Starting Over 3: Return Of Spectra

Chapters

Chapter I - Awakening
Chapter II - Meeting The New Queen
Chapter III - Learning Equestrian History
Chapter IV - The Pressure's On
Chapter V - Mental Conflict
Chapter VI - Ancient Reunion
Chapter VII - The Doctor
Chapter VIII - The Blood Hunters
Chapter IX - Out Of Control
Chapter X - Dark Harmony
Chapter XI - The Umbra Triad
Chapter XII - Child Of Chaos
Chapter XIII - Requiem For A King
Chapter XIV - The Hunt For Spectra Speed
Chapter XV - A New Dawn
Thanks, mates!

Chapter I - Awakening

Shadow, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Discord, Luna, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rose, Sparks and Aeb were all on top of the hill for about an hour. The CMC got there a few minutes ago. Everypony was waiting for Spectra Speed himself to come back from his stone prison.

"Alright everypony here's the plan."

Everypony looked to Discord.

"He won't remember anything beyond when I blasted him 5 years ago. So, he might go Dark-Red on me. Try and calm him down and explain the situation to him. I can garuantee he will be shocked beyond all belief, but he has to know where he has been these years."

Everypony nodded. Rainbow stared at the statue of her husband, silently pleading for him to come back faster. She looked down to the ground and whispers.

"Come on, Spectra. Come back to me already."

They all waited there for about a minute, before the statue erupted with a bright light. Everypony was momentarily blinded. When Rainbow got her eyesight back, she saw Spectra lying on the ground. He was breathing, so that was a plus. Nopony said anything for a while, before Spectra started to get up. When he stood up, he looked around and tried to get a hold of himself. He felt groggy and his vision was partially blurred. When he recovered, he looked around him and noticed all his friends were standing around him smiling. Except, he doesn't know why.

"What do you want, guys? I'm still tired."

"SPECTRA!"

Spectra was tackled to the ground and rolled down the hill. When the dust cleared he was at the bottom of the hill with Rainbow repeatedly kissing him.

"Rainbow, I love you to, but can I get up?"

Rainbow ignored him and gave him a giant hug. Everypony else came down the hill and smiled at him. Shadow came up to Spectra.

"Welcome back, mate."

Spectra shook his head. "What? Where did I go?"

Rainbow got off him and let him up. When he looked at everypony, he realized something. They were all different.

Rainbow had a much longer mane and her tail looked well kept.

Twilight had her mane tied up and slung around her shoulders. She also was wearing glasses.

Pinkie Pie had much more mane then Spectra remembered.

Rarity had a different style to her mane that sorta made her mane loop around under her body.

Applejack didn't have her ponytail, her mane was swaying in the wind.

Fluttershy had her mane way longer then before.

"What happened to you all? You look different."

Spectra looked to Shadow and Aeb. Shadow's mane had more spikes to it and Aeb looked taller. When Spectra looked to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, he knew something was up.

Applebloom was still wearing her hat but she was taller.

Sweetie Belle had her mane styled like Rarity's used to look.

Scootaloo had fully developed wings and they looked ready to fly at any moment.

None of these facts proved something was up. What officially proved that, was the Cutie Mark Crusaders had their cutie marks. Applebloom's was a hammer and nails, Sweetie Belle's was a music note and Scootaloo's was a scooter.

Spectra looked to Discord and Luna. They hadn't changed a bit except Luna's clothing was more sliver.

"Okay, guys. Seriously. What the buck happened to you all?"

"Daddy?"

Spectra turned at the sound of a new voice. He looked down to see the cutest little filly he had ever seen. She was a pegasus and had a coat just like Spectra's and a red mane. She didn't have her cutie mark. Rainbow walked up to the little filly and picked her up and put her on Rainbow's back. Spectra noticed Sparks on Rainbow's shoulder. He had grown a lot as well.

"Rainbow, what happened?"

Rainbow frowned and looked to Discord. He nodded and put a claw on Spectra's shoulder. Spectra looked up at the god.

"Spectra, let us all go on a walk. We will explain as we walk."

Spectra nodded and Discord walked next to Spectra at front with Rainbow, Sparks and the filly.

"5 years ago I tried to cause some chaos and have some fun. I turned Sweet Apple Acres into a skating rink. That's when you showed up and went Dark-Red on me. I threw a ball of magic at you turning you to stone. I was certain that I could reverse the damage if needed. I was wrong."

Spectra and the group were walking through Ponyville and everypony in town was staring at Spectra with shocked faces.

"What do you mean you were wrong?"

Discord shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"What I mean is, I tried fixing you, but Luna's Alicorn Blessing prevented my magic from working. Which means you were stuck as a statue."

Spectra stared at Discord in disbelief, before laughing hysterically.

"Nice one, Discord. That would imply that I was stuck in stone for 5 years."

Spectra chuckled but stopped when he noticed Discord giving him a saddened look. Spectra's face turned into a frown almost instantly.

"No way."

Discord nodded.

"We have been waiting 5 years for you to come back, Spectra. We're glad your home."

They all stopped at Sugarcube Corner. The group sat at separate tables near each other. Spectra slowly sat down next to Rainbow. The filly from before sat next to Rainbow. He looked to the filly and pointed.

"So, whose filly is she?"

Rainbow looked to the filly then back to Spectra.

"Spectra, I'd like you to meet Rose Speed. Your daughter."

Spectra's brain couldn't handle what he just heard.

'Spectra.exe has stopped working.'

"'scuse me?"

Rainbow giggled and kissed him.

"Rose is your child. Hey, Rose?"

Rose looked at Rainbow.

"Yes, mom?"

Rainbow looked to Spectra.

"Rose, this is your father."

Rose's eyes grew wide and a huge smile grew on her face.

She got up and walked around Rainbow and up to Spectra. He and Rose stared at each other for a brief moment.

"DADDY!"

Rose leaped up and grabbed Spectra in tight hug. Spectra didn't know what to think at the moment. When Rose pulled away she kissed Spectra on the cheek.

"Daddy! I'm so happy I got to meet you!"

Spectra got up from his table and backed away from the group and towards the door. Everypony was looking at him. Shadow got up and gave Spectra a dark look.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Spectra shook his head. "I need some time alone."

Shadow started getting angry at him.

"What for? You can tell us anything! We're all your friends here Spectra!"

Spectra twitched and Shadow shook his head.

"Grow up! We waited 5 years for you to come back and now your leaving again?!"

Spectra shook his head. "No! It's just that when you wake up 5 years into the future with a child, it will screw with you!"

Discord shook his head. "I told you he would be scared beyond belief."

Spectra backed out of the bakery and started running to somewhere he could relax and think. He ran into Vinyl's Club and looked around. Everything looked brand new.

"Oi! Vinyl!"

"Hang on! Just grabbing some stuff!"

Spectra heard a loud rustled and before you know it, Vinyl Scratch came out from a door on stage.

"What can I do fo-"

She stared at Spectra for a while before grabbing him in a vice grip.

"SPECTRA! Holy Celestia, dude! It's been years!"

Spectra wrenched himself from Vinyl's grip.

"Don't remind me. Wanna help me out here? I need to relax."

Vinyl nodded her head.

"Sure, man! Lets rock this joint!"

Spectra nodded and went up to the DJ Table. He put the headphones on and starting blasting some music. Too bad for Spectra, he didn't notice that Shadow was tracking him and lead the group to the club. He started singing to calm himself down.

I've travelled in time and I'm lost

In trouble without a cause, no reason at all

Now I'm a pony who can't help anyone anymore

And no one would ever believe me

even if I told the truth it'll go against me

So I'll shut up and wish my secret life

Will be back to as it was before

So,

I wish that I could go

on adventures again,

Back to the TARDIS, Fighting the Daleks, Right in time Again,

Wishing that I'd have a partner to friend with,

Being together and having fun,

I wish that I could go

on adventures again,

Back to the TARDIS, Fighting the Daleks, Right in time Again,

Wishing that everypony will know my name,

and call me Doctor Whooves

Some ponies will say that dreams don't last long

I'll prove them wrong, I am a time lord

I will travel back and forth in time

My name is Doctor Whooves

Wishing and waiting is all I ever done

So now I am going and leaving to show I am the one

How can I come back to what I was before

and I hope to find a friend that show will me the door

So,

I wish that I could go

on adventures again,

Back to the TARDIS, Fighting the Daleks, Right in time Again,

Wishing that I'd have a partner to friend with,

Being together and having fun,

I wish that I could go

on adventures again,

Back to the TARDIS, Fighting the Daleks, Right in time Again,

Wishing that everypony will know my name,

and call me Doctor Whooves

Some ponies will say that dreams don't last long

I'll prove them wrong, I am a time lord

I will travel back and forth in time

My name is Doctor Whooves

Everypony in his group of friends clapped. It startled him and he took notice of who was in the club. Rose, Rainbow and Sparks walked up to him with smiles.

"Feeling better?"

Spectra nodded. "Sorry about that. I needed to calm down a bit."

Rose ran up to her father and gave him a hug.

"You're a great singer, dad!"

Spectra smiled and hugged her back.

"Thanks, Rose."

Rose giggled and stood next to her mother. Sparks flew off Rainbow's shoulder and onto Spectra's. He looked up to the bird.

"How've you been, mate?"

Sparks shrugged. Spectra laughed and looked to the group.

"5 years, huh? Let's go see the new Ponyville then!"

The group cheered and exited the building. Vinyl even towed along. They travelled back to the hill Spectra and Rainbow's house resides above. They all watched as the happy family flew back up to their home. The group disbanded. All of them were happy that Spectra was back.

Spectra, Rainbow, Rose and Sparks were all up in their home. The house was much bigger then before and there was an extra bedroom for Rose. Spectra looked around and found pictures of Rose as a foal. Spectra was near the edge of tears. He had missed his own child growing up.

Rainbow flew next to him with a smile.

"I thought you might like to see her as a foal."

Spectra looked at Rainbow with tears in his eyes.

"I missed my daughters childhood."

Rainbow frowned and grabbed Spectra in a hug.

"Don' worry. Nothing special happened. You're gunna have to endure the years to come with me, though."

Spectra smiled and chuckled. "I guess. Can she fly yet?"

Rainbow nodded. "She's a weak flier right now, but even that's extraordinary for her age."

Spectra nodded and laughed. "Maybe we could teach her how to do a Sonic Rainboom."

Rainbow laughed. "Maybe she'll be a Wonderbolt. Who knows?"

Spectra gasped as he realized something. He looked to Rainbow again.

"But, if you're a mother, you wouldn't of had time to train yourself to be a Wonderbolt, right?"

Rainbow laughed. "I given up on that. Being a mom is better then being a Wonderbolt any day."

Spectra hugged her and gave her a kiss. He started walking down towards his bedroom. Rainbow looked at him with a confused look.

"Um..It's 12 in the afternoon."

Spectra nodded without turning his head.

"I've been half-awake half-asleep for 5 years and I'm tired. Can ya blame me?"

Rainbow laughed and waved at him. "Day, Spectra!"

Spectra turned and gave her a weird look.

She shrugged. "It's not night yet."

Spectra gave her a goofy smile and flew into his room.

"Look daddy! I made something for you! Aww. Where's dad?"

Rainbow turned around and saw Rose holding up a picture. She had drawn Spectra, Rainbow, Sparks and herself flying in the sky. Rainbow nearly cried tears of joy at the sight.

"Daddy is sleeping, Rose. He's tired. You can see him tommorow though."

Rose smiled and picked the picture back up and ran into her room. Rainbow smiled and decided to go train her wings. She hadn't gotten enough training in 5 years.

Meanwhile....a sinister being was watching Spectra from the depths of the Everfree. He turned to his comrades.

"There. He's the one who killed our old queen, Chrysalis. Queen Crystal, orders?"

A large feminine Changeling walked into the light from the shadow's. She looked like Chrysalis except she had light blue hair.

"The time is not right yet. We must wait. My revenge will come, but not now. I have an idea."

The Changeling nodded and went back to observe through his telescope. Queen Crystal rubbed her hooves together.

"You will pay for what you did to my mother, Spectra Speed."

Chapter II - Meeting The New Queen

Spectra woke in the middle of the night. He looked to his right and saw Rainbow sleeping peacefully. Spectra rubbed his eyes with his hooves and groaned quietly.

'Damn nightmares. Maybe Luna is around.'

Spectra crawled out of his bed and flew out the window. He landed on the same cloud he and Luna meet up at. He lied back and waited to hear that familiar voice. 5 minutes passed and he hadn't heard her yet.

"Hello, Spectra."

Spectra snapped his eyes open and looked above him. As expected, the princess of the night herself was flying above him. She landed next to him and lied back on the cloud.

"How are you coping with waking up 5 years in the future?"

Spectra shrugged. "I'm sort of okay with it, but I wish I was around when Rose was born."

Luna frowned slightly. "Yes, so do I. She was the cutest foal in the hospital. But, one thing concerns me. She has your eyes."

Spectra chuckles. "That's a bad thing? Blood red is the rarest eye colour in Equestria. I only know one other pony with it and that's Vinyl."

Luna looks to Spectra with concerned eyes.

"No. I mean she has your eyes."

Spectra frowned. 'Does she mean...?'

Luna nodded. "She has shown signs of having a power that is similar to Dark-Red."

Spectra stared at her for a moment before he held his head with his hooves in sadness.

"Oh no. She can't. She just can't."

Luna looked up to her moon.

"I'm afraid so. And no, there is no cure for it. But like I said, she has only shown possible signs. Rose doesn't get angered easily. She doesn't even mind that she doesn't have her cutie mark yet. She hasn't become something like Dark-Red, so I cannot say she has the power for certain."

Spectra let his forelegs flop down to his sides. He looked up to the moon.

"If she does have it, I might have to teach her how to control it. I don't want her going Black-Rose on everyone who makes her angry."

(Authors Note: No, I'm not racist on calling her Black-Rose. Black Rose is a character from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.)

Luna nodded. Spectra looked over to Luna.

"How's she been doing at school?"

Luna chuckled. "She is doing great. She's one of the smartest fillies in the school."

Spectra smiled. "That's good. Wish I was around to see her grow though."

Luna smiled. "You can watch her grow up now. There's not much difference."

Spectra looked to Luna. "What was she like as a foal?"

Luna looked at Spectra. "She loved smiling a lot, playing with the Cutie Mark Crusaders was fun for her and she loved Sparks."

Spectra laughed. "Sparks is a fiercely loyal creature to this family. I'm glad we have him."

Luna frowned at looked back up to her moon.

"What if he dies? What then?"

Spectra shook his head. "Nah, they're immune to all disease and can't die from old age. But they can be killed..."

Luna huffed. "Then, what would happen if he was killed?"

Spectra answered very quickly. "I'll rip out the throat of the pony who did it and make him eat it."

Luna looked shocked at Spectra. She gave Spectra an angry look.

"Maybe Dark-Red and you are the same after all."

Spectra frowned and looked at Luna.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that. But, if somepony were to hurt Rose-"

Luna cut him off. "Don't worry. I'll help you if somepony did that."

Spectra smiled a bit. He looked up to the city of Canterlot. It had changed in the past 5 years. Much more bigger and more bright at night. Luna followed his gaze and looked to Canterlot.

"Canterlot has been growing these past years. A lot has changed."

Spectra shook his head. "Ugggh. Celestia damnnit. I'm still tired."

Luna stood up and looked down at Spectra.

"Get some rest. You'll need it for tommorow. Rose can get hyper active."

Spectra nodded and flew up to his window. He turned around and watched Luna fly back up to Canterlot. Spectra crawled back into bed with Rainbow and fell asleep.

The next morning, Spectra woke up feeling something heavy on his chest. When he looked down, he saw Rose sleeping on top of him. He couldn't help but smile. Rose started fluttering awake and looked up at Spectra. She smiled and yawned.

"Morning, daddy!"

She grabbed Spectra in a massive hug. Spectra hugged her back.

"Morning, Rose."

Rainbow started moving around and sat up in bed. She looked to Spectra and Rose and smiled.

"Mornin'."

Rainbow got up out of bed and headed for the kitchen to make some breakfast. Rose got off Spectra and followed. Spectra lied back in his bed and smiled. His life was perfect. Beautiful wife, adorable daughter, great friends and a nice amount of bits. Wait a minute. Spectra got up out of bed and searched for his things. He couldn't find anything, even Melody or Wubsy. Spectra raced out of the bedroom and landed in the lounge room.

"Rainbow, where's all my stuff?"

Rainbow placed some plates on the table that were filled with pancakes. She looked at Spectra with a grin.

"Don't worry. They're in the attic. Hang on a minute. I'll go get them."

Rainbow placed down her's and Spectra's plates of pancakes before leading him to the attic. They flew up to the top of the cloud house and opened a hatch. Spectra jumped inside and looked around. Not much was up there. A few books and pictures and that was it. Besides a pile of his stuff in the corner. Spectra went over to the pile and started pulling stuff out. He found Melody and Wubsy easily. But as he went through, he found what he was looking for. He pulled the behemoth of a chest out and opened it. He was shocked and confused. He looked back at Rainbow.

"It looks like you haven't taken a single bit from this chest."

Rainbow nodded and walked over to Spectra.

"I haven't. I thought that since all this is your money, I'd leave it alone and get a job."

Spectra shook his head and closed the chest.

"No. This is our money. Not mine. You can use this money as you wish. Just don't go spending it all in one night and I'm happy."

Rainbow nodded and smiled. "Discord said you were interested in Archaeology."

Spectra smiled. "Yeah, I am."

Rainbow gave Spectra a quick hug.

"Well, use this money and go to a university. Learn some history."

Spectra shook his head violently.

"No way. I am not leaving you again."

Rainbow frowned. "But I want you to pursue you dreams! Never give them up!"

Spectra put his hoof to his chin and thought about it. His eyes grew wide.

"I'll let Twilight teach me Equestrian History! That'll be good enough for me."

Rainbow kissed him on the cheek. "Then it's good enough for me."

They started carrying the boxes of Spectra's things to the bedroom. When Rose finished her breakfast she started helping, but all she could carry was the small things. The last things to bring down were Melody, Wubsy and the chest of bits. When they placed the chest down, Rose started poking it. She looked up to Spectra and Rainbow.

"Mommy, daddy, what's this?"

Spectra replied by opening the chest and waving a hoof over it. Rose looked inside and her eyes grew wide. She looked up to Spectra and gave him a hug.

"Daddy, can I buy some toys?"

Spectra laughed and rubbed her mane.

"Sure, go ahead. Just don't spend it all. There's roughly 30 Million bits in there."

Rose nodded and grabbed a hoof of bits.

"Rose, I'll come with you to the shop. I need to catch up with everypony anyway."

Rose nodded and followed Spectra out the door. Rainbow waved to them as they flew to town. Spectra and Rose walked through Ponyville trying to find a shop that sold toys. Ponies in the town were staring at Spectra with shocked expressions. Spectra ignored them. He understood why they were so surprised to see him. They walked into a shop and looked around. Spectra let Rose run off and look on her own, but he kept an eye on her. Rose looked over the rows of toys, until she came across a plushie of Spitfire. She grabbed it and went over to the counter. Spectra smiled and walked up to her.

"I actually know Spitfire personally, Rose. I raced her and won over and over again."

Rose looked up to her father in amazement.

"Really, daddy?"

Spectra nodded. "Yeah. I'm possibly one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria."

Rose bought her plushie and exited the shop with her father. On the way home, Spectra heard a familiar voice.

"Spectra Speed! Never thought I'd see you again!"

Spectra and Rose turned around to find Spitfire and Soarin flying in the air behind them. Rose was looking in awe, while Spectra shrugged.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Spitfire laughs as she lands. "It's been 5 years. You call that a while? Glad to see ya out of that stone prison."

