Chapters Cold.
So Cold.
Why is it cold?
Why am I here?
Questions.
So many questions.
It's getting too cold.
Wait, it's coming together. I was sent by-
AUGH!! SO HOT!
Every sense in my body is screaming so loudly-
Wait, whooooaaaah!
I'm being tossed around like a leaf!
A mega strong wind is tossing me in circles.
OOF! I can't breathe, I can't breathe!!
Wind's knocked out of me. This is a problem.
OW! A rock just hit me.
OW! Thats the second one!
OUCH, SO MANY ROCKS!
MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!
Oh thank Celestia, it stopped.
OK. Try to stand, OW, OK. That's not happening.
Well, um, OH I know, try to put your bucking mind back together!
Where am I? uuummmmmm- oh I'm close to PonyVille! Should try to get there I guess.
Whoa! Did it just get darker? It did! It's getting even darker.
Dark. dark. dark. DARK. SO DARK.
I think I'm dead.
Light. It's getting brighter. YES!
Wait, it's getting too bright.
TO BRIGHT! SHUT YOUR EYES!
IT'S STILL TO BRIGHT
oh no... I'm going to lose con-
Ohhh My head.
I can't stay here, I can't or I'll die!
But where would I go?
Ponyville!
I can make it, I'll at least try.
It had been a slow day at Carousel Boutique. Rarity had gotten orders for two new dresses, no more, no less.
Oh well, this would give her more time to work on her friends dresses for the dance next week, she wanted them to look fabulous! Just as she was about to close up shop, the bell on the door rang.
She was tired, but not to tired to let a customer slip through her hooves. Still working on a dress, she began her store's motto without looking up.
"Welcome to Carousel Boutique- Oh my goodness!" She gasped.
"Hey Rarity" Said the heavily damaged unicorn stallion standing in her doorway.
"You have some nerve coming back here!" Rarity said.
"I was just wondering if I could stay-" His words were interrupted a violent cough.
Rarity watched as two small drops of blood flew from his mouth and hit her favourite chair.
"Oh uh, sorry I'll clean that up I-" He hit his knees.
"Oh not again" Then his legs, or more accurately his knees gave out from under him.
Rarity rushed to the crumpled unicorn and nudged him, but he wouldn't budge.
"Oh Scourge, what have you done to time? And more importantly, who did this to you? " She asked the unconscious male unicorn lying at her feet. She grabbed his hoof and dragged him over to her room and him onto her bed, she let out a deep sigh and shut the door. She would call the doctor in the morning.
Scourge had been hungover a couple of times, it was awful. But it was nothing compared the sensation he was feeling now. He felt as if he had been bucked in the head, by 60 different ponies, 6000 times, EACH. He decided that it would be a good idea to figure out where he was. He took a look around, mirrors, fabric, and dresses.
"Oh no, why did he come here?He realized he was in Carousel Boutique! Rarity hates me! She hates me! I must have been confused. When I arrived in Ponyville, Rarity's shop must have been the only thing I recognized." He thought.
"Is anypony there?" Called Scourge.
"I'm coming!" Rarity answered.
Rarity arrived looking just as great and successful as ever. Her mane was perfect, her coat looked like it had just recently been washed, and she was wearing a beautiful jewel-encrusted sun hat.
"So Scourge I see you are awake, you slept for five days, if you were wondering." She said
"Oh wow, really?" Scourge asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes, after you showed up at my doorstep you collapsed, that was five days ago."
"Oh yeah, heh, sorry about that." Said Scourge nervously.
Scourge's stomach growled. he looked up, embarrassed.
"Say no more. you must be very hungry, I'll go fix you something." Rarity said.
"Okay, just-"
"Don't worry Scourge, I remember your appetite."
Yep. She still hates me.
Pinkie Pie was getting suspicious. She sat outside Rarity's place of work disguised as a pink bush. Rarity had been acting weird for the last four or five days and Pinkie was positive she was hiding something. A couple of minutes ago she had come home with three times her usual load of groceries. Rarity wasn't a big eater and she didn't have more than 1 extra guest over at a time, and if she was having a party Pinkie would've definitely been notified, so she must be hiding something. That's why she brought a retractable telescope in her saddle bags. She unfolded it and used it to peer through Rarity's bedroom window. Rarity wasn't there, but somepony was. A black and purple short haired male unicorn limped back and forth in her room, as if waiting for something. His left fore hoof was in a cast, he was slightly shorter than Big Macintosh. A little less muscular as well. She couldn't quite make out his cutie mark or his facial features. The only thing he was wearing was a black diamond-studded crest around his neck.
"So this is what she was hiding" Pinkie said to herself.
Then she realized that this mysterious pony was a newcomer.
"He's new here!" She yelled.
"He's new here and I haven't thrown him a welcome party!"
The pink bush unfolded to reveal Pinkie Pie. She ran away as fast as she could, thoughts of guests, balloons, cake, punch, and much more flooded her mind.
"This'll be great!" Pinkie exclaimed as she ran off to Sugar Cube Corner.
"Scourge, your food is ready!" Rarity called from the kitchen, just as she heard Pinkie's cry of joy. She dismissed this as Pinkie Pie just being Pinkie Pie.
