demons to slip into the living world and vice versa. You slipped through one of these holes and now you’re stuck here.”

“For how long?” The masked woman shrugged.

“Depends. You’re best hope is my son.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at the words.

“You’re son? I don’t even know who you are.” The red haired woman chuckled.

“My apologies. I wear this mask so often I forget I have it on sometimes.” She lifted her gloved hand and removed the mask. Twilight’s eyes took in her looks and her mouth dropped. The woman’s face was like a glass doll’s, perfect. Her eyes were like two deep green forests that seemed to go on forever. There was a scar over her right eye that only seemed to add to her beauty. “My name is Rosario Vermillion. Former S-Rank Zealot and Professor of Demonology for the magic council.”

Twilight’s eye twitched as the woman sat in her chair and summoned her rifle. “It’s also come to my attention that you’re dating my son.” She had a smile a tiger would have before eating a meal. Twilight looked int her green eyes that were completely focused on her as if saying, ‘Your judgement begins now.’ “So, lets have a little chat.” The woman said resting the rifle on her lap and cocking it.

Author's Note

Well it's been a while since I returned to this story eh? Anyway consider this a New Year's gift.

Chapter XVII: Chatting

Chapter XVII

Chatting

Twilight Sparkle was literally in limbo/hell with her boyfriend’s mother. It was not a good day. “A-a chat?” The red haired woman nodded as the scholar’s words. “O-okay.” Twilight said with a gulp.

“So, how long have you two have been dating?” Her tone was jaded.

“I’d say four months now.”

“I see.” The scholar figured this is how Crimson felt when he met her parents. “So what exactly are your intentions?”

“My intentions?”

“Of dating my son. Is this some sort of romantic fantasy you’re playing?” She stood up and made a dramatic pose. “The dashing hero comes into town and falls madly in love with a small town librarian.” Her face then dead panned. “Sounds a bit too good to be true if you ask me.”

“I-I care about Crimson very much.” Twilight frowned.

“Oh really?” Her eyes cut into the scholar like razors. “Even despite what he has sealed in him. You’re not the least bit concerned that it might break loose?” Twilight opened her mouth, but stopped herself. She thought hard and in the back of Twilight’s mind, there was a nagging fear of what might happen should the demon inside him take control. “Just as I thought. You’re just some groupie who wants to ride on my son’s coat tails for glory.”

“I would never use Crimson or anyone like that!” Twilight said standing up out of her seat. Rose raised an eyebrow at the woman’s sudden outburst. “I’ll never the know the pain he’s suffered or the hardships he’s gone through. He’s told me about all the hate he’s had to deal with, the things he’s had to do and what he’s lost.” Twilight was gritting her teeth.

“I know I can’t make him forget all that, but I can help him make sure that he has a reason to survive and to keep moving forwards.” Twilight panted and sat back down.

“That’s it? That’s your answer?” The redhead asked.

“I’ll always do whatever I can to help him.” Rose bit her lip and a smiled grazed her face.

“At least my son has good taste in women.” She said putting the rifle down. Twilight let out a sigh at the motion.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”

“That’s one of life’s greatest mysteries isn’t it? ‘Why are we here?’ Are we the event of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really an all might being? Watching has a plan for us all? I don’t know Sparkle, but it keeps me up at night.” Twilight face palmed.

“I meant-”

“I know what you meant. I just couldn’t resist. It’s a mother’s duty to mess with my son;s girlfriend.” Twilight knew what she meant, remembering al the times her mother has teased her and Crimson. Rose then sat back in her chair.

“After Crimson freed my husband and I from that necromancer’s control, we ascended from the physical plain of existence. He went on ahead to wherever people like us end up and I stayed here.” She answered in a flat tone.

“Why didn’t you go with him?” Twilight asked.

“I’m waiting.” She said standing up. “We’d better get moving. You need to get home soon.” Twilight looked down at her right hand and saw it was fading.

“What’s happening?” She yelled.

“Spirits eventually fade away in the physical realm. The same thing happens to people who are in here.” She said putting on her mask and picking up her rifle. “We need to get back to where you came in.” Twilight gulped and stood up and followed the woman back out into the raging sandstorm.

Twilight did her best to keep close to the red haired woman. The sand was like knives against the scholar’s exposed skin. Thankfully she set up a barrier around her face to shield her eyes, nose and mouth. “There.” Rose pointed ahead. Twilight squinted and could just make out what looked like a tear in the scenery that was radiating magic. “That’s the tear you came through.”

“So we just have to reach it?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, but A tear like that is bound to attract attention.” She said cocking her rifle.

“What kind of atten-” The ground erupted to show several large scorpions. Each pincer looked like it could crush a carriage.

“Move!” The beasts gave pursuit and tried to strike the two fleeing women. The redhead brought her rifle around and fired several shots at one of the beasts stunning one. Twilight fired several blasts of magic at one and crushed it’s tail. “No!” Suddenly more of the creatures appeared. “Magic from the living world attracts them!”

“Sorry! Kinda my first time in limbo!” Twilight yelled. The two reached the edge of the portal but were soon surrounded by the creatures. As one struck towards them, a large spear of ice pinned it’s tail. Twilight looked towards the rift to see a familiar ice mage leap through with another spear in her hands. She was also donning the mask she was wearing when she fought Ivy. Angel quickly dove head first into the pack of scorpions and wasted no time in disposing two of the beasts.

“Friend of yours?” Rose asked.

“That’s Angel, she’s Crimson’s student.” Twilight gulped. Rose grabbed Twilight’s arm and ran towards the portal as several more Shades appeared. The three heard what sounded like a neighing horse. The portal burst open to show a white masked scythe wielder on the back of a pale horse that had a mane of purple fire. He spun the blade and slashed several of the creatures. They shrieked in pain and fear of the stranger.

“Twilight,” The scholar turned towards the red haired woman. “don’t tell Crimson that I am here. If he hears then he would undoubtedly try to reach me. There is still something I must do here.” The woman’s figure seemed to turn to dust and be carried off by the winds.