Spitfire looks at Rose then the plushie in her hooves.

"Who's the kid? She's cute."

Spectra laughed lightly. "Spitfire meet my daughter, Rose."

Spitfire looked at Rose and smiled. "Hey, kid. You already know who I am, right?"

Rose nodded slowly, still shocked that Spitfire was there.

"You're Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts!"

Spitfire laughed. "Well, I wouldn't be if any of the races we had with Spectra were official. Your dad here could be captain if he wanted to."

Spectra shook his head. "I'm planing on going into Archaeology, Spitfire. Besides, you know racing isn't my thing."

Spitfire leaned forward. "Oh yeah? Well I challenge you to a race."

Spectra nodded. "Alright, fine. Where to and from?"

Spitfire pointed to Canterlot.

"First pony to get to Canterlot wins. Ya ready?"

Spectra nodded. "Ready!"

Spitfire, Soarin and Spectra all lined up. Spectra looked to his daughter. She was cheering.

"Go daddy! Go daddy! Go daddy!"

Spectra smiled and looked to Canterlot.

"3, 2, 1, GO!"

The three ponies shot off, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. Rose continued to cheer them on from where she sat. A crowd of ponies gathered around her and watched the race. Rose felt somepony grab her tail. She looked behind her to see a insect like pony grabbing her tail and dragging her away from the crowd. She tried screaming, but the pony put a cloth to her mouth, making her pass out. The pony left the plushie she was holding on the ground with a note attached to it.

When Spectra got back to Ponyville, Spitfire and Soarin were still very far behind him. Everypony in the crowd before him cheered for him and disbanded. Spectra looked around for Rose. He couldn't find her. But he found the plushie she just bought. There was a note on it. He picked it up and read it out loud as Spitfire and Soarin landed.

"Dear Spectra Speed,

If you want to see your daughter alive, meet us in the Everfree Castle at midnight."

"What the buck!? Who would take Rose from me!?"

Spectra threw the note on the ground and headed home. If he was doing this, which he is, he would need some help. Namely a possessed unicorn, a chaotic god and a princess of the night to help him get whoever did this and shred them to pieces.

-----Everfree Forest Entrance-----

Spectra Speed, Shadow Nova, Discord and Luna all stood before the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Spectra was barely able to control Dark-Red at this point. Dark-Red wanted to come out badly. Spectra looked to his companions.

"We take Rose out of there and then beat the hay out of whoever took her. Okay?"

Everypony nodded. The group walked into the forest and headed towards the castle. Shadow was silently laughing the whole way there. Spectra took notice of this.

"What's so funny?"

Shadow looked to Spectra. "This is the second time you got me dinner for a month."

Spectra found it funny, but didn't laugh. He wouldn't rest until he found Rose happy and well. They arrived at the castle and entered. The podium where the Elements were kept was there. Behind it was Rose with a large Changeling. They were.....

Playing with toys?

Rose was laughing and so was the Changeling. The Changeling picked up the soldier doll.

"I am a soldier! I shall protect Princess Rose! Oh! Spectra's here!"

The second she said that, thousands of Changelings flew inside through the windows and barricaded the door. Spectra looked at the Changeling in confusion.

"What are you doing? Who are you?"

The Changeling got up.

"I am Queen Crystal. Daughter of Queen Chrysalis. I want you here so I can take revenge. You'll pay for what you did to my mother."

Spectra shook his head in confusion.

"Then why take Rose? Why not me? I got reinforcements with me."

Crystal laughed. "The Princess of the night, a draconequus and a unicorn? I am more powerful then my mother. She could beat Celestia easily. And added on with your love for this child that I can feel coming from you, makes me more then a match for your 'reinforcements'."

Spectra realized this and felt stupid. But he saw a flaw in her plan.

"What about Dark-Red? Didn't plan for him, did ya?"

Crystal laughed again. "Oh, but I did. I haven't harmed your daughter. Which isn't enough for you to use Dark-Red. And making yourself angry won't work any more, will it?"

Spectra didn't understand. She had planned it all out. Crystal shot a bolt of magic at Spectra. He fell to the ground and couldn't get back up.

"Gravity Spell. Don't bother trying to get up."

Spectra tried his best to look back at the group.

"Run! She can beat you easily!"

Shadow shook his head.

"No way! I beat she didn't plan on Kaor!"

Shadow's body had a little spasm as he became possessed by Kaor. Crystal looked at Kaor and laughed evilly.

"Oh, but I did!"

She shot another bolt of magic at Kaor, making him to fall to the ground.

"All Kaor has is strength and rage. Not enough to defeat me!"

She shot 2 more bolts to Discord and Luna, making them to fall.

Crystal looked down to Spectra.

"It's all over now. You've lost! I've won!"

Crystal staggered forward as she felt a powerful surge of magic hit her. She looked around her and saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends standing at the doors of the castle. Fallen Changelings littered the ground around them. Crystal looked at the necks and gasped.

"The Elements Of Harmony! No!"

Twilight charged her element with power and shot a beam of magic straight at Crystal. She was thrown back into the wall behind her with great force. Her spell had lifted on Spectra and the others. Spectra got up and ran over to Rose, who was sitting on the floor with tears in her eyes. She grabbed Spectra in a very tight hug.

"Daddy! I thought she would hurt you!"

Spectra rubbed her head.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm okay."

Spectra looked back to Twilight.

"How did you know we were here?"

Twilight stepped aside and let Spitfire into the castle.

"I told them. I read the note you left on the ground and I knew you well enough you would go save her."

Spectra smiled at the large group before him.

"Thanks guys. I don't know if I could of saved us then."

Everypony smiled and went out of the castle, except for Shadow. He walked up to the queens corpse and was about to drag her back to his home, before she gasped and grabbed him.

"Revenge...I must have my-"

Shadow knocked her in the mouth, making her pass out. He grabbed her with his teeth and started dragging her back to his home.

Back in the cloud house, Spectra was putting Rose to bed. She fell asleep on the way home. He tucked her in and kissed her on the head and walked out of the room. He turned around and headed for his bedroom. He saw Rainbow sleeping in the bed. He crawled into the covers and fell asleep next to her.

Chapter III - Learning Equestrian History

Spectra was sitting in Twilights Library reading countless books of Equestrian History. Twilight brought him the occasional drink or snack for him. She was excited to see him want to learn. She was even planning a test for him, and he liked that. He offered to pay her, but she said teaching him and seeing him grow was payment enough. Spectra was up to his 58th book and he came across something weird. A chapter based around a whole different race of ponies. He looked at his book confused, before reading on.

Chapter 6 - The Darkane Race

The Darkane were a race of unicorns born from the chaotic magic of the world. Back in the rule of Discord, when the Alicorn Princesses over took his throne, they filled the land with harmony. But all the chaos had to go somewhere. The chaos of the world grew and grew and eventually made a place known today as Ghastly Gorge. The sheer force of the chaos broke the very landscape, creating the Darkane. When the Princesses were told of Ghastly Gorge and it's sudden creation, they didn't bother worrying about it and continued their rule. But the Darkane were not just any ordinary unicorns. Their hearts were filled with chaos and disharmony, making them a pure evil race. They used Dark Magic instead of normal unicorn magic. Eventually, they had an army at their hooves. They attacked the castle of the princesses, trying to take over Equestria and burn it to ashes. The Darkane were very close to taking over Equestria, all the soldiers the Princesses sent out lost their lives, except for one Star Burst who was able to survive the slaughter but only barely. If it were not for the efforts of Starswirl The Bearded, the Darkane would've won. Starswirl used a spell he had been designing for Discord originally. The spell was called 'Starswirl Singularity'. The spell opens a wormhole, which he used against the Darkane armies. He was able to hold off the attack and wiped out the entire Darkane race. The spell was far too dangerous to use again, so Starswirl burnt every copy of the spell he could find. To this day, descendants of the Darkane exist. Hiding in plain site, living a normal life like everypony else. The worry with that is, the Darkane didn't reproduce like normal ponies. They used a spell to wipe the memories of a unicorn then fill their heart with chaos and disharmony, making them a Darkane. They could easily come back any day and try to take Equestria once more.

Spectra turned the pages to find more information, but couldn't find any. He wanted to know more about the Darkane. But the rest of the pages were not on the Darkane. Spectra sighed and read on. After a few more books, he found more on the Darkane. It was a book about the anatomy of different species.

One species had a rather disgusting diet, the Darkane race. They were a race of warrior unicorns of chaos. Defeated by Starswirl The Bearded, do not fear these things any more. They fed on the blood of their victims. When in battle, they have retractable fangs so they can bite the jugular of the pony in combat and drain them of blood.

Spectra closed the book and placed it into the pile of read books. When Twilight came over to give him a dandelion sandwich, she looked to the book on top of the pile and nearly dropped her glasses in shock.

"I'm so sorry I have that book. The Darkane are a truly disgusting race, aren't they?"

Spectra nodded while reading his book.

"Yeah. Can't believe if it wasn't for Starswirl we would all be dead."

Twilight nodded and gave the book a look of disgust.

"Why do I keep that around any more?"

Twilight walked off to do something else and left Spectra to his studies. A few minutes passed and Rose walked in the library. Twilight walked up to her with a cheery smile.

"Hello, Rose! What can I do for you?"

Rose jumped up and down on the spot with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"I wanna see daddy!"

Twilight's smile turned into a frown and she pushed her glasses up from the tip of her nose back up to the bridge.

"I'm sorry Rose. I can't let you do that. Your dad is studying for a big test I have prepared for him."

Rose stopped jumping up and down and gave Twilight a look that would make Celestia's guards weep. Twilight cringed at the adorable sight.

"Rose, that's just cheating!"

Rose continued her look and eventually, broke Twilight. She sighed and repositioned her glasses again.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead. He's upstairs reading."

Rose smiled and raced upstairs to visit her father. When she got up to the room, she saw him lying on top of a book sleeping. Rose giggled and walked up to him. She started poking him in the nose and woke him up. He lifted his head and looked around. His eyes rested on Rose who had a smile on her face, as always. Spectra loved how Rose can smile all day long if she wanted to. It filled his heart with happiness to see that. Spectra smiled and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"How's my favourite little filly in the world?"

Rose giggled again. "I'm fine, daddy!"

Spectra smiled and lifted Rose onto his back so she could see what he was reading. Spectra looked to his book and continued reading with Rose reading along with him. Sometimes Rose would ask what something means and Spectra would have to explain it to her. He was happy at how she wanted to learn almost as much as he did. They read about 4 more books before Twilight came in with the test papers. She placed them on the table and sat opposite of Spectra on the table.

"Okay, time for your test. I'll time you the whole time. Your grade won't be affected if you take too long, I just need to know if the information sunk in deep enough. There's 100 questions in that so get going."

Spectra nodded and looked up to Rose.

"Ready?"

Rose nodded. "Uh-huh!"

Spectra smiled and began writing. A few of the questions were easy, most of them were difficult. When Spectra was done he placed his pen down and looked up to Twilight. She nodded and grabbed the papers.

"26 Minutes. Good time. I'll go grade these. You keep reading."

Spectra nodded and Twilight exited the room. Spectra looked behind him and saw Rose sleeping peacefully on his back. He smiled and began reading again. Twilight came back a few minutes later with a huge smile on her face.

"You got 98/100! That's an amazing score! And in 26 minutes, that's even better! We'll move up into the more advanced fields of Archaeology and History next week, okay?"

Spectra smiled and nodded. He got up, being careful not to wake Rose.

"Thank you, Twilight. I'll see yo-"

"Twilight! Spectra! Come out here!"

Spectra and Twilight both heard Shadow's voice come from outside. They both ran down stairs and out the door. Rose woke up on the way down the stairs. What Spectra saw made his blood boil. There was an army of Changelings in front of him. Two of them were holding onto Rainbow Speed. She was in a bad state. One of the Changelings stepped forward.

"If you turn into Dark-Red we will kill her, understand?"

One of the Changelings holding onto Rainbow unsheathed a sword and held it to Rainbow's throat. Spectra was having a difficult time controlling Dark-Red. He held him down as good as he could, but his eyes were flickering dark red very lightly. Rose jumped off his back and looked at her mother. Rose looked at the Changelings holding onto to her and got angry.

"Let go of my mommy!"

One of the Changelings laughed. "Aww. How cute. Sorry kid, but unless Spectra comes with us willingly, she's not going any where. We want our revenge for both our queens."

Rose looked to Spectra. His eyes were still flickering. Rose did something she had never done before. She got angry. Her eyes lit up dark red. She looked to the Changelings and Spectra looked to Rose.

"LET GO OF MY MOMMY!"

Spectra was disheartened at the fact that his daughter had his power, but his darker side seemed to think having a partner would help. Spectra smiled a wicked smile and allowed Dark-Red to take control.

He looked to the Changeling with a grin. He and Black-Rose stepped forward. The Changeling guards tried stabbing Rainbow, but Dark-Red used his super speed to smash into him at Mach 10 speeds. He sent the Changeling flying and smashed into a house. Black-Rose used her magic to make thorns grow out of the ground by stomping her hooves. The thorns wrapped themselves around the other Changelings and trapped them. Dark-Red turned his head to the second guard and used his super speed to grab him by then neck, throw him in the sky and rammed into him as he fell. The Changeling was sent flying out of Ponyville. Black-Rose constricted the Changelings in her thorns and watched them squirm. Dark-Red grinned and tried out a piece of magic he had been aching to try. He breathed in very deeply, and when he exhaled a burst of flames rushed out of his mouth and incinerated the Changelings being held by Black-Rose's thorns. When both ponies saw that all the Changelings were taken care of, they're eyes flickered back to normal.

Spectra shook his head and looked at Rainbow. She was getting up and walking over to Spectra. He smiled and looked behind him. What he saw was Rose lying on the ground sleeping. He prayed to Celestia that she wouldn't remember it when she woke up. Rainbow walked up to Spectra and hugged him with a smile.

"Thanks, Spectra."

Spectra hugged her back. "I'd help you any day."

Rainbow let go and walked over to Rose with Spectra. The couple work to put their daughter on Spectra's back. They were going to fly home, when Shadow walked up to Spectra with a glare.

"What the hay?! Since when could you move faster then lightning!?"

Spectra shrugged. "I can actually move faster then anything. Dark-Red grows stronger depending on the situation. Hell, if it was needed, Dark-Red could pick up the mountain Canterlot is on and throw it."

Shadow looked dumbfounded. "What!? That makes you more powerful then Celestia herself!"

Spectra thought for a while and shook his head. "No. That makes Dark-Red stronger then Celestia."

Spectra turned around and flew home with Rainbow behind him. Twilight heard the conversation about how Dark-Red is more powerful then Celestia. Twilight walked back into her library and looked for as many books as she could on Alicorn's Blessing.

When Spectra, Rainbow and Rose got home, Sparks was waiting for them. He flew up to Spectra and landed on his shoulder. Spectra smiled and walked into Rose's room and put her to bed. Spectra smiled and kissed her on the forehead. Spectra walked out of her room and went into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. Rainbow walked up to him with a frown.

"Will she remember what she did?"

Spectra frowned and shook his head.

"I don't know. I hope not. I barely remembered my first time. I'll have to teach her how to control it."

Rainbow nodded and walked into her bedroom. She had a rough day. Spectra was done with his sandwich and sat down at the table. He was about to dig in but was interrupted.

"We need to talk."

Spectra dropped his sandwich and looked to the owner of the voice. Luna and Discord were standing in his lounge room.

(Authors Note; I know Black-Rose acts completely different to how Rose acts, but BR is NOT Rose. Just like DR is not Spectra. Rose is still cute, kind and happy as always.)

Chapter IV - The Pressure's On

Spectra rolled his eyes. "Guys, can I eat first?"

Luna shook her head. "No. We must talk."

Spectra sighed and threw his sandwich down.

"Fine. Sit and talk."

Discord and Luna both sat at the table. Luna spoke up.

"We did some research as to how you obtained Star Burst's power. Your power is meant to be random, which means you couldn't obtain his. What we found is...staggering."

Spectra nodded his head slowly.

"Well, go on. What's wrong?"

Luna looked to Discord and then back to Spectra.

"Remember when I said you are a lot like Star Burst? Well....I was half right."

Spectra shook his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Luna sighed and gave Spectra a sad look.

"We found out that Star Burst used his last moments to prepare a spell. A Reincarnation Spell."

Spectra nodded slowly, not understanding.

"So, what does that mean? He was reincarnated? Brilliant! All you have to do is find him!"

Luna held her head with her hooves. "No, Spectra. The reason I got along with you so well, why I loved you and why you act like Star Burst is because you are Star Burst."

Spectra stared at Luna for a few seconds. "Are you serious? I am a reincarnation of a dead pegasus? I guess that would explain why I'm so fast. He did do a SuperSonic Rainboom."

Luna lifted her head and smiled at Spectra.

"I'm glad you're taking this so well."

Spectra got up and walked over to the window.

"I never said I was taking this well."

Luna looked down at the ground in sadness. Discord got up and walked up to Spectra. He put a claw to Spectra's shoulder and sighed.

"Spectra, I cannot say that I understand how you feel. But what I can say is this. You maybe Star Burst, but you are also Spectra Speed. It's up to you to be who you want to be. You will always be Spectra, just like you will always be Star Burst."

Spectra looked up to the god. Discord smiled and looked back.

"Now who are you?"

Spectra looked at Rose's room, then back to Discord.

"I am Spectra Speed."

Discord nodded and walked back over to Luna.

"He's made his choice, Luna. You cannot force him to be somepony he doesn't want to be. Besides, you can't take him away from his family."

Luna nodded, tears falling from her eyes. Discord snapped his fingers and they were both gone. Spectra stared out the window for a moment before walking into Rose's room. He walked up next to her sleeping form. She was cuddling the Spitfire plushie she bought. Spectra smiled and kissed her. She squirmed a bit in her bed but remained asleep. A smile slowly grew on her face. Spectra walked out of her room and went back into the kitchen. He silently cursed himself.

"Celestia damnnit! I have to make another sandwich!"

-----The Next Day-----

Spectra walked to Twilights Library to begin his advanced studies. He was glad that Twilight was teaching him. When he walked in, he saw a pegasus with a grey coat and a small spiked mane and deep blue eyes talking to Twilight. He wore a vest with pockets and had glasses on. His cutie mark was a science beaker.

The pony looked to Spectra and smiled. "Ah. I see you're here. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nitro Pressure. I was assigned by Princess Luna tasks that involve you."

Twilight turned to Spectra with a smile. "One of the tasks was to help me research the Alicorn's Blessing. I was curious as to how Rose obtained your power so I tried reading up on it. I couldn't find anything, so I asked the Princess for help. She sent over Nitro here to help me."

Spectra nodded. "And the other task?"

Nitro cleared his throat. "I was assigned to make sure you know how to control your anger and let it out when necessary."

Spectra rolled his eyes and sighed. "I can control Dark-Red just fine."

Nitro laughed very loudly. "Sure you can! It's not like you and your daughter killed a large group of Changelings together or any thing!"

Spectra growled at Nitro. "That was different! My wife could've died!"

Nitro shook his head. "Nonetheless, your ability to control Dark-Red is very poor indeed."

Spectra sighed and nodded. "That would actually be good. I don't want a repeat of what happened. What about Rose though?"

Nitro smiled and looked to the window. Spectra spun around and looked in the window. He saw Rainbow and Rose walking down the street. Rose wore a cheery smile on her face. She turned to the window and gave Spectra a wave. Spectra smiled and waved back. Nitro cleared his throat again. Spectra turned and found himself face to face with Nitro.

"She can control herself much better then you. By what Twilight has told me, she is like that all the time. The only time she has gotten angry in her life was yesterday."

Spectra walked back and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, okay. Fine. Let me get to my studies with Twilight."

