Dragonpool: Friendship is Violence

Chapters

Chapter 1: Non-Compete Clause
Chapter 2: The Break Up Break Down
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Molt Down
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9: The Fall of Deadpool
Chapter 10: Livid
Introduction (Pre Next Chapter)

Chapter 1: Non-Compete Clause

Smolder still sat idle-minded in class, the words of her professor going through one ear and straight through the other. Her eyes drifted toward the screen, then back at the board, then back, then forth again.

Ocellus tried following her glance one or two times, but couldn't quite figure out what she was looking at in contrast to the lesson she should've been paying attention to. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at the dragon behind her, her look saying something along the lines of "What are you looking at?!" and "Focus!"

Still, the dragon seemed a bit occupied on something else. As if she was spacing out, which, she probably was.

Smolder's head peaked up as the bell rang throughout the school. She saw the evident despair of a well-taught math lesson being put to an end on her Headmare's face. She wanted to smirk and sigh blissfully at the sound, yet she knew there was another class coming up whether or not she celebrated too early.

"That concludes our lesson in numerator/denominator division," Twilight sighed, putting the slightly charred piece of chalk back down at the bottom of the board.

Smolder's eyes widened at the small clicking noise it made. She zoned out. Again.

"Ooh!" Her teacher seemed to perk up in realization. "As you know, some of you will be going on a field trip today."

Smolder groaned, burying her face in her claws. She winced as her and Twilight traded a quick glance before she continued, "I want each of you to prepare."

"Of course," Smolder thought with a grimace, only one space between her claws allowing her eye to be visibly rolling. Ocellus looked over to the dragon with a small frown.

“Additionally, this trip will be based on teamwork and cooperation, so I want all of you thinking about how you can contribute.” When Twilight was satisfied, she left the room, giving the other students time to gather their things and leave the class as well.

"You seem worn out," Ocellus pressed, standing up from her seat and getting her books in order. To Ocellus, that would've been pretty unlikely, seen as Smolder just woke up less than an hour ago. Ocellus could tell her friend wasn't exactly sleepy. Just worn out as if she were doing hard labor in Applejack's barn. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." Smolder let her pupils drift sarcastically over to the screen, then looked reassuringly back to her friend. She could see one of her other friends coming into the classroom behind Ocellus, and he had a serious expression on his face. She knew he had something he wanted to talk about, and she knew it involved her.

Pretending to get her books ready under her desk, she avoided eye contact with her bug friend as she ruffled some things around. She spotted her blue feathered friend from afar still, and he was still standing in the doorway. "You go ahead and get ready, I'll be with you in a sec."

Ocellus didn't bother questioning despite her nagging subconscious, nodding quickly with a warm smile as she turned to leave the room. As her gaze reached the door, she saw the griffon leaning against the frame. "Oh, hi, Gallus! You're getting ready for the trip, I presume?"

Gallus got rid of the grim look in an instant, putting a small, forced smirk on his face. "Just waiting on slow scales over there," he teased, pointing a talon at the orange dragon in question.

Smolder let out a low, empty-threat growl as she continued. Gallus' eyes widened a little, then squinted and peered as they narrowed. Smolder looked back at him, stuffing another book in its place.

Ocellus giggled, "Yeah. Anyway, I think it'll be a while. Headmare Twilight hasn't quite figured out who she wants to lead yet." Gallus' eyes shifted to Ocellus at her reply, then back to Smolder. The dragon stopped shuffling her things.

The room was quiet. Smolder glared up at Gallus, and he her.

Ocellus furled her brow. The atmosphere in the room was so thick you could cut through it with a blade.

She quickly considered opening her receptors and tasting the air, but she could tell there was no need. The brewing tension between both her friends was getting increasingly thicker, so much that each breath Ocellus took was filled with intense flavors of foul sweetness and spice.

Gallus was the first to give in between the two of them, letting out a heavy sigh. "Okay. Listen, go ahead with the others. We'll catch up," he reassured, the showing of his small smile being a little sense of clarity for the unsure changeling. She nodded(slowly, this time), making her way from the classroom along with the other students.

Once she left, the griffon turned around, stepping backward into the room whilst he closed the door shut. Smolder's eyes flicked up at its clicking as it closed.

Gallus stepped over to the dragon slowly and cautiously before taking a seat on one of the desk stools in front of her. "So, how'd it go?"

Smolder's gaze flickered between the board up front, and the friend in front of her. "I didn't die," she admitted. Gallus rolled his eyes.

"Shocker," he breathed, adding two very sarcastic jazz-claws into the mix.

"Yeah, well- you'd be surprised how hard it is for me to kill four-"

"It's not," Gallus interrupted, "Is it?" Smolder sighed heavily, twiddling her claws.

"No, it's not."

"...And you... liked it?" The dragon bit her lip, knowing that lying in this situation would get her nowhere.

"A lot."

The room was silent. Gallus didn't know what to say, blinking slowly in time with his bated breath. Smolder noticed the frequent pause in between his inhales and exhales, as if he were trying to find something to say each second.

"Look, I get what you're doing. You're going to say I'll get caught eventually, and I know that, I just..." She paused, not quite sure how to finish. Instead, Gallus finished for her.

"I'm... I wouldn't. Not now. I know you're going through some tough times. Just- hang in there, okay?"

Smolder was unresponsive. Gallus sighed.

"Come on. Everyone else's waiting for us."

Smolder nodded solemnly as she finally got her things together, standing up from under her desk and looking as Gallus as he stood as well. The two left the room, finally, walking out into the half-crowded halls of ponies ready to get to their next classes.

As Smolder passed each one, she sighed gratefully that she got to at least get away from any of those lectures. Well, unless they were from Professor Pinkie Pie.

Looking over to his friend, Gallus whispered, "You know you're going to have to tell her eventually, right?"

Smolder batted an irked eye at the griffon, barely breathing. Gallus continued, "She's only gonna start prying further, you know that."

Deep, deep down, the dragon knew what he was talking about, but she'd hate to admit it aloud. Still, she kept silent as they neared the common area.

"Cane damn it," a voice erupted. He slammed his hooves on his desk, the numerous office supplies and keepsakes positioned on it jumping up and crashing down in a shambled clatter. "Another squad dead?! Who the hell are we sending out there, a clusterfuck of amateurs?!"

"I-It appears so, sir, I-" An answer machine, the only object on his desk not turned on its side tried to respond.

"That was rhetorical," he interrupted. "What now?"

"I-It appears they're traveling near the School of Friendship. Most likely making an escape."

"Then we'll swarm them," he mused, bringing a slightly gentler hoof down on the table again. "How many...?"

"Wh... Huh?"

"How many are there with them, you dolt?!"

"S-Seven other creatures, sir," the voice on the phone sputtered. "Three ponies, a griffon, a-a hippogriff, err..."

"We know there's a dragon, that's who we're after, I presume..."

"Affirmative. There's one yak, as well."

His eyes widened. "Ah, so they've surrounded themselves with protection, have they? Lovely," he spat. The voice continued still.

"A-And... a... a changeling."

He nodded slowly, smirking as he rubbed his hooves together. "Send the strong ones. They'll throw the rest off track. They're not who we're after."

Then, he kicked his chair out from under him, walking to the front side of the desk where his phone machine sat.

"B-But sir, wait!"

He quirked a brow, waiting for his assistant to add to his already perfect plan.

"A-Are you taking this seriously," the phone whimpered. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course I am." He reached over the answer machine, his hoof hovering over the "end call" button. The voice sighed in relief.

"I-I'm just making sure you're doing this ri-"

"Click."

Now, he waited a few minutes before he went back to his chair, pulling it up and sitting down whilst he gathered his papers and stacked them up. He wore an evil, devious grin as he looked up, watching the screens on his surveillance system and scanning the scene. There, from the safe section in the leaves where the cameras had been tucked, he could see the dragon and their "protection."

Cane help him if this doesn't go as planned...

Smolder stepped slowly and cautiously through the bushes, not ready for the unexpected branches that smacked her in the face. "Ugh!"

Ocellus giggled as she gently lifted the branch, allowing her friend to go through - mostly - without a hitch. Smolder grumbled, crossing her arms as she continued to walk.

Gallus was walking behind the two, keeping a close eye on his scaly friend from a distance. Sandbar walked beside him, following his glance and looking a little lost. "What's going on, Gal'?"

The griffon barely responded, still looking at Smolder as his expression was damp with concern.

"King knows what could go wrong... if Smolder snaps. She could kill any of us if she truly wanted. B-But she wouldn't... would she...? We don't annoy her that much. W-We can't push her too far, though... A-At least one of us can keep her sane," he mused, making a small smile and focus his gaze on both Smolder and Ocellus. "I-I think."

"Gallus...?"

"Wha?" Gallus looked up at Sandbar, who's brow was quirked.

"Are... are you okay?" The griffon's gaze shifted to Smolder, then back to the colt. He gave him a fake smile, yet it was hard to see through for Sandbar, Gallus figured.

"Yeah. Just... just thinking about how downhill this is gonna go." Sandbar followed Gallus' pointed claw at their two teachers walking up front, who were currently passive-aggressively arguing with each other by agreeing. ...Somehow.

"Heh," Sandbar chuckled. "I guess this is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"Tremendously."

Meanwhile, Ocellus trotted gladly beside her friend as she gushed and gushed about how fun the field trip was going to be. Smolder rolled her eyes, looking sarcastically at the screen with them narrowed.

"Yeah, right."

"Alright, everypony!"

Each of them turned to Applejack, who had a wide, forced grin on her face as she waved her hoof in an overly energetic manner. Smolder huffed with a chuckle as she attempted to get her own words together in front of the other pony, Rainbow Dash.

"We're... We turn out ta' be-" Her eyes darted, both to the other professor, then to the students.

"-changing routes," Rainbow interrupted, "We 'turn out ta' be' changing routes, heh."

"Oh, for moon's sake," groaned Sandbar, rubbing a hoof on his irritated forehead. Gallus chuckled.

Ocellus looked at Sandbar with a stinging glare, and the colt quit rubbing at his forehead and looked apologetically back at her. Then, she just looked back at her professors. "We're lost, aren't we?" She turned to look at Smolder, who just slowly nodded.

"Definitely."

"Now wait just a minute," Dash interjected, smiling fakely. Smolder grunted, crossing her arms and tilting her head forward.

Oh, how she hated fake people.

Smolder's eyes widened as a chitiny hoof poked at her side. "Hey, are you alright?"

She looked down at the changeling, who was looking questioningly up at her. "I'm fine, just a little... worried... we won't get home on time."

Somewhere in the woods, some creature smirked wickedly.

"Now you're mine," he growled.

The group of eight creatures trudged - one begrudgingly - through the forest.

Step after step, Ocellus' hooves began to burn as the sharp blades of tall grass whipped at the chitin on her forelegs. Her body burned; she wouldn't be ready for any more "field trip" after all this blows over.

Yona traveled behind the rest of the group along with Silverstream, who was hovering lazily above her. Each wingbeat took tremendous amounts of energy each time, the blistering, damp heat in the air weighing immensely on the group.

Smolder seemed to be the only one okay with it, seen as she could endure intense amounts of heat. Gallus and Sandbar were no match.

The feathers on Gallus were drenched with sweat, dripping slowly onto the ground only to be lost in the surrounding tall grass.

Sandbar was doing no better, his bangs dripping with the same sweat condensed on his forehead and running down to his muzzle.

The two ponies in front didn't have it the worst, seen as they still had the energy to argue about how lost they were.

And that much got on Smolder's nerves.

"Dash! Ah' told ya that path'd get us lost!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know?! You're the one saying you know where the buck to go, AJ!"

"No! What ah' said was that we should tell our students that we're lost!"

"Yeah, and I bet this stick can get lost up your-"

The leaves in the trees rustled uncannily, the sounds of shifting and crinkling in the overgrowth in bushes surrounding the group.

