Groggily, Trixie rose from her slumber, sore from sleeping on the rocky floor of the cave Alex had brought her to for shelter. Normally, the Great and Powerful Trixie would never allow herself to rest her head in such an unbecoming and vile place as a cave, but even she could see that her traveling stage would have been nothing to the monsters outside. As her vision cleared, she saw Alex, sitting at the entrance of the cave, staring blankly into space. Trixie got to her hooves and approached her savior, as herself, not as her persona.

"Um, thanks...for yesterday," she told him, reluctant but grateful. Alex just kept staring into space.

Finally, he spoke. "About that free show...," he started. "I don't think I'll ever see it." Trixie looked at him in confusion.

"My boss...," he continued. "Calling him a horrible person would be an understatement. He's a true monster, and I've committed countless atrocities for him, against my will." Guilt had once again colored his face. Trixie finally began to understand where it came from.

"If your boss is so bad, why don't you just quit?" she asked.

"If it were that simple, I wouldn't be here," Alex replied somberly. "We were actually enemies at first. My boss, Lucifer.... I led the charge against him when he first emerged. My reward...was to have my soul forcefully taken from me, and to be stuck as the Devil's slave for all eternity. Even death can't free me from his grasp, and disobedience...well, you can forget punishment when the act is basically impossible. That monster truly owns me.

"Then we came to this world, and, by pure chance, the pieces aligned just right for my master to achieve his goal with minimal effort. Shift a piece or two, and let his son unwittingly bring this world to ruin. In his joy, he made what I believed to be a mistake: he gave me, and his other minions, free reign to do whatever we please here. I thought I could intercept his son, and throw the pieces out of alignment. I hoped to make Lucifer pay for giving me my first chance to rebel in centuries. In the end, however, I changed nothing. This world is still headed for destruction...."

He stood up, still staring blankly toward the horizon. "I'm going to go into hiding. Forever."

Trixie was stunned. "Why!?" She yelled. "Can't you fight back?"

"You've already forgotten that Lucifer has laid claim to my soul?" Alex asked rhetorically in response. "If I go back to him, for any reason at all, it would mean a fate worse than death, followed by the same miserable 'life' I've been living for the past millennium. No, I've had enough. He's given me some freedom, so I'll do what I can with it to end things here."

A crazy thought entered Trixie's mind. Before she could question the idea, she had already put it into words: "At least, let me keep you safe."

A bittersweet smile spread across Alex' face. "You truly believe you'd be able to protect me?"

Silence filled the small cave, before the ice mage finally walked away. "Sayonara," he said over his shoulder. "May we meet again someday."

Another Riftspawn stopped in its tracks as a thick lasso was pulled tight around its stomach. Applejack kept pulling on the rope, squeezing the monster tighter and tighter, until it finally disintegrated into green energy. Another wolf took that moment to pounce upon its orange prey, hoping to catch the cowpony off guard. Big mistake; a powerful buck to the jaw brought it down just as easily as its friend.

Applejack wiped some sweat off her brow. As the days went by, work grew farther and farther from her mind. After all, how could she harvest apples like normal when she was being attacked on all sides? And the Riftspawn were just the newest foes. The first creature to attack Sweet Apple Acres, and still the worst by far, was-

On instinct, the cowpony ducked, just barely avoiding the dark yellow streak that swooped down to chomp off her head. As it was, her stetson was still blown off her head by the resulting gale. She looked up at her assailant, a rather angry Flutterbat. No, this creature was far different from the beast her friend had once become. Back then, she had taken on the instincts of a vampire fruit bat, and feasted on the sweet fruit of the orchard. The dark red eyes that currently stared Applejack down revealed far different intentions. This Flutterbat had no interest in apple juice; she was clearly out for blood.

The vampire swooped down for another shot at her orange prey, but was knocked out of the sky by a rainbow bolt. Without Twilight, there was no way to save Fluttershy, especially with the current crisis occupying everypony else. Under the circumstances, Rainbow Dash had agreed to help fend off their warped friend. Unfortunately, the bouts were starting to take their toll. In anger, Flutterbat sunk her teeth into Rainbow's foreleg, adding two red dots to a small collection that had accumulated all over her body. For each bite that healed, Rainbow suffered two or three more, as well as the periodic reopening of her stab wound. At least she's not contagious, she thought, as if finding morbid relief from the absurd amount of times her vampiric friend had tasted her blood.

Rainbow punched Flutterbat square in the muzzle, forcing the vampiric pegasus to retreat. As she returned to the ground, she saw relief in Applejack's eyes...and dread. The rainbow pegasus could only take so much more abuse, and the situation was only getting worse. As much as they wanted to save Fluttershy, there was no way they could sustain their perpetual battle against the monster she'd become...and they both knew that. If some miracle solution didn't come soon, they'd have to....