Nitro gave Spectra a smug smile. "I am living with Ms. Sparkle until further notice."

Spectra rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Twilight. Lets begin."

Twilight nodded and handed Spectra a few books with telekinesis. Nitro looked the books over and scoffed.

"History? I'm more into Chemistry myself."

Spectra walked up the stairs with his books and placed them down on the table. He cracked open the first book and began taking notes. He heard a knock at the door and Nitro walked in. Spectra sighed.

"What do you want?"

Nitro cleared his throat. "Princess Luna has asked me to watch over you as well. And to report any strange behaviours."

Spectra shook his head. 'She thinks I'll magically turn into Star Burst.'

Spectra looked back at his books and continued reading. Nitro took a seat on the opposite side of the room with a notepad, scribbling notes down. After a few minutes, Spectra looked up to Nitro. He was still scribbling notes.

"So, how old are you?"

Nitro looked to Spectra and chuckled. "Trying to strike up conversation, are we? Alright, I'll play along. I'm 25 years old."

Spectra nodded and looked back down to his books.

"Got any family?"

"Yes. But I don't like staying in contact with them. They got on my nerves when I was studying."

Spectra looked up at him. "My parents were murdered. By a pony who wanted quick cash."

Nitro stopped scribbling and looked up to Spectra with a sad look.

"I...I am sorry."

Spectra shook his head. "Don't be. You didn't do it. Got any friends?"

Spectra twitched at 'friend'. Nitro shook his head. "No. Not one. My studies came first. It was worth it. Look at me now! Celestia's best chemistry scientist!"

Spectra looked back down to his notes. "I was Cloudsdale Cloud Factory CEO once."

Nitro's glasses dropped off his face and onto the floor. He tried picking them up and putting them back on, but was shaking.

"W-W-What!? That's the best paying job for a pegasus!"

Spectra laughed but kept writing.

"Yeah, I know. I came back to Ponyville with a large fortune."

Nitro was shocked. He stared at Spectra for a moment before scribbling his notes again. Spectra and Nitro sat in silence as they both scribbled notes down. Twilight walked in 45 minutes later.

"Okay, Spectra. See you tommorow for your lessons."

Spectra smiled and nodded. "Later, Twilight."

Spectra walked down the stairs and out the door. He heard the door open behind him. He turned around and saw Nitro walking up to him with a book. He hoofed it to Spectra. The title read "Alicorn Magic". Spectra looked up to Nitro to say something, but Nitro held a hoof to his mouth.

"If Twilight knew I had this stashed under my wing, she would've killed me to read it. Take it. Go read it."

"Nitro? Where are you?"

Nitro turned his head to the Library.

"I'll be there in a little moment!"

Nitro turned his head to say goodbye, but Spectra was gone. He looked down the street and saw Spectra flying very fast towards his home. Nitro smiled and walked back inside the Library.

Spectra got home and started reading the book Nitro gave him. It was full of information that he didn't find in Twilights Library. He got to the bit he was looking for. If the power could be passed on or not. It said that it could possibly be passed on through genes. Spectra sighed and was glad that Rose didn't get angry easily. Spectra shut his book and placed it on the bedside table.

Rose and Rainbow walked into the cloud house. Rose jumped around all over the house looking for her father, but she couldn't find him. She looked sadly at the ground. Rainbow looked around and found a note. She read it out loud so Rose could hear.

"Dear Rainbow And Rose, Went to Shadow's place. Me and him need to catch up. Love, Spectra."

Rose slowly walked to her room.

"I wanted to be with daddy."

Rainbow frowned at the sight of her daughter being so sad, but she was glad she loved Spectra that much. Rainbow flew outside and began training her wings. She was preparing for the next time the Wonderbolts came to Ponyville.

-----Everfree Forest-----

Spectra was walking through the Everfree Forest trying to find Shadow's cave. He found it and looked inside. It hadn't changed much in the amount of time Spectra was gone. He couldn't find the black and grey pony.

"Hey, Spectra!"

Spectra jumped up and turned around. Aeb was standing there with a huge grin on his face. Spectra sighed.

"Aeb, don't do that!"

Aeb smiled and turned around.

"If your looking for Shadow follow me. We always meet up at a new moon."

Spectra looked up and saw the new moon. Spectra followed Aeb to his home. The Everfree Castle. They walked inside and saw Shadow and a Zebra Spectra had never seen before. She got up and walked over to Spectra.

"Ah, Spectra Speed you must be. I am glad you got to meet me."

Spectra smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you to."

The Zebra bowed. "I am Zecora."

Spectra, Aeb and Zecora walked up to where Shadow was sitting and sat down next to him. Shadow looked to Spectra.

"So, you gotten it through your skull that you, me and Aeb are your friends?"

Spectra didn't twitch. He nodded. "Yeah. It took me 5 years to realize it."

Shadow laughed and looked up to the moon.

"Nothing can break friendship, Spectra. Remember that."

Spectra nodded and lied back. Spectra was happy with his life. All those years ago he told Ed that all he wanted was a place to live, a job and a marefriend if possible. Spectra got much more then he bargained for.

Meanwhile, on a train arriving to Ponyville, a red coated blue maned green tailed unicorn stepped off the train with some bags and looked around the town.

"This is the place Spectra spoke about all those years ago. Manehatten has really been bugging me. Time to start over."

The unicorn grabbed a hat from his case and put it on his head. He began his search for the blue coated pegasus he knew 7 years ago.

Chapter V - Mental Conflict

Spectra was flying from the Everfree Forest heading home. It was midnight and he could barely see anything through the darkness. Eventually, he found his floating cloud house. He quietly sneaked into his bedroom and saw Rainbow's sleeping form. He exited the room and went inside Rose's bedroom. He saw Rose sleeping soundly in her bed. He smiled and went back to his bedroom. He flew out the window and landed on the cloud he and Luna meet up at. He fully expected to see the princess of the night, but she wasn't there.

'She must still be heartbroken about Star Burst. I wish I could help her, but I can't be Star Burst AND Spectra Speed.'

He didn't want to admit it, but Spectra felt bad about being the reincarnation of Luna's dead coltfriend. He continued to lie there for a while.

"Spectra?! Spectra, my man?! Where are ya, buddy?!"

Spectra's eyes snapped open at the familiar voice.

'No. Bucking. Way.'

Spectra rolled over and looked down to the ground. He could barely see anything. He flew down closer to the ground and spotted a unicorn. Spectra couldn't believe it.

'It can't be. There's no way. No bucking way!'

The unicorn smiled and walked up to Spectra.

"Spectra! My man, it has been a long time."

Spectra shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Ed? Is that you?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, man. Manehatten changed in the past 7 years. More ponies and more crime. I couldn't handle it any more. So, I moved here. Although, I don't have a house of my own just yet. How you doing?"

Spectra shrugged but was still in shock.

"I'm doing great. I have a family, a fortune, a home and friends."

Spectra twitched. Ed chuckled. "Still doin' that?"

Spectra nodded. Ed looked up at the cloud house.

"A family, huh? I'd love to meet 'em, but I have a favour to ask. I need a place to bunk. Ya know a place I can crash?"

Spectra snapped out of his shock and accepted the fact that his old customer was here.

"Ummm....I have a few idea's. But I'll have to run it by them first."

Ed nodded. "Well, is there an immediate place I can crash for the night?"

Spectra put a hoof to his chin and nodded.

"I think. Wait here. I need to leave a note."

Spectra flew up to his house and wrote a note for Rainbow. He flew back outside and landed next to Ed.

"Alright, follow me."

Ed nodded and followed Spectra. They arrived at Vinyl's club. Spectra knocked furiously on the door.

"Hold on! I'm comin'!"

The doors opened and Vinyl stepped out. Her mane was even more of a mess then normal. She gave Spectra an annoyed glare.

"What, Spectra?"

Spectra gestured to Ed. "He needs a place to sleep for the night. Don't worry, you can trust him. I knew him back in Manehatten."

Ed stepped forward. "Please, miss. I only need to stay a night. I'll be gone in the mornin'."

Vinyl looked to Spectra, then Ed. She groaned and nodded.

"Sure. Just no funny business. I have a wife, by the way. So don't try any thing."

Vinyl walked back inside the club. Spectra turned to Ed, who had a look of defeat on his face.

"All the good ones are taken."

Spectra laughed and patted him on the back.

"Ah, you'll find somepony. Look at me. I got married, man. If I can get there, you can to. Night, Ed."

Spectra turned and flew off for home. Ed waved after him.

"Night, man!"

Spectra flew off towards home. Ed walked into the club and looked around. The place was massive! He followed Vinyl to the back of the stage. She opened a door to what Ed suspected was the guest room.

"Me and Octavia are right across."

She pointed to the door opposite side of the stage.

"If ya have any troubles we're over there. Night....I didn't catch your name."

Ed bowed. "Edward, but I prefer Ed. I didn't get your name either, miss. Spectra is a terrible introducer."

Vinyl laughed. "Yeah. The names Vinyl. Night Ed."

Ed waved. "Night, Vinyl."

The two unicorns walked into their rooms and crawled into their beds.

Spectra arrived home and went straight to his room. He found the book Nitro had given him and took it into the lounge room and began reading the rest of it. And he found that what Luna and Discord said was true. Each individual has a unique power. It is impossible to have the same power as somepony else.

"Unless you reincarnated yourself."

Spectra closed the book and gently banged his head on top of it. He let his head rest there.

"Why do I have to be the reincarnation of an ancient Pegasus warrior coltfriend?"

Spectra didn't notice Rainbow had woken up and was now in the room. His head remained on the book.

"Why me? Why do I have to be Star Burst? I feel like me, not him!"

Spectra lifted his head and banged it several more times.

"I. AM. SPECTRA. SPEED!"

The final bang was loud. Spectra started sobbing. He was in mental conflict with himself. Rainbow walked up to him and gave him a hug. Spectra looked up at Rainbow and stared at her, before hugging her back. She didn't want to ask him what was wrong. Not yet. She would ask him tommorow. She walked back to the bedroom with Spectra behind. He had tear stains in his coat beneath his eyes. She frowned at the sight of him like this. They crawled into bed and fell asleep without another word.

-----The Next Day-----

Spectra woke up and saw that Rainbow wasn't in bed with him. He didn't want to wake up. He didn't want to get out of bed. He felt terrible. He knew that he was Spectra and not Star Burst, but he couldn't help but feel that deep down, he was Star Burst. He slowly got out of bed and walked out of his room and into the kitchen. Rose walked up to him with a cheery smile.

"Morning, daddy!"

Spectra nodded his head in acknowledgement and kept walking. Rose looked at her father with sadness.

"What did I do?"

Spectra shook his head and looked back at Rose. He looked terrible.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm....I'm just confused right now."

Rainbow walked up to Spectra.

"What were you talking about last night? Something about Luna's coltfriend Star Burst?"

Spectra nodded and realized he hadn't told his friends about this. He looked to Rainbow.

"Gather your friends. I need to tell you something. Something very important."

Rainbow nodded and flew off towards Twilights library. Spectra sat down on the couch and held his head in his hooves. Rose sat down next to him and hugged him. Spectra smiled and returned the hug. About 5 minutes later, Spectra hears Rainbow's voice.

"Spectra! Come on out!"

Spectra got up with Rose and flew out the window. He landed on the hill and stood before Rainbow and the rest of Spectra's friends.

"I...I have something to tell you all. This is really important and it's been destroying my sanity."

Spectra took a deep breath and looked back up to the group.

"You see, when Star Burst died, he cast a reincarnation spell. Which means he was brought back to life as another pony."

Everypony but Rainbow looked happy. Rarity smiled.

"What's so bad about that, darling?"

AJ took a step forward.

"Yeah? What's so bad about Star bein' alive again?"

Spectra shook his head and felt a massive head ache over take him.

"It's bad because....he was reincarnated into me. I'm Star Burst."

Everypony suddenly looked shocked. Spectra nodded. Tears were falling from his face.

"And that small fact, is slowly ruining my mind. Who am I, really? Am I Star, or Spectra? I don't know!"

Spectra held his head in frustration. His eyes faintly glowing a dark shade of red. Rainbow noticed this.

"Spectra! Don't get too angry about it!"

Spectra looked up at Rainbow with anger and faint dark red eyes.

"Don't get angry? HOW CAN I NOT!?"

Spectra's eyes glowed dark red.

"HOW CAN I NOT BE ANGRY ABOUT THIS!? MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE IS A LIE! I WAS NEVER SPECTRA SPEED, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN STAR BURST!"

Rainbow walked up to him and gave him a hug.

"You are not, and never will be Star Burst as long as you choose to be Spectra Speed!"

Dark-Red's eyes flickered back to normal. Rainbow continued holding him.

"You will always be Spectra Speed to me, and you will always be Daddy to Rose."

Spectra calmed down and just returned Rainbow's hug. Everypony walked up to Spectra and gave him a hug to. He was Spectra Speed. But he still couldn't shake the fact that he was also Star Burst. Everypony pulled away and Spectra stood up.

"Thanks, girls. I don't know what I would do without you."

Rainbow laughed. "You wouldn't be very happy without your friends and family now, would you?"

Spectra lightly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

"Come on, Derpy!"

Everypony looked to the sound of the new voice. A brown stallion with a brown mane and tail and a cutie mark of an hourglass was running past the group, with Derpy following behind.

"Coming, Doctor! Oh! Hi, Spectra! Bye, Spectra!"

Derpy called out as she chased after the Doctor. He looked behind him.

"We have to get to the TARDIS! Allons-y!"

The duo ran past the group, leaving them dumbstruck. Rainbow broke the silence.

"Lets never speak of this again, agreed?"

Everypony nodded and said the same thing at the same time.

"Agreed."

Twilight looked to Spectra.

"You have a lesson to get to, today! Better go get ready."

Spectra nodded and flew up to the cloud house. He ran to his room and grabbed the book on Alicorn magic. He had to return it to Nitro. Spectra turned around and flew out the window towards Twilights library. When he got there, he walked inside and spotted Nitro Pressure reading 3 books at once. He looked up from his reading.

"Ah, Spectra. Good evening. Do you have my book?"

Spectra nodded and held the book out. Nitro jumped up and grabbed the book.

"Did you find out anything interesting?"

Spectra frowned and nodded.

"Let Twilight tell you. I'll head upstairs to study."

Nitro nodded and continued his reading. Spectra flew upstairs and into the room he studies in. He sat down and continued reading the book he left there. A few minutes pass and Nitro walks inside the room with a sad look. Neither of the ponies speak as he sits down. He looks at Spectra for a bit before sighing.

"That kind of news doesn't come around everyday, ya know. Reincarnation spells. You know those are so ancient that-"

"That they are undocumented and all copies have been burned during the absence of Princess Luna and during Nightmare Moons imprisonment due to the fact that anypony could cast it on another and kill them instantly therefore increasing death rates in Equestria?"

Spectra looked back down to his book and continued writing, leaving Nitro Pressure in shock. Nitro laughed and sighed.

"You really are one with history, aren't you?"

Spectra continued writing and reading.

"Yeah, considering I am part of history."

Nitro frowned and sighed again.

"You are not Star Burst, you hear me?"

"No but somewhere deep inside me he is there."

"Maybe, but as long as you think and talk of your own accord, you still are Spectra Speed. Fastest pegasus alive and the most unstoppable force in Equestria."

Spectra laughed. "What makes you think I'm unstoppable?"

"Well, not you specifically. Dark-Red is."

Spectra stopped writing and looked up to Nitro.

"What do you mean?"

Nitro looked at Spectra weirdly.

"You don't know? Dark-Red's power is literally unlimited. He can be as powerful as he wants. There's no limit."

Spectra didn't know this. Spectra nodded and looked back down to his work.

"Good to know."

Nitro got up and walked up to Spectra.

"Look, my friend..."

No twitch. Spectra has never befriended somepony so fast before.

"....always remember that you have friends that are always willing to help you. You have many friends, and I envy you of that fact. I myself never had friends. Feel lucky."

Nitro headed for the door.

"I'm your friend."

Nitro stopped walking and turned to Spectra, he had a smile on his face.

"Right?"

Nitro smiled back and nodded.

"Right."

Nitro turned back around and exited the room. Spectra chuckled lightly and continued his work.

An hour later, Spectra exited the room and said goodbye to Twilight, Spike and Nitro. He headed home and greeted anypony who was awake. It was night time, Spectra had over studied. Not that Twilight minded. When he arrived at home, he noticed that somepony was on a cloud near his home. He flew up and sighed when he saw who it was.

"Oh, hey Luna."

Luna smiled weirdly at Spectra. Almost creepy.

"Hello, Spectra."

Spectra gave her a weird look, but lied down next to her.

"I have found a solution to your problem, Spectra."

Spectra looked to her with an excited look.

"You found a way to get Star Burst out of me?"

Luna cackled like a madmare. Spectra didn't like this.

"Oh, I cannot do that. You are Star Burst. I can't remove him, because he's right here!"

She gestured to Spectra. She stood up and loomed over Spectra wearing a creepy smile.

"No, I have a spell that will help you. It's even better then getting Star Burst out."

Spectra was creeped out a lot by this point. He got up and tried flying off, but Luna held him in her magic. She cackled even louder. She lowered her horn to his head and a bright light came from his head.

When the light cleared, Spectra looked around.

"Where am I?"

He looked up and saw Luna looking down at him with a curious look.

"Luna? Is that you?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, it is me. Is that you, Spectra?"

Spectra gave her a weird look.

"You don't recognize your own coltfriend? It's me, Star Burst!"

(Authors Note: LUNA IS GETTING IN DEEP TROUBLE NOW. Oh and yeah, there is a reason I added Doctor Whooves in this.)

Chapter VI - Ancient Reunion

Star Burst shook his head and put a hoof to his forehead.

"Uuuh. What happened?"

Luna was crying tears of joy. He coltfriend was back.

"You died, remember? You reincarnated yourself into a friend of mine. But now you're back!"

Star was staring at his hoof.

"What? I'm in a different body?"

He looked himself over and sighed.

"Where's my awesome body?"

Luna giggled. "Like I said, you're using a friend of mines body."

Star looked up to Luna with a sad look. "Well, where is he?"

Luna was about to answer but stopped herself. She just realized what she had done.

"I-I-I don't know. I don't know where he is."

Luna sat down on the cloud and held her head in her hooves and began crying.

"What have I done!? I have no idea where he is!"

Star sighed and put a hoof on Luna's shoulder.

"Let's explain it to his friends in the morning. Does he have family?"

Luna cried harder when she realized again what she had done.

"Y-Y-Yes. H-He has a daughter and a wife."

Star shook his head. "No way. You didn't. That's horrible, Luna."

Luna nodded. "I-I-I know. Telling them w-what I have done w-will be hard."

Star nodded and removed his hoof from her.

"You bet it'll be hard. But for now, I suggest sleep. It looks to be midnight. We'll sleep here for the night."

Luna nodded and curled up on the cloud. Star looked to her and shook his head. He lied down and fell asleep.

-----The Next Day-----

Star woke up and looked to his side. Luna wasn't there. He looked around him and saw her through the window of the cloud house looking at him. She gave him a weak smile.

"You're awake. Now comes the difficult part."

Star nodded. "The very hard part."

He flew in through the window and landed next to Luna. In front of them was Rainbow and Rose. Rainbow stepped towards Star.

"Spectra, Luna says you have something to tell me?"

Star nodded. "Yeah. First off, I'm not Spectra any more. The name is Star Burst."

Rainbow gasped. She glared at Luna. "What did you do to my husband?"

Luna looked down to the ground in shame.

"I was selfish. I found a spell that removes Spectra from his body and allows Star Burst to gain control."

Rainbow flew up to Luna's face.

"Where is my husband!?"