Smolder shivered. Chills ran quickly down her spine. Something was wrong. They weren't alone.

The rustling grew louder and more frequent each time, growing in sync with the quickening wind.

Smolder tensed as Ocellus' hind hoof brushed her tail, signaling that she was backing up from the rustling leaves. She looked around, seeing her friends all tensing up themselves. Applejack and Rainbow Dash did the same, predictably standing with their backs toward their students.

Gallus and Sandbar shuffled toward each other, forming a small circle with their other friends who did the same.

All except for Smolder.

The dragon was standing in a more up-front position than the rest of her friends, also standing neck and neck with her teachers. "Smolder, get behind us already," Applejack urged, nudging the dragon in question with an irked hoof. Smolder didn't move, but the only time she did was when she nudged her. "Smolder, get-"

"Yoink!"

Applejack collapsed as a heavy weight crashed down upon her, the only thing she was able to feel was the painful numbness in her head. "AJ!" Rainbow Dash moved to save her, but before she knew it, something hit her between her wing muscles.

"CRACK!"

"Agh!"

"Professor Rainbow Dash," Sandbar cried, holding his hoof out to his unconscious professor.

"What the hell Crimson," someone questioned, jumping out from the bushes. The other pony above Rainbow's body looked at him, a brow quirked.

The first pony(Crimson, Smolder presumed)'s coat was that of crimson red, his mane being a mellowed out salmon orange. He was wearing a white tank top that was tight on his muscles that showed through the fabric. He also had short, black cargo shorts. The other one was completely masked in black, and his body was a bit less bulky and more toned. He was in an all black tuxedo as well, straightening his tie in an elegant manner. He looked like he was too busy to be there.

"We're not here for them!"

Crimson rolled his eyes. "Chill out, Cold Cut."

"Hot Take," the stallion in the tuxedo corrected.

Smolder didn't have any time for that. They weren't after her or her friends, but that didn't stop them from trying to hurt them.

Smolder extended her wings, flaring them quickly and disappearing with a quick gust of air. Hot Take looked up quickly, reaching for a holster on his upper flank and grazing it with his hoof. "You guys stay still," Smolder shouted, "I'm going to get some- woah!" She tried to talk while desperately trying to dodge the erratic gunshots being fired at her.

"PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!"

"It's fine, just go!" Ocellus almost stepped forward, but when the stallion aimed the gun at her, her instincts disagreed. Still, she could've shifted to any one of the small creatures in her repertoire to disarm them.

"Hey, you!" Ocellus whimpered as Hot Take pointed the gun straight at her. She could feel her friends trembling behind her, something that made her just as frightened. "Don't even think about changing into anything- whatever you weird things do."

Yona spoke up. "F-Friend Ocellus not weird! Friend Ocellus unique, can change into anything to smash puny haters!"

Ocellus smiled internally, at the compliment, but the smile faded as she realized the current situation when she heard a quiet "shhhh!" from one of her friends behind her.

Ocellus was a bit sure the stallion was bluffing, but still, she wasn't willing to take that chance.

Crimson facehooved, rubbing his hoof on his head. "Shit, they've squealed." Hot Take rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Sure, they might've snitched, but it'll take all of Equestria to match up with them, let alone us."

If Ocellus wasn't trembling and riddled with fear just like the rest of her friend, she would've been confused. Skeptical. They were talking about "them" and how "they" were going to get help.

They couldn't be referring to all of them. Sure, they might've been outnumbered, but they were armed. No creature could match up to that, could they?

"Cheers, love! The cavalry's here!" Ocellus gasped, looking up into the trees where the sickeningly terrible British accent was coming from.

A moderately tall figure came swinging down on a strangely convenient vine, their outfit being red and black-schemed with a few weapons attached. Their eyes were represented by a white mesh that squinted sinnocently at the two ponies below them.

Is that who they were talking about?

"Trickshot!" The figure flipped off the vine, doing somersaults in the air while they pulled a gun from one of the holsters at their side.

"Get em," Hot Take shouted, pointing a pulling up his pistol at the red and black wearing creature and firing rapidly. Crimson equipped his assault rifle, and too began shooting at the creature. The blinding yellow light of the burning firearms' bullets ran across the bushes and illuminated them with faded yellow light.

"RATTA! RATTA! RATTA! RATTA! RATTA! RATTA! RATTA! RATTA!!!!!!"

Ocellus covered her ears at the sound.

Gallus let out a barely audible sigh of both relief and doubt as he motioned for his friends to follow him to the bushes.

"Damn it!" Ocellus swore she heard Crimson curse under his breath. "They're getting away, Take!"

"They're not who we're after."

The figure jumped down, crouching in front of the two stallions. Almost immediately, they stopped firing, seeing that their weapon fire was no use.

Hot Take swung his hoof hard at the figure as he stepped forward. They only leaned back, and 'Take's foreleg hovered just five inches above their muzzle.

They looked in some direction, then shouting, "Toasty!" before flinging their legs upward.

Their fabric-covered feet kicked up into Hot Take's chest. The stallion made a sharp wheezing noise, and Ocellus could've sworn his chest nearly caved in. "Ooof!"

Crimson reared up on his hindlegs, jumping up and whipping around with one of his back legs flinging at the figure with intense speed.

"Wow, I get you want an autograph, but this is getting a little clingy," they quipped, gripping their claw tightly on his back hoof and standing up straight. He cringed at the claws digging into his hide as scarlet liquid dripped from his back hoof and onto the front. It faintly stained the figure's hand as well, but you couldn't tell by the fabric of their suit.

"He doesn't want your damn autograph," Hot Take voiced, annoyed. The figure(Well, we know she's Smolder-) turned around, but not without Crimson's back hoof still in her grasp. "Quit moving you-"

"POW! POW! POW!"

The gun was steaming with fresh smoke that plumed from the muzzle. Blood stained the tall blades of grass still slowly swaying in the sun. The blood dried quickly, wrapping around the green blades like cooled wax in room temperature.

Ocellus grimaced at the scene, shielding her eyes with her hoof and letting out a small whimper. She heard the others shudder and whimper along with her. None of them were exactly used to seeing someone get... get...

"Awww, no one told me friendly fire was on!" She looked up at the creature, who simply held a limp, bloody, bullet-filled body. Completely devoid of life.

"I... Take... y-you..."

"Damn it, Crimson! Don't you dare die on me! We've got a mission to-"

"Blah, blah, blah, you know, you guys're some real buzzkills," the creature mocked, reaching a claw down toward one of their gun holsters.

Hot Take took quick action, holding his pistol back up and aiming dead-on at the figure's forehead, pressing it between their eyes. "Not so fast," he chuckled.

"click! click! click!"

"Aw, sh-"

"GURRRRP!"

Smolder barely squinted as harsh liquid sprayed into her face, the blood staining the black sections of the fabric and wearing into the white mesh of her eyes.

The lifeless Hot Take fell backward, the flesh on his neck parted in two and bleeding tremendous amounts of blood that stained the grass below him.

Ocellus whimpered even more at the scene, tears welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth lest she attract the figure and lure them over to the group. They were ruthless. Killing weaker creatures and joking about it, no less...

They had to have been one of the most black-hearted creatures in Equestria.

Ocellus squinted her eyes, opening her receptors and letting emotions of the thick atmosphere cascade over her tongue.

Blackness. Cruelty. Morbid joy.

The horrid taste of molded bread sprinkled with salted bark and sickening sugar washed over her. Overwhelming her.

"Hurrrghh!" She couldn't help it. Silverstream gasped at the changedling's sudden retching, patting her back supportively as she looked back to the other creatures. Sandbar nodded silently as he helped her pull Ocellus backward, rushing her from the bushes and back to where she figured they could get away from there.

Gallus followed with heavy steps, and so did Yona and Sandbar.

Smolder looked up as she heard a distant ruffling in the bushes, the blood on knife in her hand dripping back onto the bodies it belonged to.

Her heart palpitating, she huffed, dropping the knife and collapsing onto the ground as the world sank away. She was surrounded in darkness.

Quickly, she realized her position, sitting up on her rear and forcing her costume off her body.

The mask was hardest to come off, stretching like rubber sticking to a hot metal. Still, she persisted as it popped off eventually, moving on to the rest.

It wore down on her all that went down, but not because she killed people. She was used to doing that. So used to it that she loved it. Still, that didn't excuse the fact that she brought her work into her school activities.

Down on her friends.

"Ocellus...? Ocellus...?"

Ocellus' eyes flickered open. Her stomach was churning with sickness, still, but she knew she had gotten at least a little better since she threw up.

She saw the silhouette of a certain dragon standing over her, waving a claw over her head with a small smile on her face. "Earth to space cadet?"

The changeling barely recognized the dragon for a second, but her raspy voice sounded all too familiar to forget. "Oh my gosh! Y-You should've seen... th-the creature... they..."

Gallus looked defensively at Smolder from behind the small couch Ocellus was laying. Smolder only peered back at him, arms folded tightly.

"They what?"

"I-I thought they would've hurt you... t-the ones who attacked us... they killed them... both of them, i-it was-"

"Monstrous," Gallus added, his tone grim. "Only a monster would do that. Someone who'd eventually get caught in the crossfire."

Sandbar, Silverstream and Yona looked at Gallus, the same amount of concern in each of their eyes.

Smolder still glared daggers at Gallus, her stare straight and never faltered. Gallus' gaze softened after a while, though.

Deep down, her friends would never understand. Not even the one she knew. What Smolder did was unacceptable in Equestria, regardless if she were doing it for the greater good. Bringing that sort of business to her school was uncalled for, no matter the circumstances.

She just hoped that one day, she would understand.

Chapter 2: The Break Up Break Down

Ocellus sat straight up at her study desk, her aura magically wrapped around her pen as she continued to scribble on the white piece of parchment in front of her.

Smolder sat on her bunk behind the 'ling, grateful that she could at least trust Spike to clean up the dorm quickly.

Blood was literally everywhere. Smolder was reckless when it came to her victims, and at least Spike knew that much. Maybe a little less than Gallus, but he still understood her antics enough not to snitch on her.

Gratefully, Spike - for some reason - thought of it as cool that he got to be an assassin's body-count busboy. Still, the thought of others being weighed down by her own burden... it hurt Smolder. A lot.

The dragon shifted her hands, placing them over her thighs as she rocked her legs back and forth in thought.

What happened in the woods earlier that day wasn't something Smolder was exactly proud of, regardless of how much she enjoyed it. The thing that got her was that her friends were there. Watching her. Witnessing her destroy creatures, rip them apart piece by piece, both physically and emotionally.

The more Smolder thought about it, the more it began to tear her up inside.

"...numerator... always on top... denominator...."

Smolder heard a creaking sound coming from below her as her friend turned around in her study chair.

"And this is what they looked like," Ocellus spoke, stepping out of the chair and sitting down in front of the two bunks where Smolder could see her.

Her gaze shifted down to Ocellus, who was holding up the colored piece of paper in front of the dragon with her pink aura.

It was a dead-on descriptive drawing of the figure, albeit the coloring might've been a little messy for Smolder's taste. Still, it had the accurate red and black patterns on their costume, katana-blade grips showing and everything. As for the figure's pose, it was pretty flattering to see.

Still, on the paper, Smolder could see her alter ego in quite a friendly looking stance. They were perched straight in front of the on-paper "screen", and they were smiling with their white eyes - since you couldn't see their mouth - and forming their hands into a heart shape over their chest.

What Smolder found most amusing were a few messy pink hearts scribbled around them. Ocellus' drawings were so... cute.

Smolder covered her mouth with a paw, trying her best to hold back a chuckle. She failed miserably when she saw her friend pout, her cheeks puffing up in an even more adorable manner. "What's so funny?! T-This is life and death we're talking about!"

"Of course, of course," Smolder realized her actions, removing her hand and waving it dismissively. To her success, the bug was driven off her icy glare, but still batted an irked eye at the dragon still. "So, did they, uh... try anything," Smolder questioned, her eyes flickering to the drawing, then back to Ocellus.