"On my way" He said. He slowly limped down the stairs, being extra careful not to fall.
He arrived in the kitchen to a feast. Delicious entrees of all shapes and sizes covered Rarity's table.
"Wow, this is really nice, thanks so much, really." Scourge said, beginning to salivate.
"Don't mention it, think of it as a welcome home present." Sneered Rarity.
Scourge stopped dead just as he was about to put the first morsel to his lips.
"Look Rare, I-"
"Don't call me that!" Rarity hissed
"Sorry. Look Rarity, I'm really sorry about what happened. But you know that-"
The doorbell rang, interrupting Scourge. Rarity, who was staring deeply in to Scourge's eyes shook her head to clear it.
"Coming!" Yelled Rarity, then she dashed out of the room.
Rarity heard loud eating sounds coming for her kitchen as she dashed to the door. Pinkie stood in the doorway, a huge smile on her lips, an envelope balanced on her head.
"Oh, um, hello Pinkie, what can I do for you?" Asked Rarity.
"Take this" She gestured with an ear towards the envelope on her head.
Rarity used her magic to lift the envelope, but before she could open it Pinkie screamed:
"It's an invitation to a party tonight!"
"I know, but what's the cause?" Asked Rarity, as she eyed Pinkie suspiciously.
"It's a welcome party for your new friend!" Pinkie exclaimed, a little louder than she should have.
"My new friend?!" Rarity said, dumbfounded.
"He is NOT my friend. More importantly, who else knows about him?" Rarity whispered.
"Oh only the six of us, well just the five of us. AJ couldn't make it. Something about hungry caterpillars"
"Oh, that's a relief. Listen pinkie, if you tell all of Equestria about this I will personally shave off your mane and give it to Opel to use as a toy!" Rarity hissed in Pinkie's ear.
Pinkie's expression never changed as Rarity whispered the threat.
"Okey Dokey Lokey" Pinkie Pie called as she skipped away in her usual fashion.
Rarity shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen. She arrived to find all of the food gone, what remained was a slightly plumper black and purple unicorn, who was picking his teeth wait a fork held up by magic.
"My friend is throwing you a welcome to Ponyville party tonight." Rarity told Scourge.
"Oh great, sounds like fun!" Scourge answered.
"Don't you dare touch the cake!" Rarity growled.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Scourge said, then he chuckled, "This'll be great!"
Rarity was surprised, those were the same words pinkie had said. "I'll have to keep an eye on him and Pinkie" She thought, just as Scourge let out a huge grotesque burp.
"Oops, hehe, sorry." Scourge said sheepishly.
"What's the worst he could do at the party?" Rarity thought.
TO BE CONTINUED
"So, the party's in a giant gingerbread house?" Scourge asked. They were about 50 feet from the party.
"It's called Sugar Cube Corner, it's a bakery" Rarity answered.
"Oh I get it!" Scourge said stupidly.
Rarity groaned. "Well, we're here." she said.
"You first." Scourge said.
Pinkie was stoked. Everything was ready, balloons, streamers, punch, and music. There was even a giant WELCOME banner and a cake that said the same thing. She stood right at the door with her three friends, waiting for their guest of honour.
The door opened, Rarity was the first one through. Sporting a beautiful purple a sun hat. She was greeted by happy hellos and friendly nuzzles. The second pony looked nothing like Rarity. He had a dark purple coat and a short mane as black as night. His eyes were the same purple as his coat, and he wore a silver, black diamond-studded crest around his neck and a white cast on his left fore-hoof.
"Hi!" Pinkie said.
"Hello!" He said enthusiastically.
"What's your name?" Asked Twilight Sparkle.
"It's Scourge" He answered quickly.
"Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie!" She said.
"Hi Pinkie." Scourge said.
"Did you break your leg?! Did it hurt? OH, I bet it hurt! I-"
Dash cut her off, "Name's Rainbow Dash, don't wear it out." Dash said, while she did a loopy-loop in the air.
"Hello?" Scourge said, he wasn't fond of show-offs.
"Hi Scourge, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said as she stood a little taller.
"Princess Celestia's personal student, impressive." Scourge replied as Twilight smiled even wider.
"And what's your name?" Scourge asked the yellow-coated pink-haired mare standing a little farther back then everyone else.
"Um..." She bit her lip.
"It's Flutt-" The rest was whispered too quietly for Scourge to make out.
"Excuse me?" Scourge had heard of shy, but this was ridiculous.
"It's Fluttersh-" Again Scourge couldn't make out the ending. His brow furrowed.
"Fluttershy." She completed.
"Oh, Fluttershy!" Scourge said, that made sense. He almost snickered, but stopped himself.
"So, how do you two know each other?" Twilight asked politely.
"Yeah! Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" Pinkie laughed.
This comment caused Rarity to turn her head as her cheeks turned red. Scourge just frowned.
Rarity managed to squeak out "Ex".
Everypony that had thrown the party's eyes widened.
"OH, oops" Pinkie said.
"No problem. You didn't know" Scourge consoled.
There was an awkward silence between the ponies.
"Well I was informed that this was a party." Scourge said to break the silence.
"Yes... YES this is a party, c'mon everypony, let's party!" Pinkie said, seeming to be back to her old self.