Luna shook her head. "I'll tell you honestly. I have no idea."

Rainbow balled her hoof in a ball and yelled in frustration as she smashed Luna across her face. Luna fell to the cloud floor with blood dripping down her face. Star flew in front of Rainbow with his arms stretched out. His eyes were faintly glowing dark blue.

"Don't hurt my Lulu!"

Luna grabbed Star from behind and pulled him back. Star gave Luna a weird look. Luna shook her head.

"No. I deserve that and much more. We must work to get Spectra back."

Star nodded. "You bet we do. I don't want to be intruding on another ponies family."

Rose walked up to Star.

"Daddy?"

Star looked to the filly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm not your father. My name is Star Burst. Don't worry. I'll be getting your dad back."

Rose gave him a sad look and walked slowly into her room. The sight nearly made Star cry. He looked to Luna.

"Lets get to work. If I remember correctly, Kaor should still be alive. Bein' immortal and all."

Luna nodded. "Yes. He found a host and now lives in the Everfree Forest inside your old home."

Star's eyes grew wide. "Glad somepony found use for that old run down cave."

Luna smiled. "He's fixed the place up. We may need his help."

Star nodded. "I'll go get 'im."

Star ran up to the window and flew out at a great velocity and was flying through the air at high speeds. He looked around and saw the forest. He zoomed towards it heading to his home. The location was burned into his memory.

Luna and Rainbow stared at each other in the house for a few minutes before Luna sighed.

"Rainbow, I'm very sorry about what I did."

Rainbow gave her another glare. "Sorry doesn't bring my husband back to me."

Luna gave her a sad look. "I know. But I will get him back I promise."

Rainbow walked up to where she was lying and went right up to her face.

"And what if you can't get him back?"

Luna was about to answer, but stopped herself. She didn't know. She looked back up to Rainbow.

"I will get him back even if it means my life."

"LUNAAAAAAAAA!"

Discord appeared in the room with the angriest glare he has ever worn.

"I cannot believe you did that! You better hope when Spectra comes back he doesn't go Dark-Red on you!"

Luna gave Discord a hopeful look. "Can you bring him back?"

Discord shook his head. "I'm not sure. I will however try and bring him back. He needs his family as much as they need him. I hope your happy with yourself."

Discord snapped his fingers and a pile of books appeared on the floor next to Luna. He points to the books.

"Start reading!"

Star was flying through the Everfree Forest searching for his home. When he found it he knocked on the door.

"Hang on!"

Star realized her never had a door. The door was surrounded in a pitch black aura. When the door opened it revealed Shadow and Aeb sitting on the couch.

"Ah, Spectra! Come on in!"

Star shook his head. "Luna removed Spectra from his body. I am Star Burst. Which one of you is Kaor?"

Shadow pointed at himself but gave Star a weird look.

"I have Kaor inside me. I'm Shadow and this is Aeb. What did Lu-"

Shadow suddenly had a spasm. When he recovered he glared at Star.

"Star! What do you mean Luna removed Spectra?"

Star grinned a tiny bit. "Nice to see you to, Kaor."

Kaor shook his head and looked at Aeb.

"You wanna get involved in this?"

Aeb nodded. "Of course! Spectra's my friend as well!"

Kaor nodded and looked to Star.

"Lets get going then!"

Luna had been reading for a few minutes and found nothing. Rainbow was reading as fast as she could. Discord was floating books in front of him and reading as they passed by his field of vision.

"Luna!"

Everypony looked up at each other then down at the ground through the window. They saw Star jumping up and down with Kaor and Aeb by his side. They flew down to the ground with books in hoof. When Star saw Discord he took a battle stance. Kaor put a hoof on his shoulder.

"He's on our side. Don't worry. He's here to help."

Star dropped his stance. Discord cleared his throat and gave everypony books.

"Look for a way to get our friend back."

"Rainbow! Luna! Discord!"

Everypony looked towards the new voice and everyponies faces looked shocked at what they were seeing.

Star Burst's body was walking towards them. It was badly damaged and had cuts and blood everywhere. When he stopped he was panting. He pointed to Star.

"Give me back my body!"

-----A While Ago, Spectra's Perspective------

Spectra woke up somewhere near a waterfall. He looked around and saw that he was in the Everfree Forest. He got up and rubbed his head.

"Ugggh. What am I doin-"

He looked to his hoof and nearly screamed. He was in another ponies body. He held his head and began hyperventilating.

"Calm down, Spectra. Just calm down. You can easily fly home and-"

Memories of the night before rushed into his mind. He grew an angry face.

"Luna. I swear. When I get there..."

He got up and tried flying off but fell down. He looked to his wings. They were badly damaged and bent in the wrong ways.

"Celestia damnnit! Fine. I'll have to walk. I'll go to Shadow's place and he can guide me home."

Spectra started walking towards where he thought Shadow's place would be. After a long time, he arrived at the unicorns house. But nopony was home. Spectra silently cursed.

"Alright. Fine. Let's see if I can find the way on my own."

Spectra walked on for a while, before he saw the exit to the forest. He sighed and smiled.

"Oh, thank Celestia."

He kept walking on, before a Timberwolf jumped in front of him. He staggered back a bit at the beast. He tried invoking Dark-Red or Dark-Star or whoever he could but failed. The beast was getting closer. It was about to leap before an angering memory came back to him. He recalled what the Changelings did to his wife. His eyes glowed dark blue. The Timberwolf started backing away in fear. Dark-Star laughed.

"NOT SO FAST, PUPPY!"

Dark-Star launched a ball of fire at the beast, burning it up into ashes with blue flames. He reverted back to normal and continued on his way to the exit. He made it through and began his trek home. When he got there, he saw Discord, Rainbow and Luna. He waved a hoof.

"Rainbow! Luna! Discord!"

He saw everypony look at him in shock. When he got close enough he pointed at his old body.

"Give me back my body!"

Star shook his head. "This is weird."

Spectra looked at his old body and nodded in agreement.

"You're telling me."

Rainbow walked up to Spectra.

"Good. Now that we found you, we have to try and put you back in your old body!"

Discord nodded. "By the look of it, that body will not last long. We must hurry. Luna, is there some kind of Mind-Switching spell?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of..."

"I believe I can be of some service."

Everypony looked to the newcomer. He was a unicorn and wore a hooded cape and had an emerald coat. His mane was yellow and his cutie mark was a drop of red water.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is King Cruor. I have a spell that could help you."

Luna stomped her hoof. "How can you be a king? Me and my sister's rule this land."

Cruor laughed and bowed. "I am King Cruor of the Darkane."

Spectra's eyes grew wide when he realized his cutie mark wasn't a drop of red water. It was a drop of blood.

Spectra gulped. "Well then, help us out. Use the spell."

The king laughed and got up. "Ooooh, but I want a price. I wish to sample the blood of Spectra Speed, the most powerful being in all of Equestria."

Spectra shook his head. "No. I'm not. Dark-Red is."

The king chuckled. "Okay, then. I understand that. But the price is all the same. Your blood."

Spectra looked to Rainbow. She was looking at Spectra weirdly. Spectra put a hoof to his mouth.

"I'll explain later."

Spectra turned back to the king.

"You have a deal. Now switch our minds."

The king nodded and used his magic. His aura was red. Spectra felt funny around his head and within mere moments his vision changed. He looked around and saw Star Burst's body. He was so happy to be back in his old body.

"Now..."

Spectra looked to the voice and found the king a few centimetre's way from his face. Before Spectra could react, the king opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into Spectra's shoulder and began drinking. He pulled away and sighed.

"I don't wish to kill you, yet."

Spectra looked at him while holding his shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

The king smiled. "I have an army. We will take Equestria. I will drink all of your blood, giving me your powers. I shall rule with an iron hoof."

He smiled at Spectra's shocked expression. "Take care, Speed."

Within a flash of red light, he was gone. Spectra stood still for a second before falling over. He lost a lot of blood. The last thing he saw before slipping away into darkness was Rainbow looking worried beyond all belief.

Chapter VII - The Doctor

Rainbow watched as her husband fell over onto the ground with blood pouring out of his shoulder. Shadow ran up to him and held him, putting a hoof to his neck. He looked up at the group.

"He's alive. But he won't be for much longer if he stays here. We need to take him to the hospital."

Rainbow shook her head. "How do we get him there quick enough?"

Discord cleared his throat and gestured to his body.

"Um, hello?"

Discord snapped his fingers and a bright light filled everyponies vision. When the light cleared, they all found themselves in Ponyville Hospital. Discord wore a smug look on his face.

"It helps to be a god, sometimes."

Rainbow ignored him and ran up to the front desk and pointed to Spectra, who was lying on the floor with a pool of blood under his shoulder.

"My husband has lost a lot of his blood! Please help him!"

The nurse at the desk nodded and pushed a button and spoke into the microphone in front of her.

"We have an emergency at the front desk!"

Rainbow walked up to her husband and kissed him on the forehead.

"Don't worry. You're gunna be alright."

Two unicorns went over to Spectra and picked his body up with their magic. They floated him down a hallway and into a room. A few doctors ran past Rainbow and the group into the same room. There was a coughing noise and everypony looked to the source. Star Burst was back in his body, but it was still damaged. He wouldn't last long. Luna held him and rested her head on his.

All Rainbow could do was sit and wait. Eventually after a while, Shadow and Aeb went to each of their friends places to collect them. The whole time Rainbow was glaring at Luna holding Star Burst.

"You did this."

Luna looked up at Rainbow with a sad look. She nodded.

"Yes. Yes I did. Believe me when I say I am truly sorry."

Rainbow huffed. "Sorry? Sorry doesn't cost my husband to get bitten. But that remind's me..."

She looked up to Discord. "Why would he bite Spectra?"

Discord sighed. "The Darkane are disgusting, Rainbow. They are bred from chaos and are designed for war. They feed on the blood of those they defeat in combat, gaining their abilities and therefore making them stronger."

Rainbow looked at Discord with a shocked look. Discord threw his arms up in the air.

"It wasn't my fault they exist! It was Celestia and Luna's fault!"

As he said that he pointed a finger at Luna. She looked down in shame.

"Yes, it was mine and my sisters fault. Star Burst nearly died from the battle."

Rainbow looked at Star. "You okay?"

Star looked weakly in her direction. "This body won't last me long."

"Oh, don't be so down!"

Everypony looked to the new voice. The same brown pony from before was standing there, as well as Derpy right behind him. Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?"

The stallion walked towards Star and held a strange device in his hoof.

"I'm the Doctor."

The device lit up and shone a dark blue light and he waved it all around Star Burst's body. He stopped his action and looked to the device. He frowned and turned to Derpy.

"He doesn't have long, but this is puzzling. According to this, his body is over 1,000 years old!"

Star nodded. "That's because it is. How long I got?"

The Doctor turned back to him and smiled.

"Who cares? Live whatever time you have with someone special!"

Rainbow giggled. "What's that weird word you just used?"

The Doctor turned to Rainbow. "Oh, right. Forgot everyon-everypony here is a pony."

Rainbow cocked her head to the left in confusion.

"You're acting like your not a pony."

The Doctor straightened up and started sweating slightly. "Uhhh...Anyway, how is Spectra doing?"

Rainbow waved a hoof around. "We haven't heard anything. What are you doing here?"

The Doctor walked up to Rainbow and stared her in the face.

"Spectra must live. You don't understand but trust me when I say he must live. Where is he?"

Rainbow pointed down the hallway and towards the door. The Doctor nodded and ran for the room. Rainbow got up and chased after him with Discord behind. Luna was still holding Star in the embrace. Inside the room, a few doctors were still in the room. Spectra was lying on a bed with a crimson bandage wrapped around his shoulder. The Doctor was pointing his device at his shoulder and lighting it up. Rainbow walked around to the opposite side The Doctor was. She pointed to the device.

"What in the hay is that?"

"Sonic Screwdriver."

"What's it do?"

"All sorts of things. Leave me alone, I'm trying to be brilliant."

Discord walked up next to Rainbow and looked down at Spectra. Discord sighed and put a claw to Rainbow's shoulder.

"He'll be alright. He hasn't come close to dying yet and that won't happen any time soon. I know he'll live."

The Doctor raised the Screwdriver to his head and nodded in agreement.

"He sure will. He'll be alright."

He jumps down and turns for the door. He stops halfway there and spins on the spot and points at Rainbow.

"Don't make me come back. Remember, he must live."

He spins and faces the door and exits. Rainbow rests her head on Spectra's bed and sighs.

"Just like 7 years ago when that Manticore got you, huh?"

She looked up to Spectra expecting him to respond, but nothing happened. She sighed and rested her head back on the bed. Discord patted her back and took a seat near the bed. After a few minutes, Shadow and Aeb walked into the room with Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Nitro. Rainbow smiled at the newcomers. They all huddled around Spectra's bed. Shadow walked up to Rainbow.

"Twilight has to study, Pinkie has to run the bakery and Spike says hi."

Rainbow giggled and gave Shadow a hug.

"Thanks for trying."

Fluttershy flew up to Spectra's head and held a hoof to it.

"What happened to him? Shadow and Aeb couldn't explain it to us."

Rainbow sighed. "Luna took Spectra out of his body and put Star Burst inside his body. Spectra woke up inside Star Burst. Some Darkane offered help for a taste of Spectra's blood, and Spectra accepted the help."

Everypony gasped and Applejack shook her head.

"What'n tha hay is a Darkane?"

Rainbow shrugged and pointed to Discord.

"Ask him, not me."

Discord sighed and dropped the upside down magazine he was holding.

"The Darkane are basically a race of very old vampire ponies."

Nitro laughed. "That's impossible. The Darkane's died out, didn't they?"

Discord looked at Nitro weirdly. "Oh really? Because I saw King Cruor of The Darkane walk up to my best friend and bite his shoulder. Saying he had an army, no less."

There was a groan and a scream. Everypony looked at Spectra. He was flailing around with his eyelids faintly glowing dark red. Aeb tried holding him down, but a burst of magic jolted him, throwing him to the ground. Shadow got up and ran over to his friend. Spectra stopped flailing around and shot up. He was awake. Rainbow sighed in relief and grappled him in a tight hug.

"Glad to see you in the world of the living."

"CAN'T. BREATHE!"

Rainbow released her grip and smiled. Spectra looked around to all of his friends around him then back to Rainbow.

"AAAH!"

Everypony looked to Aeb. Spectra gasped, he was in his Changeling form with Shadow looking at him with shock.

"Y-You're a Changeling? Why didn't you tell me?"

Aeb looked down in shame. "Spectra said not to tell you. He thought you mightn't like me if you knew I was a Changeling."

Shadow laughed. "Maybe if I found out 7 years ago, yeah. But now? No way man. Friends for life, under the new moon. We survive the strife, until the day of doom."

Aeb laughed. "Stop using that. Makes us sound like we're part of a club."

Shadow chuckled. "Maybe we are, buddy."

Shadow held out a hoof and Aeb grabbed it and got up. Spectra smiled but quickly frowned and looked around.

"Where's Rose?"

"DADDY!"

Rose ran into the room and jumped, crashing into Spectra in the bed. Spectra chuckled and rubbed her mane.

"There you are."

"Spectra..."

Everypony looked to the door. Luna was standing there smiling.

"I went to your home and got her. Spectra, I am so sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it."

Everypony gasped and Rainbow shook Spectra.

"WHAT!? She stole your body!"

When she stopped shaking him, Spectra nodded.

"She missed her coltfriend. I would've done the same if I found a way to bring you back to life. Wouldn't you try the same thing if I died?"

Rainbow was about to respond, but stopped herself. She nodded.

"I guess I would..."

Spectra smiled and lifted her onto the bed with him and Rose. He gave his family a big hug.

"Friends forgive each other for doing stupid things."

Rose giggled and Rainbow smiled. Spectra released his grip and looked to Luna.

"So, how's ol' Starry?"

Luna chuckled but frowned. "He wanted to speak with you before he..."

Luna looked down then back up to Spectra.

"Any way, he wishes to talk alone."

Spectra nodded and looked to the ponies surrounding his bed.

"Alright,I'll be out in a bit."

They nodded and exited. Rose jumped off Spectra and exited with them. Star Burst entered the room as Luna left and closed the door. He was still damaged but he was accepting his fate. Star walks up to Spectra with a smile.

"Glad to finally meet my reincarnation."

Spectra laughed. "Don't start that with me again. It took some therapy from my friends to get through that insane thought."

Star nodded and sat next to Spectra. "I have to tell you something. King Derg, the king before Cruor, wanted my blood to. But the thing is, if a Darkane drains you of every drop of blood, they gain your special talent and other abilities. Derg almost gained Dark-Star. He got my talent though, star gazing. A fat lot of luck that did him."

Spectra laughed at the small joke. "So you're saying that Cruor is after my talent and Dark-Red? What happens then?"

Star frowned and sighed. "Think about it. The power of the Dark Alicorn Power. Virtually unlimited power at ones hoof. What do you think he'll do with that? He'll take Equestria for his armies."

Spectra stared at the ceiling and breathed out heavily.

"Okay. Avoid Cruor when he sends his army, kill all other Darkane?"

Star coughed and shook his head. "No. I couldn't take them all on my own. Even if Discord, Kaor and Aeb join the fight it wouldn't be enough. Hell, if Nitro came up with a weird bomb that would be useful. But even that would only slow them down."

Spectra stared at Star weirdly and jumped off his bed and landed on his hooves.

"So, what do we do?"

Star placed a hoof on Spectra's shoulder. "Find their base, destroy it."

Spectra nodded and headed for the door. He turned to see Star hanging out the window with a smile.

"Take care, friend. I'm going back to sleep."

He flew out the window and headed for the Everfree. Spectra smiled and walked out the room and found Rainbow and the others. He grinned at the large group.

"Let's go. I feel fine. Shadow, Aeb, Discord. We need to talk."

The 3 mentioned nodded and exited the hospital with Spectra.

"Okay, guys. We need to find the Darkane base and destroy it. Star said we can't stand a chance against them if they attack."

Discord nodded. 'I'll get to work finding it. I'll check Ghastly Gorge first."

He snapped his fingers and disappeared. Shadow laughed.

"I'll keep an eye out in the Everfree."

He winked at Spectra before disappearing into thin air. Aeb coughed and Spectra looked to him.

"What do I do?"

Spectra laughed and held a hoof to his shoulder.

"You're a Changeling. Go into the Everfree and talk with any surviving Changelings. Ask some things."

Aeb nodded and flew towards the Everfree. Spectra looked at him and saw Shadow appear next to him and grapple him in a bro hug. Spectra laughed and rushed forward to where Rose was. He picked her up and put her on his back. His shoulder was screaming in protest, but Spectra didn't care. The group disbanded and the Speeds headed home.

-----Darkane Base, Unknown Location-----

In the throne room, a Darkane drone walked up to the throne and bowed.

"My King Cruor, we have discovered somepony that may be of use to us."

The king nodded. "Show me."

The drone got up and charged his horn. In front of him, appeared a projection of Shadow Nova. The king smiled wickedly.

"Yeees. This one may help us a great deal. You are excused."

The drone cancelled the spell and bowed. "My lord, I wish to ask something."

The king raised an eyebrow. "Speak."

The drone was sweating, afraid what he says may be rude. "Why don't we just obtain Twilight Sparkle, my lord? The Element Of Magic would be of a greater asset then-"

"Insolent fool!"

The drone cowered as the king got up and walked up to his face.

"We do not obtain her for two reasons. She is far too powerful for us to handle, and she isn't as close to my prize as this 'Shadow' is."

The drone stood tall and cleared his throat.

"P-Prize, sire?"

The king smiled and charged his horn. Behind him appeared a projection of Spectra Speed.

"Unlimited power. I shall rule with an iron hoof."