"N-No. They just... they..."

Two ponies dead. One's neck was slit open, the cut soaked in pools of blood. The other bruised and battered, filled with drops of scalding, scarlet-covered, silver bullets. Both were shocked. Both were scared. Both were no match against that... that creature.

Ocellus shut her eyes to prevent the tears bordering in the corners. She instead blinked rapidly, her wings pulsing against her elytra. "I think they knew we were there. They saw me. S-Saw... us."

Smolder nodded, her hands trembling with fear. She was there. She saw them. Didn't even think to speak to them, comfort them, she chided herself.

Had she not been caught up in her own indulgences, she would've noticed how scared they were. How scared she was. Ocellus passed out because of Smolder, the way she handled her business there without question or regard for how the casualties could effect the ones around her.

"I...I should've been there," Smolder sighed, turning away. "I should've been there to protect you all."

Ocellus shook her head, reaching out a hoof to her draconic friend's shoulder. "No, no, it's okay. You were only trying to look out for us," she disagreed, giving Smolder a warm smile she couldn't see.

Ocellus couldn't see why Smolder was putting herself down like that. How could something like that be her fault? Clearly, the school had to have been to blame. After all, shouldn't they have been checking to see if the field trip routes were at least safe?

What they witnessed earlier that day wasn't pleasant for any of them. What, did Smolder wish she could've gained the experience?

Ocellus' smile faded as she thought deeper into the situation. If Smolder went to get help, then, wasn't that creature their help?

Where was she, then?

"The creature didn't attack us, but they knew full well we were there," Ocellus mused aloud. Smolder turned her head as she watched the bug slowly begin to pace around. Then, she turned to Smolder, her face covered in confusion and concern. "Smolder, did you lead the creature toward us?"

Close.

Smolder almost sighed in relief, but she didn't, considering her problem hadn't exactly been solved. There was another can of worms opened, and Ocellus was the culprit.

"No, I- No, I wouldn't... I..."

She could see the changeling's face. She looked disappointed, yet she looked like she was trying to hold it back. Like in her heart, she knew Smolder wouldn't do something so foolish. She was smarter than that, wasn't she?

Smolder finally exhaled, letting her arms hang loose as she slumped over. "You know I wouldn't do something like that," she retorted. Ocellus quirked a brow, her eyes gleaming with fierce determination. "I was just trying to help."

The changeling's eyes widened, her breath shaky, and so were her hooves. Her wings buzzed nervously under the shield of her elytra, allowing her to burn the awkward energy flowing through her body. "Y-You... Y-You did, didn't you? You led them there... to... to murder those ponies, I-" Her eyes refused to focus up on the dragon. She turned her head, pivoting her hooves in attempt to turn away.

Smolder reached out, pulling Ocellus back toward her. She was the smartest creature she had ever known, but she barely even scratched the surface of what she thought was getting into. Not yet.

Ocellus had a lot further to go before she uncovered Smolder's secret, but that didn't mean the dragon was exactly safe from exposure. "I wouldn't. I swear, Ocellus... you gotta believe me."

The room grew silent, all filled with nothing besides both their heavy breathing.

Ocellus' thoughts were racing around her mind, running circles around her head. She had so many questions, none of which were being answered like she wanted them to. Something had to have been up with the creature in that forest. There was no way they were there for no reason. Smolder had to have led them there, or else, how else would they have known when and where to appear?

Still, Ocellus knew there was something Smolder wasn't telling her.

Smolder grew tired of the dead silent, raising her claws up to Ocellus' head and cupping them around the sides. She gave the changeling a reassuring smile. "You trust me, don't you?"

Ocellus was silent, putting a hoof on one of Smolder's wrists. She gripped it tight as if she was struggling to hold on. Like she depended on her to be able to stand on her own four hooves.

Mimicking her friend's small smile(but weaker), she nodded cautiously. "I... I do. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, I just- I still wish I could've been there for you all."

Ocellus made her way to her own bed, and Smolder to her's. Tucking herself under the covers, she said, "I'm sure they feel the same way I do."

Smolder flew up to her bunk, also getting herself cozy. "I...I hope so. I really do."

Letting all reality drip slowly away from her, Smolder shut her eyes. Darkness enveloped her body as she began to dream about the next day. Something would probably go wrong tomorrow too, but, she didn't mind. As long as Ocellus wasn't angry at her, that's all that mattered.

Oh, and her other friends, too.

"You're terrible at this," Gallus deadpanned as he walked abreast his annoyed dragon friend through the halls. "You know that, right?"

Smolder huffed, her tail lashing. "Yeah, well, what was I supposed to say? That whole thing was my fault! You even said it!" She turned her head to the side, throwing a small side-glare Gallus' way as she pointed an indignant claw.

The griffon sighed, looking down as he kept on walking. "Right, yeah. It's... it's true, though. You know eventually that this mess is gonna fuck you up. Royally."

The dragon didn't scoff or scorn at her friend this time, considering what happened last night almost bit her in the ass. Still, though, she figured what he was saying was true. It was just a shame she couldn't just up and leave her old habits.

Not yet.

The two kept walking, both looking around at the bright pink and pinkish-red decor hanging around the school roof and scattered all around the place. "These ponies must really like the color pink," Smolder thought, smiling to herself. Gallus chuckled at the decorations as well, seeing four of his friends from afar on a step ladder and doing their part to decorate.

"Since when did you guys start to like pink?" They began to approach their friends indeed; Silverstream, Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus all hanging up strips of pink decoration paper, or tapestries, or posters on the walls.

Silverstream scoffed, waving a dismissive claw. "I am pink!"

Yona spoke up, trying to untangle the pink strips of wrapping paper from her horns. "Friend Ocellus have pink hair."

"Technically, it's called gossamer," Ocellus corrected, hovering up near the ceiling as she adjusted one of the pinkish-red tapestries on the wall.

Just when she saw the changedling, Smolder began to smile wider, admiring the shiny gossamer pink fin she had mentioned.

Gallus looked over to the dazed dragon, flicking her with a talon. "Ow! Bitch!" Smolder rubbed her arm, looking cross at the griffon beside her. Gallus only smirked, quirking a brow.

"Watch'a lookin' at," he asked in a mocking tone, his gaze shifting suspiciously to Ocellus, then back to Smolder. The dragon only huffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"N-Nothing..." She dug her feet into the carpet below her, her tail swishing at Gallus' sudden attention. The griff pressed on.

"I take it the rest of our friends aren't the only ones getting attached to the color pink, are they?"

Despite his annoying and quite frankly, bothersome pestering, Smolder proceeded to walk over to the bunch, Gallus following beside her. Ocellus smiled warmly at the two's arrival, slowing her wing beats as her hooves began to touch the carpet. "Where've you two been all day?"

Smolder was silent, turning away and scuffing her foot on the floor. Gallus looked at her with sympathy as he went on to speak for her. "We were... ah, visiting the professors. They're both okay, but... those hits were pretty brutal."

Ocellus' ears wilted. "Oh no," she whimpered. Smolder was still silent, and she could tell something was up, still. She was still blaming herself. That wasn't right. It wasn't Smolder's fault, what happened. She shouldn't still be chiding herself over it, not when she couldn't have done anything about it.

Putting a hoof on the dragon's shoulder, she tapped it, prompting Smolder to turn back around.

Ocellus levitated a small, pink tapestry her friend's way, giving her a kind smile as she did.

Smolder's eyes widened. Her mouth hung open, and she was left slack-jawed, unable to say anything. Her cheeks burned at scorching heat, so hot that she could've sworn she felt smoke rising from where she stood.

Gallus chuckled, using his claw to push Smolder's jaw back up to where it belonged. "She really appreciates it," he teased, looking smugly at the slightly amused Ocellus.

"I can tell," she giggled, handing over the piece of tapestry that Gallus then reached out and grabbed for his dragon friend.

Looking at Smolder, he laughed. "Smolder, what do we say...?"

"S-Shut up," she growled.

Giggling to herself, Ocellus expanded her elytra, her wings buzzing and carrying her back to where she was putting up decorations.

She landed near the school entrance, then looked back at the rest of her friends.

Decorations were pretty well set up so far; she figured they wouldn't really need her at this point. Either way, she needed to get some fresh air after hearing the terrible news. Her teachers were busy recovering from their injuries since the ponies in the infirmary needed to make sure they weren't suffering anything major.

If anything major was inflicted on her teachers, let alone while they were on their field trip, there was no telling when something would come up again. She didn't know when she'd be able to get any alone time, or time to herself.

"Hey guys," she started, turning to face her friends again. "You won't really need me anymore, will you? For the decorations, I mean."

Sandbar turned to look at her from the top of the step ladder. "You've done a lot already. Thanks for the help!"

Ocellus nodded gratefully, letting her wings buzz again as she hovered out of the building.

Smolder watched as she left, her eyes still wide, and her cheeks still singing with red.

"Hellooooo? Earth to Smolder?"

Not to far away from her ear, she could hear the loud clicking of Gallus' repeatedly snapping talon.

Her look tightening, she looked over to him, her eyes gleaming with annoyance. Gallus only smugged, rolling his eyes as he quit snapping his claw in her ear. "Okay, okay, sorry. I'm just saying, you know, you should really go talk to her." Smolder arched a brow, making Gallus huff in frustration. "Go after her, you idiot," he bellowed, whipping a feathered wing against the thick scales on Smolder's back.

The dragon winced, her wings springing out as she jolted at the sudden contact.

"Get yourself together, you psycho! Clean yourself up or something!"

"Fine! Okay! I can hear you," Smolder grumbled, trudging back to the dorms to get herself together like the griffon said.

Gallus smiled as he saw her go, looking like a proud father who just taught his son how to ride his bike with no training wheels.

When he heard Sandbar's voice, he turned. "What just happened," he asked, pointing a hoof at the direction Smolder just left. Gallus shrugged his shoulders, playfully patting his pony pal's pate.

"Hush child. You'll understand when you're older."

Then, Gallus spread his wings and took to the air. Sandbar watched as he disappeared further and further into the distance, the same confused and concerned look on his face. "I'm a year older than you," he uttered, mostly to himself.

Smolder unlocked the door to her room, closing it back and locking it behind her once she entered. Then, she went to her closet, brushing by all the hoarded, severed creature heads and weaponry as she pulled out her trademark outfit from the very back.

Besides the dresses she wore for her tea parties, her assassin outfit was really the only peice of clothing she ever wore. Still, she pulled it from the very back of the closet, then grabbed two surprisingly clean, white towels before closing the doors back - and, thankfully, locking it securely - and making her way to the bathroom.

There, she walked over to the shower-tub mesh setup they had, tugging at the hot/cold lever and turning it toward the hottest setting.

Not too long after that, hot, steamy water began to rain from the tiny holes in the square shower head. The bathroom was filled with water vapor that fogged up the glass mirror.

Sighing contently, Smolder stepped in, the water hitting her scales and bouncing off in an opaque cloud of white mist. The water graced her scales and ran their way down her back, sending heat-induced shivers up her spine.

"I feel bad I wasn't talking for a while," she sighed, addressing her lack of one-sided conversation with the beings beyond the screen she so frequently gazed upon. "But, I guess this time's just as good as any."

"I'm... a little nervous about today, not gonna lie. If you didn't know, today is Hearts and Hooves Day, which is the day ponies hug, and kiss, and date and do all this other mushy stuff with each other."

The water splashed against the shower floor, sending a crackling sound throughout the room. Smolder continued, "...And Ocellus is," she paused, sighing, "Alone, today. I wanna cheer her up. I know she doesn't know it, but... it was my fault she had to see what she did the other day. My intentions were pure... I think."

She let her eyes shift down to the floor, but then looked back up at the shower head as she had been before.