Rarity, who had once more found her voice said "Scourge, go with Fluttershy and get some punch."
"Uh, shure, C'mon Fluttershy" Scourge said, he began walking towards the punch table and Fluttershy fell into step behind him.
"I'll start the music!" Pinkie said as she rushed off to the stereo.
Scourge and Fluttershy sat down at a table, Fluttershy had taken a small cup of punch, while Scourge had basically taken half the bowl. While the rest of the group went do the dance floor, Scourge decided to make it his mission to have a successful conversation with the yellow pony, but after several tries he almost admitted defeat. Then he realized the same way he had first made conversation with Rarity was with jokes! He was great at telling jokes, he had almost become a comedian, but Rarity had talked him out of it.
"Hey Shy-" Fluttershy interrupted him.
"Me?" She asked quietly.
"Yes you." Scourge answered. Then he proceeded to tell Rarity's favourite joke. By the end of it Fluttershy was gasping for air she was laughing so hard.
Scourge was laughing almost as hard as Fluttershy. "Wait, wait!"
Fluttershy stopped laughing. "What?"
Scourge smiled, "I've got another one!" Then they both burst out laughing before the joke was even told.
Everypony had stop dancing and was just staring dumbfounded, at the two ponies sitting at the table.
"I haven't seen her laugh in a long time." Dash said.
"Scourge almost became a comedian." Rarity said.
"If he made Fluttershy laugh, he must be better at telling jokes than me!" Pinkie said.
"Well it's great to know he made friends with the shyest pony in Ponyville in ten minutes." Twilight replied.
They all watched in awe as he told another joke and Fluttershy fell out of her chair laughing hysterically. Scourge then proceeded to drink all of his punch in one long gulp.
"That's one heck of an appetite!" Dash exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I told him to stay far away from the cake. He may be charming yes, but on a full stomach, he's a completely different pony." Rarity whispered.
"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Hey, I have an idea! Does Scourge dance?" Pinkie asked.
"Never." Rarity replied.
"Hey Fluttershy, come here for a second!" Pinkie yelled.
Fluttershy appeared to say goodbye to Scourge and then she trotted over quickly.
"What is it, he was just about to tell the joke about Princess Luna and her first day at the palace!" The yellow pony asked, still giggling.
"We're going to see if Scourge will dance!" Dash said.
"Oh, um, okay." Fluttershy said quickly.
"I'll ask him first." Said the cyan pony.
When she arrived, Scourge greeted her, "Oh hello Rainbow Dash, what can I do for you?" He wasn't stupid, he had noticed the mares grouping up and figured they were up to something.
"Wanna dance?" Dash asked, holding out a hoof.
"Uhh, no thank you, I really don't dance." Scourge replied.
"OH, okay then." She slowly trotted off her head hung low.
"Your turn Twilight." She said.
Twilight trotted over while the rest of the ponies consoled Rainbow Dash.
"Hello Scourge, would you like to dance?" She asked, her voice dripping with politeness.
"Ah, no thanks. I'm not a big fan of dancing." Scourge said. Then the strangest thing happened, he began to have a change of heart. "Why didn't he want to dance?" What was wrong with Twilight? Why- wait, he was getting dizzy.
He looked at Twilight's horn. It was glowing ever so slightly.
"A persuasion spell. Really Twilight?" He managed to ask, even though his words came out a little slurred. At once the effects stopped.
"Hehe, sorry." Said a very sheepish Twilight.
"Please, don't do it again."
"Sure."
She walked away and Pinkie Pie appeared.
Scourge had pretty much figured out the mare's plan by now. They were going to do everything in their power to get him to dance. He hated dancing. More than that, he was an awful dancer. The only time he could remember dancing voluntarily was when he was intoxicated.
"Wanna dance?" Pinkie asked loudly.
Scourge was done being polite. "No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Please"
"No."
"Pretty Please?"
"No."
"Please Please Please Please Please Pl-"
"No!" With that Scourge used his magic to levitate Pinkie back to the dance floor. She tried to run back, but her friends held her down. Twilight nodded to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy didn't run over like the others, she walked over without even making eye contact. Scourge was guessing she wasn't doing this on purpose.
"Oh, um, hello Scourge I was just wondering if I was- Wait, that isn't right." She stuttered.
Normally Scourge would have burst out laughing. Something stopped him though. He felt sorry for this pony and her ridiculous level of shyness, he decided to help her out. He hated dancing, but he hated watching Fluttershy struggle even more.
"Do you want to dance?" He asked her.
Her jaw dropped. "Yes, sure I'd Love to!" She answered after a few seconds.
As they walked to the dance floor everypony just stared.
Twilight whispered to Fluttershy "What did you do?"
To which Fluttershy replied, "Nothing, he asked me!"
"None of you realize that Scourge has a sympathetic side." Rarity thought.
Pinkie turned the music louder and everypony resumed dancing.
Scourge's dancing was alright, Rainbow Dash thought. But it was nothing to be embarrassed about. She made a mental note to find out why he didn't like dancing.
Pony Rock Anthem was one of Scourge's favourite song and luckily, the shuffle was his beast dance. Just as it began playing he and everypony else stopped dancing.
"So, the rest of you know this dance?" Scourge asked, already knowing the answer.