Twilight felt a hand on her shirt collar and was picked up onto the stallion. She looked back at the figure and saw a pair of red eyes through the mask. The man whistled and Angel quickly jumped onto the back of the horse. The rider pulled out his scythe and cut open the tear before the stallion jumped through.

~~~

Back in the real world, Ivy and the other warriors waited with Spike and the other five elements. There was a seal on the ground scribed with runes. The seal started to glow and the portal opened. Everyone took a step back as the portal glowed. Soon the three shot out of the portal and landed in a heap. Crimson quickly got to his feet and closed the portal before the scorpions came through.

Spike quickly hugged Twilight. “Twilight! I’m so happy you’re safe!”

“I missed you too Spike.” She smiled. “I’m okay, thanks to Crimson and Angel.”

“Pfft. I only did it because I owed Crimson a favor.” The ice mage groaned. Twilight stood up and offered her hand.

“Still, you saved my life and I appreciate it.” Twilight smiled. Angel raised an eyebrow and reluctantly shook her hand.

“I suppose I am surprised that you lasted so long in limbo.” The woman smirked. “Most who got there never come back or go crazy.”

“Angel.” Crimson groaned.

“What? It’s true.” The woman stated. Crimson sighed and hugged Twilight. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just tired.” Pinkie then spear tackled the indigo mage.

“I’m so happy you’re back!” She smiled.

“Pinkie, I’ve only been gone,” Twilight checked her watch. “three hours.” The group looked at one another in surprise.

“Um Twi, you’ve been gone for three days.” Dash said.

“What? I’m so behind on my studies and-” A loud growl came from her stomach. “Heh heh, sorry.”

“Can someone please explain what in the name of Celestia’s name is going on?” Rarity asked.

“I can tell you over dinner.” Crimson said as the group headed down the steps of the guild and took a seat as Crimson and Sunny started cooking. “Twilight put on this.” The man snapped his fingers and the mask that Twilight put on appeared.

“What is that?” Pinkie asked.

“That is the Armageddon mask.” Ivory stated. “It’s a rare item that allows people to travel into the non-physical plane.”

“Huh?” Dash said with a confused look on her face.

“It let’s you go into limbo, or the land of the dead if you will.” Crimson said. “Conduits like Angel, Ivory and I don’t need it due to our....passengers.” He said as he served Twilight a plate of food. The scholar quickly dove into her plate.

“So why did it only feel like a few hours?” Twilight asked.

“Time moves slower in Limbo. I really doubt everyone here will understand-”

“Temporal distortion of the space time continuum because of the trans-dimensional crossroads?” All heads turned towards Pinkie.

“Pinkie, you understand quantum physics?” Twilight said.

“Duh, doesn’t everyone?”

“But...ya know what, never mind.”

“Can someone please speak english?” Dash yelled clutching her head.

“Okay, in simple terms; one hour in Limbo is one day in the physical world.” Ivory said.

“Thank you!” Dash said. The group dispersed and went their separate ways for the night.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay and shortness of the chapter, the next will be better!

Chapter XVIII: Savior

Chapter XVIII

Savior

It was a bright day in the town of Ponyville. The morning sun, made the resident dew on the grass turn to mist, giving the town an erie look to it. Cobalt yawned as he sipped his mug of coffee and groaned as he saw Crimson coming down from the top with Ivy by his side. “Morning,”

“Rough night?” Crimson asked.

“Meh, just sore.” He said as the two walked over to the job board and picked up a request. “Going on a job?”

“Yup, we need to clear out some trolls. We’ll be back in a day.” Ivy said grabbing her bag. Cobalt smiled and returned to his meal. After he was finished he decided to go for an early morning flight.

He shook his wings and launched into the sky. The man loved the feeling of wind brushing against his face. He looked down to see a familiar orange winged flyer and her two friends. He touched down and smiled. “Morning Scoots.” The man raised an eyebrow as he saw a bruise on the flyer’s eye. “You okay? That’s quite the mark you got there.”

“Um yeah, I was practicing landing earlier and I landed on my face.” The girl said with a light chuckle.“So, what’s today’s lesson?” As she asked as a familiar rainbow haired flyer came down from a nearby cloud.

“Hey squirt,” Dash smiled. “want to watch me do some cool new tricks?” She asked in a proud tone.

“No thanks.” Dash’s expression shattered. Usually she’d have to fly all over Ponyville in order to hide from the young flyer to get a moments peace and now she was turning down a chance to watch her? “Cobalt and I are gonna train.”

“Train?” She said in surprise.

“I’ve been giving Scootaloo flying lessons.” Cobalt stated.

“What? Since when?”

“Since two months ago,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath.

“Why didn’t you offer me lessons?” Dash asked looking at the blue haired man.

“Because you’re a grown woman and you know how to fly.” He said with a raised eyebrow. “Scoots didn’t and I was more than happy to help her learn.”

“Why didn’t you come to me Scoots?” Scootaloo just stared at the cyan flyer like her head had just split open and three more had grown in it’s place. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she glared at the woman.

“I did! Like a million times and you kept blowing me off!” The young flyer yelled. “You probably just kept me around to boost your own ego! Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong.” Dash opened her mouth, but her words died in her throat.

She had to admit that she loved the un ending attention she got from the beginner. “That’s what I thought.” Scootaloo said crossing her arms. “Well, go find someone else to be a brown nose. I have a real role model, Cobalt.” The blue winged flyer rubbed his face.

“C’mon Scoots, don’t get me involved in this.” The blue flyer whispered as he looked at the youth.

“He actually teaches me and he’s a better flyer than you’ll ever be.” That set fire in Rainbow’s eyes. She casted a glare at Cobalt and walked up to him so their faces were inches apart form one another.

“You, Me, Race. Winner take all!” She said while clenching her fists.

“All of what?” He gestured to the empty area around them.

“The glory!” Cobalt would have protested further, but he knew the stubborn woman wouldn’t backdown.

“Fine. When and where?” He asked.

“Noon at the center of town!” She said taking off. Cobalt sighed and looked down at Scootaloo.

“Why’d you get me into this mess?”

“What? You can take her.” She said.

“Scoots, I know you’re upset with Rainbow. Who can blame you? But that doesn’t give you the right to call her out like that and get other people, like me, involved.” The girl just crossed her arms and kicked the ground. “Anyway, I’d better get practicing.” As he was about to take off, he grimaced as he saw Angel walking down the road in his direction.

“Hey feather brain.” The white haired woman said with a less than pleased look on her face.

“Need something Angel?” Cobalt asked with a roll of his eyes. “If you’re looking for Crimson, he left on a job with Ivy early this morning.”

“I know that already, Crimson told me to give you this.” She reached into her pocket and handed him a letter. The man tore the envelope open and read it to himself.

Cobalt, keep an eye on Angel for me. I know you two don’t get along, but TRY to not kill each other until I get back. Cobalt sighed and looked at the woman.

“Just try to behave Angel.” The teenager only stuck her tongue out at him.

“Yes dad.” She said in a sarcastic tone. Cobalt and the girls went to the park and the flyer took off starting to practice his agility. Angel noticed the bruises on the child’s face and raised an eyebrow. “Where’d you get the shiner kid?”

“Oh...I uh...was playing wing-ball and the ball hit my face.” The girl said with a nervous laugh. Angel deadpanned at the girl.

“Right.” She said in disbelief. Word of the race between the two spread like wild fire through the town. The towns people had even set up a start and finish line close to town hall. Cobalt approached the line. He started to stretch as he waited for Rainbow to show up. A crowd started to gather as noon approached. The rainbow haired flyer in question soon arrived with a confident look on her face.

Angel was standing beside Rouge in the crowd. “Ten bits says the loud mouth beats your boy-toy.”

“I am not betting.” The changeling huffed.

“Twenty bits?”

“Done.” The girls shook on it as Cobalt continued to stretch.

“So where exactly are we racing to?” Cobalt asked.

“We’re going through Ponyville, past AJ’s farm, to that large mountain and back.” Rainbow pointed to the large mountain where she and her friends had that dragon encounter. “Remember, no magic.” Rainbow stated firmly.

“Won’t even need it to beat you.” He said as he got into starting position. At the sound of a horn the two took off at break neck pace. The two flyers wee little more than a blur as they raced through the small town. Thankfully word of the race spread through the town and the streets were vacant. The competitors made it outside the town and flew up high in the sky as they passed over the apple farm.

“Not bad,” Cobalt yelled over to Dash. “I might actually break a sweat.” Rainbow grit her teeth at the taunt and decided to use a few of the tricks she had up her sleeve. She went back down to the clouds and started kicking some as she flew by making them explode and gush the water they had stored. Cobalt saw this and skillfully dodged the vain attempts to slow him down.

Dash reached the mountain top and took a moment to catch her breath. Her breather was short lived as she saw Cobalt coming right behind her. The flyer had one last card to play and grinned in anticipation. She took off back towards the town and rose high above the clouds once more.

She prepared her wings and shot straight down towards the town. Soon a mach cone started to form around her and she soon became a streak of rainbows as she broke the sound barrier. A cocky grin spread across her face as she saw the finish line. As she got within twelve yards of the finish line a bright blue blur shot past her and took the victory. The blue blur shot past the line and slowed before crashing into the ground making a crater.

Rouge hurried over to the crater with some of the crowd. “You okay hun?” Cobalt gave the group a thumbs up before climbing out of the small crater. Rouge helped brush the dirt off him as Rainbow marched up to him.

“What was that?” She yelled.

“That was me breaking the sound barrier.” Dash’s jaw hit the floor and was at a loss for words. “What? You thought you were the only one who could do that?”

“Yeah, kinda!” Rainbow said as the realization hit her ego, hard. “Y-you must have cheated!”

“How? I couldn’t use any magic even if I wanted to. I didn’t have my sword or any of my amplifiers on me. It’s impossible for me to do it without them.” Cobalt stated in a pointed tone. “Besides, almost every flyer in the Academy system can do what I just did.”

“Y-you’re lying!”

“Sorry Rainbow, he’s not.” Rouge interjected. “Ivy, Crusher, and almost every agent that has wings at his level can do it. I can’t because Changeling wings and bodies aren’t meant for that kind of speed. Same for Crimson and Ivory since their wings are only temporary.” Rainbow’s eyes twitched at the words.

“I just don’t do it too often because I can only go in a straight line and I need to rest for a quite a while afterwards or else my wings could get seriously damaged. Something like that isn’t really useful in a combat situation.” Fuming Rainbow took off into the skies. Scootaloo then raced up to Cobalt and hugged him.

“That was so awesome! Can I do that?” She asked with hopeful eyes.

“You’re a long ways away, but if you keep training then you can do anything. One day you might even be better than me.” He said as he ruffed her hair. Cobalt winced slightly as he felt his wings throb. “Sorry Scoots, but I have to call it quits today. That stunt wiped me out.” He sighed.

Rouge grinned as Angel gave her the money they settled on before the race. The ice mage grumbled and crossed her arms as she grumbled to herself. Cobalt groaned again as he felt throbbing in his back. Angel snapped her fingers ad his wings became encased in ice. The flyer winced at the sudden cold feeling on his back and felt his teeth chatter. “That should help with the swelling.” Angel said crossing her arms.

“Thanks.” Cobalt said as he gave the ice mage a smile.

“I just did it so you wouldn’t start complaining.” Angel said as she avoided eye contact with the man.

“That just warms my heart.” He said as Angel muttered something inaudible under her breath. The rest of the day was spent with Cobalt watching Scootaloo practice flying and giving her some tips while he stayed on the ground. Angel had a book with her and leaned against a nearby tree to read. Hours past and dusk soon came to the sleepy town. Scootaloo laid on the grass panting heavily. “Looking good Scoot,” Cobalt said with a smile.

“Sweet,” She panted as she stood up. She looked at her watch and her blood ran cold.

“Something wrong?”

“I’m late! I gotta go!” As she jumped to take off she winced in pain and flopped on the ground.

“You’re too worn out Scootaloo. You can’t fly with your wings in that condition.” Cobalt went to get up, but his girlfriend pushed him back down.

“You’re in the same boat idiot.” Rouge said in a stern tone.

“I can take her back.” Angel said putting the book away. Scootaloo looked at the ice mage and raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, how are you gonna do that?” Angel crossed her arms and two demonic looking wings made of ice sprouted from her back.

“I can’t fly as fast as Cobalt, but I can get you home.” She said offering her hand. Scootaloo looked at Cobalt unsure about the woman. Cobalt paused and gave her a reassuring nod.

“She’s safe Scoot. She may look crabby, but she’s harmless for the most part.” Angel stuck her tongue out at the blue flyer. Scootaloo took hold of Angel’s hand and the two took off. Scootaloo spread her wings and glided beside the white haired woman. The flight was mostly silent apart from Scootaloo giving directions.

They soon arrived in front of a shabby looking cloud house. They touched down in Cloudsdale and Angel used a spell so she could walk on the fluffy surface. “This is where you live?” She asked.

“Y-yeah, you can go now.” Angel ignored her and walked up to the house before knocking on the door. The door opened a crack to reveal Scootaloo’s mother, Gale. Her light purple hair was a bit disheveled and Angel could see a black and blue mark on her collar bone.

“Y-yes? How can I help you?” She asked in a hesitant tone.

“Yeah, I’m here to drop off your daughter.” Angel stood aside and Scootaloo rushed into the house.

“Oh, are you one of Cobalt’s friends?” She inquired.

“More like business acquaintance.” Angel took note of another bruise on the woman’s neck. “Are you okay? You look a little worse for wear.” There was the sound a of a bottle shattering coming from deep in the house. Angel could see fear in the woman’s eyes as she looked back into the dark home. She looked towards Scootaloo who had the same look on her face and was nervously rubbing her arm.

“Y-yes, I’m quite fine dear. Thank you for bringing Scootaloo home.” With that the woman closed the door swiftly. Angel bit her lip and started to return to the guild. As soon as she was on the ground she stormed into the guild hall and approached the front desk.

“Hello Angel,” Sunny smiled. “is there something-”

“Where’s Cobalt? I need to talk to him.” Sunny was surprised at what the ice mage was saying. For all she knew she could barely stand Cobalt, or anyone that wasn’t Crimson for that matter. She pointed up the stairs on the far side of the building.

“He should be up in his room.” Angel quickly made her way to the second floor and searched for Cobalt’s room number. She found it and pounded on the door. After waiting a few seconds she tried a more direct approach. With a firm kick the door broke of it’s hinges and fell on the floor with a loud slam.

“What the hell?” Cobalt shot up from his bed suddenly causing his girlfriend to tumble off him. Rouge frantically pulled the covers off the bed to cover her naked form.

“What is your problem ice Queen?” The changeling hissed.

“Can it. Cobalt, we got a problem.”

“Yeah, you kicking in my door!” He huffed as he put his pants back on. Angel put a hand on her hip and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“I’m serious, so shut up and listen.” Angel then went into detail concerning the conflicting stories about Scootaloo’s aforementioned black eye along with the bruises she saw on the young flyer’s mother.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Cobalt said as he folded his arms over his chest. “You’re sure about what you saw.”

“They were scared to death. I know that look on Scootaloo’s face all to well.” Angel said as she leaned against the wall. “All I’m saying is that we should check it out. You okay to fly?”

“Yeah, I used some ointment on my wings. I can’t fly at full speed, but I can still make it to Cloudsdale.” He said as he got dressed and attached his sword to his belt before the two took off towards the home. On their way they ran into a certain rainbow haired flyer who had a sour look on her face due to her damaged pride.

“You-” Cobalt held up a hand to stop her.

“Dash, on any other day I would let you bite my head off until the cows come home, but for right now I need to make sure Scootaloo is okay.” That stopped Rainbow in her tracks. She saw the seriousness on their faces and raised an eyebrow.

“I think Scoot’s old man might be knocking her and her mom around.” Angel said before going on ahead.

“I’m coming too!” Rainbow quickly caught up with Angel.

“Fine, just don’t get in our way.” The trio touched down in front of the house Angel had come from.

“Scootaloo lives here?” Dash had never been to Scootaloo’s home and now she was wishing she hadn’t. The three could hear raised voices coming from inside the home. As Angel was about to knock on the door, a gun shot rang out. Abandoning decency, Angel and Cobalt kicked the door down and raced inside.

The two warriors got to where they heard the shot and saw a tall burly mad with dark orange wings holding a hand gun. Gale was on the ground clutching her bleeding shoulder in pain and Scootaloo was unconscious behind her mother. The orange winged man whirled around and pointed the gun at the intruders. Angel struck first by encasing the man’s hands in ice. Cobalt then rushed him and slammed him against the wall and stepped back before Angel encased his body from the neck down in ice.

The two then checked on Gale and Scootaloo. “She’s bleeding bad.” Angel said as she covered the cut with some ice to help hold the blood in. She then moved to Scootaloo. “She’s out cold, could have a concussion.” Cobalt looked back towards the doorway to see Rainbow standing dumbfounded wth tears in her eyes.

“Rainbow!” Cobalt yelled to get the girl’s attention. The flyer jumped out of her stunned state and looked at the man. “I can’t carry them both with my wings like this. Take Scootaloo and get her to the hospital. I’ll follow with Gale.” Cobalt said as he picked the woman up in his arms.

“O-okay.” She picked the wounded girl up and sped off towards Ponyville at breakneck speed. Angel pressed the tip of her rapier against the shooter’s neck.

“Angel, stop!”

“Why should I?” She yelled. “He’s scum! He deserves what’s coming to him.” She hissed a a little bit of blood showed on the man’s skin. “What kind of monster harms their own child?” She said in hushed tone.

“I know how you feel, but this isn’t how we do things.” He huffed as he looked down at the bleeding woman in his arms. “Do you really want his blood on your hands? Besides, you’re not a monster like him. You’re better than that.”

Angel paused and her arm started shaking. “Just think, what would Crimson do?” The ice mage bit her lip and sheathed her blade, but slammed the handle into the man’s nose, breaking it and knocking him out.

“Fine.” She said before leaving to fetch the police and Cobalt made haste towards the hospital.

Hours later, Cobalt, Angel and the rest of the CMC were waiting in the hospital. Angel had quickly explained what had happened and they hauled the man off. He wasn’t going to be seeing the outside of a cell for quite some time. Soon, a doctor approached the worried group, Rainbow was the first to jump from her seat. “How are they doc?”

“They’re both going to be fine.” The group let out a joined sigh of relief. “Gale has a minor shoulder wound, thankfully the bullet went all the way through and it didn’t fragment. Scootaloo only has a minor concussion, probably a knock to the head from the pistol judging by the bruise. All they need is some rest.” He smiled. Dash and the other two girls eagerly went to check in on their friend. Cobalt was about to join them but saw Angel leaving. He followed her out in front of the hospital and called her name.

“What?” She asked as she faced the man.

“You did good Angel, really.” Cobalt scratched the back of his head. “I know we don’t get along that well and we take shots at one another from time to time, but you’re a good person at heart.” Angel crossed her arms and refused to meet the man’s eye.

“I still think I should have killed him.” She huffed. “People like him deserve it.” Cobalt walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I know how you feel Angel, but” Angel smacked his hand away and spun to face him. Cobalt froze as he saw tears running down her face.

“What do you know about me?” She said as she wiped her tears away. Cobalt backed away defensively as he felt the air around the white haired woman was starting to get cold. Angel turned on her heel and stormed back towards the guild.