"But she doesn't know that. That the... other side of me meant well. Well, I meant well, it's just... this shit takes control of me sometimes, you know?"

There was a long silence after that. Smolder pressed on.

"And when I get like that, it's like tunnel vision. Like I can't control myself around my enemies. No one left alive. It's sad. That I can't quit, I mean. I don't wanna burden Ocellus... o-or my friends with my dumb antics, s-so... the least I could do is show her, or at least myself that I can control that side of me. That I can trust myself. That she can trust me."

Another long pause.

With a high-pitched squeak, Smolder turned the lever the other way. The spraying water ceased, one last crackling of water touching down upon the floor.

Smolder grabbed one towel from above the curtain rod, wrapping it around her body. Another one she grabbed as well, wrapping it around her head to dry off her fins and scales.

She looked to the screen, then down to the floor. "Look, I like to pamper myself before I do a job, okay?"

Walking over to her shared study desk, she looked down at the costume laid out before her. "Back at it again," she sighed, "But this time, it's for the... the better."

Ocellus sat with her legs draping over the edge of the school's roof, her hooves gently swaying back and forth as she breathed in the soft air coming in with the breeze.

She took another deep breath, this time opening her receptors as she did so.

Just the same thing as she tasted before. Nothing to clog up her sensors- nothing to block her, or affect her emotionally up here. She was all alone. No one to complicate it.

Deep down, Ocellus sometimes liked her solitude. Well, more like when she wasn't just left alone to pity herself. When she was more willing to be alone than forced. She liked the atmosphere here. Something to help her get away from her problems.

She was at peace.

Ocellus' ears perked up as she heard a loud clanking noise coming from behind. "Hey, s'there any room for anyone else up here," a familiar, light voice followed by heavy footsteps came with it.

Ocellus turned her head to see who it was. "Oh my hive!"

Had she not known she was dangerously close to the edge of the roof, she would've backed up at the sight of the so dreaded creature coming toward her.

Not knowing what else to do, Ocellus shielded her face behind her hooves. "P-Please don't hurt me!"

Foolish, she knew. She probably could've turned into a bugbear, scared the creature away or something, but she was too petrified. Good thing she decided not to do that; there was no telling what the figure could do if they were "intimidated".

Still, she heard the footsteps of the approacher. They stopped after a while, so she figured they weren't exactly planning to do what she thought they were. "Oh, of course not," they sympathized, lightly touching their padded paws on Ocellus' hooves and pulling them from her eyes.

The changeling still looked nervous, however, jerking her hooves back from their hands. "H-How do I know I can trust you," she spat, "A-After all you did yesterday?! Y-You made my friend feel terrible for something you did!" She lunged forward, all her worries being replaced by resentful anger.

"Woah, hey, cool it!" They held their hands out, looking as if they were going to try and defend themselves.

Ocellus narrowed her eyes. "Why should I? You kill creatures for fun! Y-You... you killed those ponies in that forest yesterday!" The creature's eyes widened. They looked hurt.

"I saved you guys!"

"By committing bloody murder?! I-I should've reported you!" Ocellus turned her head, turning her back to the creature - something she probably shouldn't have done, she thought - and lifting her chin up. "In fact, I think I will." She turned her head back to see the creature again, just in case they tried anything, of course.

They didn't look the slightest bit intimidated, pressing their hands to their cheeks and calling out in a mocking tone: "Oh, no! Whatever will I do now."

Ocellus scoffed. Now, she realized the creature at least had a sense of humor. Well, she could tell that much in that forest the other day. The point was, she knew the creature may have been black hearted, but... they weren't doing her any harm. Still, it wouldn't do her any good to push her luck.

Turning around, she jabbed the creature square in the chest, her eyes narrow as she looked up at them and asked, "So what are you doing here? D-Don't you have some other creatures to go... torture?" Now that she thought about it that way, she probably shouldn't have given them the idea.

"I would, buuuuuut," they paused, bowing their head down in an overly exaggerated fashion. Then, they reached behind their back, right where their katana were placed.

Ocellus whimpered at the thought of the creature pulling out a blade and slicing her to bits. She covered her eyes again, collapsing under herself and cowering before them. Waiting for them to do it. To slice her into bits.

"I thought you looked really familiar," they said finally. "...And, I, uh... think you're really... pretty."

Ocellus was confused. Did the creature just...?

She opened her eyes finally, uncovering them to find a fairly sized bouqet of blood-red roses. They smelled wonderful, and looked like they were freshly picked, not store-bought.

Wrapped around them were gauze bandages, charred and burned to jarring perfection.

Ocellus found herself blushing, her cheeks turning warm and pink as she fumbled back onto her hooves. "S-So, what is this," she nearly hissed, "D-Did you smear someone's blood on these? Grind their bones for fertilizer?"

"Sweet bloody scepter, you're so mean! I-I just thought you'd like them... as an apology for what you guys saw yesterday."

Ocellus bit back another hiss. "W-What do you mean...?"

"I mean, I should've tried to comfort you all instead of doing... what I did. I was told somecreatures were in danger, and I acted, but... I came off a bit too aggressive, I just... I'm sorry you all had to see that. I shouldn't have done what I did, or, at least should've taken it elsewhere."

Ocellus blinked. Strangely, she found herself sympathizing with that. Like she was at peace with the creature now. After all that happened, too. Sighing, she nodded, figuring she was able to at least accept their apology. "Yeah, you're right. You could've taken it elsewhere."

They nodded, turning their head away from the changeling and looking off into the distance. Ocellus wasn't finished yet, putting her hoof under their chin and turning them to face her again. "But, you were only trying to help," she admitted, "And you've made up for it quite well already," she giggled.

Levitating her now accepted bouquet of roses, sitting back down on the shutters of the school's roof again. "Did you maybe wanna sit in? I'd be happy to have someone to talk to while I..."

She trailed off as she traced the school's roof for the creature she was speaking to just a minute ago. Miraculously, they were gone.

Strangely, she began to feel for them. Like they were less black hearted creature and more a wrong-doer for the right reasons hearted creature.

She smiled at the thought.

Yeah, that made sense. She liked that. It fit them well.

Author's Note

I do very highly detailed shower scenes :rainbowderp:

Chapter 3

Ocellus trotted through the halls, her levitated bouquet of roses in aura. Her hoofsteps echoed lightly throughout the quiet hallway, and it was afternoon bordering on evening time, so the halls were generally pretty silent.

"Watch'a got there?"

Ocellus squealed, coming to a nearly skidding halt as she heard an familiar, sinnocent voice. Knowing full well what was about to happen next, she quickly hid the curious item behind her.

Silverstream hovered over to her, still looking mischievously inquisitive, so Ocellus sighed, bringing the wrapped flowers from behind her back. The griff smugged, twiddling her claws together as if she were about to do something wickedly evil.

"I-It's not that serious," Ocellus tried, hanging her head and hiding her face down in the small patch of roses before her. She didn't even need to look up to see that Silverstream remained undeterred.

"Who's the lucky guy," she asked, and Ocellus could hear the smile in her voice. She shook her head, daring to look up and face her floating friend.

"Y-You wouldn't believe me."

Silverstream scoffed, "No way I wouldn't believe you! You're my friend, Ocellus! I'd believe anything you said, even if you didn't believe yourself!"

"I-It's..."

Another door opened, not giving Ocellus the chance to finish.

"What's up," Smolder asked, leaning awkwardly against the wall outside their dormitory.

Ocellus sighed in relief, happy that the dragon bailed her out of any explanation. She bit her lip in realization that the dragon just asked her a question as well, and Silverstream wasn't going to quit prying.

Sighing, she said, "Someone gave me flowers today- look, it's nothing, you guys."

Silverstream scoffed, her tail swaying in time with Ocellus' increasing heart rate. "Oh, yes it is! You know it!"

Ocellus blanched, stepping back from the two and preparing to flee by all means necessary. Her wings buzzed when Smolder stepped in.

"Leave her be, Silver," she sighed, clearly understanding the bug didn't want to talk at the moment. Silverstream pouted, crossing her arms.

"B-But... b-but Ocellus..."

Smolder huffed, "Ocellus doesn't want to talk, okay? We'll talk later, but only if she's comfortable." She looked over to their bug friend in question, giving her a small nod of reassurance. Ocellus smiled gratefully.

"Okay...." The hippogriff frowned, hovering back into her dorm with an expression Ocellus couldn't place. Still, she saw Smolder open the door to theirs, calmly letting her in.

The changeling didn't bother hiding the flowers this time, knowing that Smolder probably already saw them as she walked into the hall before.

"Listen, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's okay."

Ocellus blinked as she unwrapped the flowers, sticking them into a vase freshly filled with water. Smolder batted an amused eye at the flower vase as her friend sat them down at their study desk. With a small flap of her wings, she hovered up to her bunk and sat with her legs hanging over the foot of the bed.

"No, I wanna talk about it. You seem quite interested anyway," Ocellus grunted, narrowing her eyes at the dragon sitting above her. Smolder looked away.

"No! Never, I just... I mean... yeah..."

Ocellus huffed, taking in deep breaths and deciding to spill. Everything.

"You know that creature I told you about earlier?"

Smolder swung her legs a bit, nodding and tilting her head forward for Ocellus to continue. "Totally."

The changedling continued, plopping herself down on the carpet. "...And how I wanted to get some fresh air earlier today, too?" She paused, looking up at her draconic friend as she nodded again, prompting her to go on. Still, Ocellus stood up and began to pace around. "So," she sighed, "I was on the roof today, and then I saw the creature, and they-"

Smolder smiled fondly, already seeing how this played out. "...Gave you a bouquet of roses?"

"If I see 'bouqet of roses' one more time in this chapter, I'm gonna fucking explode."

Ocellus' eyes widened as she turned back to Smolder, her hooves practically burning holes in the floor below her. She had gotten that from the dragon. "R-Right... Yes. H-How'd you know?"

Smolder's smile turned into a wide smirk as she said, "You're pretty predictable when it comes to this lovey-dovey gunk."

"It's not lovey-dovey," Ocellus hissed, her cheeks burning in an endless sea of cherry red. "I-It's romanticism..."

Smolder chuckled, "Yeah, good luck with that."

Ocellus sighed in frustration, making her way over to the study desk again. She sat down in the chair and glanced up at the flower vase. Sighing, she rested her chin in her hooves.

Smolder didn’t get it.

Chapter 4

Twilight pursed her lips as she scanned briskly over the paperwork on her desk. Her hooves arched over her ruffled, messy mane. Her pupils shrank as she scanned over, and over, and over again.

"You were attacked?!"

She slammed her hooves down on the desk, causing the papers to fly askew.

A certain cyan-coated, rainbow-maned pegasus rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I think that's been established already," she droned. The orange earth pony sitting beside her patted her on the shoulder sympathetically, then turned to the unicorn that could really use some comfort.

"It ain't your fault, Twi. Dash and Ah' should've researched the route. If'n it'll make ya feel better, we'll-"

"Of course it's my fault! It's all our faults," bursted the lavender alicorn, her horn sparking with frustrated flares of magenta aura. "I can't run a school with some sort of cartel trying to take us out!"

Rainbow Dash groaned, burying her head in her hooves. "Do you even know what a cartel is...?"

Twilight then screeched with stress, shuffling through the remaining papers on her desk. "That. doesn't. Matter! What matters is that we've got a hoof-full of concerned parents and guardians threatening to pull their students from the school!"

"Oh," Dash sighed, "Right."

"On top of that, ah' reckon we should at least try an' see if the student's're feelin' okay."

Twilight took a breath, sitting back down and nodding slowly. "...And, I think it'd be a bit more reasurring if it came from you two."

Rainbow nodded as well, flapping her wings and hovering in front of Twilight. Pressing her hooves gently on the desk, she said, "Yeah. Me and AJ'll go check on em'. You... try and calm down a little. Have you ever tried bathing in the hot springs?"

"Uh, no!"