"YES!" The rest of them answered simultaneously.
"Alright then!" He said enthusiastically.
By the time the song had ended everybody was out of breath. After several more songs Pinkie thankfully stopped the music, everypony was too tired to dance for another second.
All the ponies migrated to the punch table for refreshments, then sat down.
"So Scourge, what's your story?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, how did you meet R-" The rest of Pinkie's sentence was never heard, do to Dash covering her mouth.
"This is a long story." Scourge warned.
"We've got time" Twilight replied.
"Yeah, I bet it's exciting!" Said Fluttershy.
"Sounds cool!" Dash exclaimed.
"It is long and complicated.." Rarity said longingly.
Rarity was his EX-girlfriend! Scourge thought, He didn't have to abide by her needs and wants anymore. He decided to tell the story anyway, AND be EXTRA detailed on their relationship.
None of the ponies but Rarity understood the evil grin spreading across Scourge's face. She suddenly felt the need to leave the room. But being the extremely self-conscious pony she was, she didn't want to leave the room without good reason. Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with any good ideas.
Scourge began his story: "I grew up in Ponyville just like the rest of you. But I was home schooled, therefore I never saw much of anypony besides my parents, who, mind you, weren't great role models. When I was halfway done my schooling they divorced. Dad was a drunk and mom was afraid of her own shadow, Luckily I didn't end up like either of them. I looked down on them and willed myself to be better than they were. Mom got custody, but fell into a depression and couldn't continue home schooling me. So I went to school like all the other ponies, I was old enough to know better but still too young to care."
He chuckled, took another long sip of punch and continued.
"I met Rarity a year later, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. But being the antisocial pony I was, I couldn't say a word to her until six months later, at my first party. One of my friends who was a complete idiot, brought more alcohol than I had ever even seen in my life to the party. After way to many drinks some stupid part of me kept shouting "go look for Rarity" so I did. I found her sitting on a couch, surrounded by jocks. But things were getting out of hand, or a least it looked like it to me. So i walked over and said, "Hey, leave 'er alone." Now, this may have not been the smartest thing to do, but the only thing my parents let me do was take martial arts, so I thought I'd be fine."
"So you just confronted them?" Fluttershy asked.
"Pretty much." Scourge replied.
"Wow" She said
"Yes, wow." He answered.
He continued. "As you can guess that didn't make them too happy. but luckily, they were drunker than I was and didn't put up much of a fight. After I was finished with them I asked Rarity out to dinner. She said yes, and I was as surprised as anypony! The dinner was good and so was the next couple months of dating. We dated a little over a year, the dates were great, the kisses were awesome. We did everything together, parties, home-work, sports, I couldn't name all of the things if I tried. A week before I was going to meet her parents, well-"
He motioned for the mares to lean in.
"The war started." He whispered.
"There was a war?!" Pinkie asked, aghast.
"Well I see you're a nice bunch of mares who could- Wait, all of you look familiar." He said.
"How so?" Twilight asked.
"I can't quite put my hoof on i-" Then his jaw dropped.
"Um, hello?" Dash said, a little weirded out.
Scourge backed away before asking them solemnly "Are you five, plus one more, the holders of the Elements of Harmony?"
"Well um, yes but we don't usually-"
Scourge stood as straight as he could and saluted. "Warrant officer Scourge at your service!" He said importantly.
Everypony's eyes widened at this.
"At ease soldier." Rainbow dash said, before she was thumped on the back of the head, courtesy of Rarity.
"Sorry, force of habit." Scourge said before he sat back down.
"The war was a secret, nopony but the military knew about it." Everypony but Rarity gasped.
"I caught wind of the war during a rumour that went throughout the school. Me and 3 other stallions were the only ones who believed it. So the next day we got on the first train to canter lot and arranged to see the princess. We actually got to see her, much to our surprise. We told her we wanted to fight in the war. She was surprised, but told us we could. The next day we were shipped off too boot camp, but first I sent a letter to Rarity telling her I was leaving for a couple months but would be coming back. I told her her not to worry and she didn't, but she should have. The war was awful, the and two of stallions I originally went to see the princess with never came back. Our enemies were ruthless but, I was worse, as you may have guessed my real name isn't Scourge."
"Really?!" Pinkie asked.
"I was given that name by my enemies because of the way I ruthlessly fought. As I was promoted time after time and earned medal after medal, the other soldiers started to look up to me. I helped Equestria win that war. I can't tell you who or where we fought because that information is classified above to secret. Equestrians need to feel safe. Thats why it's a secret."
"Wow, the princess didn't even tell me about the war." Twilight said to herself.
"Thats not surprising. Anyways, after the war ended I went back to Rarity, words can not express how much she missed me. The worst part was when I couldn't tell her where I had been. After the whole Nightmare Moon ordeal I saw an opening for a career, as Princess Luna's personal bodyguard. I got the job after she was told about my reputation, but I had to leave Rarity because I would have to live at the castle and would have to be single. It was the restrictions for the job. So, soon after I got back I broke up with Rarity because, well, duty calls I guess." He said sadly.
A single tear slipped from Rarity's eye.