~~~

Later that night, Angel found herself subjected to the voice that plagued her mind every night. It spoke of dark things that would make the strongest men and women turn white with fear. She’d been fighting for so long and now she was almost out of strength. As she steadied herself on her hands and knees, a figure clothed in white shadows approached her.

“Just let go and all this pain will be over.” Angel spat in the apparition’s face and cursed a violent curse. The shadow clicked it’s tongue and shook their head. “That’s not very lady-like.” Something wrapped around the shadow and pulled it back as it screamed.

“Mind if I cut in?” A familiar voice echoed through the void. Angel looked up to see Crimson holding a chain that led around the demon’s neck and body.

“How are you here? I though I was asleep.” Angel asked as she got to her feet.

“You are asleep. I’m here because you need to talk with someone.” She was about to ask who as a bright blue light illuminated everything. Princess Luna appeared before them and the shadow hissed loudly.

“Interlopers!” Crimson tugged on the chain and threw it into a large cage. The demon shrieked as he shut the door.

“I suggest you keep your mouth shut.” Crimson said in a menacing tone. He turned his eyes to Luna. “Thank you for helping me with this.”

“Think nothing of it, it is our duty to ensure all are safe during the night.” Luna turned her gaze to Angel and gave her a smile. “Come let us talk.”

“About what?” Angel said as she frowned. Luna let out a deep breath and sat in a chair she conjured.

“I know how you feel Angel.” The Princess’ tone was somber. “Like you I have also been gone for over a thousand years with nothing but the harrowing voice of a dark being for company.” Angel laughed a dark laugh.

“You think you know me?” She shook her head. “You don’t know a damn thing.” Her glare shifted from Luna to Crimson. “Neither of you do!”

“Angel, out of everyone I know how you feel.” Crimson said in a calm tone. She pointed an accusatory finger at the red haired man.