Applejack digressed. "We'll go check on the students like we said. If'n they're feelin' better after what happened, we'll try and go see what these "Hot Springs"'re about," she said calmly, turning to the cyan pegasus and nodding her head forward.

"Yeah," she agreed with a small smile. "Just stay calm until we get back, okay?"

Twilight sat her head down on the desk, speaking with a muffled "Got it."

"...And you thought sending those two buffoons was a good idea?!"

He slammed his hooves on the desk, the answer machine clanking down on the piled up papers in front of him.

"S-Sir, I-"

"I wanted that dragon dead! They let them get away," he bellowed again. "I should have you all terminated. What the hell, are you trying to keep them alive?!"

"N-No, Sir! I-I didn't get the chance to finish! Y-You keep-"

He narrowed his eyes. "Well then, I can't understand you if you keep stammering. Slow the hell down, it's not like we're in a hurry."

The pony on the line seemed to calm down after that. "I was trying to say that-"

"Hurry up, we don't have all day, damn it!"

Smolder sat lazily with her feet kicked up at what seemed to be the cranky creature's desk. She was wearing a slate colored tuxedo, adjusting her Warby Parkers and holding an index card, saying "After at least five more minutes of the most frustrating dialogue ever..."

"Sir..."

"Okay, okay, fine. Explain your reasoning."

"What I meant to say was that... m-maybe we could send the stronger ones?"

He tapped his hoof on the desk, putting one hoof on his chin in thought. "That makes... little sense, but I suppose it could work." The pony on the answer machine took a breath of relief.

"Right. B-But another thing- What if instead of sending recruits directly to the creature, we could... rough up the one's they seem to care about?"

He arched a brow. "What are you getting at?"

"I-I just mean that... m-maybe we could observe who they seem to care about most and- and go after them? Maybe the creature would be a bit more vulnerable to that so we could prey on them next."

"So what's your plan? We haven't been researching this creature that much since that last incident," he shuddered, "Who do you have in mind, I mean?"

"W-Well, the thing we know is that the creature is attending the School of Friendship. Students practically worship their professors, who are also the, uh... Elements of Harmony."

He furled his brow, his eyes widening as his hoof tapping increased rapidly. "That's... a pretty good idea. My only criticism is that we cannot attack the Princess of Friendship. That's practically financial suicide."

"Yes sir, but isn't she already foiling from parental concerns?"

"Hmm?"

"She's already being penalized by parents and guardians concerned for their children and students since the last incident. C-Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but you did hire me for my expert skills in research. If we can ruin her any further, we could possibly knock her out of the picture. Her social standing could potentially be decreased by tenfold."

He stopped tapping his hoof, his brow unfurling. "That's it! I can't believe I'm saying this, but- for once, I'm glad I hired you!"

The pony was silent for a time, but he made a dissmissive whinny at the compliment. "So, where will they be headed?"

"We could send one of our specialists."

"Where'd... Where'd you get that," Gallus asked, watching his draconic friend tighten up her suit from the dorm bathroom mirror. "That looks... expensive as hell."

Smolder just put on her stylish black-framed glasses and fixed up her necktie. "Don't worry about it," she said. Gallus simply rolled his eyes as he watched her exit the bathroom.

She was dressed in a light grey-slate suit. She was wearing black work pants with a darker black belt wrapped tight around her waist as well. Gallus smirked. She looked surprisingly sophisticated.

"Woah," he exlaimed, "What're you looking all 'business dragon' for?"

Smolder cleared her throat at that, tugging at her collar and straightening her tie again as sweat began to bead on her forehead. Gallus smirked at her, saying, "That tie isn't gonna get any tighter, you know."

"I-I know," The dragon blurted nervously, tightening the tie even more against Gallus' suggestion. The griffon chuckled.

"...And it really looks like you're dressing to impress," he paused for a second, playfully pinching his beak. "My guess, you're trying to impress someone."

Smolder gulped as Gallus paused again. The room was silent, the air filling with small clouds of black coming from her nostrils and mouth.

Her tail lashed as the blue-feathered friend decided to open his mouth again, saying "Hm... maybe some'ling?"

Smolder would've said something to deny it, but she knew that it was probably useless at this point. Still, there was no harm in a good excuse. "I-I just got tired of my normal costume," she sighed, the false excuse being somewhat accurate. "I wanted something else to wear, since that thing got really smelly from the... the blood."

Gallus winced. "That sounds about right."

Smolder sighed. "Exactly. I-I wanna see what everyone else thinks. If there's one secret I wanna reveal, it won't be tea parties."

Gallus already knew at least a little about one of Smolder's strange obsessions besides assassination, so he didn't question that bit. The part he was a bit skeptical about was the 'secret revealing.'

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'secret you wanna reveal?'" Gallus quirked a brow while he spoke, and Smolder scuffed her feet on the carpet floor.

"I-I mean..." She stopped, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. "Dude, you're, like, the only person who knows about my... 'career'," she adorned the word 'career' with air-quotes. "And I've already introduced Ocellus to that dragon, so why not just... experiment, you know?"

Gallus shook his head(unsurprisingly to Smolder), letting out his own sigh as he turned his back to the dragon. Tracing his talon on the dorm floor, he finally spoke, his voice cold and distant. "You... You can't do that. She'll freak."

"So did you," his draconic friend hissed from behind him. The feathers on his hindlegs ruffled from a rush of cold air, suggesting that Smolder's arms extended with frustration. "If you keep being such an asshole about this, she'll only find out sooner!"

"I'm not being an asshole," Gallus bellowed, whirling around and whipping his tail. "I'm trying to protect you! If you keep fucking around with your little 'job,' you're gonna get yourself caught, or worse, killed!"

The room was silent again. The brewing tension in the air was tight enough to throttle the both of them.

Each stared feircly into the other's eyes, their shrank pupils surrounded in feilds of white. Each had their foreheads pressed against the other's as well, and if their glares got any icier, they'd be frozen in the same position.

Not even the small sound of a creaking door could dissuade their feud. "A-Am I interrupting something...?"

Both Smolder and Gallus turned to Ocellus, who was standing nervously in the doorway and rubbing one timid hoof on the other.

"N-Not at all," Smolder blurted, rushing away from Gallus and to her changedling friend. The griffon scoffed, walking over as well as he adjusted his head-feathers.

"Wow," Ocellus breathed, gazing at Smolder's surprisingly well put-together outfit. "You look... nice. Where're you going that has you looking so fancy," she teased, brushing her hoof on the dragon's tie.

Smolder smiled. "The, uh... relief conference the teachers want us going to. I-I wanted to dress nicely for it, I guess. Y-You know, like everyone would."

"More accurately, for someone," Gallus corrected. Smolder barely batted an eye at him, only reaching for his neck and pinching at a nerve.

He went limp as he fell to the ground. Ocellus gasped, reaching a hoof out to help him up. Smolder grabbed her foreleg, saying, "Don't worry- he'll be alright."

The changedling looked unsure, but still nodded reluctantly. "I-If you say so."

Silence again.

"I-I just came to check on you, it... seems like everything's going well," Ocellus spoke, trying to get rid of the menacing quiet. Smolder tried to smile, but that small, supposedly unwavering grin turned into more of a grimace.

"...Yeah... see you there...?"

"See you there."

Author's Note

Yeah, this one was a bit quick like the other one, but trust me, there's a lot more I have planned :raritywink:

Chapter 5: Molt Down

Sandbar looked impressed when both Smolder and Gallus arrived. The two looked like the world's most notorious dynamic duo with their tuxedos. The orange dragon was wearing her grey-slate suit with the same colored necktie, a white vest underneath and black work pants. Shielding her eyes were a pair of square, black-framed glasses. The griffon beside her was looked nothing short of her bodyguard, wearing a black tuxedo with a black necktie and a white vest underneath. He was also wearing black, shadowy shades that made him look straight out of an action movie.

They both strutted their way over to the table, pulling out seats for themselves and sitting next to each other.

Sandbar, wearing his white-flower patterned tropical blue shirt had a more casual look. He wasn't complaining about his friends though. "Wow," he gasped.

Ocellus, sitting beside them wasn't really wearing anything. She didn't think much of dressing up for parties anyway.

"I'm with Sandbar," she giggled, "You guys should really get into acting. Maybe they'd inspire a dynamic duo from you two."

Smolder grinned from the other side of the table, her glance shifting to Gallus. The griffon smirked. "We came up with a name. Can't tell anyone our secret identities, though," he replied, winking.

Sandbar's eyes widened with excitement. "You guys have no idea how much I love action movies," he squealed in a fangirlish manner.

Ocellus put her hooves over her mouth, biting back a laugh. "Surely you could at least share your... secret aliases," she whispered, leaning forward with a hoof covering the side of her muzzle.

Gallus smugged, looking down at Smolder with a cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Crash and Burn. It's dumb, I know."

Against whatever reaction Smolder expected, Ocellus asked, "So who's who?"

Smolder blinked. Gallus nudged her, urging her to continue. "See? Told you she'd like it."

"I hate you," the dragon groaned.

"Anyway," Gallus digressed, giving Smolder a hard jab in the shoulder. She replied with a low growl. "We decided we'd do a bit of an inverse on our names. Make it less... ehh, predictable."

Both Sandbar and Ocellus leaned forward, both listening in. Gallus continued, "Long story short, I'm Burn, and she's Crash."

"Understandable," Ocellus chirped. "You two always find a way to crash and burn your grades, anyway." She glared at the two. Gallus and Smolder both took great interest in anywhere besides Ocellus' side of the table, looking around and twiddling their fingers innocently.

"That's amazing," Sandbar chimed, deviating from the current subject. "Who's idea was it?"

Ocellus nodded her head forward as well, her chin resting in her hooves as she waited for an answer. Smolder immediately jabbed Gallus in his side. "Gallus! It was his idea. Creative motherfucker," she said.

The griffon didn't move, only casting an annoyed look down at his friend. Then, he looked up at Ocellus, saying, "You know she's lying, right?"

"Dramatically," the changeling replied, casting the same look over to her friend at the other side of the table. "Don't worry, Smolder. Creative interpretation doesn't come easy for everyone. Still, I think this whole 'dynamic duo' thing makes... a lot of sense. The whole inverse situation, and the names. It's really creative. You should be a writer."

Smolder's cheeks reddened, the light pink being somewhat visible under her orange scales. "No, I don't think-"

"Woah! Who got Smolder to look like that?"

A pink hippogriff came hauling in from behind her, gripping onto her shoulders and flipping her around so that she could gain a better view. Smolder sighed, "I've been getting that a lot today, thanks."

Silverstream looked a bit more satisfied at that, sitting down on the other side of Smolder. Yona came up behind the two as well, sitting on the other side of Sandbar. "Yona like dragon and griffon's new outfits! Fit them well!"

A sharp ringing caught the student's attention. Suddenly, the clamoring in the foyer completely ceased. Students stopped talking, as Headmare Twilight was the one speaking. "Isn't it wonderful? Even after the shocking incidents following up to today, everycreature can still be friendly with each other," she said, smiling warmly at every occupant in the room. "Anyway,

"The event taking place in the earlier week hasn't been too kind to everyone, I know. What with the whole incident in the Everfree forest and all. Technically, this information should be classified, but I think at least fourty-five of your parents or guardians have attempted to address the issue," she said, rubbing one hoof on the back of her neck. "I wanted to apologize to all of you collectively. As a whole. To those six students who went on that field trip..." She swayed a hoof, gesturing to Smolder, Ocellus, Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream all together. "...To the two teachers that were attacked..." She swayed the hoof down to two other ponies, casting a gentle look at the two of them.

"...And to Spike, who helps investigate all the loud noises in the dorms that none of us can ever figure out-"

Twilight gestured to a short, jacket wearing figure, his face covered by a pulled-down hat and a pair of dark sunglasses.

"It's an honor to have such formidable staff and students. I truly couldn't ask to surround myself with better creatures."