"I was her bodyguard for five years before the Princess got wind of creatures named Elementals wreaking havoc on desert towns. She sent me, and only me, to take care of the Elementals. I got halfay through the desert when I was ambushed. I was frozen, burned, trown, pummeled, shown the darkest darkness, and witnessed the brightest light before I passed out. After that I stumbled into ponyville, Rarity's shop was the only thing I recognized. I showed up on her doorstep, lost consciousness, and here I am."
"Wow" Twilight said.
"Oh my goodness." Fluttershy gasped.
"Cool!" Pinkie Pie said.
"You're almost as awesome as me." Dash said.
Rarity just sighed, wiping her eyes. The rest of the mares looked at her, pity in their eyes.
The rest of the party was fun, a little awkward, but fun. There was more dancing, party games, even karaoke. Scourge politely refused the cake, but ate an entire tray of snacks. Scourge thought the punch tasted like it had just a little bit of alcohol in it. So he drank just enough, which was 2 bowls, to give him a nice, happy feeling.
It was eleven by the time the ponies were leaving. Scourge knew he was sleeping on the couch tonight. Just as he was leaving Pinkie called,
"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer? There's still some cake left!"
'I didn't get any cake!" Scourge thought. "I love cake!"
"Sure pinkie! I love cake!" Scourge called back.
"I'll be back when it's gone!" He called to Rarity.
"Okay" Rarity said quietly.
Scourge ignored Rarity and walked back into Sugar Cube Corner.
"Maybe I can get to know Pinkie a little better" He thought happily, his story forgotten.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Dear Princess Celestia,
I now remember why I stopped drinking.
Your usually unfaithful and very hungover student, Scourge
Scourge wondered what she would say when she got that letter istead of her usual friendship report as he blinked sleep dust from his eyes. The light from the window seemed incredibly bright, so he shut his eyes. His head felt like it had been stepped on until it was flat.
"Celestia, what is it with me and head pain?" Scourge thought. "First the desert. Then Rarity's couch. Now- wait, where exactly am I?"
Scourge's eyes opened quickly as he took in his surroundings. He was in a pink bed in a very pink room. Said room was a disaster. Liquor bottles and party supplies littered the room and covered every surface.
"Looks like I still know how to party." Scourge thought.
Scourge could remember eating all of the cake and then a little more dancing. Then he remembered being offered a drink, which he accepted. That's when thing started to get blurry. He vaguely remembered dancing on the snack table and a kazoo possibly could have made it's way into the party. Pinkie Pie might have even dumped a bag of flour on herself at some point.
He continued examining the damage he assumed he had done to the room until he spotted his silver, black diamond studded crest sitting on the bedside table.
"NO!" Scourge's mind screamed.
Scourge's crest had been adopted as a signal a long time ago. If Scourge wasn't wearing it, he had gotten lucky. If he was, all would be right in the land of Equestria.
Scourge looked down at his neck. No crest.
"Of course no crest, I'm and idiot." Scourge thought angrily.
Scourge's crest was a signal that he had come up with after his eighteenth birthday, when his friends had taken him to The Knife and Apple gentlecolt's club. Needless to say, he had adapted the crest to help him tell if he had gotten lucky or not. He had always worn a crest, call it a personal preference.
"It could've just fallen off." Scourge thought optimistically.
No, that was impossible. It was locked and the only way to open it was a spell. A spell only himself and his former employer and co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Luna could perform. The crest had been a gift from her, their two year anniversary present, she had called it.
"This crest is beautiful, it is a symbol of you power, but it has a magical essence as well. Not just the unlock spell, you will discover it's true purpose when you are ready. I can only hope you do not uncover it before you are ready." She had said.
Scourge had tried time and time again, but had never discovered it's powers. It seemed the bloody thing wasn't going to reveal itself until it was ready.
Scourge then realized that he had no idea who he had just slept with.
Scourge's eyes widened incredibly as he slowly turned his head to the side.
The pink bushy mane of the other side of the bed almost gave him a heart attack. If he had died at that exact moment, it would have been alright with him.
"Buck." He thought
"You bucking idiot." He scolded himself.
"You stupid-" Then an idea sprang to life in his mind.
If it hadn't been for the crest he wouldn't have known what he had done. Therefore, Pinkie probably wouldn't either. So, if he left without a trace, Pinkie would most likely assume that he had just stumbled home in the middle of the night.
"Yes, that could work." Scourge thought.
He slowly got out of bed, slipped his crest back on and muttered the locking spell as quietly as he could. After he took the first step he noticed how dizzy he was. It would be a miracle to make it down the stairs without falling and breaking his neck, or rousing Pinkie.
Fortunately, Celestia's light must have been shining on him, because he made it out the door and into the streets. As he limped/stumbled back to Carousel Boutique several ponies asked him if he was alright.
"Yes, I'm fine." He always replied.
Eventually, Scourge arrived at Rarity's place of work. He let out a sigh of relief as he slowly pushed through the front door.
Carrousel Boutique looked just as it always had, except for one key difference. A fancy couch now rested in the first room. Atop said couch sat a very angry looking Rarity.
"Oh, uh, hello Rarity." He said weakly.
"Wow Scourge, there must have been a lot of cake left." She said sarcastically.