“You became a conduit in an explosion! It was over in a flash, painless!” Her tone was filled with rage and sadness. “Mine was slow, lasting for hours and hours of nothing but pain.” Tears were rolling down her face now, but she wiped them away quickly. “Every night I can hear her voice laughing at me, waiting until I break.” She slumped down to her knees and wept. “You will never understand.”

“I don’t understand?” Crimson said with a half chuckle as he pointed to himself. “Are you kidding me? Of course I understand. You think my life has been an easy walk through the park?” His tone was getting louder and angrier as he turned to the shadow.

“You think this little half demon is a problem? I deal with a bigger demon than you will ever know! I see worse things than you can ever imagine and when I close my eyes,” He said as he clenched his hand into a tight fist. “I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count!” He was breathing hard now.

“And you know what I do with all that pain and anger? Shall I tell you where I put it? I hold it tight, until it burns my hands.” He held up both his fists that were now wet with his own blood. “And I say this: No one else will ever have to live like this, no one else will ever have to feel this pain, not on my watch!” He let his hands drop and he walked up to his student and crouched in front of her so their eyes met.

“In truth, you give me hope.” He said in a much gentler tone. “You’ve had to endure so much on your own and you’re still fighting even after all this time.” He wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a tight hug. Angel felt tears forming in her eyes and went to wipe them away, but Crimson stopped her. “It’s okay to cry every now and then.”

“It means I’m weak.” She sniffled. Crimson shook his head.

“Tears don’t mean someone is weak, tears show when someone has been strong for too long.” Luna stated as she placed a hand on Angel’s shoulder and gave her a smile.

“It shows you’re still human.” Crimson said as he rubbed her back. Angel buried her head in his chest and let everything she’d been holding inside herself come out. “Angel, I can’t give you what you want, only you can do that.”

“I don’t know what I want anymore.” She sniffled.

“Yes, you do. All you have to do is say it.” He said. Angel cleared her mind and bit her lip.

“I want to help.” She gulped. “I want to make sure that no one has to go through what I,” She paused. “what we’ve had to endure.”

“Neither of us have lead charmed lives, but it isn’t so bad.” Angel looked up at him to see him smiling. “We’re not alone anymore, we both have friends to watch our backs now.” There was another flash of light, this time it was green and Ivy joined next to the Princess. The dragon slayer crossed her arms and looked at Angel.

“You may piss me off ice Queen, but I think you’re a hell of a fighter and don’t tell anyone this because I will deny it, I trust you. Not blindly, but enough to let my guard down around you.” Angel stared at her blankly until Crimson poked her side.

“I think,” Angel searched her mind for something to say to Ivy. “you have nice hair.” Ivy put a hand over her hart and smiled.

“Awe, that might be the nicest thing you’ve said to me.” Angel opened her mouth to comment but quickly bit back her tongue before she could ruin the moment. “Thank you.” Ivy stated. With that, the dream started to collapse and Angel woke up in her room. She sat up and rubbed her head.

She got up and looked at herself in the mirror as she styled her hair in it’s usual ponytail, but stopped and decided to try something different. Later, Crimson and Ivy returned from a successful mission and Angel walked up to the green haired girl. “Hey,” She said as she crossed her arms.

“Hey,” Ivy said in a similar tone. After about of minute of awkward silence between them Angel spoke up.

“I was thinking on trying something different with my hair.” She stated firmly. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to help.” Ivy gave her a smile and a nod before following her upstairs. Cobalt and Rouge walked up to Crimson, mouths agape and gestured to the two women.

“Crimson, what just happened?” The changeling asked.

“Progress my friend, progress at long last.” He sighed happily.

Author's Note

WOW It has Been A LOOOOOOOOONG time since I updated this one.
I'M SO SORRY! I hope you all enjoyed this overdue chapter.

Chapter I: The Fable

In case this is your first time reading this. I suggest you read 'The Ranger's Journey' first to get a better grasp of the Characters.

The odyssey continues...

Chapter I

The Fable

It had been a month since Crimson and his compatriots had returned to the small town of Ponyville. Crimson and the scholar had decided to keep their relationship on the down low for the time being. The red mage had gotten permission from the mayor to erect a guild on the far edge of town. The towns folk were more than willing to lend a hand. Within a few days the foundation was laid and the walls were built.

Golem, the man who made a living creating clay figurines of the students had come from the school to offer his assistance with the construction. Soon the comrades looked at the guild and smiled. The building was three stories high, the three roofs had clay shingles and stone pitchers at the end of each corner for the rain water to pour out of. At the top of the third floor stood a large bell and a flag on top. The first floor was a tavern and was stocked with the Apple family cider.

The bottom floor could easily hold over a hundred people. The second floor held dorms where the guild members could take a load off and rest in between jobs. A room could be rented out for a fee and be put on reserve for long term use. The top level was reserved for higher ranking members and where clients did business with the guild. A large office was built and a large round meeting table was constructed.

It was perfection. Now the group only had one problem. Naming it.

“I say we call it Devil May-” Cobalt was cut off as Rouge slapped him upside the head.

“Copyright infringement idiot.” The purple haired girl said with a sigh.

“Oh right.” He said with a chuckle.

“How about the Prancing Pegasus?” Rouge asked.

“Nah, doesn’t sound cool enough.” Cobalt said with a sigh.

“The Dragon’s Nest?” Ivy asked with a sheepish grin.

“We’re not all dragon slayers Ivy.” Crimson sighed. “It need to be something short, sweet and to the point.” The man said as he looked at the building. The man then noticed five familiar girls approaching them. Twilight gave the man a small peck on the cheek and smiled.

“Howdy guys.” A.J. said as she tipped her hat. “How goes the naming?”

“Terrible.” Cobalt said. “We need to really leave our own mark on this place ya know?”

“All our ideas are either crap or taken.” Crimson sighed. The group heard a whooshing noise and looked up to see a familiar rainbow haired flyer.

“Crimson!” She yelled as she flew up to him. “You have to get to the train station now!”

“What’s wrong Dash?”

“No time! Just hurry!” The flyer said as she zoomed off towards the tracks with the group in hot pursuit. As they neared the station the group saw a crowd gathering. Crimson squinted and saw a familiar golden haired Changeling with a scared look on her face.

“Sunny?” Crimson yelled as he ran up next to the girl.

“Oh, hello Crimson.” She said with a weak smile.

“What are you doing here?” He asked as the other three warriors stood beside him.

“Crow said that you were looking for staff for your guild.” She said in her timid tone. “So I was wondering if I could help out.” The Changeling said in a hopeful tone.

“Hell yeah!” Ivy said with a smile.

“No way are we letting a thing like that in this town!” A crowd member yelled. Sunny hung her head low. Crimson looked back at the crowd and frowned.

“There a problem here?” He yelled.

“Her kind attacked Canterlot!” A girl with short mint green hair stated.

“She didn’t have anything to do with that.” Rouge said.

“She’s still a Changeling!” Rouge snapped her fingers and made her disguise shatter. The crowd gasped as they saw her butterfly wings and patches of black insect like skin. The crowd froze and gulped at her appearance. Crimson and the other two flyers then stood beside her and let some of their magic seep out.

“You want her then you’re gonna have to go through us.” Cobalt said as electricity arced over his body. Twilight and the five girls then stood in front of them with their arms crossed.

“That goes double for us.” AJ said as she and Rainbow cracked their knuckles. The crowd gulped and flinched. The four mages were bad enough, but now the Elements of Harmony?

“Out of the way! Out of the way!” The crowd separated to show the grey haired mayor in a brown suit. She adjusted her glasses and looked at the crowd and mages. “Let’s not let anything get out of hand. Crimson, your in charge here correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said as he motioned for the group to back off. The mages and girls relaxed their positions. “Mind if we talk in private?”

“Walk with me.” Crimson nodded and followed the woman off to where no one could hear them. “I allowed the Academy to open up a guild here, but allowing Changelings is pushing it.” She sighed as she leaned against a building.

“Rouge has been protecting this place for over a month.” He stated. “She could have attacked anyone at any time, but she didn’t. The only reason she kept herself hidden was because she didn’t want to cause a full blown panic." He said as he crossed his arms.

“What about the whole love feeding issue?”

“She’s got Cobalt for that.” The mayor sighed. " If you've got a problem with them then you got a problem with me and my guild.” The mayor frowned and crossed her arms. Crimson looked back at the group and an idea came to him. Time to use the two most basic human emotion against politicians. Fear and greed. “Look Mayor, Twilight and the others trust them.”

“That is irrelevant.” She said in a firm tone.

“Look, this isn’t meant for public ears yet, but Twilight and I are in a relationship.” The mayor raised an eyebrow at the man.

“Why should I care?”

“Because her friends are my friends and vice versa.” He sad in a calm tone. “How well do you think it would go if she found out that it was a certain someone’s fault why her boyfriend couldn’t stay in her town?” The mayor flinched at the thought of the Element of Magic going on a rampage. “Not just her, but if the higher ups in the Council hear that a Civil Servant is racist? Ho then Academy members all over would be pissed. Considering that Changelings make up a good twenty-five percent of the Academy.”

