Spirit of Vengeance

Robbie somersaulted, dodging a beam shot from Twilight. He rolled to a knee and gritted his teeth. He heard Twilight speak, running to a corner of a building for cover, "Why did you kill them?" was all she asked, her horn still glowing light purple. She slowly marched forward, her gaze lowering to the dead bodies of the minions.

"They deserved it. Vengeance for those whose blood were spilled by them." Reyes revealed, not moving an inch from his spot.

"Nopony deserves to die." Twilight stated sternly, using her magic to blow apart a chunk of the wall Robbie was leaning on. In response, the man ducked, swerving his body so that the beam avoided his body, barely skimming his racesuit. Reyes growled, now annoyed by this mare's intervention. He heard hoofsteps again and slowly walked away again. He grabbed a chunk of the building and waited. Waited to strike when the time was right.

He saw purple and he slammed his arm down, intending to injure Twilight but not kill her with the object. Unfortunately for Reyes, the alicorn created a forcefield, shielding her from the object. With a snarl, the man hopped back, throwing the rock down. "Why do you care, huh? What good have these ponies ever done for you?" he questioned.

"Everypony has good in them." Twilight growled. "But you never gave them the chance to reform. Now they're gone."

Robbie chuckled darkly, "Reform? Those assholes had it coming. This is the second city I've seen them attack. If it weren't for me, you'd be a literal hellhole." he revealed, trying to remain stoic. But that was getting rather hard with each passing second.

Twilight frowned, "We were on the chase for them! We could've gotten more information from them about this!"

Robbie snarled, "Some chase you're after? You never even showed up last time!" he held his chain and flung it forward. Again, the alicorn shielded herself from the weapon. But that was only a distraction, as Robbie kicked Twilight in the leg, causing her to stagger and drop her guard.

"I'm giving you a warning. Leave me alone. You do not want to see my power." warned the human, looking over Twilight. He walked away, but felt something on his back. He hunched over to one knee, feeling the stinging pain on his back. He growled in disgust, getting pissed off by the alicorn's stubbornness.

He craned his neck around, glaring daggers at Twilight. She gulped, staring into his cold eyes. The man stood back up and rubbed his sore back. "You shouldn't have done that." he threatened. He held his chain and whipped it forward, wrapping it around the alicorn's hoof before yanking back, making her trip. Her hoof began to bruise blue from how tight the metal chain was around her limb. A grunt escaped her lips as she pushed herself up.

"I'll ask again, what is your problem with me?" Robbie repeated the question, kicking Twilight down by stomping his foot upon her back, keeping her on the ground.

Suddenly, she vanished in a burst of purple light. Robbie looked around confusingly as an unknown force shoved him, causing him to land on his stomach. Reyes coughed, accidentally inhaling smoke. "You're needlessly slaughtering ponies." Twilight scolded, watching as Robbie stood up, "Whether innocent or guilty, nopony deserves to die." she determined for the man.

"Our world is one of tolerance and second chances. Nopony can seek redemption for their actions if they're dead."

Wiping the dirt off his face, Robbie scowled, "The Servants of Darkness truly deserved it. They didn't give a shit about who they hurt. And they were gonna burn this town down like they were going to before. Think it about it, pony."

"I did think about it." Twilight decided, holding Robbie in an aura of purple magic.

The man struggled in the alicorn's magical grip. "I'm taking you in to answer for your crimes." she frowned, "Because no matter what you may think..."

"You don't get to decide who deserves to die."

Hearing her words, a familiar echo to him, Robbie smirked, "I'm not the one who decides..." he said ominously.

In that instant, he began to change and broke from the magic bubble. His face began to melt, disgusting Twilight greatly, her pupils shrinking at the horrifying sight. The flesh upon his face disintergrated in flaming ash. All that was left was a skull, a flaming one at that. The alicorn gulped, taking a step back in fright, her horn still glowing and her wings flared out. "Is-Is that the Ghost?" she wondered with a whisper in slight awe and nervousness.

Ghost Rider's head was hung down, his feet planted firmly on the ground. At last, he raised his skull. The Spirit of Vengeance remained silent as it glared daggers at Twilight. Still scared, Twilight tried to hold him down, but the spirit proved too strong and simply shrugged off any use of magic from the alicorn, walking closer to the Princess of Friendship.

Twilight tried to run away, but Ghost Rider used his chain, whipping it in front of him. It created a small trail of flames that caused Twilight to yelp and jump back, narrowly dodging the flaming metal object. "W-What are you?" was all she asked, looking back upon the Spirit of Vengeance.