The drone nodded and turned to the door and left. The king sat back in his throne and summoned a projection in front of him. It was Nitro Pressure.

"This one possesses great intellect....he could be useful. Too bad we can't make him a Darkane like us. We must use...extreme measures."

The king smiled evilly and turned to the Darkane to his left.

"Gather the Umbra Triad, Requiem. We must have this scientist."

Requiem bowed. "Yes, my liege."

Requiem ran out of the throne room, looking for the Umbra Triad. The three deadliest assassins in all of Equestria.

Or so the Darkane were lead to believe.

-----Everfree Forest-----

Shadow and Aeb were walking through the forest talking to each other about random things.

"Can you change any part of your body? Seriously?"

Aeb nodded. "Yep. As long as the form is proportional to my size I can change it."

Shadow chuckled. "Crazy idea. But can you change the size of your....you know?"

Aeb laughed. "Well, I can but-"

"Excuse us. We're lost. Mind helping us out?"

Shadow and Aeb turned to the new voices. Six ponies stood before them. They wore strange clothing and Shadow swore he saw some blood stains.

"Who are you?"

The one who spoke stepped forward.

"My name is Spetsnaz. We are the Blood Hunters."

Chapter VIII - The Blood Hunters

Shadow nervously nodded. "Okay then. Follow us. We'll lead you into town."

Spetsnaz nodded and turned to his group. "Okay. We all remember our mission?"

Shadow got a look at The Blood Hunters while they were in discussion.

Spetsnaz was a grey coated unicorn with a red mane and tail. He wore a military uniform and had a cutie mark of 6 skulls.

An earth pony with a brown coat and a darker brown mane was big and had a lot of muscle on him. He rivalled Big Mac in size. His cutie mark was a weight with "10 t" written on it.

Another earth pony had a purple coat with burns. His mane was also purple but spiked up like he was shocked with electricity. He was looking around madly and had a wild grin on his face. His cutie mark was a stick of dynamite.

A pegasus had a dark grey coat with a light grey mane styled in an emo sort of way. He had swords by his side and a jacket with a knife holder. His cutie mark was a katana much like one of the ones he carried with him.

Another pegasus had a sort of mechanism attached to him with what looked like a bow and arrow but it was controlled by the mechanism. His mane was orange and his coat was red. He wore a black cape and a black Akubra Hat. His cutie mark was a crosshair.

The last one was a pegasus with a grey eccentric mane and a white coat. He wore a scientist vest and some glasses. His cutie mark was a hydrogen atom.

Shadow had no idea who these ponies were, but he was sure that they were a force to be reckoned with.

Spetsnaz looked to the brown earth pony.

"Charger, don't get too excited. Remember what happened last time?"

Charger looked down. "Sorry. I just saw the cute bunny rabbit and I-"

"Oh, Charger. Come on! You're the strongest pony we've ever met and you like bunnies!?"

Spetsnaz turned to the sword wielder. "Edge, don't go running off like you normally do."

Edge rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Spetsnaz turned to the one with the mechanism.

"Don't shoot any birds on the way again, Dead Shot."

Dead Shot lifted his hat. "Mate, ya think a pony with a crossbow wouldn't shoot stuff on his journeys ya bloody bonkers."

Spetsnaz sighed and turned to the crazy pony. "Now, Loki. There's no explosives nearby so keep calm."

Loki continued to look around wildly. "Sorry, boss. I can't help it! You...never know when something....goes KABOOM! HAHAHAHA!"

Loki rolled around on the ground laughing like a mad stallion. Spetsnaz sighed and looked to the other unicorn of the group.

"Brain Teaser, you know what to do and what not to do. So I'm not even going to bother telling you what to do."

Brain nodded. "Thank you, sir. I must admit, I am much more mature then most of you."

Spetsnaz chuckled. "I'm mature!"

All of the Blood Hunter's were thrown into hysterics. Even Edge was laughing.

"Oh, boss. You? Mature? Get realistic,"

Spetsnaz was wearing a calm face the whole time, before laughing himself.

"Yeah, I guess I'm not."

When the Hunter's were done laughing, Spetsnaz turned to Shadow.

"Lead the way."

Shadow nodded and walked towards Ponyville with the Hunter's and Aeb behind him.

"Hold it!"

Two dark coloured unicorns jumped out from behind two tree's with spears.

"Shadow Nova, King Cruor wishes to meet with you. You will come with us. Or else."

Shadow was about to invoke Kaor before a crossbow bolt whizzed past him and slammed into one of the guard's chest. Edge zoomed past Shadow at an incredible speed and stabbed into the others chest with his dagger. Edge removed his dagger and walked back to his team, leaving Shadow and Aeb in shock. Spetsnaz laughed.

"Edge and Dead are our best men. Not sure if I introduced ourselves properly enough. The Blood Hunter's are the most dangerous bounty hunter's in Equestria according to those we hunt."

Shadow lifted his jaw from the floor and looked to Spetsnaz.

"What on Equestria are you doing here then? The only bad guys around are-"

Brain interrupted him. "Are the Darkane and their king, yes. We are here to hunt them. For fun, not for bounty. But a bigger question is, what do they want with you?"

Shadow looked to Aeb and opened his mouth to speak.

"We have you now!"

More Darkane jumped out from all around. Shadow, Aeb and the Hunter's huddled into a circle in the middle of them. Edge smiled wickedly and leaned towards Charger.

"They hate bunnies."

Charger's eyes grew wide and he roared. "NOPONY HATES BUNNIES!"

Charger ran forward and started smashing Darkane in the face. Dead loaded his weapon whilst Edge had already killed 3 Darkane. Loki was charging towards a Darkane group with a stick of TNT and an evil look on his face.

"Kaboom kaboom kaboom KABOOM!"

He stopped and threw the stick at the group. They tried running away from the stick but it exploded before them. Spetsnaz was fighting off a few with his bare hooves. He was using a form of martial arts. Shadow HAD to get hi to teach him those moves. When all of the Darkane were out, Shadow looked to Spetsnaz.

"We have to get out of here and find my friend, Spectra Speed."

Brain had a spasm. "WHAT!? THE Spectra Speed?! You are friends with the Blue Rage himself?!"

Shadow looked at him weirdly before nodding slowly. "Yeah? Is that a problem?"

Brain started smiling a lot like Loki. "Are you kidding!? This is great! I must examine him! He would be use-GAH!"

Shadow was holding him up against a tree with a hoof. He stared at him darkly.

"My friend is NOT YOUR EXPERIMENT!"

Shadow dropped him to the ground, leaving him coughing. Brain nodded.

"Fine. I'll gather observations and notes as we interact."

Shadow laughed and began walking towards Ponyville with the Hunter's and Aeb in tow.

"You might like a friend of mine, Brain. Twilight Sparkle."

Brain began blushing furiously. "Oh, her? A mare like her wouldn't be interested in a stallion like me."

Edge laughed and elbowed Brain. "Somepony has a crush~!"

Brain shook his head violently. "N-n-no w-way!"

The Hunter's laughed and continued to follow Shadow out of the Everfree. They continued walking as Shadow talked.

"Alright. We go tell Spectra about the Darkane and- WOAH!"

They looked to the distance and saw Dark-Red fighting off a whole bunch of Darkane around Twilight's Library.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

Shadow ran towards him and the Hunter's followed. Dead was loading crossbow bolts and Edge was already ahead of everypony else and after the Darkane. Charger ran forward and so did Spetsnaz. Aeb chased after Shadow, who was in Kaor Form. When Shadow reached the library there was a whole load of Darkane trying to get past Dark-Red, who had raised a wall of energy to prevent them from getting in. Edge, Dead and Charger were taking out Darkane with ease whilst Loki was disappearing and reappearing in different spots like Pinkie Pie setting up TNT sticks. Spetsnaz was trying to make his way to Dark-Red's wall and Brain was on the sidelines. After a whole lot of smashing and brawling, Shadow walked up to Dark-Red, who was kneeling in front of the library. The smart Darkane retreated, the dumber stayed to be slaughtered. Shadow put a hoof on the pegasus' shoulder. Dark-Red looked up to him with a glare.

"They took Nitro."

Shadow shook his head.

"Be thankful I found these guys otherwise I wouldn't be here. They tried taking me as well."

Dark-Red's eyes flickered and he became Spectra once more. He stood up and looked to the Hunter's.

"Who're all you?"

Brain looked like he would faint from the excitement.

"The Blue Rage! The Dark Red Warrior! It is an honour to-"

Spetsnaz glared at Brain, making him cower.

"Sorry."

Spetsnaz sighed and looked to Spectra. "Your pretty famous amongst Equestria's underground. But you need to know something. Your friend here is in trouble."

He pointed to Shadow. "The Darkane want him badly. They sent a lot after us just for him."

Spectra looked to Shadow. "They must know about Kaor. A thing like him would be a massive weapon to them. We have to find they're base fast. Any idea's?"

Brain raised a hoof. "I have a great idea!"

Spectra nodded. "Okay, huddle up everypony. Let's hear it."

Spetsnaz, Shadow, Aeb and Spectra all huddle up and try to form a plan. The other Hunter's waiting on the side for their leader to be done. They may think he's a dick, but he's their leader nonetheless.

-----Darkane Castle-----

Requiem ran into the throne room holding an unconscious Nitro Pressure in his magical grip behind him. He walked close to the throne and bowed before Cruor.

"My lord. We have obtained the genius pegasus."

Cruor looked down at his right-hoof pony. "And what of Shadow?"

Requiem looked down in shame. "My lord, the legendary Blood Hunter's fended us off. We could not take them."

Cruor gave Requiem a disappointed look. "Ah, well. If it was those bounty hunters I can understand. But we must have him!"

Requiem nodded and dropped the unconscious pegasus before him. Cruor slammed his hoof on his throne and chains wrapped around Nitro's hooves. Requiem took his place next to his king and waited for Nitro to awaken. When he did, he frantically looked around. Amazingly, his glasses remained on his face the entire time. He looked to Cruor with fear.

"W-What did I do?"

Cruor smiled. "It's what your going to do that is amazing."

Nitro was about to reply, before a drone ran in. "My lord, Shadow the unicorn is wandering the Everfree alone!"

Cruor lost his smile. "Bring him to me!"

The drone saluted. "Yes, sire!"

He ran back out the throne room. Nitro gave Cruor a glare. "What do you want with me?"

Cruor smiled. "Two reasons. Your genius might be needed. And the other reason..."

Cruor smiled evilly. "...is bait."

-----The Everfree Forest-----

The Blood Hunter's were hiding in the foliage around Shadow as he walked. Spectra and Aeb, who changed into a pegasus, were up high observing. They were waiting for the Darkane to spring an ambush to grab Shadow. And let them take him to their castle. Brain came up with the idea but Spetsnaz planned it out.

"Hold it!"

Darkane drones jumped in front of Shadow with spears aimed at him.

"Shadow Nova, come with us if you want to live."

Shadow pretended to look scared. "O-Okay! Just don't hurt me!"

The drones picked Shadow up in their magic and walked with him. The Hunter's and the 2 pegasus followed. The drones stopped at a great big cliff face, confusing everypony. One of the drones held out a hoof.

"Darkane Over Equestrian."

Suddenly, a big set of doors appeared in the cliff face. Spectra watched in awe at the sight. He didn't understand complicated magic. The drones walked in through the doors and the Hunter's sprung out of their hiding spot and followed them in. Spectra and Aeb followed behind.

They found themselves surrounded immediately by an army of Darkane with King Cruor standing in front of them, next to him was Nitro and he looked in bad shape. Each of the drones had a spell charged, The Blood Hunter's had their hooves raised to show they had no weapons. Spectra sighed in defeat and lowered down to the ground and raised his hooves, Aeb followed suite and did the same

King Cruor stepped forward with a massive smile.

"Spectra Speed. I knew you would come for your friend. It was all a trap. Now, you've lost. Devotion to your friends got you killed."

Spectra grinned. "Least I have friends."

Cruor ignored him and walked up to Spectra. He grabbed the side of Spectra's head and moved it to the side. Spectra was sweating like crazy. He knew what he was about to do. Cruor retracted his fangs and whispered in Spectra's ear.

"I win."

He chomped down on Spectra's neck, causing him to gasp in pain. It felt strange to have your blood sucked. It sorta felt like water rushing out of your body. Nitro and Shadow were watching in shock whilst the Blood Hunter's looked ashamed that they were fooled so easily. Cruor stopped and let Spectra fall to the ground.

"Take them all to the dungeons. We have a kingdom to take over."

Spectra saw Cruor's eyes glow dark red while lying on the floor, too weak to move. A Darkane picked him up in his aura and threw them all into the dungeons. Aeb looked down at Spectra in shame.

"We lost."

Chapter IX - Out Of Control

Spectra rose weakly from his position on the cold stone floor of the cold and wet dungeon the Darkane threw him and his friends in. Aeb and Shadow were sitting next to each other and it looked like they were in idle conversation. Spectra didn't know why they were, but alas. The Blood Hunters had all weaponry removed from them. Edge looked like he was very anxious. I guess being away from his blades makes him uneasy. Spectra walked over to the door to see groups of Darkane marching through the corridors and out of the castle. Cruor saw Spectra looking and walked up to him with his eyes glowing dark red.

"I told you, Speed. I won. Now Equestria will bow to me and my soldiers."

Spectra stared Cruor in his eyes and slowly began to laugh. Cruor looked at him suspiciously.

"Has defeat driven you insane or something?"

Spectra shook his head and grinned at Cruor.

"I bet you can't even use my powers fully. How do you expect to take over Equestria?"

Cruor smiled wickedly. "A combination of Dark Magic and your powers."

Spectra's grin quickly disappeared and turned to one of fear.

"No. No, you can't do that!"

Cruor threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Oh, but I will. Me and my armies will rule over Equestria! Just try and stop us!"

Cruor turned around and walked out of the castle, leaving Spectra in fear and shock. Spectra slid down and onto the floor. Nitro walked up to him and sat down next to him, watching as the last of the soldiers left.

"Spectra, you're better then this. You can beat him."

Spectra shook his head to the best of his ability and put his hooves on top of his head.

"Even if I am, he still won."

They sat there as they watched the last soldier walk out of the castle and into the Everfree Forest, ready to take Equestria.

-----Cloud House, Rainbow's Perspective, 30 Minutes Later-----

Rainbow sat at the hill with Rose looking around for her husband, calling out his name hoping for a response.

"Spectra? Spectra! Where could he have gone?"

Rose turned to her mother with a sad look on her face.

"Where could daddy be?"

Rainbow shook her head and rubbed her temples.

"I have no idea, Rose."

"Mommy, what's that?"

Rainbow turned to Rose and saw her pointing at Ponyville. Rainbow shifted her attention to the town and gasped. Smoke was rising from Ponyville. She quickly picked up Rose and flew up to her cloud house. She placed Rose in the lounge room and turned for the door.

"Stay here, Rose. Don't answer the door. Do NOT leave, understand? I'm going to get our friends, alright?"

Rose nodded and watched as her mother flew out the house and headed for Ponyville. Rose heard an explosion and ran into her room and looked out the window. What she saw was smoke rising from the Everfree Forest.

-----A Few Minutes Ago-----

Shadow walked up to Spectra's lying form, rolled him over and smacked him across the face. He picked up the shocked and hurt pegasus and held him close to his face.

"Why aren't you doing something!? Go Dark-Red and smash that army to pieces!"

Spectra shook his head. "Why? Cruor has my powers. And an army. It's game over."

Shadow threw him onto the ground and glared at Spectra.

"You have the best bounty hunters in Equestria, a pegasus genius, a changeling, a demonic unicorn and alicorn powers at your hooves! Cruor is NOTHING compared to you!"

Spectra put a hoof to his chin and looked back to the unicorn standing over him and nodded.

"You're right. But how do we get out?"

Nitro walked up to Spectra and repositioned his glasses.

"I believe I know. First, you must invoke Dark-Red. Then you need to stop Cruor. Simple."

Spectra nodded and stood up. "Okay. But how can I get angry enough?"

Aeb ran up to Spectra and slapped him across the face for the second time he's been there.

"You worthless pile of horse manure! You can't defeat Cruor! He's stronger, smarter and better then you ever will be! He's probably got a hold of Rainbow and Rose by now and is ready to kill them! He will sink his fangs into your adorable little filly and you're here wasting time!"

Spectra turned to face Aeb with his eyes glowing an intense shade of dark red. Aeb backed off and so did everypony else. Dark red energy flowed forth from Dark-Red and surrounded him. He raised his head to the ceiling and roared. All the energy escaped from him and exploded all around him. Brain raised a shield and protected everypony else but the castle was blown from existence. Dark-Red lowered his head and looked to his friends with a grin.

"Let's go fuck shit up."

-----Ponyville, Rainbow's Perspective-----

Rainbow and her friends had retreated to Twilight's Library and hid inside. Hundreds of Darkane soldier's littered the streets of Ponyville. They gathered up all the residents and had them go to Town Hall. A very large group of bruised and blooded ponies filled the hall. The Darkane were checking every house to make sure they didn't miss anypony, and they were getting closer to the library. Rainbow sat in fear, curled up in a ball in the corner, hoping they hadn't found Rose. A loud knock resounded through the Library.

"Come out otherwise we will come in ourselves!"

Nopony responded, hoping to give the illusion they're not home.

"So be it. We're coming in 3....2....1-AGH!"

Before he could finish saying "1" a loud scream and the sound of breaking bones echoed through the library. Nopony moved, horrified at what they just heard. A moment passed and another knock came through.

"I got him. Don't move. Stay inside. I'll deal with Cruor."

Rainbow's face lit up at the sound of her husbands voice. She got up from her hiding spot and looked through the window. She saw his eyes and her face fell. His eyes were glowing dark red. She sighed and curled back into the corner.

-----Dark-Red's Perspective------

Dark-Red saw Rainbow lower herself back down out of view and sighed. He turned around and ran towards Town Hall. The Blood Hunter's were right behind him. Well, Dead and Edge were, the rest were still taking out soldiers inspecting houses as they passed. Shadow and Aeb stayed behind in the Everfree to recruit some "help". Dark-Red, Edge and Dead arrived at the hall and looked through the windows. He saw Cruor standing in front of the entire population of Ponyville, all battered and bruised. The 3 ponies couldn't hear what he was saying, but knew he was going on about how he was the ultimate force and how they lost. Dark-Red looked to Edge and Dead and tilted his head towards the door.

"Remember the plan. If all goes wrong, intervene and rescue everypony."

Edge and Dead nodded. Dark-Red nodded back and slammed his hooves onto the doors, sending them flying inside the building.

"Oi, Cruor! I challenge you to a fight!"

Cruor took a minute to process what was happening, but glared at Dark-Red. He cleared his throat and continued talking.

"Winner lives, loser dies."

Cruor grinned and his eyes glowed dark red.

"Deal."

-----Rainbow's Perspective-----

Rainbow was running through the streets of Ponyville towards the Town Hall with her friends, The Blood Hunter's, Shadow, Aeb and a giant serpent behind her. She was almost there when she saw 2 ponies outside of the hall.

She quickly recognized Spectra in his Dark-Red form, the other one she remembered as King Cruor. They were racing towards each other with dark red eyes and continuously smashing the other one time and time again. Dark-Red reared back and flew up and tried dive bombing Cruor. He stepped out of the way just in time, making Dark-Red slam into the ground.

Rainbow took her focus off the battle and turned to the serpent.

"Get rid of the soldiers. The rest of us, rescue the ones inside the hall."

Everypony nodded and raced off to do their jobs.

-----Dark-Red's Perspective-----

Cruor and Dark-Red stared at each other after being bashed and bruised beyond belief. Dark-Red sighed.

"Give it up, Cruor. You can't win."