Scourge wondered why she was staring at his neck until he realized that she was staring at his crest. He looked down at it to find that it was slightly crooked. Trust Rarity, the fashion designer, to notice these things. He quickly straightened it.
Rarity's eyes widened in realization. "You didn't!" She said.
"W-Well, f-funny story-" Scourge stammered
"YOU DID!" She screamed, before burying her head in the couch.
"Think fast!" Scourge's mind commanded him.
"She doesn't know!" He blurted.
Rarity lifted her head from the couch. "What?" She asked.
Scourge decided to work from there. "Yeah...Yeah, I mean, I can't remember a thing. So she probably can't either." He said.
"Are you sure?" Rarity asked doubtfully.
"Positive." Scourge replied with utmost certainty.
"Nopony else can know about this because-" Rarity started before the bell rang and Applejack entered.
"Know about what?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, nothing." Rarity replied, she was obviously very startled.
"Well, uh, alright then. ah'm lookin' fer a feller who goes by the name ah Scourge." She said.
"That would be me." Scourge replied. He really liked that accent.
"Well Scourge, ahm mighty sorry ah wasn't at yer welcome party last night." She said.
"Oh, that's no problem, really." Scourge consoled. She had such beautiful eyes.
"But ah wanted to invite y'all ta Sweet Apple Acres fer cider so that the Apples could get ta know ya!" Applejack said.
"Sure, why not." Scourge said. She looked very fit, it was obvious she did a lot of farm work.
"Great!"
"I'll be there after lunch." Scourge said.
"Our cider's the best in equestria!" She called as she left.
"Dont. Even. Think about it." Rarity warned.
"How could you even suspect that I would do something like that?!" Scourge asked.
"What a beautiful mare." Scourge thought.
Sweet Apple Acres was on the edge of Ponyville. Scourge, not having wings, had to walk. It was a long road.
"At least I'll be able to see the sights." Scourge said to himself.
Besides the mountain, there really wasn't much to see. All of the building, except the shops, all looked the same. The ponies themselves weren't doing much except for the filly riding a scooter and a green unicorn sitting in the most awkward fashion.
He was admiring a mare balancing a cake on her head when something, or somepony, crashed into him. Scourge's hangover had almost subsided, but the blow he received seemed to revive it.
"Ouch, damit!" He swore.
"You okay mister?" Asked a slightly simple sounding voice.
All Scourge could manage was a groan, his head had hit the ground pretty hard.
"I just don't know what went wrong." The voice continued. Somepony held out a hoof. Scourge grasped it and it pulled him up with considerable strength.
He blinked and shook his head once more to help bring his now blurry vision back into focus. A gray pegasus with a shaggy blond mane stood before him. Her most distinguishing feature was her crossed eyes and from where Scourge was standing, her cutie mar appeared to be bubbles. Scourge had no idea why a mare would have bubbles for a cutie mark.
"You should watch where you're flying." Scourge growled.
"I'm Derpy Hooves, the local mailpony!" She said, ignoring the insult.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Scourge." He answered gruffly.
"Nice ta meet ya!"
"Hold on, I think I might have a package for you!" She said as she rooted through her mailbag, throwing out several letters, packages, and Scourge was pretty sure a couple muffins on the ground. She kept looking until she found a letter in a black envelope and handed it to him. Scourge opened it to find it was a letter, from Princess Luna herself!
It read: Dear Scourge,
I know you are in Ponyville although I don't exactly know why. I'm sure you have good reasons, but your services are needed in Canterlot. I need you to return to me as soon as possible. On a different note, I need detailed reports on the elementals, as you are the only one who has seen them.
Sincerely Princess Luna
Scourge's jaw dropped. He had expected to be fired for sure!
"You okay mister?" Derpy asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine.." Scourge answered, still dumbstruck.
"Okay. I should be on my way!" She said as she took off down the road, knocking several ponies to the ground as she went.
"Idiot." Scourge muttered as he continued walking.
Scourge now had questions and he hated things being kept from him. How did the Princess know he was in Ponyville? Why did she use the mail to send him the letter when she could have just teleported it to him. Why did she need information on the Elementals.
Questions. So many questions.
"Aw well, everything will be answered in due time." He told himself.
The rest of the walk to Applejack's farm was rather uneventful.
Sweet Apple Acres was nothing like the huge industrial plantations Scourge had seen in Canterlot. It was a nice, quiet place, although it had an impressive amount of apple trees.
He trotted up to the building he presumed to be the living quarters and knocked on the door.
"Come on in!" Applejack called.
Scourge opened the door and looked around. The living room wasn't too big, but it was very decorated. Medals, horseshoes, but most of all family photos covered the walls.
"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!" She said happily as she walked in.
"Take a seat!" She said as she sat down at a table with three glasses of what Scourge presumed to be Apple Cider sitting on it.
Scourge was about to sit down when a little yellow filly with red hair and a huge bow tugged at his tail.
"Can I help you?" Scourge asked, amused.
"What's your cutie mark mean?" She asked.
Scourge looked down at the three slashes that made up his presumed cutie mark.
Scourge sighed. "That's not a cutie mark." He said sadly.
She looked confused. "Then what is it?" She asked.
"It's a scar." He said sadly."When I was about your age, a stallion attacked me and my family. He clawed me with something, it left this scar. I never got a cutie mark."