The woman gulped at the thought of having an army of angry mages want her head on a silver platter. “And let’s not forget Twilight’s connections. She’s the student of Princess Celestia and on excellent terms with Princess Luna and Princess Cadence.” The woman was now shaking in fear of the thought. Sweat formed on her brow and she tried to hide the fear in her eyes. “But if you allow myself and my friends to stay then this works out well for you.”

“How?” She asked in a shaky tone. He had weakened her defenses. Time to go in for the kill.

“Money.”

“Money?”  The woman said in confusion.

“Well, the town does get a percentage of the guild’s profits for tax purposes.” He said with a smirk. The mayor’s eyes widened and Crimson saw a small spark of greed fill her eyes.

“How much?”

“I’d say twenty-five percent.” The mayor’s jaw dropped. “Not to mention that we protect this town twenty-four seven free of charge. Parisprites, Dragons and anything in between.” The mayor could feel drool forming in her mouth. She straightened her posture and walked back over to the train station. She walked over to the golden haired Changeling and adjusted her glasses.

“What was your name again?”

“Sunny Gleam.” She said with a gulp. The mayor threw on a smile and stuck her hand out.

“Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville.” The groups’ jaws hit the floor as Crimson grinned. “Sorry for the odd welcoming. People around here aren’t used to seeing Changelings.”

“Oh it’s perfectly alright. Some students at the Academy have issues with my appearance.” She smiled. The Changeling shook her hand and the mayor relaxed. “So where’s the guild?”

“Right this way.” Crimson said as he lead the two towards the guild. As they walked through the town they were getting dark stares from the local populace. Dash and AJ were ready to pounce on anything that got too close to the Changeling.

“So what’s its name?” Sunny asked. The group of mages grumbled.

“We’re still working on that.” Rouge said. “We’ve been talking about this all week and we’ve come up with squat.”

“It’s only a name.” Twilight said. “It’s not like your naming a child or a fable. I mean its only a building.”

“Twilight it’s not that simple it-” The man froze as his brain processed what she said. “Wait what did you just say?”

“It’s only a building?”

“No, before that.”

“It’s not like you’re naming a child or a fable?” Crimson’s brain lurched and a smile spread across his face. He quickly grabbed her and gave her a kiss on the lips.

“You’re a genius!” Twilight gave a smile, even though she had no idea what she just did. “Fable! It’s perfect!” The group rolled the idea around in their heads.

“Sounds pretty cool.” Cobalt grinned.

“It does hold a deep meaning.” Rouge said.

“I’m cool with it.” Ivy stated.

“Okay so the guild’s name is Fable. Agreed?” The red mage said as he looked at the group.

“Agreed.” The three said with a grin.

“Now what about a symbol? We gotta have a cool symbol.” Cobalt said. Rouge summoned her sketch book and the group started to look through it.

“I’ve had some free time so I decided to practice my drawing again.” The group continued to look through the sketches. As they approached the guild the groups eyes fell upon a nicely done sketch. It was obviously a horse, a stallion with a long spiral horn coming from it’s forehead.

“What about this?” Ivy asked.

“Seems kinda...girly.” Cobalt said.

“Looks okay and it fits the name.” Crimson stated.

“A Unicorn? Really?” Dash said with a laugh.

“No one has ever seen a Unicorn. Sure there are stories, but people have spent their entire lives looking for it. It’s like an urban legend.” He said as he looked at the image. “They’re mostly used in kids stories, but according to some of the books written by the founders of the Academy Unicorns are said to be the strongest creatures in existence. Fastest thing on four legs, smarter than any human and more powerful than a dragon.” Dash couldn’t help but snicker at the words.

“This will do.” He said as he cracked his back. “Ladies, gentlemen and Cobalt.”

“Screw you.” The flyer said with a frown. The red haired man faced the guild and cracked his knuckles.

“I dub thee,” The man’s hands glowed a dark red and shot out streams of energy at the blank sign. The magic started to burn and cut into the wooden sign. “Fable.” The man cut his magic flow and the name was forever marked into the sign. “Now for the emblem.” He charged up his magic again and carved the emblem above the name.

“I think its still missing something.” Ivy said as she squinted at the sign. “Oh! We should give it wings!”

“Why?” Pinkie asked. Ivy and Cobalt looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, right sorry.”

“Wings coming right up!” Another blast of magic and a the image was now donning a pair of majestic wings. The group looked at the symbol and smiled. Crimson looked back at the group who all had smiles on their faces. Smiles filled with hope and dreams of a new adventure.

“Yay! Now we can finally have that guild opening party!” Pinkie chimed.

“Awe yeah!” Dash yelled as she fist pumped. Twilight walked up to Crimson and gave him a playful nudge. Crimson lead the group inside and gave them the grand tour. The rooms were fairly simple, one to two beds, some even had bunk beds. A bathroom with a shower was also included.

Sunny got a single room which she graciously accepted. Rouge and Cobalt were obviously going to share one. Crimson and Ivy each took an individual one. Crimson smiled as he watched his friends go into the guild.

“Home sweet home.” He said as he followed his friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One month earlier

It was the day after Crimson had gotten his reassignment to Ponyville thanks to Celestia’s mention of the chaos Twilight had written to her about in her letters. Celestia’s eyes fluttered open and saw that the sun was already shining. It was rare for Celestia to miss the sun rising, but not uncommon. Since Luna’s return it meant that on occasion, she could do it, but that resulted in a very grumpy Princess of the night and Tia would have to raise the moon to compensate. As her eyes adjusted she realized that she was not in her bedroom in Canterlot Castle. She looked around and saw dark green painted walls and grey borders.

“Still sleepy I see.” Celestia looked up at Crow who had a smile on his face and a dark green button down shirt on that clung to his upper body. Despite the man’s age, his body was still something to marvel at. Despite being forty-one, the man had the muscle tone of a thirty year old linebacker.

“Why is it that every time we have dinner I end up in your bed with nothing on?” She asked as she sat up and pulled the sheet over herself to cover her naked body.

“Because we know it ends that way every time.” He said with a smug grin. Celestia stuck her tongue out at him and sighed.

“You could get in serious trouble if anyone ever found out about this.” Celestia said as she snapped her fingers and a flowing white dress appeared over her body. “The council would surely be outraged and the scandal would be talked about for centuries to come.”

“You’ve been saying that for years. Besides I-” The instantly clutched his chest and dropped to the floor in pain.

“Crow!” Celestia yelled as she hurried over to the man. Crow was grunting his pain and digging his fingers into his chest. Celestia ripped open his shirt and saw that his veins were starting to turn black and his skin was becoming paper white.

“Vial.” The man breathed out n pain. “Third left drawer.” He said as he pointed at his desk. Celestia hurried over to the drawer and saw a few vials filled with purple liquid. She grabbed one and rested the man’s head on her knees to give it some elevation. She put the glass to his lips and made sure that he drank all of it.

The man’s skin turned back to normal and he gave a hard cough. Celestia sat him up slowly and put a hand on his bare back. She focused her magic and felt that something had invaded his body and was eating him from the inside out.

“Crow.” She said in a shaky tone. “You’re very sick.” The man hung his head in shame and panted heavily.

“Please, I don’t want Crimson to know.” He said with a sigh. Celestia had tears in her eyes and hugged the man.

Author's Note

Second story in the Crimson Odyssey. Hope you enjoyed chapter one!

Chapter XII: Djinn

Chapter XII

Djinn

Things were going smoothly for the members of the Fable guild. Pinkie had thrown Azure a welcome party Pinkie Pie style. The water mage had gotten along well with Rouge and Ivy who couldn’t be happier for their friend. Crimson waited outside the guild as he saw two familiar flyers land in front of him. The Wonderbolt Captain and Co-captain had hightailed from a photo shoot in Canterlot.

“This had better be good Crimson.” Soarin said in a tired tone.

“Calm down. It involves Cobalt.” Crimson said as he opened the door and the two saw the blue haired flyer talking with the woman. Cobalt saw them and waved them over.

“Hey Soarin,” He said with a smile. “got someone I wan’t you to meet.” The woman stood up and looked at the man. Something familiar surrounded the girl and he scratched his chin as he thought.

“You always were a soar-loser.” The woman said with a chuckle. The man’s eyes shrank and his jaw dropped. There had only been one person who called him that.

“Azure?” He yelled.

“Took you long enough dunce.” Cobalt said with a chuckle. Soarin hugged the girl and the group started conversing. Sunny then came up to Crimson with a smile on her face.

“Um Crimson, there’s a call for you in the conference room.” The Changeling said in her usual timid tone.

“Thanks Sunny.” Crimson said as he went upstairs to the meeting room. A few minutes later the people downstairs heard a bloodcurdling scream and raced upstairs. Ivy was leading the pack and kicked open the door to see the man standing in front of a decorated lamp.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked as she walked up next to her boyfriend.

“Crow is a cruel son-of-a-bitch.” He said as he glared at the lamp.

“It’s a lamp.” Ivy said in a flat tone.

“It looks pretty old.” Twilight said as she got closer to it. Crimson grabbed her arm and shook his head.

“Don’t touch it. If this thing is what I think it is then I gotta destroy it.” He said as he summoned his father’s hammer.

“Destroy it?” Twilight said as she broke free and grabbed the lamp. “Think of how much history this thing holds!”