Cruor panted heavily, he was losing. He shook his head and glared at the pegasus.

"Never! I will use my full power!"

Cruor roared as dark magic and a dark red aura surrounded him. A brilliant bright white light exploded from him and when it cleared, his eyes were fully blackened. Dark-Red gasped then stepped back.

"I can do better! Here goes nothing!"

Dark-Red closed his eyes and stood there. After a few seconds, small chunks of rock started floating around him. Eventually, he to started slowly floating up, with his forelegs out stretched. He reopened his dark red eyes and looked to Cruor.

"Get ready to die, Cruor!"

Dark red tentacles erupted from Dark-Red's back, making Cruor break his spell and stagger back in shock. Dark-Red lowered himself down to the ground, eyes fully red and glowing intensely.

"TIME FOR JUSTICE!"

Cruor fell back on his flanks in fear, shaking wildly.

"P-P-Please don't hurt me! I'll change I swear!"

Dark-Red laughed maniacally and leaned his head very close to Cruor.

"TIME FOR DEATH!"

Dark-Red picked up Cruor by his hooves with his tentacles and rose him into the air, looking up at Cruor with an insane look. Cruor shook his head and was violently sweating.

"Please! Have mercy!"

Dark-Red laughed harder then before and looked back up to his captive.

"TIME FOR REVENGE!"

Dark-Red manipulated his tentacles to snap Cruor's hooves in a different direction each, then used two tentacles on the left side to pull and used the ones on the right side to keep him steady. Cruor was screaming in pain the entire time.

"PLEASE! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"

Dark-Red laughed and gave him another crazed grin.

"TIME TO STOP!"

As Dark-Red said "Stop" he used his remaining strength to pull harder with the tentacles, causing Cruor to be ripped in half. His insides slopped out of him and onto the ground. Dark-Red dropped his halves and laughed like he was the happiest colt in the world.

"DING DONG THE KING IS DEAD! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Dark-Red's eyes flickered back to normal and as he became Spectra, he slumped over on his side and onto the ground, falling unconscious.

Rainbow watched the whole thing unfold before her eyes. She was disgusted at what Dark-Red did. She knew what had to be done. She turned and looked to everypony behind her, who also saw what happened.

"We have to get rid of Dark-Red."

Chapter X - Dark Harmony

Spectra was lying in the bed of Twilight's guest bedroom, in Nitro's bed, still unconscious from when he lost control. Everypony was downstairs brain storming. Everypony except the Hunter's. They were trying to find places to live. Although, Brain Teaser adamantly said he would stay behind and help the others. Nopony know's why, though. Nitro and Brain were in the middle of a large circle of their friends talking to each other about what could be done about Dark-Red.

"Didn't Luna once say it was incurable?"

Brain rubbed his temples. "We have to think of something. Maybe we have to transfer Dark-Red into some other pony?"

Nitro shook his head. "No bucking way. For one thing, DR isn't another personality. He is all Spectra, but a bit insane. He's just another one of Spectra's emotions but greatly empowered."

Nitro took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "And besides, putting him in another pony? That's sick. Just passing on someponies problem onto another?"

Brain sighed. "Sorry."

Nitro placed his glasses back on his face and frowned. "Why do you care about Spectra, anyway?"

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Yeah? He isn't your friend."

Brain blushed and looked over to Twilight, who was reading 2 books at once. Nitro looked from Brain to Twilight then chuckled.

"Ol' Brain has a crush on our fair Twilight, eh?"

Brain's blush grew deeper and his ears folded against his head. "Uuumm...."

Nitro patted him on the back with a smug smile.

"Hey, mate. Go talk to her. The rest of us will figure something out."

Brain smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Nitro."

Brain got up and walked over to where Twilight was. Nitro looked to the group. Discord, Rainbow, Luna, Himself and Sparks were present. They began brainstorming ideas but none seemed to work. After a few minutes, the Hunter named Charger walked in with Fluttershy next to him. On his back he was carrying a pack of bunny rabbits. He wore a massive grin the entire time.

"Brain! Brain! Look at the cute bunnies! This pretty pegasus has lot of cute little bunnies!"

Fluttershy blushed furiously with a small smile. Brain waved a hoof at Charger. He was reading the book with Twilight at a fast pace.

"That's nice, Charger. Go play with the pretty pegasus and the bunnies."

Charger smiled and walked out with Fluttershy, who was still blushing. Shadow and Aeb walked in a few seconds later soaked to the bone.

"We had to help the serpent get back into the water. It was wet. Apparently his name is Steven. It's weird, never asked him for a name all these years."

Shadow and Aeb sat in the circle and began discussing ways of getting rid of Dark-Red. After 10 minutes of failed idea's, everypony heard a noise from upstairs.

"Rainbow? Shadow? Aeb? Anypony?"

Rainbow turned around with a smile.

"Down here, Spectra!"

She heard hoofsteps and everypony looked to the stair's to see the blue pegasus. When he got down, everypony gasped and had shocked faces. Spectra gave them a puzzled look.

"What's wrong? Something in my teeth?"

Rainbow was terrified.

"Twilight! Get Spectra a mirror!"

Twilight and Brain looked up from their reading and looked to Spectra. Both had faces of shock as well. Twilight levitated a mirror over to Spectra and held it in front of him. Spectra looked at himself and gasped.

The pupil and iris of his right eye were dark red, whilst the other eye was the normal blood red.

"What the living buck is wrong with my eye!?"

Nitro walked up to him and checked him over. He got to his flank and gasped.

"Your cutie mark! It changed!"

Twilight levitated the mirror over to his flank to let Spectra get a look. The black side of his Yin Yang symbol was dark red now, the white remained untouched.

"What the buck is wrong with me?"

Nitro put a hoof to his chin and shook his head.

"I think the red part of your cutie mark represents Dark-Red, as does your red eye, and the white represents you. Which means..."

Spectra shook his head. "That means that Dark-Red and I are in harmony?"

Nitro nodded and smiled. "Try controlling him."

Spectra nodded and tried invoking Dark-Red. When he was invoked, only Spectra's red eye was glowing.

"So now I can control him?"

Nitro laughed and put a hoof on the back of his neck.

"Dark-Red and you were always the same person. Just...Dark-Red is the embodiment of your anger and hatred."

Spectra's red eye stopped glowing. "What? I don't hate anypony."

Nitro frowned. "Foster parents, Queen Chrysalis, King Cruor, Queen Crystal-"

Spectra put a hoof in his mouth and had an annoyed look on his face.

"Okay, fine. I hate a lot of ponies. But what are we going to do about my eye? Everypony will be afraid of me lookin' like this."

Rainbow flew up to him and gave him a hug. "Since when should we care what others think? Your still my Spectra."

Spectra smiled and returned the hug. He faced Nitro with a concerned look.

"But what concerns me is WHY we are in harmony now. It doesn't make any sense."

Nitro pondered for a moment.

"Maybe unleashing Dark-Red's true power like you did sort of unlocked something?"

Spectra shrugged. "Works for me."

"DADDY!"

Rose suddenly rammed into Spectra and made him fall on his back. Pinkie walked into the library with her happy smile.

"Me and Rose kept talking about Spectra while I was taking care of her and the twins and she wanted to know where you were."

Spectra got up seeing stars.

"That's nice. How are you, sweetheart?"

Rose was on the ground staring at Spectra.

"Daddy, what's wrong with your eye?"

Spectra frowned. "Nothing, Rose. Don't even worry about it."

Rose gave him a confused look that quickly turned into a smile.

"Okay!"

She happily hopped away and out the library. Spectra smiles and shook his head.

"She is a strange one."

Nitro laughed. "Indeed. I better find a new place to stay."

Spectra gives him a weird look. "Um, why?"

Nitro nods his head in the direction of Brain and Twilight. Spectra winked at him.

"Right. Wanna stay at my place?"

Nitro laughed. "Thanks, but I'll buy my own place. I just need to get some of my bits from Canterlot over here and I'm good. Take care, Speed."

Nitro walked out the door of the library and headed down the street. Spectra turns to Rainbow.

"Suppose we better get home, right?"

Luna and Discord also stand up.

"We best get back to Canterlot. Bye, Spectra. Bye everypony."

Discord snapped his fingers and the two were gone in a flash of bright light.

-----That Night, Cloud House-----

Spectra stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom, staring at his dark red eye. It creeped him out, but he was happy that he had mastered the use of Dark-Red. He knew he would never use Dark-Red again, however. Not after what he did to Cruor.

"You okay?"

Spectra turned to the doorway to the bathroom and saw Rainbow leaning against the door frame with a concerned look. Spectra nodded and cleared his throat.

"Um..Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit creeped out by my eye and cutie mark..."

Rainbow walked up to him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"If you don't like it I'm sure we can find a way to hide it."

Spectra smiled and kissed Rainbow back on her cheek.

"Thanks, Rainbow. Don't know what I'd do without you."

Rainbow giggled and punched him softly in his shoulder.

"You wouldn't be here, that's for sure."

Spectra grinned and looked back into the mirror. He looked into Rainbow's eyes through the mirror.

"I'm so glad you crashed into me 7 years ago."

Rainbow smiled and walked towards the door.

"Come on. It's late and we haven't done it in years."

As she said that, she swished her tail side to side and exited the room. Spectra looked back into the mirror and wore a smug grin.

"Gunna get laid."

He quickly raced out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to where his wife was waiting for him.

-----The Next Day-----

Spectra, Sparks, Rainbow and Rose were walking through Ponyville, enjoying a nice walk. On the way through town, Spectra got scared looks from ponies he passed by. His red eye was still around. He actually hoped that when he woke up it would be gone. But alas, it's still there. He sighed when he saw Lyra gasp at his eye.

"Rainbow, I want to get rid of my eye. Any ideas?"

Rainbow look up to the sky, trying to think of something.

"I know! Have an eye patch!"

Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie appeared and threw an eye patch over Spectra's red eye.

"Pinkie, where did you come from?"

Pinkie smiled and began talking in a sort of tone you would use to talk to foals.

"When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"

Spectra put a hoof in her mouth before she could continue.

"Pinkie I know how that works. I do have a daughter."

Pinkie backed up, removing the hoof from her mouth.

"Oh. Right. But at least ponies can't see your red eye any more!"

Spectra looked into a shop window and saw a reflection of himself.

"Wow That looks pretty good on me. Thanks, Pink-"

He turned to thank Pinkie, but to see she had disappeared. Spectra heard a giggle and turned to Rose, who was holding a hoof to her mouth suppressing a laugh.

"Daddy, you look like a pirate!"

Spectra grinned and held his hoof up.

"Yarr! Me mateys!"

Rose and Rainbow laughed while Spectra continued the walk talking like a pirate. They reached SugarCube Corner and Rose practically raced through the doors and up to the counter. Mr and Mrs Cake were at the counter with cheery smiles.

"Hello, Rose. How are you?"

Rose was jumping up and down on the spot with a massive smile.

"I'm great! Is the new cupcake in yet?"

Mr. Cake smiled. "Yes, it is. I'll go grab it for you."

Rose's smile grew ever wider. Spectra walked up to the counter and leaned against it smugly.

"So, I take it you can pay for this?"

Rose laughed and poked Spectra in the gut. Spectra chuckled and ruffled her mane.

"Sure. This one's on me."

He turns his attention back to the counter. Mr. Cake brought out a cupcake that was pure white. Spectra pointed at it.

"Um. New cupcake? It's vanilla."

Mr.Cake laughed. "No, Spectra. It's a special kind of cupcake that tastes like the eaters favourite food."

Spectra looked at him weirdly. "Really? In that case grab us another one! I'd love to give it a shot."

Rainbow leaned in between Rose and Spectra with a raised hoof.

"Oh! Oh! Grab me one as well, please!"

Mr. Cake nodded and walked back to where he got the cupcake from. Rose grabbed her's and took a bite.

"It tastes like a peach!"

Spectra laughed at that. "I never had a peach in my life, Rose."

Rose looked to her father with a shocked look. That look quickly turned into a determined look.

"I will go and grab you a peach, daddy! You must taste it's wonder!"

As she said "wonder" she raised a hoof into the air and stomped it back down on the floor. She quickly ate the rest of her cupcake and ran out the door. Mr. Cake returned with 2 cupcakes. Spectra paid for them and walked out of SugarCube corner with Rainbow. She took a bite of hers and her eyes grew wide.

"It tastes like a raw Zap Apple! Man, those things might shock you, but it's worth the taste!"

Spectra smiled and took a chomp of his. He got a fresh taste of watermelon.

"WOW! I love watermelon! It was the-"

He stopped himself and looked to the ground in sadness. He sighed and looked back up to Rainbow.

"It was the first decent food my foster parents gave me besides the horrible food they got me usually."

Rainbow frowned and patted his back, then pulled him in for a hug.

"Hey, you're with us now. Forget about your past."

Spectra smiled warmly and returned the hug.

"Spectra! My man!"

Spectra pulled away from the embrace to come face to face with Ed.

"My man, is this your wife?"

Rainbow looked perplexed at why a random stallion was talking to Spectra. Spectra smiled and held a hoof out to Ed.

"Rainbow, this is Ed. He's a unicorn I knew from Manehatten."

Rainbow looked to Ed and giggled. "Oh well. So much for forgetting the past."

Ed chuckled and bowed. "Pleased to meet you, Rainbow."

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

Spectra turned around and saw Rose holding a fruit in her hooves and holding it out to Spectra.

"I found you a peach! Give it a taste!"

Spectra smiled and ruffled her mane once again.

"Thanks, sweetheart."

Spectra grabbed the fruit and took a bite. It was an explosion of flavours he had never tasted before and he loved it. He swallowed it and wrapped Rose in a hug.

"Thanks, Rose. That tasted great!"

Rose giggled and kissed Spectra on the cheek.

"Anything for my daddy!"

"Woah, man. This your daughter?"

Spectra relinquished his grip and looked to Ed, who was grinning.

"She's cute."

Spectra laughed and winked.

"You know it."

Spectra took another bite of his cupcake to finish it off. What happened surprised him. The cupcake no longer tasted like watermelon.

"It tastes like a peach."

Spectra looked to Rose and smiled. He turned his attention to Ed and started walking towards his home with his family and friend in tow.

"So, how's Vinyl and Octavia treating you?"

Ed scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Well...."

Chapter XI - The Umbra Triad

Ed was recounting his stay at Vinyl's Club to Spectra and Rose as they walked to the Cloud House. He explained that this morning he accidently walked in on Vinyl and Octavia having sex and they kicked him out. Vinyl wanted him to stay because she understood it was an accident, but Octavia was very angry with him. When they reached the Cloud House, Ed look to Spectra and smiled.

"I'll be on my way, today."

Spectra nodded. "Where you off to?"

Ed turned and faced the direction to Ponyville.

"Austhaylia. Heard it's one of the best places to begin life. Gunna board the train in a few minutes. Take care, my man."

Ed's horn glowed purple and his bags appeared next to him. He picked them up and hauled them into town with him on his way to the train. Spectra smiled and flew up to the house with Rose by his side. When he got inside Sparks flew over to his perch and sat down. Rose ran into her room when Rainbow came in from the bedroom. She kissed Spectra and gave him a hug.

"How's my all powerful pirate?"

Spectra chuckled and sighed.

"I'm not all powerful, silly filly."

Rainbow let go of him and smiled.

"Well, if you are in harmony with Dark-Red and can control him, wouldn't that make you powerful?"

Spectra stared at her for a moment then grew a grin.

"I guess so. Spectra The All Powerful sounds nice."

Rainbow frowned. "Don't turn into Trixie, now."

Spectra cocked his head to the side in confusion. Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof.

"Don't worry. Anyway, I'm going back to bed. Be awake soon."

Rainbow walked back into her bedroom, swishing her tail side to side the entire walk. Spectra laughed at the sight. He turned to Sparks and looked up at him. Sparks looked down to him with curiosity.

"What now?"

Sparks shrugged and started preening his lightning bolt feathers. Spectra decided to hang out with Rose for a bit. He walked into her room and saw her sitting down playing with her Spitfire plushie. Spectra smiled and sat next to her on the floor.

-----Everfree Castle, Midnight-----

Shadow and Aeb were moving furniture and decorations around with their magic to try and make the place more likeable. Aeb had turned into a unicorn so he inherited some magic. Shadow was placing a giant poster up on the back wall of the upper floor when Aeb walked in.

"Okay, I finished putting the couch down that Spectra bought me. It's really comfy. What's that?"

Shadow waved a hoof, not breaking his focus.

"Hang on. It's almost up, mate."

Shadow raised the poster onto the wall and attached it. Aeb looked in awe. The poster was Spectra on the left with his eye patch, behind him was Rainbow and her friends, cheering him on. Spectra was looking smugly at Cruor, who's half of the poster was dark and had a Darkane army behind him. Cruor was staring at Spectra with hate in his eyes. Aeb turned his head to Shadow, who was admiring his work.

"I could've done better I think."

Aeb laughed and lightly punched Shadow.

"It's amazing, mate. I love it."

Shadow smiled and looked to Aeb.

"Cheers, mate."

"Excuse us. We are lost."

Shadow sighed and turned to the visitor.

"Spetsnaz, how could you get lost twi-"

Shadow looked at who it was, as did Aeb. Three ponies, one pegasus, one unicorn and one earth we're wearing black capes and had daggers by their sides. Each had a grey mane, black coat and dark red eyes. Shadow took a fighting stance in front of Aeb.

"Who are you?"

The pegasus stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"We are the Umbra Triad."

-----Ponyville, Twilight's Library-----

Spectra and Rose got bored, so they decided to head down to the library to get some studying down. Twilight said that she would give Spectra a test that would determine if he was ready to become an Archaeologist yet in a few weeks time. Spectra grabbed some books and went upstairs and begun reading. Rose stayed downstairs and was playing with Sparks. Spectra told him to stay home, but Rose noticed that he followed them. After a while, Shadow and Aeb ran into the library, panting. Twilight walked up to them with a curious look.

"What's up?"

Shadow could barely breathe. "The *pant* Blood Hunter's *pant* and the Umbra *pant* Triad are fighting!"

"THE WHAT!?!"

Nitro ran downstairs from his room and smashed into Shadow.

"The Umbra Triad!? King Cruor's team of professional assassin's!?"

"KING WHO!?!"

Spectra also ran downstairs and smashed into Shadow, Nitro and Aeb, forcing them out the door and into the streets of Ponyville. Standing in the middle of the street were the Umbra Triad and the Blood Hunter's, both glaring at each other. Nitro shook his head.

"Why on Equestria did you bring THEM here, Shadow!?"

Shadow cringed at the volume of his voice. "Well...."

-----A Few Minutes Ago-----

"We are the Umbra Triad."

Shadow shook his head in confusion and took a step forward.

"What? So what? You're breaking into my friends castle!"

The pegasus leader huffed and looked around.

"Do you have permission to own this place, Aeb?"

Shadow and Aeb looked shocked.

"Yes, he does. From Princess Luna herself. And how do you know his name?"

The unicorn laughed and stepped forward.

"Oh, we know quite a lot about your friends, Shadow Nova. Or should we call you Kaor?"

Shadow growled and got into a predatory stance.

"What do you want?"

The earth pony stepped forward and the Triad were lined up.

"We are looking for the one known as 'Spectra Speed'."

Shadow growled and made his horn glow. The unicorn laughed.

"Your aura. The aura of darkness...you will be important..."

Shadow stopped his horn glowing and looked at the unicorn ferociously.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

The unicorn coughed and tried looking innocent.

"Um, what's what supposed to mean?"

The earth pony raised a hoof in front of the unicorn.

"Enough, Delta. We're looking for Spectra to serve him. He overruled our king. We must now serve him. All hail Spectra Speed, The Darkane King!"