Suddenly, Flutterbat swooped down from out of nowhere, catching Rainbow off guard. She tackled the rainbow-maned mare to the ground, sinking her teeth into the neck of her prey. As her blood was drained, Rainbow's vision grew dimmer and dimmer, until she finally lost consciousness. In that time, Applejack had rushed over to her fallen friend, and bucked Flutterbat hard. The force jerked the vamire pegasus' fangs out of Rainbow's neck, leaving considerable scars as they scraped through her flesh on the way out. Trails of pegasus blood followed the spinning vampire, until she finally stopped and regained balance. Before, she would have retreated after being bucked so hard. This time, she just got angry. Her eyes somehow got redder as she stared down the cowpony, preparing to kill.

She never got the chance. Out of nowhere, a mirror, held aloft by purple magic, floated between the two, catching her malicious gaze. She turned away, only to face another mirror, and another, and another. Trapped, with her own power reflected back at her, Flutterbat stopped where she was, cowering in fear from her own stare. Twilight emerged from behind one of the apple trees, and approached her warped friend with a glowing horn. As Daniel watched from behind another tree, she surrounded Flutterbat with her magic, cleansing her of her vampirism and bloodlust. White spectral bats flew from the limp form of the cured Fluttershy...only to burst into flames a second later. Daniel immediately went on edge upon seeing the bats combust. He emerged with scythe in hand, ready to protect these ponies if necessary.

"Impressive," he praised, amazed by how Twilight had handled the situation.

"We came back as fast as we could," Twilight informed Applejack. "I hope we weren't late."

"Just in time," Applejack replied, relieved. Though, now that Fluttershy was herself again, the farmpony had time to finally question the situation.

"Still, she was a mighty bit different from last time," she told her friend.

"Wait, this happened before?" Daniel noted. "Oh joy."

"She wasn't after the trees this time," Applejack told them. "She was after blood. Rainbow can tell you herself...once she wakes up."

"That...doesn't make any sense," Twilight concluded. "It's weird enough that she turned back into Flutterbat in the first place. What could make her go fully aggressive like that?"

"Aw, you broke my toy."

The orange and dull red ponies stood upright in shock, every hair on their bodies standing on end, as they heard the mysterious, malicious voice. Daniel, however, filled with a sickening dread that came from recognition.

"Get down!" he yelled, reacting to an assault that he knew was coming. Twilight reacted immediately, raising a magic shield over the three of them, and the unconscious pegasi, as a grenade flew into their midst.

The grenade went off, causing an explosion that engulfed the five completely. The conscious ones flinched as they withstood the massive firestorm underneath the barrier. Finally, the explosion ended...leaving Sweet Apple Acres in flames.

Having seen the trajectory of the grenade, Daniel looked out in the direction it had come from. There, standing on a branch in a now burning tree, was the figure who had turned Fluttershy into that monster, holding a grenade launcher. His ginger flat top and blue eyes radiated the fiery malice that seemed to define him. He wore a brown vest over a red shirt, with diamond patterns going down his blue pants. He had apparently survived the blast through an inherent power over fire. He demonstrated this power by mentally making his launcher burst into flame, reforming it into a sniper rifle within the blaze. A wicked smile spreading across his aim, he raised the sniper rifle and aimed for the first head he saw in the scope. He pulled the trigger, only for Daniel to react faster, and block the bullet with his blade.

"Can't you just let me have a little fun?" the sniper asked, the sadistic grin still plastered on his face.

"Jus' who in tarnation do you think you are!?" Applejack yelled, her rage boiling over after having everything she cared for violated.

"Silas Volkyrie, at your service," he answered in a sickly cheery manner, adjusting his aim right between her big green eyes. "Nothing personal 'bout all this, by the way. This was just for kicks." As Applejack charged in fury toward Silas, he pulled the trigger once more, only to again be denied his kill as Daniel blocked its path.

"Get your friends out of here and run," Daniel instructed the cowpony, as the orchard blazed around them.

"I'm not takin' this abuse lyin' down!" Applejack retorted. "You mess with the Apple family, you pay the price!"

"Oh, trust me, I'll make sure he does," Daniel reassured her, a wicked smile spreading over his face.