'Clank! Clank! Clank!'

Six creatures at the most crawled sneakily through the ventilation systems just inches above the ceiling. Three were fussing around with each other, and the other three remained silent, or just quietly complaining.

("The fact that things can get hairy at the school and students still wouldn't hesitate to reach out just makes my day.")

"Be careful!"

"You be careful! We've gotta move quick if we're gonna catch us a Princess! Heheheh."

("Even as there's only been one full-blown, student threatening incident happening at this school besides what's happening now,")

"I vote you both shut the fuck up!"

("I'm still astounded at the fact that all of you keep your composure and manage to keep your cool.")

"Yak think we making too much noise."

("Hehee. That's what all the foals say, right? 'Keep your cool?' No? Okay.")

"Anyway, I just wanted to-"

'Clank! Clank! Clank!'

Everyone looked up. The source of the noise was definitely uncertain, but each and every creature could tell it was emitting from the ceiling.

Smolder's intuition kept shouting at her to spring into action. She heard it, but ignored it. There was no way she was going to save the day again. Not without being... that dragon. She couldn't do it. When she was becoming that alias, it was like she was having so much fun, that- that she was having the time of her life.

Once she began doing her job, it was all spiraling out of control. She could never stop herself. If she were to do it again, then what would happen to what Ocellus thought of her before? All that she may have established with her as that dragon could vanish. She didn't want that. Not again.

"Spike," she heard Twilight call, "Did we get the ventilation checked?"

'BANG!'

"Look out below," a raspy voice called, followed by a very graceful fall by a pony masked and wearing all black. He had a name tag on that read 'GLEN' in all capital letters.

His hooves touched on the ground so softly it was like he was standing there the entire time. Three more ponies dropped down behind him, and suddenly, the creatures touching down weren't ponies anymore.

"I caught a Twilight," a changeling called. He landed on top of the alicorn in question, keeping his automatic rifle pressed hard against her skull while he slipped a magical dampening ring on her horn.

The changeling's coat was black, and he was filled with holes. Much like a regular changeling, he had a hole-filled horn on his head, mint-green spines protruding from his horn all the way down to the base of his neck. His eyes were green as well, glowing a stinging glow piercing into any eyes that dared to gaze.

He was wearing a black sweater that looked like it was used for common burglary.

Applejack sprang into action, jumping at the changeling from the beside where Twilight used to stand.

"That cheating," a deep, rumbly voice bellowed, followed by a loud rumbling in the ground to accompany his four-legged gait.

"AJ," Rainbow Dash cried, jumping out in front of the earth pony in attempts to shield her from the attack.

"Ough," the yak grunted, his horns ramming straight into pony hide with ease.

Rainbow's unconscious body hit the ground, skidding on the floor until she hit the wall. Blood pooled around her, all from the pit of her stomach.

It leaked onto the cloths of the nearby tables that student sat, soaking the bottoms with crimson red.

Ocellus whimpered, trembling more than Smolder was in that moment. Sandbar touched her shoulder with a hoof, shaking her lightly in attempts to get her to come to her senses. Silverstream clutched tightly to Yona, and Yona did the same with Silverstream. All four, no matter their actions were all petrified with fear.

Gallus' pupils shrank down to blue dots, each shooting a terrified gaze over at his draconic friend.

She just continued to tremble, slamming her fist down on the table and causing the silverware to rattle and clank.

'PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!'

Everycreature screamed in a mix of surprise and terror. "No one move," a hardy voice shouted, coming from a seemingly under dressed griffon. The voice didn't sound like it had belonged to him. He was a skinny griffon who had a lion's tail, much like any other. His body feathers were a salmon pink, and his head feathers were all the same.

'creeeeaaaaak...'

One female student caught his eye, her hindleg stretched out as it looked like she was attempting to quickly and quietly leave her seat. Clearly, her half-baked method was ineffective.

'BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

"Everyone, under the table," Gallus shouted.

One by one, Ocellus, Yona, Sandbar, Silverstream, Gallus, and finally Smolder all gathered under the table.

The cloth was gradually illuminated each second by the pale golden glow of steaming bullets being fired. Each shot made most of them tremble, the other two just tensing up more and more.

Gallus looked to Smolder again, his eyes filled with hope and angst. "Smolder, you've gotta do something," he whispered, his hiss hushed down so that none of the others would catch on.

Ocellus' gaze shifted to the both of them.

Smolder stayed trembling, each gunshot causing her to slam her fist hard on the floor.

"Smolder, come on," Gallus urged, gripping his claws on the dragon's shoulder and shaking her with frantically shaking hands.

She couldn't do it. Not again. Not after all the other times. She couldn't lose control like last time, or all the other times. everything changed when she was in that costume. Her personality, everything- she couldn't lose herself in her job again.

"Smolder!"

Killing with such vigor was so cruel, not only to Ocellus(or the rest of her friends), but to the whole of Equestria. If she only came here to kill, then did what she was learning at the School of Friendship mean nothing?

"We're in serious danger, here!"

If she was really so happy to hurt, then she was really no better than the heartless creatures attacking them.

"Come on, Smolder! Get up!"

Unless she wasn't.

What if she wasn't as happy and eager to kill somecreature like that dragon would be? If she were to show no emotion, would that have worked out better? Would she have gained a better perspective without quipping in the face of madness?

She said it herself- her bloodstained costume was in the washing machine(without being noticed, she hoped). Without that suit, she could be herself again. She could get as much blood as she could on her suit and not crack a single smile.

She was... free.

"Smol-"

"Gallus," Smolder barked in a whisper, "I've got a gun. Two. You know how to handle one?"

Gallus was about to nod, but, he could sense something had changed. Firstly, Smolder seemed adamant to do something after at least fifteen more of those gunshots. Maybe she had some sort of flashback or something? Either way, Gallus was pretty uneasy about her change of tone.

On the partially good side, she didn't seem more eager and more... determined. Like she was reluctant to do her job, but knew her life depended on it. Like she was taking it seriously.

Gallus knew what he saw in that forest the other day. He knew what endeavor they were in, and how happy his friend was to deal with it. Something told him she wasn't on the right path again, but, something else kept telling him that she was starting to veer. That she began to take the right path again.

That made him smile. "Yeah."

Spike tried his best to hold his breath, for the last time he allowed himself freedom with his breathing, he set his whole outfit alight. Now, he was exposed. Pulsing red stone-scales and all.

"Awww, so the dragon hasn't finished his molt," teased a tall, beefy, hooded dragon. He had royal blue scales as Spike could see. The rest of his scheme was hidden by his tight, black burglar jacket and black cargo pants. "You're lucky Ductus hasn't turned into a Roc and tried to eat you," he continued, gesturing over to the changeling who pinned down the purple alicorn Princess.

"Spike," he heard her cry from afar. Ductus only hit her over the head with the gun, but not enough to bruise her. After all, he knew what they were here for, just as much as any of them. If he wanted to really hurt her, he'd have to save that for later.

"Pipe down! I can't even hear my own voice!"

'POW, POW, POW, POW!!'

"Ugh... oof..."

The dragon collapsed , his blood spreading in a small pool around him. Spike chuckled in slight victory, allowing himself to forget the current situation in turn for a slight moment to revel in his love for gory things.

"Look out, jackasses," Gallus announced, "It's time to Crash and Burn."

Spike turned, looking across the empty foyer to two, dressed down creatures standing back to back in a dramatic pose while they both wielded their pistols. The boy couldn't lie, if the two were an actual dynamic duo in one of his comic books, he wouldn't be able to put them down.

Ductus was barely surprised. "Ruckus," he shouted, "Keep these two from bustin' my balls, alright?! I'm outta here."

With those last words, he extended his right foreleg, a grapplehook in his hoof. He shot the gun, a metal hook shooting into the air and pulling both him and Twilight swiftly toward the ceiling. "M-My friends- Applejack! Rainbow Dash," she cried.

Smolder's expression barely changed from blank, her eyes staring straight and a frown on her lips as she shot bullet after bullet at the changeling flying toward the ceiling. None of the shots hit, and thankfully, none even grazed the Headmare.

'BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!'

The ground shook, cutlery on the tables all shaking and clanking.

"Ruckus help!"

An average-sized, young, black-furred yak came barreling toward the two, an golden-plated katana held in his mouth. Gallus gasped, jumping in front of Smolder and tugging at his gun to fire.

'PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!'

Ruckus swung his sword, and the bullets all ricocheted one by one. "Damn! He's too strong," Gallus growled.

Smolder grunted, "Not for me."

Leaping forward the dragon used her wings to gain the literal upper hand over the barreling bovidae. He only swung his sword more erratically, his noticeably terrible sword skills being a surprising asset to him as Smolder tried to dodge.

Despite being under pressure, she held herself together, moving and swinging herself this way and that with the grace of a trained ballet-dancer. Except she wasn't dancing.

The sword swung at her head, and she nearly collapsed her upper body, leaning back so far down that the back of her head almost touched the floor.

Ruckus pulled back, then whirled the katana aimlessly downward to cut Smolder off at the feet. The dragon caught on with ease, jumping up and landing her claws on the blade of his sword. Her scales barely parted at the silky, yet slicing touch of the golden blade as she gripped on with her toes.

Ruckus' eyes widened with fear, his gaze being locked on her's. "You better pray your little boyfriend doesn't lay one of his cretin hooves on that Princess."

The yak gulped, sitting back on his haunches. His eyes were stuck- like they were being pulled into another dimension by soulless, lifeless turquoise eyes. She had no remorse, nor would she have any if she actually hurt him. She could tear him into pieces, and still wouldn't give a horse's ass about it.

"You messed with the wrong school, with the wrong students," Smolder continued, pressing the barrel of her pistol on the yak's forehead. "What's say you take today off?"

Ruckus nodded.

He knew that if he were to decline the dragon's rather generous offer, he would've gotten his life taken. He liked his life, no matter how doggedly loyal everyone thought he was.

Smolder, pulling her pistol back, jumped off the blade of his sword and back onto the floor. Ruckus dropped his sword before taking off out of the school, the ground pounding as he left.

"Woah," Gallus chuckled. "You make it look easy. And it looks the part, too."

"Nah, nah, what it looks like is that you've forgot you've got three more to deal with," A pony spoke, the soft thwip of twelve hooves all separately touching the floor.

Smolder leaped backward again, leaving both her and Gallus back to back another time over. She kept her hands guarding her, as well as her pistol guarded with both claws.

Looking around, she scanned the rest of the ponies and their names. After all, their names were on their nametags. They were all wearing the same clothing of masks and all black thermal clothing.

The one speaking was named 'GLEN,' as seen in a capital letters. The next was 'ALEX,' the one standing next to him(but spaced out, of course), and the last was 'MAX', and he was bigger and bulkier than the two of them. All three were wielding swords, making Gallus have to question why everyone Smolder had to fight was so obsessed with blades.

The first one to spring was Glen, going straight after Smolder with his sword drawn.

Gallus took a step forward in attempt to protect her, but was cut off by Alex, who jumped down on him from above somehow. The griffon jumped back, landing upside down on his claws and flipping right-side up again, back on his paws and claws.

Alex ended up piercing the ground, his sword digging into the hard stone floor. He looked up at Gallus, who had his pistol aiming straight at him. Even when he was staring death straight in the eye, Alex was unshaken. "You wouldn't," he uttered, his unnaturally high, yet hissy voice spoke. Gallus grunted, his claw trembling on the trigger.

Smolder dodged the impending katana which nearly pierced the fabric on her back. Glen lunged forward, plunging his sword again, and again, and again.

Smolder bent backward, dodging another thrust of the sword being swung at her as she flipped and landed backward on her feet. Glen still persisted, thrusting and swinging his sword at the speed of mach 20.

Still, the dragon kept her composure, her blank-slate expression not faltering. Glen rolled his eyes, "Ugh! You wriggle like a damn caterpillar," he complained, thrusting his sword faster and more aggressively.