-----Ponyville, Present-----

Spectra stared at Shadow with his jaw on the floor. Spectra grabbed Shadow by the shoulder's and shook him.

"KING OF THE DARKANE!?"

The Triad heard Spectra's shout and turned to him with a smile.

"Master! We found you!"

The Triad were about to run over to their new master, before a crossbow bolt landed in front of them. They looked over to the Blood Hunter's and saw Dead Shot's crossbow smoking.

"I don't miss twice, mate. Ever. Ya here and ya fightin' us, alright mate?"

The Triad move back and face the Hunter's with bravery. Spetsnaz put his hooves up offensively, Charger was digging at the ground, Loki had an insane look on his face while juggling a single stick of unlit dynamite, Brain Teaser was next to Spectra, Shadow and Aeb, Dead was loading another shot and Edge was on his hind legs with both his swords in both hooves. Spectra was utterly perplexed at how he was doing that. Spectra leans in closer to Brain.

"How's Edge on his hind legs?"

Brain laughed. "His stupid tail, that's how."

Spectra looked to Edge's tail and saw that it was a huge knot at the end, balancing Edge out. Preventing him from falling.

"Why are the Hunter's fighting the Triad?"

Brain growled a little. "The number one most wanted group of assassin's in Equestria, Spectra."

Spectra raised an eyebrow. "So, you want the bounty?"

Brain smiled evilly. "Never forget, Spectra. We are not heroes. We are not bad guys. We..."

Brain looked to Spectra with pride. "...are Bounty Hunter's!"

Spectra chuckled and had a realization. A fight between these two clans would be catastrophic to the surrounding town. Spectra ran out between the two groups.

"Stop! You'll destroy Ponyville!"

The Hunter's clearly didn't show signs of interest. Spectra turned to the Triad.

"I command you not to fight!"

The Triad leader shook his head.

"Apologies, master. But if they attack us, we will defend ourselves."

The Hunter's all laughed and Edge aimed a sword at the pegasus who talked.

"You betcha! Hunter's, ATTACK!"

The Hunter's all charged forward, as did the Triad. Spectra looked to the Triad then the Hunter's. Both clearly not letting up. Spectra growled and his right eye glowed underneath the eye patch.

"I said STOP!!!"

Spectra smashed his hooves down, creating a barrier between the two groups. They stopped charging and looked terrified of Spectra.

"When I let this shield down, you will NOT fight! You hear me!?"

Both groups nodded. Spectra's eye stopped glowing and the barrier was lowered. Spectra sighed and looked to the Blood Hunter's.

"You have no reason to be here. Leave Ponyville."

Edge went back on his four's and looked angrily at Spectra.

"What!? We helped you save Equestria!"

"And we're thankful. But for now, in the words of Dark-Red, fuck off!"

Edge backed off a bit and turned to Spetsnaz.

"What now, boss?"

Spetsnaz looked serious for a time, before grinning.

"Spectra's right. We have no business here. Hunter's, let's go."

The Hunters walked off in a direction out of Ponyville. Spectra smiled and looked to the Library. Brain was talking to Twilight about something. Twilight blushed and closed her eyes. Spectra saw Brain look left and right before kissing Twilight on the cheek and running off to join the Hunters. As Brain passed Spectra, he saw Brain wink at him. Spectra remembered those words that Brain said.

"Never forget, Spectra. We are not heroes. We are not bad guys. We are Bounty Hunters!"

Spectra smiled and looked to the Triad, who were bowing down before Spectra.

"Your power is amazing, master! Orders?"

Spectra hummed in thought before pointing at the Triad.

"I want you to do a perimeter check twice a week. I want to know what's getting into Ponyville and what's getting out."

The pegasus bowed his head and the Triad rose to their feet.

"Yes, master."

Spectra saw the Triad turn around and run towards the Everfree Forest at amazing speeds. Spectra shrugged and looked unimpressed.

"I can go Mach 10. Beat that."

Spectra walked towards the library and casually walked back into his room to begin reading. Nitro, Shadow and Aeb looked confused while Twilight was still blushing.

"A stallion....kissed me...."

Shadow and Aeb snickered and headed towards the Everfree Forest.

"Later, guys. We need to complete Aeb's castle."

Nitro poked Twilight, trying to get her attention. She looked to be in a trance.

"Twilight?"

"A stallion...oh, huh? Nitro? What? Spectra? Hunters?"

Nitro laughed and nudged her back inside her library.

"I'll explain inside."

-----Everfree Forest-----

Shadow and Aeb were walking towards the castle Aeb officially owned as his home, talking about food.

"Pyronine was de-lish! Too bad they went extinct. What do Changeling's eat?"

Aeb shrugged. "Mostly love, but we can feed on bugs and meat sometimes."

A cough and a moan reverberated through the forest. Shadow's ears perked up, while Aeb looked terrified.

"I've lived here long enough to pick up some tricks. Somepony there?!"

Another cough. Shadow turned his attention to the bush on the path. He cautiously walked up to it and used his magic to push it to the sides. Behind the bush was a young colt, about Rose's age, covered in blood and cuts from the thorns of the bush. But something was off about him. Shadow turned to Aeb with a confused look.

"I don't believe it. It's a Darkane foal."

Chapter XII - Child Of Chaos

Shadow and Aeb stare at the Darkane colt before them. He was knocked out, Shadow could tell when he picked him up. The duo moved him inside Shadow's cave. Aeb and Shadow were talking about what to do with him while he was sleeping in Shadows bed soundly.

"We should tell Spectra. He is the Darkane King now after all."

Aeb shook his head. "Spectra would kill him!"

Shadow smirked. "Even somepony like Spectra wouldn't kill a defenseless foal."

Aeb nodded. "Right. Well then, we should actually take it to him and ask what to do."

Shadow nodded and looked to the colt. He had a royal blue mane and tail and a coal black coat. He didn't have a cutie mark yet, but Shadow knows Darkane can get them. Cruor had one, after all. Aeb stood up and walked over to the colt and smiled.

"He's cute."

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. But don't forget he's a Darkane."

Aeb shook his head. "I know. But still."

Shadow and Aeb both watched the foal sleep. They guessed he was roughly 4 years old, same age as Rose. Although it is Roses birthday soon and she'll be 5.

Shadow facehoofed. "Celestia damnnit. I have to get Rose a present soon. You got her present yet, mate?"

Aeb nodded. "Yeah. Got her the crown of Queen Chrysalis."

Shadow looked at Aeb in confusion.

"You went through my trash?"

Aeb laughed. "Well yeah, where else would I have found it?"

Shadow and Aeb heard a moan and looked to the bed. The foal had now woken up and was looking at the two.

"Where am I?"

Shadow walked up to him with a small smile.

"I'm the Caretaker of the Everfree. Name's Shadow. This here is Aeb. We found you unconscious in the forest. Do you remember how you got there?"

The colt shook his head.

"No. I can't remember anything except for my name. It's Tenebra."

Shadow nodded. "Okay, Tenebra, do you remember your parents?"

Tenebra shook his head and looked sad. "No..."

Aeb dragged Shadow back and whispered in his ear.

"He never had parents, Shadow. Darkane are born from chaos, remember?"

Shadow gave him the "Oh, right" face and looked back to Tenebra.

"We're gunna take you to somepony who can help decide what to do with you, okay?"

Tenebra nodded and got out of the bed. The three ponies left the cave and followed Shadow out of the Everfree and into Ponyville. They reached Spectras House and stopped. Shadow tried to find traces of the blue pony.

"Spectra?! Spectra!"

Shadow turned to Aeb.

"Turn into a pegasus and fly up there, would ya?"

Aeb nodded and changed into a pegasus version of his earth pony self. He flew up to the house and went inside. Shadow turned to Tenebra and saw him looking shocked. Shadow laughed.

"Aeb's a Changeling. I'm all Unicorn, don't worry."

Aeb flew back down and turned back into an earth pony.

"Nopony's home. He must be in town with Rose and Rainbow."

Shadow silently cursed. "Fine. Wild Goose Chase activated."

Shadow, Aeb and Tenebra walked into Ponyville looking for the Speeds. Soon enough, Aeb found them.

"Over there! They're inside Vinyl's Club."

Shadow walked over to where Aeb was with Tenebra. He was looking into the window of the club. Inside the club, Spectra and Vinyl were on the stage, whilst Rose and Rainbow were down watching from below. Shadow, Aeb and Tenebra walk in just as Spectra starts a song.

-----Spectra's Perspective, A Few Minutes Ago------

Spectra walks in the club with his wife and daughter behind him. He walks up to Vinyl while she was setting up equipment on the stage. She turns around and gives Spectra a smug look and gets behind her DJ Table she aptly named "Bass Cannon" and puts her special headphones on.

"Ready?"

Spectra nods and steps behind his own DJ table and dons the headphones he loves to use. They fit perfectly and they never hurt his ears.

"Yeah, Vinyl. Lets go!"

The music started playing and Rainbow heard the door open behind her. She looked and saw Shadow and Aeb with a small foal behind them. Shadow walked up next to Rainbow and listened to the music. Aeb and the foal did the same.

Pony Rock! Yeah! Woo! Let's go!

Scratch and Neon's in the club tonight.

Oh yeah, we're gonna have a good time.

So grab some pony now don't be shy.

It's our job to make you feel alright. (Clap your hooves!)

Let's raise the roof, tonight's the night.

We're gonna' party till the morning light.

The house is hot, the beat is tight.

We just wanna' see you ...shake it!

The name's Neon Lights and I wanna' see you shake it.

I'm the host of this party and I'm glad you could make it.

I've got the music that booms, show me what you've got.

Now do your thing girls and flaunt that plot.

On the dance floor is where we're living.

You keep moving to the beat and the beat I'll keep delivering.

Now that's a promise, we're gonna' commit.

Hey, Vinyl Scratch! Spin that.

Ayo what's up? I'm the other half of this duo.

Got my bass cannon set to max it's gonna' blow.

It's Pony Rock! (It's Pony Rock!)

Yeah, so get them tails a-bouncing and get them

hooves up in the air 'cause we are announcing it is-!

Scratch and Neon's in the club tonight.

Oh yeah, we're gonna have a good time.

So grab some pony don't be shy.

It's our job to make you feel alright.

Let's raise the roof, tonight's the night.

We're gonna' party till the morning light.

The house is hot, the beat is tight.

We just wanna' see you... shake it!

Everyday I'm partying!

Put the lights on me. It's time for the only true party pony.

It's Pinkie Pie here and I know you all missed me.

But hey, wait! There's room for three.

Let's get some balloons! (The pretty ones!)

Let's turn up the bass! (Getting louder now!)

Gummy's here with me! (He's rocking out!)

Now it's a party! (With thanks to me!)

Get up. Get down. Put your hooves up to the sound.

Jump up. Stomp down. Every pony hit the ground. (x2)

Every pony hit the ground. (x2)

Get up. Get down. (x2)

Put your hooves up to the sound. (x2)

Put your hooves up. (x4)

Every pony's in the club tonight.

We're gonna' keep on having a good time.

We got some help from Pinkie Pie.

With Vinyl Scratch and Neon-on-on Lights.

Woah (x4)

Everyday we're partying!

Everypony clapped. Spectra and Vinyl get up and do a bow. Rainbow flew up to the stage and walked up to Spectra.

"What's with mentioning Neon all the way through the song?"

Spectra rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I didn't write the song. A pony named Neon Lights did it with Vinyl. She just wanted to hear who sounded better. What do you think, Vinyl?"

Vinyl nodded violently with a smile. "Aw yeah! You definitely sound better then Neon!"

Spectra blushed and looked behind his wife. He saw Shadow and Aeb with smiles but he also saw a unicorn colt. Around Rose's age with royal blue mane and a coal black coat and no cutie mark. Next to him, Spectra saw Rose talking to him. Spectra flew down and walked closer.

"Hi, I'm Rose! What's your name?"

"T-Tenebra..."

Rose cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Are you afraid of me or something?"

Tenebra shook his head.

"No. It's just that...I..I..."

Shadow side stepped in front of Spectra before he could get to Tenebra.

"We need to talk, Spectra."

Spectra pointed behind Shadow at Tenebra, Shadow nodded. Spectra lead Shadow to a table off the sides and let the others talk to each other in their absence. Shadow sighed and looked to Spectra.

"I know what you're thinking. Who's foal it is, right?"

Spectra nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's one thing I'm thinking."

Shadow looked to the foal and looked away. He seemed to be in thought. He looked back up to Spectra with a sad look.

"His name is Tenebra. The thing is...he's lost. He has no idea who he is and where he comes from. He doesn't remember his parents, either. I want you to take care of him. I'm not father material and neither is Aeb. I don't trust anypony besides you, Spectra. Promise me you'll take care of him until you find somepony to hand him off to."

Spectra looked to Tenebra and hummed in thought. He looked back to Shadow and nodded with a smile.

"Sure. I guess it can't be too hard, right?"

Shadow nodded. "So, you promise?"

Spectra raised a hoof and used the other to cross a mark over his heart.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. OW!"

Spectra poked his eye while doing the promise. Shadow wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Now that you promised, you can't back out, right?"

Spectra nodded and gave him an accusing look.

"Yeah. Why?"

Shadow frowned and looked to Tenebra.

"He's a Darkane."

Spectra looked to Tenebra then back to Shadow. Spectra gave Shadow and angry look.

"Why didn't you tell me this before I promised."

Shadow glared at Spectra.

"You wouldn't have gave him a chance."

Spectra looked insulted.

"What!? No way. I would've gave him a chance I'll raise him into a fine stallion. What made you think I wouldn't give him a chance?"

Shadow shrugged. "I guessed that you would've killed him or something."

Spectra threw his head back and laughed.

"I'm not pure evil, Shadow. That sounds like something Cruor would do."

Shadow nodded and got up from the table.

"We better go tell the others."

Spectra nodded and stood up. He and Shadow walked over to the group. He cleared his throat and everypony, even Tenebra looked to him.

"Well, it appears that we have a new member joining my our family."

Rainbow's eyes grew wide and she quickly scanned herself. She looked back to Spectra.

"I'm not pregnant."

Spectra laughed and shook his head.

"No, Rainbow. Tenebra is joining our family."

Everypony looked to the colt. His eyes were wide and he was in shock.

"W-W-What? Really?"

Spectra nodded and walked up to him. Spectra held out a hoof.

"Welcome to the family, son."

Tenebra looked to the hoof, then to Spectra. Instead of giving Spectra a hoofshake, he reached out and grabbed Spectra in a tight hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Spectra smiled and rubbed his mane.

"Welcome to the family, Tenebra."

Tenebra released his grip and looked up at Spectra with happy eyes. Rose bumped into Tenebra from the side and grappled him in a hug.

"Yay! Now we can be brother and sister!"

Spectra smiled and Rainbow walked up to him with an angry look.

"Since when do you decide when ponies join our family!?"

Spectra cringed and closed his eyes, ready for impact. What he felt instead was a warm hug. He reopened his eyes and saw that Rainbow was hugging him. She gave him a wink.

"I heard the conversation with Shadow. I understand."

Spectra laughed and had a sudden thought.

"How's he gunna live with us?"

Rainbow released him and puffed out her chest in pride.

"My house is made of reinforced clouds. All species can walk on it. Its how Discord was able to visit us when you were in stone. A pain to make, but its worth it."

Spectra smiled and looked to Tenebra. He was laughing while Rose was still grappling him and laughing with him. Spectra was glad to have a son in his family.

That reminded Spectra of something. His foster parents were still in Manehatten. He even had the address burned in his memory. Then he realized how much he hated them. Then, he realized something else.

He was a powerful pony. It took a lot to stop him, even more to kill him. Spectra had an idea, an evil one at that.

'I'm going to tear them apart.'

All the while Spectra was thinking about his foster parents, Shadow was thinking about his real ones. How much they hated him, how they treated him, how they abandoned him. Then Shadow remembered how he had an immortal demon war general trapped inside him.

'I will find them and kill them all.'

-----Somewhere Deep In The Everfree, Darkane Castle Ruins------

A pony with a red coat and black mane was looking through a crystal ball with his yellow eyes. His cutie mark was a bloody knife, the same knife he kept concealed beneath his cloak. Through the crystal ball, he saw Spectra and his new family cheering and laughing. Thats when the pony noticed the foal.

"A Darkane? Oh, boy. What a delight. One of our own has joined the enemy!"

The pony turned around and zapped the ruined wall behind him with a bolt from his horn. A Darkane drone rushed inside.

"Requiem, sir. Do you need any assistance?"

Requiem shook his head.

"No, I'm quite fine. Begone."

The drone bowed and rushed out of the room. Requiem looked back into his crystal ball.

"If you're my new king, then...we need a new one. Drone!"

The drone walked back into the room.

"Yes, Requiem?"

Requiem turned and pointed to him.

"I'm planning on visiting our new 'king' and overruling him. Prepare a chariot!"

The drone bowed and exited the room. Requiem stared back into his crystal ball.

"The armies of the Darkane shall be mine."

Chapter XIII - Requiem For A King

(Fun Fact: Tenebra, the name of the Darkane colt, derives from the word "Tenabris" which means "Darkness".)

Spectra, Rose, Rainbow and Tenebra all head towards the cloud house of the happy family. Tenebra looked up to the house then back to Spectra.

"How do I get up?"

Spectra put a hoof to his chin and looked to the house.

"Uuuuuuummmmm......"

Spectra smiled and sat down on the ground.

"Hop on. I'll fly you up there."

Tenebra looked at Spectra weirdly and laughed.

"Every time?"

Spectra shrugged. "Until we find a better way for you to go up, yes."

Tenebra smiled and climbed on Spectra's back. Spectra threw a glance back at Tenebra.

"Hold on!"

Spectra flapped his wings and shot up into the air. Tenebra never felt more alive. As Spectra was flying towards his home, Tenebra was enjoying the feeling of flying. Being a unicorn, he would never be able to do this on his own. Spectra flew through the open door and landed softly on the cloud floor. Tenebra gingerly stepped of the back of the one-eyed pegasus and onto the floor of the cloud house with clenched eyes. He expected to fall through, but instead he found that he could safely walk on top of the cloud. He looked back up to Spectra and smiled.

"I hope you get to fly me all the time. Heh, that was fun, dad!"

Spectra raised an eyebrow at Tenebra with a mischievous smile.

"Already callin' me dad, huh?"

Tenebra's eyes widen and he looks away.

"Sorry."

Spectra chuckled and grabbed him in a hug-o-death Spectra receives nearly every day.

"It's alright, son."

Tenebra laughed and returned the hug. Spectra released him and turned to Rose, who just walked in from outside.

"Hey, Rose? You okay with sharing a room with your brother?"

Rose smiled and nodded her head violently.

"Uh-huh!"

Tenebra smiled warmly.

"Thanks, Rose!"

Rose smiled even wider and Spectra swore he heard a small squeak-like noise somewhere. Rose reached out and grabbed her new brothers hoof.

"This way!"

Spectra smiled as he watched Rose wrench Tenebra away and into her room. Spectra's vision flickered and he briefly saw himself as a young colt where Tenebra was being pulled. Spectra rubbed his eyes and looked back. Tenebra and Rose were in his vision for a brief second before his vision flickered into a room. In the room was a single bed with a weeping dark blue coated pegasus colt. The colt looked around and Spectra saw that his eyes were blood red. Spectra's eyes grew wide with realization.

"What? This is me at my foster parents house!"

Spectra's colt-self got up from the bed and walked to a loose plank of wood in the floorboards. From inside he pulled out a watermelon. Spectra smiled at the fond memory of his childhood, but realized quickly what happened next. A big stallion opens the doors with a bang and gives Spectra's colt-self an evil glare.

"Watermelon!?"

The Colt jumped up and looked to the stallion in shock.