Applejack, understanding his intentions, turned back to save her friends from the inferno. Daniel, meanwhile, turned to face his sadistic opponent. His sick giddiness was now mixed with anger and disappointment at having lost most of his toys, and he intended to vent all of that in a single, clean headshot. Knowing his opponent, Daniel watched Silas until he moved to pull the trigger, then rushed for his burnt perch, narrowly avoiding the bullet as it soared above his head. Silas' irritation soon turned to fear as he realized what was about to happen. With just as much force as the orange cowpony, if not more, Daniel slammed his foot into the dead tree, knocking Silas of his branch. Before he could reach the ground, Daniel caught him in a powerful upward slash, sending the gunman flying into the sky. Daniel leaped upward to continue the punishment, but Silas reacted faster. He put his hands together as his rifle burst into flames again, reforming as twin revolvers. Just as the grim reaper reached him, he unloaded two slugs into his chest, forcing him to the ground.

Daniel quickly recovered from the blast, rolling away just in time to avoid a fiery drop kick that scorched the earth where he was lying. Silas wasted no time, pointing his left arm toward his enemy with lightning speed and firing with precision accuracy. Daniel's own speed just barely let him avoid each round, as he got closer and closer to the flaming gunslinger. Finally, he drew close enough to lop off Silas' head, but the firebrand had other plans. He converted his handguns into flame, setting his fists on fire as he swung at his assailant. Daniel dodged and prepared to attack again, only to be met with a gun muzzle as Silas instantly rematerialized one of his handguns. Though Daniel tried to dodge the shot, he was too close, and the bullet caught him in his shoulder. Angered, he whipped around, putting all of his strength into his swing. The scythe blade passed through the inferno surrounding the battle, setting the metal ablaze. The burning blade connected, causing Silas to immediately dissolve into flame. He reappeared in a ball of fire behind Daniel, and put two slugs right in his back. With his feet firmly on the ground, Daniel stayed upright. The wounds only fed his rage as he turned to face his dishonorable opponent.

Were anypony else there to witness the battle, they would have described a dance of flames. Daniel's scythe, now wreathed in flame, spread arcs of fire with each swing. Silas did much the same with his flaming fists and feet, while turning his blaze to metal and back at a moment's notice. As they fought, the inferno around them ate at the apple orchard, causing the once strong and healthy trees to crumble under their own weight as they helplessly turned to ash. The collective candescence was enough to blind anypony who dared to look.

Finally, Silas decided the battle had gone on long enough. Daniel had survived too long, and had worn him out too much. He teleported behind the grim reaper and materialized two machine guns, ready to fill him full of holes. Daniel was prepared for him, however. Upon rematerializing, Silas was hit with the full force of a roundhouse kick, and sent flying across the orchard. His fall was broken when he was impaled on the branch of a fallen tree. A second later, a large flaming scythe blade lodged itself in his chest after being thrown across the orchard like a boomerang. A couple of seconds after that, Daniel stood over his enemy, white hot flames leaking from his body, with his hands firmly gripping the pole of his blade. Silas struggled to look up at the reaper.

"Stay dead this time, will you?" Daniel advised. He ripped the blade out of Silas' chest, and the gunman burst into flames and disappeared, taking the inferno with him. Exhausted, Daniel slumped into the ashes below, just now paying mind to the five burnt holes in his body with blood dripping from them.

"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, arriving at the scene with Twilight. Accompanying the two was a stallion with a deep red coat and green eyes, and a young filly, with a bright red mane and tail, a bright yellow coat, and big golden eyes.

"A heck of a lot better than you're gonna be," Daniel replied, noting the cinders that remained of Sweet Apple Acres.

Everyone began talking about what to do in the aftermath of the battle. Lost in the conversation, no one noticed the tiny ember crackling on a tree branch at the edge of the Everfree Forest nearby...nor did anypony notice when that ember flared up, rematerializing a good as new Silas, complete with a sniper rifle. He looked into the scope, ready to make this reunion end in tears...

...and focused on Apple Bloom.

His concentration left him the moment he saw that red mane. He lowered his rifle and put a hand to his head, as he suddenly suffered a massive head-splitting migraine. The image of the little filly became fixed in his mind...and then it suddenly changed. The image he saw was a human girl, in a white dress, with a head of red hair very similar to Apple Bloom's. Her expression, and her dim blue eyes, seemed to only reflect emptiness. Once the image changed, Silas broke down completely, his entire body slumping in his tree perch as he gave up his game.

"Alice...," he mumbled to himself, before teleporting away.

Right at this time, Daniel's attention was called to the sickly green sky up above, as it darkened and began to storm. The air above grew violent, and bolts of green lightning fell from the sky one after another. The eye of this unholy storm...appeared to be right at the center of the Everfree Forest.

"Luna!" Daniel noted, as he rushed headlong into the Everfree to check on the situation.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. Took a while to think up exactly how that fight scene would go down.