“That isn’t the only thing it can hold.” Twilight rolled her eyes and blew the dust that had accumulated on the lamp and wiped it away.

“Oh what’s the worst that could-” The lamp suddenly shot out of her arms and spun in the air and started to contort. Soon a large amount of golden smoke erupted from the top of the lamp and filled the room.

“Freedom!” A feminine voice yelled form the smoke. Soon the smoke accumulated and a woman with white and black hair. She was wearing a brown vest and a gray shirt and matching pants. The girl cracked her back and yawned. “Man, being trapped in a lamp for seven years really gives you a crick in the neck.” Twilight and the others looked at the girl in surprise.

“Y-you’re a Genie!” Twilight yelled.

“Well, I guess we can take brains off the wish list.” The girl said as she hovered over them. “I am the Great and Powerful Eris the Djinn.” She saw the scholar holding the lamp and smirked. “Whoever rubs my lamp is entitled to three wishes.”

“Awesome!” Dash yelled. “Twilight wish for-”

“NO!” Crimson yelled. The group looked at him in surprise. “No on is wishing for anything.” He turned his attention back to the Djinn. “You get back in there!” He pointed o the lamp.

“So nice to see you again too Crimson.” The girl said with an evil smirk. “But I don’t take orders from you. She rubbed the lamp,” The being pointed to Twilight. “so she’s my master.”

“Me?” Twilight gulped.

“Yup, you’re the only one who can make wishes. Just a few rules; one, no wishing for more wishes.” The girl held up three fingers. “Two, I can’t make anyone fall in love with ya. Too bad for you I guess.”

“She’s my girlfriend.” Crimson said with a growl. The bottle dweller looked at the man and back to the scholar.

“Tough break kid.” She said to Twilight. “Oh and before I forget, rule number three; I can’t bring anyone back from the dead.” Her form then started to shift to a decomposed corpse. “It’s not a pretty picture and I don’t like doing it!” The girl then shifted back to her normal youthful look. “Other than those three, you’re good.” Twilight looked over to her boyfriend who shook his head and had a worried look on his face.

“Um, can I have some time to think about it?”

“Fine. If you need me I’ll be in my lamp.” The woman then turned into a cloud of smoke and zoomed back in the lamp Twilight was holding. Crimson face palmed and groaned.

“Just great. Now I have to deal with her again.”

“You know her?” Cobalt asked.

“Unfortunately yes. I was on a mission in Saddle Arabia and I had the misfortune of coming across her lamp and I accidentally released her.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Pure chaos. That’s what happened. Genies do have amazing power and are bound to their master’s wishes, but they have a a habit of twisting their master’s wishes to the point where it works against them.” The man sighed and bit his lip. “So until I can get the proper sealing spell, you have to keep an eye on her.”

“Me?” Twilight said in surprise.

“Eris and her lamp are now bound to you. You are the only one who can make wishes and set her free. If that happens then it will be the end of everything.” Crimson said in a serious tone. “I’ll need some help. There’s a lot of books to look through.” Rouge and the other mages followed the man while Twilight looked at the lamp.

“C’mon Twilight. Make a wish!” Dash said.

“Didn’t you hear what Crimson just said?” AJ stated. “That thing is dangerous. We should just let Crimson handle it.”

“Oh come on! Wishing for anything you want? How bad could that be?”

“My decision is final Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said with a frown. “I’m not going to make a wish.” The flyer groaned and walked out of the room with a sigh. Twilight and the others left the guild and went about their business. Twilight walked into her library and sat down at her desk with the lamp on to the left of her. The Djinn then popped out and cracked her back.

“Nice place.” She said as she sat herself down. “So now I say that we crack open some drinks, kick back and-”

“No.”

“Oh come on! Don’t be a square like Crimson.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about my boyfriend like that!” Twilight glared.

“Sorry sheesh.” The being groaned. “All I want to do is see how much the world has moved forward. I’ve been corked up in that damn lamp for almost a decade and I wanna know what’s changed.”

“You make it sound so awful.” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey! You try being cooped up in a bottle all the time!” The genie grunted.

“What do you mean all the time?”

“That’s how genies live.” The girl then grew to the size of a giant and her lower half was encased in smoke. “INFINITE COSMIC POWER!” She said in a tone that rivaled Princess Luna’s royal Canterlot voice. The Genie was then sucked into the bottle and poked her tiny head out. “Itty, biddy living space.” She said in a squeaky tone.

“How long have you been in that thing?” Twilight asked.

“What day is today?”

“Friday.”

“Oh then about nine-hundred years.” She groaned. Twilight bit her lip and sighed.

“Crimson said you caused some trouble in Saddle Arabia.”

“I had cabin fever! You try staying in a small lamp for almost a thousand years.” The woman argued. “I admit that I got a little crazy.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You make one stone sphinx come alive and suddenly you’re the bad guy.” The scholar frowned.

“So Crimson stepped in and stopped you?”

“Him and that annoying mutt of his too.” She crossed her arms. “Then I get jammed back into the bottle and left on a shelf in the vault.”

“The vault?”

“It’s some maximum security chamber that the Council has to hold all kinds of dangerous artifacts.”

“Like you?”

“Bingo. I’ll most likely be back on that shelf, in the cold dark vault and trapped inside the bottle. That’s what I have to look forward to.” Twilight felt for the magical being. She couldn’t wrap her head around being trapped in a small bottle for centuries and being locked away in a vault Celestia knows where.

“If you were able to leave that thing what would you do?” The genie shrugged.

“See the town, hit up a few clubs. Take a mini vacation before I’m sealed away forever.” She sighed. Twilight closed her book and sighed.

“I’ll make you a deal.” Eris raised an eyebrow.”If you promise to behave I’ll let you walk around for a few hours. Deal?”

“Deal, but you gotta put it in wish form. It’s the rules.” Twilight stood up and sighed.

“Fine. I wish that you, Eris the Djinn are able to walk around as a person until Crimson comes back.” The woman made her hands glow and smirked. “Hold on, I’m not done yet.” The Djinn cut the magic flow. “I also wish that while you are able to leave your lamp, you are unable to use any of your godlike magic.”

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Then your wish is my command master.” The Genie’s hands glowed and the lower half of her body that was previously a trail of smoke started to shift into brown pant covered legs. The woman stood for a moment and caught her balance.”Sorry, been a while since I’ve had legs.”

“And your magic?” The woman snapped her fingers and her body glowed.

“Gone. Thank’s Twilight.” She said with a smile. “Do you mind keeping an eye on my lamp? I’ll still need it when I come back.”

“Sure. I don’t mind.”

“Excellent.” She smirked. The woman snapped her fingers and Twilight felt a suction force coming from the bottle and felt her feet being dragged back. The suction power made Twilight fall on her stomach and she was trying to get a grip on the wooden floor. Her nails were making marks in the wood and tears filled her eyes as she felt herself being pulled back farther towards the bottle.

“What’s happening?” Twilight yelled.

“You said that you’d keep an eye on it for me.” Eris chuckled. “Oh and thanks for being a complete idiot, book worms like you always believe the sob stories.” Twilight feet her body being pulled off the ground by the gale force sucking her into the bottle. Eris caught Twilight’s wrist. “Now if you need me, I’ll be off causing some trouble.”

“B-but you removed your magic!”

“Very true, which is why I’ll be taking yours.” Twilight’s eyes shrank at the words. The genie put two fingers on Twilight’s forehead and smirked. Eris ripped her finger’s off the mage’s head and Twilight felt like Eris had ripped her skin clean off her bones. Twilight saw a long strand of purple magic coming out of her and going into Eris’s body. “Wow, you have a lot of magic, for a mortal anyway.”

“I wish that-” Eris then put her hand over Twilight’s mouth.

“Ah, ah, ah.” The woman said with a smirk. There was fear and tears in Twilight’s eyes. “See you round Twilight.” Eris let go of her hand and the scholar was sucked into the bottle like water going down a sink. Eris chuckled as she walked out of the building and heard the faint sound of crying coming from the bottle.

Crimson and the other four mages made their way towards the library. Crimson had an odd object on his back and was carrying a book in his hand. The four met up with the other five girls along the way.

“Hey guys. Going to handle Eris?” Dash asked.

“Sooner the better.” Crimson said with a sigh. The group soon came upon the tree house. The group walked inside and found a few papers strewn across the room and Spike looking around. “Spike?”

“Hey guys. Twilight must have had the window open and papers blew all over the place.”

“Where’s Twilight?” Crimson asked.

“Don’t know. Just got back here a few minutes ago myself.” He said as he continued to pick up the scattered books. Crimson noticed the lamp on the desk and walked up to it.

“Okay Eris, come out and make it easy on yourself.” Crimson said in a flat tone. No response came from the bottle. Crimson sighed and rubbed the lamp. The bottle shook and a large cloud of purple smoke shot out of the bottle. The group’s eyes shrank when they saw the librarian with a smoke trail leading into the bottle instead of legs.

“Oh thank goodness Crimson I need your help I-” Crimson pulled out the package on his back and the group saw a different scythe. The blade was sharp but it was significantly larger than the one the group had seen. The main edge was in a square shape and was covered in inscriptions. Crimson pointed the blade at the scholar.