Her eyes got misty."That's terrible." She squeaked.
"Alright Applebloom, that's enough." Applejack said as she pushed Applebloom out of the room.
She looked back at Scourge, who was now sitting down at the table. His glass was empty.
"Ah'm terribly sorry about her." Applejack apologized.
"That's no problem." He said, masking his sorrow.
"I'll be right back." She said.
"Take you're time." He called. Then, against his will, his thoughts flew back to the past.
"C'mon!" His mother called.
"I'm Comin' mom!" He called back.
"What do you think my cutie mark will be mom?" He asked excitedly.
"I don't know. But I'm sure it will be very sp-"
"Hand over your purse and nopony gets hurt." Called the form that stepped out of the shadows.
"Get behind me." His mother ordered him.
Scourge disobeyed. "Leave us alone!" He shouted to the cloaked figure.
"You little twerp, get lost." The stranger said, unsheathing something that glinted in the moonlight.
"You're nothing. A loser!" Scourge called.
Then the stranger rushed foreword. Scourge felt three hot streaks across his flank.
He looked town and saw his blood on the sidewalk. He screamed in agony, then collapsed.
His mother rushed to him. "Scourge, please say something!" She whimpered, tears streaming down her face.
The stranger growled and he walked away, leaving his mother clutching him.
"Scourge, you alright?" Applejack's voice snapped him out of his flashback.
"Fine." Scourge said as he turned around. Applejack was standing beside a larger red stallion.
"Mac, is that you?" Scourge asked excitedly.
Big Macintosh broke out into a huge smile. "Eeyup." He replied.
Scourge rushed to Big Mac and gave him a hug. Then, they both started laughing uncontrollably.
"You-You're still wearing that thing around you're neck, eh Mac?" Scourge asked, his face still flushed with laughter.
"Eeyup!" Mac replied in his usual fashion.
By this time AJ's jaw was halfway to the earth's core.
"H-how do you know mah brother?" She asked, a little creeped out.
"Well, we went to w-" Scourge started, but he was cut off by Big Mac clamping a hoof over his mouth.
"S'cuse us." Big mac said as he carried Scourge to the next room.
"What?!" Scourge asked angrily.
Mac appeared to think for a second before saying "She doesn't know."
Scourge felt bad for Mac, his difficulties speaking were very frustrating.
"You mean she doesn't know-" Scourge leaned in closer."About the war." He whispered.
"Eeyup." Mac replied.
"Oh, sorry."
"Are you going to tell her?" Scourge asked.
Big Mac appeared to debate this for a few seconds before saying "Eeyup."
Big Macintosh was Scourge's best friend in Ponyville, so he felt relatively comfortable saying what he did next.
"First, I have to say that I think you sister is smokin' hot." Scourge said as he looked through the window at Applejack.
"I mean, damn!" He continued.
Big Mac snarled.
Scourge ignored him."She has to be at least a nine, probably a te-" He began, but before he could finish, Mac grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against a wall.
"Not that- Ack! I would be- hhff, Interested." He choked, his face turning red.
"That's what I thought." Big Mac said as he dropped Scourge.
Scourge rubbed his throat "She's not my type." He lied.
They walked back into the front room. Applejack took one look at Scourge, then looked down at the floor. It didn't take a genius to be able to tell that she was blushing furiously. She had obviously overheard most of Mac and Scourge's conversation.
"Uh, Applejack?" Scourge asked.
"Yeah?" She answered.
"There's something Mac and I should have told you a long time ago." Scourge said.
Applejack looked up, her blush receding, her eyes narrowed.
"You remember how Mac went away for a couple of months?" Scourge asked delicately.
"Yes?" She asked suspiciously.
Scourge proceeded to tell the story the he had told the other five, but with evaluations on what Mac had done. Mac himself didn't say much, he just encouraged the major ideas.
It took half an hour to tell the story. By the end of it, all of the cider was gone and Applejack was a much wiser pony.
The story would have gone quicker but Scourge had lost his place more than once. Not because he didn't remember the story. No, it was burned into his brain. He had lost himself in Applejack's beautiful green eyes. Each time this happened, Big Macintosh brought Scourge back down to earth by delivering a sharp kick to Scourge's thigh.
Big Macintosh didn't usually meddle in his sister's relationships, but this time he had a very good reason to be against it. Mac knew almost everything about Scourge, especially that he was very smooth with mares. It was a skill he had developed with female officers during the war. Mac also knew that Scourge's relationships never lasted very long. Another important fact was that they never ended well for the mare, and Scourge almost always came out unscathed. Rarity was the exception however, Mac didn't know this. He had always thought that Scourge broke off his relationship with Rarity when they first left.
To Big Mac, it seemed that mares ended up heartbroken after a relationship with Scourge. So he decided he would die before he let Scourge ruin his sister.
Mac also didn't know that Scourge had more or less developed a sympathetic side, thanks to Rarity and Princess Luna. Who had mostly weaned him of his marekilling ways. Mostly.
"Let's go fer a walk." Mac said to Scourge.
"Fine." Scourge answered. He wasn't stupid. He knew the red stallion was going to wring him out for his comments about Applejack.
"Okay, you know what? I am stupid. I am a huge freaking idiot." Scourge thought.