"I-I-I-I-"

"You know you're not allowed to have good food!"

The stallion rushed over to the colt and wacked him in the side of the head. The colt fell over and held his head in pain. The stallion picked the watermelon up and threw it at the wall, splattering it everywhere. He looked to the colt and picked him up by the throat and looked deeply into his eyes.

"I don't know how you got that, but if I EVER catch you with anything but what we give you, I'll flog ya!"

The colt nodded in fear and in tears. The stallion threw him to the ground and walked to the door and looked back around the room before slamming the door shut. The colt cried in pain for what seemed like ages before he lifted his head and his eyes grew wide. A single chunk of watermelon was on the floor in front of him. He grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth. He loved the taste and texture of the fruit. It might of been only a small piece, but it meant a lot to him.

Spectra had to watch the whole thing unfold before him. He wanted to smash that stallions face in so badly. The room faded out and Spectra found himself back in his cloud house with Rainbow looking at him.

"Hello? Spectra? You there?"

Spectra shook his head and focused his vision on Rainbow. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

Rainbow pointed to Tenebra, who was standing next to Sparks' perch and looking up at the bird with curiosity.

"Tenebra needs a bed, doesn't he? And some other things. Take him shopping for some stuff! Oh and...."

Rainbow looks left and right then leans in and whispers.

"...get Rose's birthday presents, will ya?"

Spectra smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Sure. Come on, Tenebra!"

Tenebra looked away from the bird and to his father.

"Yeah, dad?"

Spectra smiled. It warmed his heart to see that Tenebra has already accepted Spectra as his father.

"We need to go into town and buy some things for you. Now, I have two ways we can get to town. We can fly, or I could try teleporting us."

Tenebra looked to his father with suspicion.

"Have you ever teleported somepony before?"

Spectra chuckled lightly. "No. But there's a first time for everything, right?"

Tenebra looked to be in deep thought. After a while he nodded.

"Teleport."

Spectra rubbed his hooves together and did a mock evil laugh.

"Mwhahahaha!"

Spectra put his hooves down and tapped the ground. His eye patch glowed dark red and in a bright red flash, Tenebra and Spectra were gone.

-----Ponyville, Sometime Later-----

Tenebra and Spectra were walking through Ponyville buying items for Tenebra. They bought a nice bed from Rarity. She gave it to them free of charge when she found out that Spectra was taking care of Tenebra. Spectra tried to pay her, but she insisted. He was carrying the bed behind him in a dark red aura with the eye under his eye patch glowing dark red. Tenebra occasionally looked to the eye patch, but quickly looked away when Spectra noticed. After the 4th time, Spectra chuckled lightly.

"Do you wanna know why I'm wearing an eye patch?"

Tenebra nodded nervously. "It's been on my mind."

Spectra nodded and stopped. Tenebra looked up to his father as he removed the eye patch. Tenebra gasped when he saw his eye.

"What happened?"

Spectra frowned and put the eye patch back on.

"I had to stop somepony. So, I used a lot of magic against him. It's a story that I'll tell you when you're older."

Tenebra nodded and the duo continued walking.

"Speaking of magic, Tenebra. I'll get Twilight to teach you the teleport spell she knows, okay? Make it easier for you to come home."

Tenebra nodded. "Okay. Hey dad, I heard its Rose's birthday soon. When's my birthday?"

Spectra hummed in thought for a few seconds.

"How about two days after Rose's birthday?"

Tenebra smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

The two walked towards their cloud home before three ponies in grey clothing appeared before them and bowed to Spectra.

"Master, we have a report."

Spectra waved a hoof. "Report, then."

"Requiem, King Cruor's right hoof pony, is approaching the town. We do not think he means well."

Spectra nodded. "Deal with him. If you fail, I'll take care of him."

The Triad jumped up and nodded. "Yes, master."

The Triad then disappeared and Tenebra was left in shock. Spectra laughed.

"Get used to seeing them around."

Tenebra didn't respond. He instead continued walking with Spectra towards the home.

-----Cloud House------

Spectra and Tenebra were setting up Tenebra's side of the room. Rose had to move all her stuff to the other side, but she didn't mind in the least. After setting up a Wonderbolts poster, Spectra and Tenebra shared a Bro hug.

"Yeah! Now this is a room!"

The room was surrounded in posters of the Wonderbolts. The bed Spectra got Tenebra was shaped to look like the stadium in Canterlot. Spectra also bought Tenebra a Soarin plushie to sleep with at night. Spectra smiled as Tenebra ran onto his bed and jumped up and down on it.

'Kill them.'

Spectra frowned. He banged his head with a hoof and watched as Rose and Tenebra started jumping on each others beds.

'Kill them.'

Spectra shook his head violently.

'Kill who?'

Spectra didn't know why he was consenting to the voice inside his head, but he was.

'Your foster parents. Kill them.'

Spectra's mind was suddenly impacted with memories of his foster parents. He slowly walked out of the bedroom of his children and walked up to Rainbow.

"I'm going out."

Rainbow cocked her head to the left. "Where?"

"Out."

Spectra tapped a hoof to the ground and Rainbow was blinded by the bright red flash.

"Master! Master!"

Rainbow looked out of the window and saw the Umbra Triad looking up at her. She flew down and saw that they had a cage with them. Inside was a muttering unicorn.

"What's the report?"

The unicorn of the Triad pointed to the unicorn in the cage.

"I've analysed what he is doing with my magic. It's not good. Come."

The unicorn moved with Rainbow closer to the cage. Rainbow heard some words.

"Kill them....kill...kill."

Rainbow looked to the triad member.

"What's he doing?"

The unicorn shook his head.

"He's sending thoughts to our masters head. He is currently thinking what he is saying. His name is Requiem, by the way. Lean in closer, he won't attack. He's in a state of semi-trance."

Rainbow nodded and leaned in a little closer. What she heard made her gasp.

"Kill your foster parents. Kill them."

She recoiled and looked at the Triad member.

"Oh no."

The triad member nodded. "We found that he is also doing the same to Shadow Nova. He is on his way to Trottingham to kill his real parents. Why Requiem wants him to do so is beyond our understanding. Now, we must stop our master. Where is he?"

Rainbow's eyes widened as she realized where Spectra must've gone.

"He's in Manehatten."

Chapter XIV - The Hunt For Spectra Speed

-----Manehatten-----

Spectra appeared in the middle of a street in Manehatten within a bright flash of red light. He looked around and found something familiar to him. He saw his old apartment building where he used to live. He cringed at the memories that were flooding into his head of deals gone wrong. It was a cold, dark night in Manehatten.

The streets were full to the top with pedestrians trying to get home or to late work. Spectra didn't care though. He turned away from his old apartment and continued down the packed street to find his foster parents house. He was intent on making them pay for all the pain they caused him over the years. With a dark glare, Spectra walked down the streets of Manehatten.

-----Ponyville-----

Rainbow and the Triad were still underneath the cloud house, trying to figure out a plan to stop Spectra from doing something he might regret.

"We have to get to Manehatten and stop him!"

The Triad nod and the unicorn charges his horn.

"I shall go and seek the assistance of the Blood Hunters. If it is to save the life of somepony, they will listen to reason."

The unicorns horn flashed brightly and in an instant he was gone. Rainbow sighed and looked to the other triad members.

"Go scout the Forest."

The Triad bowed.

"Yes, my queen."

As the Triad turned and ran towards the forest, Rainbow stood where she was staring off into space.

"....Queen?"

Rainbow smiled mischievously and flew up to her cloud house and into Tenebra and Rose's room. The two were playing with some toys when Rainbow was walking in. They both looked up to their mother and smiled.

"Hi, mom!"

"Wanna join us?"

Rainbow smiles and walks over to her children.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

She sits next to Tenebra and picks up a toy train.

-----Manehatten-----

As the Triad Unicorn appears in Manehatten, he notices the smells that assault his nostrils. Putrid, stinking fumes enter his nose, making him scrunch up his nose in disgust. He turns and begins tracking down the Hunter's through the crowded streets. They are well known for coming to the city due to it's high crime rates. '

As he is walking, ponies are knocking him around as he tries to find the Hunters. Although, he wasn't entirely sure about the plan. He knew he couldn't stop his master on his own, let alone handle him in a fight, but asking the Hunter's for help is a long shot.

As he pushed himself through the crowd, a certain Akubra hat stood out in the street. He ran towards it and found himself behind the Blood Hunter's themselves with Dead Shot being at the back. Without thinking, he tapped Dead Shot on the shoulder, making him spin around and face the unicorn.

"What can I do for ya, ma- HEY SPETSNAZ!"

The entire group turned around and faced the unicorn. Spetsnaz walked up to him with an angry look.

"You wouldn't show yourself without good reason. Explain."

The unicorn bowed slightly and took a deep breath in the busy street.

"My Master, Spectra Speed, is under the influence of a Darkane named Requiem. As we speak, he is somewhere in this city looking for his foster parents to murder them."

Spetsnaz stood there for a second before looking behind him at the other Hunter's.

"Seems we have a new mission, Hunter's."

-----Spectra's Perspective-----

Spectra was still going through the busy streets to find his parents. He was nearing his old house which he ran away from, he was intent on finding his parents and killing them. Before he could take another step, a crossbow bolt whizzed past him and slammed into the building next to him. He looked around for his assailant and found The Blood Hunter's looking at him from across the street.

Knowing them excellent hunters, Spectra knew he couldn't hide from them. But he knew he could run and fight them another day.

Spectra turned into an alley way and began running. He wasn't running using any Dark-Red power, so he wasn't running very fast.

As he ran down the alley way, he reached a dead end.

"Celestia damnnit!"

He turned and was about to run but he found that the Hunter's were right behind him. They slowly crept up to him. Spetsnaz held a hoof out.

"Spectra, come with us. We won't hurt you. We just wanna talk."

Spectra shook his head and his eye patch glowed red.

"Sorry, mates."

The area flashed with a bright red light, blinding the Hunter's. When the light cleared and they looked back, he was gone. The Hunter's ran out of the alley way and looked down the streets. He was nowhere to be found. Spetsnaz pointed down the street full of ponies.

"Dead, Loki and Charger! You go that way! Edge, Brain and I will go the other way!"

Spectra watched from the rooftop as the Hunter's dispersed and went looking for him. When the coast was clear, Spectra jumped off the roof and landed with a light *Thud* in front of a house. He walked up to the door and knocked.

"Hang on a bit!"

Spectra heard crashing and commotion before a big burly stallion opened the door. He had a very unkempt beard.

"Yeah? What do ya want? Wait a second.....Spect-"

Before he could finish his sentence Spectra used his magic and slammed him into the wall behind him, keeping him held up against the wall.

"Hi, dad."

The stallion watched in horror as Spectra walked inside and closed the door behind him with his glowing eye patch.

"Now, father, let's catch up on current events."

Using his magic Spectra picked his father and hurled him into another room, making him crash into another wall. Spectra walked in and picked him up again and chucked him into a chair. He was badly beaten by now and was bleeding from Spectra's magical grip. Spectra held him down to the chair with his magic and using a free hoof got another chair and sat down.

"Before I kill you, I want you to know what you did to me."

The stallion shook his head and had tears in his eyes.

"What? Y-Y-You're gunna k-k-kill me?"

Spectra shrugged and tightened his magical grip.

"I might change my mind, but chances are slim of that happening."

Spectra sighed and looked to the ceiling.

'After I ran away from you horrible lot, I did some jobs to earn some money and eventually get myself my own place. I got a job as a drug dealer at 17."

Spectra tightened his grip and looked his old father in the eye. Well, with his only eye.

"After a few years of dealing I begun learning how hard life can be. I stole, dealt and sometimes hurt ponies to get by in life. Until one day when I was 28 I decided to leave this stink hole and move to a place called Ponyville. It was there I met the most important pony in my life. After a mishap with a manticore, me and her became marefriend and coltfriend."

Spectra tightened his grip further, almost choking the stallion. He kept his eye contact.

"After a while I had to leave for Cloudsdale and get a job. After 2 years I had earned a small fortune. I come back and ask my marefriend to marry me, and she agrees. A few more adventures occurred and eventually we got married. Then, the worst happened."

Spectra got up and begun walking around the room, looking at random items.

"I got turned to stone for 5 years. In that time, my wife gave birth and my friends waited with her and the filly until I returned. When I did, it took me some time to adjust to the fact that I was now in the future. I adjusted and begun raising my daughter, who by the way you shall never meet as long as I live."

Spectra rushed over to the chair and leaned in to his fathers face.

"Then a King of an extinct race challenges me and I have to face him in combat. It's how I got this."

Spectra gestures to his eye patch.

"After that little fiasco I adopted a son and am currently living a perfectly good life to this day, except for one problem."

Spectra stands up and begins circling his dad.

"The problem, is that you still live."

Spectra tightened the magic around his fathers throat.

"I think it's time we fixed that."

----Ponyville-----

Rainbow was with the Triad Members below her house. The unicorn returned and said that the Hunter's are helping as best they could. Rainbow looked at Requiem and started poking him.

"Wait....I have an idea."

-----Manehatten-----

Spectra sat back in the chair in front of his father and released his grip on his throat slightly.

"Any final words?"

His dad shook his head and gulped.

"I'm proud of you, son. You got through all of that and yet you still succeeded. But, if you go through with this, you'll be a wanted criminal for killing a pony."

Spectra huffed and waved a hoof.

"Please. I'm the most powerful being in Equestria....to some limitations. Who could possibly stop me?"

His father shrugged.

"The fact that you'll be on the run and that you'll never see your family again?"

At that moment, Spectra felt something break inside him. Something felt like it snapped in his subconscious. He looked to his father and released his magical grip on him, allowing him to stand up. He looked up at Spectra with curiosity.

"Why?"

Spectra shrugged and smiled. His eye patch glowed and a bright red flash filled the room.

"I changed my mind."

When the light cleared, Spectra was gone.

-----Ponyville, A Few Seconds Ago------

"I have an idea!"

The Triad Members turned to Rainbow with expectant looks. Rainbow turned around, and bucked Requiem in the face, knocking him out. Rainbow looked to the Triad Members with a smug smile.

"If he's linked by talking out loud, what if we shut him up?"

At that moment, a bright red flash filled everypony's vision and standing next to Rainbow on the hill is Spectra Speed himself. He looked to Requiem then Rainbow and smiled.

"What happened while I was gone?"

Rainbow leaped onto Spectra with open arms and grappled him into a tight hug.

"Not much, what happened with you?"

Spectra shrugged and patted Rainbow's back.

"Oh, not much."

Spectra and Rainbow break the embrace and Rainbow looks up to the Cloud House.

"C'mon. Let's go home."

Spectra smiled and flew up.

"Let's."

As the happy couple fly up to their home, The Triad Members walked up to Requiem as he was waking.

"What's going on?"

The Pegasus member walked up behind him and held a knife to his throat.

"To keep our master safe we must eliminate you."

Requiem started sweating bullets.

"No! Wait! Sto-"

As he spoke his final word the pegasus shoved the knife into his jaw, silencing the Darkane. When they removed the knife, a bright dark flash filled their vision and Shadow Nova was standing next to Requiem's body.

"Dinner for a week!"

He grabbed Requiem's body and teleported within another flash of black.

------Manehatten-----

The Hunter's had all gathered up at their base, sweating to the bone. Spetsnaz wiped his forehead.

"Look at the bright side, Hunter's. He cannot be in the city at least. We checked the entire bloody city over!"

Chapter XV - A New Dawn

Spectra and Rainbow stood at the doorway to Rose and Tenebra's room whilst they were peacefully sleeping in their beds. Rainbow had a small box in her hoof and Spectra had a slightly larger box. It was the dawn of Rose's fifth birthday and they were ready to give her their presents. The couple haven't decided on when Tenebra's birthday should be, but that'll be decided later. They watched as Rose's eyes fluttered open thanks to the sunlight coming in through the window onto her face. She sat up in her bed and yawned, waking Tenebra up. She looked over to the doorway and saw her parents standing there with a smile. She to smiled and jumped out of bed.

"Morning, mom and dad!"

She ran over to Rainbow and gave her a hug. Rainbow laughed and ruffled Rose's mane.

"How's my favourite daughter doing?"

Tenebra jumped out of bed and walked to Spectra with an emotionless look.

"Hey, dad."

Spectra eyed him suspiciously.

"Something wrong, son?"

Tenebra shrugged and walked past Spectra.

"Nothing."

Spectra watched as Tenebra walked sadly over to the kitchen to make breakfast. Spectra knew something was bugging him, but decided to ask him about it later. Spectra turned to see Rainbow hoofing Rose her present. She smiled and grabbed the box, placing it on the ground. She unwraps the box and looks inside. She pulls out a small mane clip with a love heart on it. Rose giggled and placed it in her mane.

"Thanks, mommy!"

She grappled Rainbow into a hug. Spectra gulped. His present was a bit more over the top. Rose turned to Spectra as he held his present out to her.

"Now, Rose. My present might seem cool, but don't worry. It's not."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow as Rose grabbed the box and begun ripping it open. When it was open, a small light was being produced from inside the box. She reaches inside and pulls out a small sphere that looked like it was covered in a layer of something. Flames were swirling inside the small orb as it made the light. Spectra knelled down and pointed to the orb.

"I grabbed a star from the night sky and covered it in a protective layer to protect you from the flames."

Rainbow laughed and elbowed Spectra. He shot up and held his hooves up in defence.

"What? I thought it was a good gift."

Rainbow laughed once more and shook her head.

"You gave our daughter a star."

Spectra shrugged.

"It helps to be the most powerful being in existence sometimes."

Rose walked into her room and placed the star down on her bedside drawer, it glowed brightly within the room. She turned to Spectra and tackled him into a hug.

"Thanks, daddy!"

Spectra grinned and patted her back.

"Your welcome, sweetheart."

Spectra turned and walked into the kitchen to see Tenebra sitting down looking very sad eating a sandwich. Spectra sighed and sat on the chair next to him. Tenebra tried avoiding looking directly at Spectra.

"What's eating ya, son?"

Tenebra shrugged.

"It's not important."

Spectra chuckled and leaned in closer.

"Oh, I highly doubt it. Come on. Spit it out."

Tenebra rolled his eyes and sighed. He turned to his father with sadness.

"It's just that, I'm not even related to any of you, yet you all accept me as family. I'm not a pegasus, so that made it harder to accept me. I just feel like a thorn in your sides."

Spectra laughed and grabbed his son.

"Listen, kid. I learnt this the hard way. Family is never determined by blood. Never. You're lucky, you know that? My parents died when I was 2, then I got into a horrible family that treated me badly. And you're not a thorn. You're more of a petal on this family flower."

Tenebra smiled at Spectra's words and hugged him.

"Thanks, dad."

Spectra smiled and ruffled his mane.

"And don't forget, Rose loves you to. I love you, and so does your mother. Understand?"

Tenebra nodded and sat back in his chair as Rainbow and Rose entered the room with a giant cake. She placed it on the table as Rose jumped up.

"Make a wish, Rose."

She nodded and took a deep breath, exhaling it and extinguishing the flames. The family cheered and Rainbow started cutting up cake and handing the slices out. Life was good for this family. And it shall remain so for years to come.

The End

Thanks, mates!

I would like to thank the following for making this series live.

Bazing, Master Beta (Originally Beta Master), SoarinDashSpaz, bbonet98, spetsnaz pinkie pie, Shadow Bolt, coldrunner, bluecatcinema, EquestrianWriter and drd190.

Without you all supporting me, this series would've ended with Spectra dying or something. Oh! And (dunno if you still read my stories or not) Prince Solstice, thanks for doing your rage reviews. Always gets me to laugh.

The sequel to SO3 will be based either when Rose and Tenebra are teenagers or adults. You decide in the comments!

BAH BYE! =D