“Come on Eris, do you honestly think you can trick me like that?” He said as he raised an eyebrow. Twilight had tears in her eyes as she looked at the man.

“Please you have to believe me that I’m Twilight!” The farmer stared at the bottle dweller and her eyes shrank.

“She ain’t lying. Ah can smell a lie coming from a mile away and she ain’t lying.” The farmer said.

“I don’t buy it.” Rouge said. “I’ve read that Genies can shape shift and use all sorts of weird magic.”

“Do I have to recite Starswirl the Bearded’s one-hundred verse exposition in ancient Equestrian dialect?” The five girls looked at one another and then towards Spike.

“Okay, now THAT definitely sounds like Twilight.” Spike said in a flat tone.

“Eris is about as old as Princess Luna so it’s very likely that she knows it.” Crimson stated. Twilight gulped. Something in Crimson’s gut was telling him that this was indeed his girlfriend, but he’d been tricked by the genie before. The man sighed and walked closer to the scholar. “Okay, tell me something that only the real Twilight would know.”

The girl looked at the man and thought for a few moments. The girl leaned forwards so that she was right next to the man’s ear. Twilight whispered a few words to the man. Crimson’s face went a bright red and gulped. “Okay, you are definitely Twilight.”

“What did she say?” Pinkie asked.

“None of your business.” Crimson said as he tried to hide his blush.

“Must be sexual.” Ivy concurred as she and the other two warriors nodded. Twilight and Crimson’s faces went bright red.

“Never mind. Right now we have a crisis on our hands. Eris is on the loose and creator knows what she can do now that she’s free.” Crimson said with a sigh.

“She doesn’t have her power.” Twilight sighed. The group looked at her. “The second wish I made was that she can’t use her genie powers.”

“That makes things easier.” Cobalt said.

“But she took mine.” Twilight sniffled. Crimson put an arm around Twilight and comforted her.

“So now what?”

“Eris won’t go down easy and she’s as sly as a fox.” The red mage stated. “our only hope is to outfox her and hopefully trap her back in that bottle after we get Twilight out.” The group then heard several screams come from outside the library. The group rushed to the windows and doorway and saw several houses flipped upside down and a ball of yarn as big as a house rolling down the street.

“Holy crap.” Dash said as her jaw hung low.

“This is only a warm up.” Crimson stated. “When she gets used to using Twilight’s magic and finds a way to get her own back then we’ll all be up a creek without a paddle.”

“So what do we do?” Ivy asked.

“We gotta subdue and outsmart her, which will not be easy.”

“Why? I’m sure we can think of something.” Dash said.

“Dash, Eris has spent the last couple of years thinking of ways to royally screw everyone over. I mean who do we know that’s as crafty and unorthodox as a nine-hundred year old genie?” The group groaned and looked at one another.

“Could the Princesses help?” AJ asked.

“No, Princess Celestia and Luna are over in Griffonia with diplomats.” Spike sighed. Fluttershy’s eyes shrank and she bit her lip.

“Um....there is someone else.” The group looked at the timid flyer in surprise. “Someone who could help us I mean.”

“Who?” Rouge asked. The butter yellow flyer sighed.

“Discord.” The room fell silent at the words.

“Are you insane Shy?” Dash yelled. “We want to solve the problem here, not make it worse!”

“Wait a second,” Cobalt said. “I thought Discord was sealed in stone by Celestia.”

“We ‘reformed’ him a few months ago.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Well, you know what they say, fight fire with fire.” Rouge said. “Who better than to handle a chaotic situation than the god of chaos himself?”

“How can we trust him?” Rarity stated.

“I know that he won’t want to lose my friendship.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Okay, but how do we get him here?” Rainbow asked. “I mean it’s not like we can just wish him here.”

“Actually, we can.” Crimson then turned towards Twilight. “Okay Twi, I rubbed your lamp so I am now you master.” Twilight blushed at the words. “So by the Genie’s Codex you have to give me three wishes.”

“The Genie’s what?” AJ asked.

“Genies may be all powerful, but they do have rules to abide by.” Crimson looked at Twilight and sighed. “Okay Twi, this is gonna feel strange, so be ready.” Twilight gave a firm nod and took a deep breath. “I wish that Discord, the god of chaos and disharmony was here.” Twilight felt a weird surge rocketing through her body.

Her eyes glowed and magic was avid in the air. The room was filled with a bright light and the group shielded their eyes. The group looked to see a man with a set of wings. The left was feathered and bright blue and the right was purple and webbed like a bat’s. Two horns were protruding from his head, the left was blue and swirled while the other was yellow and looked like a deer antler. His hair was black and his bangs were white. A red tail was also coming from his lower back.

His left hand was a mustard yellow and skeleton like. The whites of his eyes were yellow while his pupils were red. There was also one other definitive feature to the man. He was soaking wet and naked.

“It’a always when you’re taking a bath that the world beats a path to your door.” He sighed. The group was shielding their eyes from the man. Discord took one look at Twilight and barreled over laughing. “Loving the new look Twilight.” He chuckled.

“Discord, be nice,” Fluttershy said as she made a crack through her fingers. “and could you please put some clothes on?” she said as her face went red.

“Hmm? Oh right. I suppose it is a bit drafty in here.” The man snapped his fingers and a fine tan coat and dark brown pants appeared over his body. The man sat down on the scholar’s desk and grinned. “So what’s going on gang?” He asked with a toothy grin.

“We need your help with a genie.” Discord looked over and saw the red haired man. The chaotic god looked at Crimson and smirked.

“Well, well, well, this certainly is a treat.” The man stood up and walked over to Crimson. He stood a full foot taller than the man and smirked. “Crimson Storm, it truly is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You know me?” Crimson asked.

“Oh I have been keeping an eye on you for a while. I’m a big fan of your work.” He chuckled. “I always find conduit’s fascinating.” Crimson frowned. “Oh don’t act so surprised. I may have been encased in stone for a millennia, but I still could see and interact with the world.”

“Can we please get down to business?” Rarity sighed.

“Fine.” He sighed. “What’s this about a Genie?”

“Long story short, one tricked Twilight and stole her magic. She is now on the loose and making everything crazy.” Discord looked out the window and saw the giant yarn ball rolling down the street.

“What’s the Genie’s name?”

“Eris.” Discord raised his eyebrows and bit his lip.

“Can you help us?” Fluttershy asked in her usual sweet tone.

“Fine.” He said with a roll of his eyes. “Finding her will be a chore though.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Crimson said as he turned to Twilight. “Twilight, my second wish is that I wish Eris was here.” Once again, the scholar’s eyes lit up and magic surged through her form. The room was filled with light and the girl popped in front of the group.

“Hey what gives?” Crimson gripped the scythe and slammed the blade into her shoulder and pinned her to the wall.

“Gotcha!” The woman struggled and looked at the man in confusion.

“Why can’t I phase out of this?” She grunted as the blade went deeper. “This is Djinn hunter magic isn’t it?”

“Bingo.”

“Great, three things I can’t escape; magic lamps, Djinn hunter magic and the charms of Barbara Eden.”

“Can it!” Crimson yelled. “Fix this now or-” The man felt himself being pulled back by an invisible force. Crimson saw Discord walk forward. “Hey what are you-”

“I can handle this one.” Discord said as he looked at the woman. “Hello Eris.”

“Dad?”

“Dad!?” The group yelled in shock. Discord looked at the group and back at the girl. Discord snapped his fingers and the lamp connected to Twilight flew into his hand. Discord the karate chopped the scholar’s smoke trail and Twilight dropped to the ground. The group watched in amazement as her smoke trail turned back into her legs. Discord pointed the bottle at the Genie and it sucked her back inside.

“We’ll talk about this later.” He said into the lamp.

“Wait, she has my magic.” Twilight said as Crimson helped her up. Discord looked at the lamp and lifted the lid off and reached inside. He pulled his hand out and held a small sphere of purple magic in his hand. He threw it at Twilight and it sunk into her chest on impact. Twilight felt dizzy and passed out into Crimson’s arms.

“Well, I think I’ll take my leave.” Discord said.

“Wait, what about the damage to Ponyville?” Pinkie asked. Discord snapped his fingers and the houses were put back in their proper places and the giant ball of yarn vanished. Discord sighed and walked over towards Twilight.

“She should be fine. Getting your magic taken away and returned is bound to takes a lot out of you.”

“Thanks.” Crimson said before Discord said goodbye and vanished in a flash of light along with the lamp. Crimson carried Twilight upstairs and set her down on the bed. The group then inspected the damage to the town and thankfully didn’t find anything destroyed by Eris’s spree. The group then went back to their own devices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around seven o’clock when Crimson had contacted Crow and told him what had happened with Eris.

“Honestly Crow, sending a Genie here?” Crimson said in a flat tone as he looked at the projection of the raven haired man. “Don’t tell me it was a justified punishment, because innocent people could have been killed today.”

“I knew you could handle it if things got out of control.” The man said in a firm tone.

“That’s not the point!” Crimson said as he slammed his fist on the table. “Messing with me and other Academy agents is one thing, but dragging Twilight and the others into our messes is going too far.”