Sweat began to bead on Smolder's forehead, but she kept her composure, still. Somehow, she kept her stare straight, her eyes focused on that pony and his sword.

Suddenly, she bolted forward, avoiding the sword from being thrown into her chest.

Glen stood on his hooves, his body still lunged forward in a stuck position. His tail was trembling, and sweat covered his body. His weapon was there on the ground, thrown there with no context, or any regard for how it would affect the owner.

With that conclusion, Smolder was satisfied. Drawing her gun, she took aim.

"What makes you think so," Gallus asked Alex, the position of their situation the same as before.

Alex laughed:

"You ain't like your friend, I'm sure," he replied, "No matter how much you dress alike. You're not the same creature, you know. You're different. You've had nowhere to go but up, working from rock bottom, kid. I knew you'd be the type. You're not like your friend, you're like me, ya know?"

Gallus narrowed his eyes, lifting his head up as if h were looking down upon the pony. The gun still stayed pointed at him, and if he moved, Alex was gonna get it, he was sure.

"Surely, you wouldn't kill your own people."

The griffon was at a loss for words, his mind racing with so many questions he didn't want answers. Was- was the guy saying what Gallus thought he was saying? Did- did he want to betray his own friend and save...?

'FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

Green fire washed over, covering every inch of where the pony lay. It sprayed until the body was practically scorched to black dust, nothing of him distinguishable besides the ashes of his body.

Gallus sighed, liking the thought that he was no longer questioning his own loyalty. He had proved that already, right?

Looking over to Spike, he chuckled. Spike looked back, giving him a reluctant thumbs up.

One thing Gallus forgot as he looked back over-

Smolder knew what she had to do. Her eyes with no shine, her expression with no life, her body with no soul...

"...Smolder....?"

The dragon jerked her head upward.

The table cloth at the table from across the room had risen from the bottom, showing a surprised and distraught Ocellus stepping out from under it. She could also see the fearing faces of the rest of her friends who didn't dare come out from under that table cloth.

"Ocellus...?"

At last, Smolder finally broke. Her emotions spilled out from the chamber locked up and pressed down in the back of her mind. Her eyes filled with tears, her expression filled with life again. The soul spread out into her body, filling up her mind with racing thoughts and memories of what all happened in the past ten minutes.

She lost control again.

"Ack-!!!"

'SSSSSSHHHHHING!'

Behind her.

A katana blade, right through her back and out through her chest. Blood spurted from the cut, the blade splitting her scales and parting her flesh in ways she didn't want it parted.

"Smolder, no!" Gallus jumped forward over Alex's ashes, drawing his gun and shooting at the assailant. It was nearly impossible, his eyes blurred with small tears.

'PLAP, PLAP, PLAP, PLAP, PLAP!'

Chapter 6

"The numerator... improper..."

Smolder barely recognized what happened. Cold air surrounded her chest like ice freezing over water in a frigid tundra. She could feel barely anything. Her fingers, her palpitating heart, the regulation of her breathing...

All gone. Lost to the numbness.

"Smolder... you've become improper."

Her eyes popped open, nearly bulging out of the sockets. "What...?"

Her voice croaked with dryness, the emotion in her tone being replaced by a flat utter. She wanted to fix it, but the hard cold in her chest wouldn't allow her. It was like the ice of where her chest wound had been was freezing up her throat.

"You're unstable... you need to fix it..."

Smolder blinked, her eyes saying confusion, but her voice crying that she didn't care. "How?"

"You must... find out... yourself..."

The dragon reached out a numbed claw with all the power she could, and she could've sworn the blackness had latched onto her and tried to hold her back. Trying to tie her down.

"Wait... no! H-How do I... come back here, damn it!"

Slamming her fist down into the sloshing, pooling, black water, she screamed out in frustration. "GET BACK HERE!"

"...I need your help," she wept, struggling to sit up.

Still, the dark, sloshing liquid with the consistency of tar mixed with the black of ink latched onto her again, lashing around her body and drawing tightly down as it tightened onto her chest scales.

Smolder cried out violently, the shooting pain being an excruciating reminder of her chest wound.

The liquid tightened even harder, making Smolder wriggle her claws and body as she struggled to break free. It still tied itself around her legs, expanding and spreading like a spilled carton of milk.

It was cold. Freezing, even as it continued to spread, the almost angry sloshing feeling like pins and needles under her scales.

...

...She was alone.

Ocellus lay asleep on the no-longer comfy, small-sized futon they gave her next to her friend's hospital bed. Her ears twitched at the dragon's loud snoring, treating it like a gentle pitter-patter of rain against a glass window in the middle of a peaceful nap.

Smolder went quiet. Ocellus' ear twitched again, adjusting to the silence. Nothing sounded in the room but the small beeping of the heart rate monitor sitting next to her, in between both the futon and Smolder's hospital bed.

Ocellus' eyes flicked open, her ears twitching three or four more times. She then recognized the quiet. Jumping off the futon, she sped to Smolder's side.

Her heart monitor was still beeping, both audibly and visibly. She giggled at herself, then looked over at Smolder.

She had a frown on her face. The same fearing, terrified frown she had on her face when Ocellus recognized her about to-

The changeling's ears wilted, flopping back against her head. She wouldn't let herself think about that, or cloud her judgement of her closest friend. That wouldn't be fair.

Resting a hoof on Smolder's chest wound(lightly, so she wouldn't disturb her), she sighed, leaning her head toward Smolder's and nuzzling the dragon's neck.

Her scales were still warm. The comforting vibrations of her inner chords were lightly massaging the side of her face. Now that she thought about it, that sounded a little weird aloud.

Her wings buzzed as she felt a flash of warmth. Nuzzling deeper into her friend's neck, she let out a small purr of comfort and satisfaction.

"Smolder... you have to try... let her help you..."

Slimy strips of black, sloshy slime slicked itself from her claws, drawing itself back into the immense ocean of black it came from with a wet 'splat!'

Reaching out a claw, Smolder felt around herself. She could feel something, finally. She wasn't held back anymore.

...

For now.

Staring into huge, teal eyes. Huge, buggy, compound eyes. They were wide and staring.

Ocellus stumbled back, her hooves slipping as she fell backward onto her haunches. Smolder tried hard not to bellow with laughter lest her wound's stitches be torn. Instead, she'd ask a question. "What were you doing?"

Ocellus huffed. She would've appreciated an 'are you alright?' above all else. Still, she ignored her wellbeing getting ignored and just stood up, dusting herself off. "I-I was... checking on you. I was trying to see if you were still alive."

Smolder blinked at that. Looking around the room.

First, she saw her glasses from earlier sitting on the nightstand next to her bed. They were slightly crooked moreso than when she wore them before, but she didn't mind. She didn't really need perscription glasses, anyway.

Then, her gaze drifted upon the small futon not too far from her bed. "Why's that here?"

"I was the only one wanting to stay her overnight after... after today," the changeling beside her sighed, turning around and plopping down on the tile floor. "Everyone was worried, but... but they're scared. I'm scared."

Smolder huffed, refraining from just turning over on her stomach and hiding herself under the covers. The only thing she could earnestly hope at this point was that Ocellus didn't put two and two together. Sure, yes, the girl was smart, so she could probably expect that from her, but still...

"You were... holding a gun... you were about to kill that pony, weren't you?" The changeling's eyes shone, her visage of determination, but at the same time, fear grabbing a hold of Smolder.

The dragon huffed again, this time smoke coming from her nostrils and filling the air. "I didn't have a choice. They were going to hurt all of you."

"You were going to hurt them!" Ocellus lunged forward, pressing a jabbing hoof onto Smolder's stomach as she gained a better height over her.

Smolder's head dipped forward, the upper half of her face being shrouded in black shadow. Her eyes were near invisible under the thick, shadowy black covering them. She had a small frown on her face, the same emotionless frown from earlier.

Ocellus stepped down in order to be able to see her friend's eyes again.

Smolder was staring straight down, though she hadn't looked like she was staring at anything specifically. Like she was zoning out. Her eyes lost their shine, only the dim, aimless sea of turquoise that deteriorated anything daring a swim.

Ocellus sighed, standing up on her hooves. "Maybe I should-"

"I don't kill people for fun, you know that...?"

She turned her head, her gaze shifting back to the dragon's hospital bed. Her fists were clenched, her body trembling. "I didn't ask to do the things I do. I didn't want to be this way," she croaked, her voice beginning to shake.

Ocellus rushed to her side. "Smolder, please don't cry, I- I... I didn't say you wanted to, but..."

Smolder interrupted. "Then stop acting like this is something I want to do. Because it just i-isn't..."

The changeling had enough. Pressing her hoof down on Smolder's stomach, she proceeded to lift herself up onto the bed and sit there, staring at her. "I want you to stop thinking that. I don't think you'd be the type of person to kill someone for fun, Smolder. That's why it was just as surprising and shocking for me as it was for everyone else."

Smolder sniffed, looking down at her claws gripping the sheets. Ocellus put a hoof on her hands almost immediately. She looked back up.

A kindly smiling Ocellus looked back at her. "If you want me to leave, that's always okay," she said, nodding to herself. Smolder shook her head, resting her other claw on her bug friend's hoof. Ocellus flushed, continuing, "It's gotten a little uncomfortable on the futon, though."

Smolder chuckled, the small chortle followed with a short sniff. "If you wanna cuddle, just ask."

Ocellus giggled nervously, hopping off the bed as she watched Smolder pull over the covers so that she could lay down.

On top of her.

Ocellus shifted, her body heat getting washed over by the heat radiating from the dragon's scales. Smolder was alseep, snoring once more. Each breath gently caressed Ocellus' forehead with the warmth she never thought she'd feel before. It made her feel at peace again, even though she was held in the arms of a serial killer.

No, no, don't think like that.

Smolder wasn't aggressive or anything. At least not with Ocellus. She could tell how sensitive she was getting before with her. Before, she wasn't exactly as open to talk with anyone else when they were around the two; it made Ocellus a little on edge, like she was taking care of an aggressively protective puppy.

She shifted her hind hooves, getting more comfortable. Smolder only clutched her tighter, reaching her claw up and stroking Ocellus' gossamer pink mane. It made the changeling purr in satisfaction like when she was nuzzling the dragon earlier. She felt safe again, like her friend was... just her friend.

Then, what was she all that time before?

Nuzzling into her friend's neck and savoring the warmth in her chitin, she began to cherish and enjoy the moment even more than she was before. All her worries began to melt away.

Smolder seemed to let Ocellus in when her world was falling apart...

Maybe Ocellus could help her out of whatever mess she's in if she's willing to talk.

Chapter 7

Gallus sat in his desk chair while the rest of his friends were all laying on the carpet. All of them looked like they were collectively avoiding something, tracing their hooves and claws on the floor and dodging each other's gaze. Gallus huffed, "So, none of us are gonna address the elephant in the room, here?"

Sandbar was the first to speak up, his tone mumbly and uneasy. "More like the murderer in the room," he muttered. Silverstream looked up.

"That's really mean of you, Sandbar. None of us expected what happened yesterday, okay?"

"You all act like I wasn't there too," Gallus spoke, his tone filled with annoyance. "You can't all blame Smolder for trying to protect the school. She was doing what she had to do back there."

Sandbar rolled his eyes, resting his head in a hoof. "Yeah, but we didn't actually see you kill anypony. Last we saw the other guy, he turned into a pile of ashes."

Gallus scoffed. "That was Spike. He was trying to help. You're not throwing him in jail for it."

"Friend Smolder not in jail," Yona corrected, not looking too comforted herself. "Dragon recovering in hospital," she continued, her voice shaky.

Though it was true none of them wanted their friend in the hospital, all of them had an opinion on what happened the other day.

"Yona just think friends overreacting. Smolder inside hospital. Shouldn't friends try politely asking what went wrong?"

Silverstream nodded. "Yeah! Maybe she'll be willing to open up a little?"