Again, Ghost Rider did not say anything. That only made Twilight more wary of the flaming skull, not that she already wasn't. The alicorn levitated some debris and tossed it at Ghost Rider, and hoped it would be enough to stop him. She was lucky the city looked to be empty, no doubt thanks to the others.

But when one of the small boulders hit Robbie's chest, he merely halted, not a single instance of pain or concern seen on his flaming skull. No, instead he kept moving. When more of the debris Twilight had came toward him, he merely broke it apart or used his chain to deflect them, turning them into harmless pebbles. Ghost Rider spun the chain forward, and held one of the pieces of rocks in his hands easily. It remained in his grip for only a moment, marching forward still at the shocked alicorn.

"D-Don't kill me, please..." Twilight pleaded, closing her eyes.

Ghost Rider looked at the purple pony, the rock raised over his head. He remained still, the Spirit of Vengeance pondering what to do. It felt like with Daisy when they first met, and it was searching their soul to see if they were guilty. The Ghost Rider dropped the rock after slamming it upon the alicorn's leg, causing her to buckle down in pain with a wheeze, and he then uppercutted the stunned Twilight, causing her to land on her back and he pressed a foot on her stomach, causing her to gasp. "Ow..." the princess muttered, rubbing her sore chin as she tried to fight off the pain and drowsiness lingering in her head. She inhaled sharply, getting her breath back.

Deciding to leave an impression and warning, Ghost Rider glared down at Twilight, whose eyes widened. "W-Why didn't you... I-I thought..."

Again. Nothing was said by the Spirit of Vengeance. Instead, he walked off. "Hey!" called out the alicorn. The flames on Robbie's head faded, turning him back to normal. He frowned, able to tell that the alicorn was struggling to stand up. "We need to know!" she called out again, Robbie ignored her. Instead he threw his flaming chain down and created a spark on the debris, causing smoke to appear and cover where he went.

The man walked behind a building as Twilight crawled after him, too weak to feel her wings at the moment. Mustering any energy she had, she tried something, her horn glowing one last time before she exhaled, panting. She fell on her stomach, "W-What was that supposed to be?" she questioned herself.

"Twilight! Oh no!"

The alicorn shook her head, recognizing the young voice. She slowly craned her neck around with her body. Standing right next to her was Spike, who wrapped his claws around a hoof, helping his friend up. "What happened? What did you do?" he asked in concern, worry being seen on his face.

Coughing, Twilight explained, "He... He's something else. His head, his chain... He had fire powers, Spike. His head turned into a flaming skull, and then when he had me... He chose not to kill me when he had the chance." her gaze went upwards. "H-He went that way. We have to go after him."

Spike wrapped an arm around the princess' barrel, "Don't go, Twi. Luckily I found you. Let's find the others and get back to Ponyville first. Seems you need the rest anyhow."

Twilight gave her assistant a thin smile, "I-I... I think I do, Spike... Thank you."

Robbie Reyes was just about to reach the end of the city and back into the forest where he could hide. He tossed his chain, straping it around his body as he knew he would need it in the future. His eyes scowled. "Damn pony trying to judge. Vengeance will be delivered to those who had it coming."

"Talking to yourself? Wow, you really are a creep."

Hearing the raspy voice, Reyes wandered around, "Who's that?"

Suddenly, he flet something hold him down. Robbie grunted, recognizing the magic grip. "That you purple pony? Heh. I knew you wouldn't stay down!"

A cyan mare and purple unicorn revealed themselves from the shadows, "Nah. We're just her friends. Only us two for now." announced Rainbow. "While I was checking on her, I noticed you fighting her earlier. Care to explain?"

"She started it." Reyes answered in an honest tone, "Self defense. Like I do all the time."

Starlight rolled her eyes, "Like the unicorn's whose horn you ripped off, or those cloaked ponies you slaughtered in the city? Was that self-defense?"

"...Yes." was all Robbie replied with, a smug smirk on his face.

Rainbow slammed her hooves together, "Okay, that's just wrong. I think Princess Celestia and Luna would love to meet you, Ghost." she declared.

The human felt the spirit take control and broke from Starlight's magic. Instantly, he stood up, his pupils in flames. Starlight and Rainbow had a slack jaw upon witnessing the act. "How?"

"My name is Robbie." the man revealed, holding back the transformation for the moment, his eyes still aflame. He went down and grabbed a loose pipe, ready for another fight.