“I didn’t think that-”

“Exactly! You didn’t think.” Crimson sighed and calmed down. “Look, mess and punish me all you like, but leave the others out of it.”

“Crimson I-” Crimson cut the feed and the image vanished. Crimson groaned and walked out of the room. The man felt the ground shake and what sounded like an explosion.

What now? He thought with a groan. The man ran to the door just in time to see the librarian’s treehouse fall back down to the ground. Crimson ran through the town as fast as his feet could carry him and came to the site. The man opened the door and saw complete pandemonium. Books and papers were scattered around the room in piles.

“Twilight? Spike?” The man saw the couch shifting and saw the dragon hybrid coming out from underneath the wreckage. Crimson helped him up and sat him down. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said as he cracked his neck.

“What happened here? Looks like a bomb went off.”

“Twilight got some letter from Ditzy and then she goes nuts.” The two then heard a groaning sound coming from another pile of books. The two moved the books and found the scholar buried underneath the mound.

“Wh-what happened?” Twilight asked as Crimson helped her up.

“You got some letter then flipped out.” Twilight shook her head and sat down in a chair as Spike started collecting the books.

“Oh no, the letter!” Crimson put his hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“Hey, calm down. What letter? Did someone threaten you?”

“No, nothing like that.” She said as she started to pant.

“Twilight, take a deep breath and start from the beginning.” The man said as he walked over to the sink and poured her a glass of water. Crimson handed it to her and Twilight summoned a slip of paper.

“Okay, two weeks ago I sent my parents a letter about current events.” Twilight handed him the letter and the man started reading.

“You know, most people consider the average length of a letter to be a page and a half, not six.” Twilight stuck her tongue out at him. Crimson continued reading the letter detailing Twilight’s new discoveries in history, organization skills and other things of that mundane nature. One little item did catch his eye, it was below her signature ending the letter.

“P.S. I have a boyfriend.” He read aloud. The man looked at Twilight with a blank look on his face. “Three pages on organization techniques and I get a footnote.” He said in a hurt tone

“Sorry, I just started writing and I went on a tangent.”

“Okay and where’s the freak out come in?” twilight reached into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper.

“This just arrived today.” Crimson took it and much to his liking it was short. The contents however made his skin crawl.

“Dear Twilight,

Your father and I are happy you’ve found someone. We’re going to visit you and your boyfriend next weekend.

Love,

Mom & Dad.”

“So I kinda freaked out.” Twilight gulped. “I mean they’ve never met you. Well, my mom has but only in a friend situation not as my boyfriend and my dad should like you. I mean I hope he will. I-” The woman was cut off as Crimson put a finger on her lips.

“Twilight,” He said in a calm tone. “you need to calm down. If anything ,I should be the one sweating bullets and besides we have a week.” Twilight sighed and nodded. “Look how about I help you clean up this mess then I’ll cook us something to eat okay?” Twilight nodded and the three started to clean up the scattered books and items.

After they had put away a majority of the clutter Crimson started cooking. He opted for pasta and meatballs. Not his best dish, but he made due. The librarian and assistant were very happy with the result and smiled happily. Soon the group heard a knock at the door and the green haired flyer stepped in. “Hey Ivy. What’s up?”

“You forgot didn’t you?” The woman said as she crossed her arms under her chest. Spike and Twilight looked at the man in confusion.

“Forgot what?” He asked as he swallowed a meatball.

“Remember that,” She looked over at Spike and Twilight. “favor you owe me?” Crimson gulped and almost choked on the meat.

“Oh come on Ivy. It’s been a long day.” He complained. Ivy frowned and looked at Twilight.

“Hey Twilight, guess what Crimson-”

“Okay, okay jeez.” He sighed. “Only one song!”

“Fine.”

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked.

“Crimson owe’s me a favor so I’m making him perform.” She grinned.

“Can I come and watch?”

“I don’t-”

“Sure.” Ivy said as she cut the man off. “Let’s go.” Ivy and Crimson led the other two towards the guild. Crimson was quietly muttering under his breath while Ivy had a large grin on her face. When they got inside Twilight saw the front stage set up and Cobalt along with Rouge were on stage. Rouge shot Crimson a death glare and the two went on stage.

“What the hell Crimson?” Rouge said in a dark tone. “You lost a bet to Ivy? The worst gambler this side of Equestria?”

“Hey!” The three looked at her with raised eyebrows. Ivy had a reputation of being the worst better in the Academy. “Okay fine, I do suck a little at cards.”

“A little?” Cobalt chuckled.

“I didn’t loose a bet. I made a deal for Ivy to teach Spike how to handle his dragon magic,” He said with a sigh. “and to keep the info away from Twilight.” Rouge gave a sigh and looked at her friend.

“Fine, but you owe me.”

“Trust me I take no pleasure in doing this.” The man snapped his fingers and a dark red guitar appeared in his hands. “So what song are we doing?” Ivy pulled out a few song sheets and handed them to her friends. The group memorized the tune and sighed. Cobalt grabbed his navy blue bass and started to tune it. Ivy sat behind her lime green drums and spun the sticks in her hands while Rouge checked the microphones and adjusted them for their song.

Soon the lights dimmed and the other members of the guild, some townsfolk that they had befriended along with Twilight and her friends. Crimson double checked the microphones, amps and instruments.

“Okay people are you ready?” Ivy said through the mic. The small crowd gave a cheer. Crimson and Rouge both took a swig from a bottle of the Apple family’s hard cider before they took up their instruments. After a few sound checks the four started to play.

After the final note sounded the crowd cheered for the three as the curtain dropped. “That was so awesome!” Ivy yelled. “We should do this every-”

“No!” Rouge and Crimson yelled.

“I held up my end of the bargain Ivy, now hold up yours.” The green flyer folded her arms and blew a piece of her green hair out of her face.

“I’m leaving tomorrow for a mission. I’ll be back in three days and I'll start when I get back.”

“I’ll tell Spike.” The group was then interrupted by Twilight and the other five girls.

“That was so awesome!” Dash said with a smile.

“I must agree you all really know your way around music.”

“We had to take normal classes too ya know.” Rouge sighed. The four friend went their separate ways and Crimson decided to walk Twilight and a sleeping Spike home. when the three got home Twilight put Spike in his bed and returned to Crimson who was waiting in the main lobby of the tree.

“Spike asleep?” He asked.

“Yeah, he’s had a long day.” Twilight shifted nervously in place. “It’s kinda a long walk back to the guild. Do you wanna stay the night?”

“I’d love to.” He said with a smile. “I’m just gonna use the restroom and I’ll be right up okay?” Twilight nodded and gave him a peck on the cheek. Twilight hurried upstairs and went into her room. Her eyes then fell upon a box with a bow on top and a card beside it.

Twilight opened the card and read it to herself.

Dear Twilight,

Sorry about the whole turning you into a Genie thing and stealing your magic business. I know you’re probably rolling your eyes at this, but dad insisted I do something to make it up to you. So I gave you something from Saddle Arabia. I’m sure you’ll find a good use for it.

~Eris

Twilight read the note to herself again before looking at the box. She carefully opened the top to make sure it wasn’t booby trapped with locusts or anything of the creepy crawly nature. As the lid slid off her eyes widened and a coy smile came across her lips.

Crimson made his way up the stairs and made sure not to wake the sleeping dragon hybrid. He made his way into Twilight’s room but found it deserted. The man hung his coat on a chair and sat on the bed. He heard shuffling in from the closet and saw light coming from the door crack. “That you Twilight?” He asked.

“Just a second master.”

Master? He thought in confusion. He heard the door open and his eyes boggled. Twilight was wearing one of those outfits that many of the exotic dancers in Saddle Arabia wore when they were entertaining esteemed guests. The outfit’s lower half was a very see through, flowing dress that ended just at her hips. Her smooth stomach area was exposed and a bra with a few jeweled tassels covered her upper body. Twilight also wore a see through mask that covered her nose and mouth that was made out of the same material of the pants.

“Something wrong master?” She asked in a sultry tone.

“Not a thing.” He grinned.

“Good, because you still have one wish remaining.” The scholar said as she pushed him on the bed and kissed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Crimson woke up with the librarian in his arms and smiled. The man managed to pry his girlfriend’s arms off of him and throw on his pants that had been rolled into a ball and spent the night on the floor. He got to his feet and found the letter Twilight had received the day prior from her mother. Crimson’s eyes caught something that he hadn’t seen before.

“Hey Twilight.” He whispered. The girl was still sound asleep and the man nudged her shoulder. “Twilight, wake up.” The girl groaned and slowly sat up, making sure to keep herself covered.

“What?” She asked in an aggravated tone.

“Does you mom always date these letters?”

“Yeah, I think so. Why?” She asked with a yawn.

“Because if I’m reading this right then she sent this message a week ago.” Twilight’s eyes shrank and she snatched the letter out of her lover’s hand and read the message. There at the bottom left corner was the date marked exactly one week ago.

“Wait that means that-” The girl was cut off as she heard a knock on the door.

“Um, Twilight,” Spike said as he knocked on the door. “Mom and Dad are here.”

Oh buck.

Author's Note

If you caught the Aladdin rfrences then your childhood was awesome!
Djinn is another term for Genie.