"Well, I think Ocellus might've already gotten her to do that," Gallus chuckled. Everyone else looked at him, all equally confused. Gallus cleared his throat, continuing, "...But yeah. I'm, uh, with you guys."

Silverstream and Yona stood up, both heading into the halls and leaving the guys alone in the dorm.

Sandbar just huffed. "We're going to visit a murderer, you guys. I know she's our friend, but still. I mean, shouldn't we keep our distance for a while?"

Gallus sighed, poking Sandbar in the side with a wing. "Look, Sand'. Not all of us are super new to murderers, okay? And Smolder isn't a murderer. Remember, I was out there, too. It wasn't just her."

"You're right about that one, but you're not the one in the hospital because someone from a friggin' gang shoved a katana through your back."

"Yeah, but-" Gallus tried to explain his reasoning even further, thinking the naive colt didn't quite get it yet. He felt as if it didn't occur to him that Smolder wasn't the bad guy of the situation. Well, she pretty much was, but Sandbar didn't need to know that yet. Nobody needed to know- not until Smolder was ready to let them.

Sandbar decided to preempt him, tired of the blue bird dancing around the situation. "You know what, Gallus? Each and every time Smolder disappeared to do something -and yes, I paid attention to that-, you were never involved. I was there when she disappeared in the Everfree the other day, and I know she wasn't going to get help.

"Are me and Ocellus the only ones who found her disappearing, and then that creature reappearing was suspicious? Or maybe you have some sort of way to dig her out of that, also!"

"Sandbar, stop it! Even if your wild little conspiracy theories were true-"

"Which they... are," Gallus sighed in his head.

"-Don't you think you should be showing your friend some, I dunno, SYMPATHY?!" Gallus bellowed at the top of his lungs, throwing an arm up and waving it around in Sandbar's face. "She saved us in the Everfree, she saved us today, she was stabbed because none of you wanted to help her, and now she's in the hospital!!!!!!"

Sandbar's ears wilted immediately as his heart began to beat faster with fear and little adrenaline. Gallus was in his face now, and it was clear that he was livid at him.

Gallus then took deep breaths, sighing as he spoke again. "Look, I'm sorry. And you should be, too. We're all pretty unsettled about this whole thing, but the least we could do is calmly approach her. I'm pretty sure she's got a lot on her mind."

Sandbar took a moment to put those words into thought. Yeah, Gallus was right. It was unnatural for Sandbar to be so cold about the situation. It was clear that his friend was only looking out for each of them, if she were to kill somecreature because of it. It was unfair that he even thought about singling her out.

Blinking in realization, he nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I kind of lost it there. Ah, sorry, Gal'."

Gallus smirked, wrapping a wing around his friend and hugging him into a close side hug. "Eh, don't be. Besides, the only one you should be apologizing to is Smolder," he replied, casting a knowing look down at Sandbar. The colt chuckled nervously.

"About that. Smolder won't hear about any of this, will she?"

"Not a word."

Chapter 8

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Chapter 9: The Fall of Deadpool

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Chapter 10: Livid

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Introduction (Pre Next Chapter)

Everything was calm. Everything was silent. The room was dark, so dark at this point that not even the dim light protruding through the curtains could brighten it enough. From what made it through the thick fabric, anyone in the room could see how things had been scattered around the area.

Items like dresses, tea sets and all sat messily across the floor. The weak sun's rays directed themselves over one wrinkled bright red dress. It had a few ruffles set at the bottom, and were lined with velvet strips of black. It was torn in a few spots, the strips of discarded red fabric lying lazily around the bottom.

Smolder still lay lazily in her bunk, her arm draping limply over the edge as the blanket barely covered her lower back. She snored quietly, something that quickly caught on to a certain changedling standing below her.

"Smolder... it's time for school." The dragon was unresponsive. "Smolder!"

"Woah-!" Smolder jumped up from her seemingly infinite slumber, falling off the top bunk and plummeting onto the floor with a large thud.

Ocellus stepped back, watching the no longer unconscious fallen dragon squirm before her. "Maybe next time you'll get up earlier," she giggled, helping up her friend. Smolder rolled her eyes, standing up and wrapping the blanket around her body and trudging sleepily to the bathroom. Ocellus trotted after her a bit, stopping at the doorway and watching Smolder brush her teeth. "I take it you slept well last night."

"Ah huh," Smolder gurgled, her mouth full of foamy toothpaste as her toothbrush scrubbed at her teeth.

"Alright, well," her friend began, making her way to the room's exit. "I'll be in class. Don't show up too late."

Smolder heard the door close quietly, the creaking and clicking of the hinges telling her she was alone.

She turned to an awkward position in the room, pressing her claws on the sides of the object in front of her and adjusting it. Then, when she was satisfied, she began her monologue while she continued to face the object. "So, you may be wondering what just happened. 'where else could this possibly go,' you might be asking."

Her toothbrush still hang loosely from the grip of her sharpened teeth as she jumped up high, gripping onto the shower-curtain liner on the far side of the bathroom and swinging idly while she spoke. "That changeling nerd? Ocellus. She's gonna go to the first floor of the school to get to class. That means, she'll be thirty minutes early," she continued, rolling her eyes.

"But that also means..." She paused, looking out from the bathroom and into the rest of the dorm for her queue.

The windows shattered, tiny broken particles of glass sprinkling all over the carpeted floor surrounding it. "I've got thirty minutes to deal with these guys."

The thumping of thundering hooves came closer and closer, accompanied by loud, deep, raspy voices ringing through the room as well. "Where the hell is she?!"

Smolder smirked, swinging off the liner and dive-rolling onto the floor. "Hey guys, at least give a girl a chance to doll herself up," she called mockingly, diving into the room and snatching up her favorite red and black-schemed outfit.

One pony; a gray coated unicorn with a light grey mowhawk wearing a green-schemed camouflage outfit yelled out, "Get her," jerking a hoof forward at the dragon, who just jumped into her large, dark wooden closet.

The rest of his crew(One male earth pony; black with a shiny, spiked up mane, one female unicorn; midnight blue with her long, greasy, scarlet mane, and another earth pony male; off-white and bald with a scruffy, black beard, all wearing the same color camouflage their leader was wearing) equipped their arms, most of them being automatic weapons.

There was silence.

The carbon-black earth pony banged his elbow upon the wood, quietly huffing as he did so.

His ears perked up as he heard a quiet shuffling. The closet door burst open from the inside, the soles of red-fabric covered dragon feet hitting him square in the forehead. Coming out was a disguised figure, though they could already tell who she was at a glance.

Her costume was red and black, the mesh replacing her eyes being pure white and the area around them being black. The rest of her mask was all red, and so was her costume except for a few spots; the suit collar around her neck, on her shoulders, and lightly streaking the sides of her back.

Also on her back were two katana-blades, both pointed diagonally and facing opposite ways. She also had a black holster around her waist, a few pistols and miniature smg's attached.

"Oof!" He stumbled back in a daze. His comrades behind him all aimed their weapons. One by one, bullets fired from each and spraying on every corner of the room.

The leader was the last to finish, his eyes shut tightly as if he feared the outcome of them making the slightest crack open. Still, he peeked out from the black limbo of his shut lids, his gaze reaching even the farthest corners of the dorm.

"Up here," joked the familiar raspy voice. "Guess it was time for me to come out of the closet." The unicorn jerked his head upward to see the dragon, aiming his gun with his charcoal colored aura. It was already too late as the dragon dropped down, letting go of the boards on the ceiling and kicking her feet down on his eyes.

"Augh! MY EYES!!!" He grimaced as he fell down, his eyes suddenly squinted shut again.

The scarlet-maned unicorn reloaded her m16, and so did the off-white stallion. "D-Don't move," the mare cried.

"Oh, so we're not dancing anymore?" The dragon spun around quicker than the two could see, pulling out two small submachine guns in each claw. "Joke's on you, I was actually having fun."

The earth-stallion quickly moved forward, using his hoof in attempt to knock at least one of the small arms out of her hand. Smolder quickly caught on, using her other weapon to hit him in his muzzle. He wiped his bloody snout, growling as he focused back on the dragon.

"Argh," he grunted. The scarlet maned mare aimed her gun behind him. Smolder grabbed at the sides of the stallion's head, gripping him tightly and bringing her knee up to his muzzle and knocking hard against it. Blood from his nostrils sprayed against the red on her costume, becoming barely visible as it dried. "Hnnngh!"

She flipped upward and onto his back, her claws digging into the pony hide on his neck. "Surprise!" The stallion gasped as he barely got to look behind him, or at least try. Smolder brought her hands up to his cheeks from behind, tightening her grip and snapping his head in the other direction.

"CRACCCKKKK!!"

His limp body dropped to the floor, giving Smolder the chance to turn around with his dead figure. The unicorn mare gasped, her gun still aiming forward.

"RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA-!!!!!!"

Blood and mutilated flesh stained the carpet. The blood dripped from the pony's deceased body.

The unicorn gasped, looking up and down at the single destroyed corpse in front of her. There was no dragon behind it; no one holding it up anymore.

"Nice aim. This was really fun, I just wish we could do this elsewhere." Smolder reached behind her, gripping onto the base of one of her blades and bringing it out of the sheath.

"Shiiiiiing..." It made a crisp noise as it exited its pocket.

The unicorn mare barely got the chance to turn her head.

"Whoosh! Splraaat!""

Before it became detached.

Smolder touched down on one knee in a comically dramatic pose, her head dipping down and her blade dripping blood. She chuckled as the head dropped, rolling in front of her. She could see the fear in her eyes, the pupils still shrank in disbelief.

"...And that's the power of the blade-blade," Smolder mocked in a dramatically strained whisper, getting up and pressing her sword back into the sheath.

Then, she turned back to the screen, fixing the object and using her elbow to scrape any scarlet - "Hehe. Get it?” - liquid that might've gotten on it. "Aaaaaaanyway, I'm about to head to class, but first, I gotta... decommission."

She looked up at the camera still, gesturing to her blood stained suit.

"Do, do, do do..." Smolder hummed as the warm water splashed against her scales and cascaded down to the bottom. The bathroom mirror had been clouded by the condensed vapor wafting through the air. "Hey, you damn creep," she hissed jokingly, peeking her head from the other side of the shower curtain and narrowing her eyes at the 'screen'. "Quit analyzing my shower scene and hurry downstairs. You wanna read the rest, don't you?"

"...And that's why the square root of sixty-nining equals-"

The door creaked open as the fairly sized orange dragon peeked into the class. The short piece of chalk stopped squeaking across the board, informing Smolder that she was interrupting class. She glanced slightly at the screen, to which she mused, "Sixty-nining, eh? What the hell is she teaching, sex-ed?"

"You're late," Twilight barked, catching the dragon's attention. "Again."

"Sorry, Headmare Starbutt- I mean Twilight." Smolder cringed at herself, trying to creep by her professor while ignoring the stabbing glower being pressed onto her.

As she passed through the row of desks, she could see Ocellus looking offended at her, to which she replied by smiling nervously and giving her an awkward glance back. She sat down at her desk behind the changedling, her head hanging lazily in one of her palms.

Boy, was she tired.

"Yeah, I am. Fighting four ponies and having your smaller, weaker dragon friend clean up after you while then putting trust in him not to squeal is more draining than you might think."

"...And the dominating number - the numerator -, no matter what you do with it will always be the numerator. The higher it gets over the denominator, the more unstable and improper the fraction will be. Remember that."

Smolder sighed, blinking slowly as she tried desperately not to fall asleep when she just started class.

"...The dominating number... numerator... unstable and improper..."

Author's Note

Oh my god. I had sooooo much fucking fun with this. Smolder and Deadpool are two of my favorite characters from different franchises, and bam, I just combined em'. Couldn't exactly find anyone else in the Y6 that fit him so well. :derpytongue2:

ANywAy! Villains and Heroes, get ready to eat your asses out!!