"We need to discuss some things." Scourge told Applejack.
"Sure thing! Nice meeting y'all." She called as they exited, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
The walk back was incredibly awkward. Both stallions just stared straight ahead until Scourge decided to break the silence.
"So I'm guessing that you don't want to talk about the weather. Right?" Scourge asked, a bit annoyed.
"Nnope." Big mac replied.
"This is about your sister isn't it?" Scourge asked.
"Eeyup."
Scourge stopped walking."Look. I know you think I'm this evil marekiller who just gets mares so that he can break them. But I've changed. Princess Luna herself helped me change." Scourge told the red stallion.
Big Mac pondered this for a few seconds before giving Scourge a look that said "How can I believe you?"
"Good question. Why don't ask Rare?" Scourge suggested.
"Good idea." Big mac said
"Can you promise me this? If you believe that I have changed, you'll give me my shot with Applejack and you won't interfere." Scourge said.
"We'll see" Big Mac replied.
"Great." Scourge thought. Now his best friend was just another obstacle in his life. And it was an obstacle that he was going to do everything in his power to go around, not over.
He said goodbye to Mac as he went inside Rarity's workplace.
"How did it go?" She asked, looking up from her sewing machine.
"It could've gone better. But Applejack's great." He said dreamily.
This comment earned him a hard stare. Scourge proceeded to look around and spotted five dresses sitting on mannequins.
"What're these for?" He asked.
"They're the dresses for the dance tonight and now they're... done!" She said triumphantly.
"Dance?" Scourge asked.
"Yes, a dance." Rarity replied.
"I think I'll stay back."
"Yes you will."
"Hey, do you have anything to drink? I need to wash the taste of cider from my mouth." He asked.
"There's wine in the cellar." she said.
"I hate wine." He scowled.
"I know." She smirked.
Scourge growled as he walked up the stairs to Rarity's design room. Once there, he grabbed a charcoal stick and some paper.
"I haven't drawn anything in a long time." He said. Drawing had been one of his hobbies when he was a colt.
At first he just doodled, but soon found himself drawing Elementals.
Just as he finished drawing a pony made out of nothing but fire he leaned in and examined it closely.
"Where are you and what do you want from me?" He asked the drawing. He knew these things weren't finished with him.
The mission wasn't over. Not yet.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's note: I am incredibly sorry for the long delay. You can blame: My parents for confiscating my laptop, my laziness, and my so called friends. I will promise you right now that you will never have to wait this long for a chapter again.
Here I am. Laying on Rarity's couch feeling like the douche I am. She just left for the dance, the reports have been sent to Luna, so I have nothing to do. I should do something. Ponyville is such a goody-goody town they don't even have a good bar. Wait, maybe they do... What was it called? A and K? No. Apple and Kiss? No... The Knife and Apple! Yeah that's it. I wonder if it's still open. Yeah, it probably is.
His thoughts finished, Scourge vaulted off the couch as best he could with his cast. His cast. He thought about it for a second before he made his decision. He bit at the top of it until a small crack appeared in the base of it. He forced his teeth between the crack and used leverage to break apart the cast. It was slow going at first, but it got easier. Soon he tore the cast off and threw it aside. He proceeded to examine his leg. Since he had only been in the cast for about a week, his muscles hadn't weakened very much. He carefully took a step, then another, then another. He was visibly limping, but he was glad to be out of that itchy cast.
Next he went to Rarity's wardrobe. She mostly designed dresses, but once she had made a leather jacket for him. He looked through several closets before he found it, folded, in a glass case. There was one small problem. Said case was locked. Scourge picked up the cast with magic, and threw it at the wall. It was thick glass, so it didn't shatter, but a large crack had appeared. Scourge raised a hoof and stomped on the case, shattering it. This violent action brought back memories of screams of agony, ponies begging for mercy, and the sound of crunching bones.
"No, It's not a pony skull! IT'S NOT!" He screamed as he stepped back. He was so good at hiding his demons. But they still showed from time to time. It was like they were biding their time, waiting for Scourge to do something that would give them the perfect chance to take over.
Scourge sat down for a second, panting. His composure regained, he shook the shards of glass from the jacket and put it on.
"Screw Rarity." Scourge thought angrily. She could clean this up when she got home.
He proceeded to Rarity's washroom and opened the medicine cabinet. As usual there was no medicine in the cabinet. Instead it was filled with hair care products.
"Typical." Scourge sighed.
He grabbed a comb and a squirt bottle. He combed his hair until he stopped looking like someone Rainbow Dash had dried off.
He put the tools back in the cabinet and slammed it shut. Scourge opened the door to find that the sun was just setting creating a beautiful sunset.
"Enjoy beautiful sunset or get buzzed?" Scourge asked himself. He never even thought about it.
Scourge trotted off towards Soresaddle Street, his back turned to the sunset.
The Knife and Apple was on Soresaddle Street, the only shady place in Ponyville. It was the only place ponies could go to get away from the uber-nice part of town. However, most ponies never came here, and he had been told before never to go alone. But that was when he had been a colt. He could take care of himself. As he walked down the street, he spotted several stores that he really wasn't interested in such as, "adult video" stores. He scored his own mares, he didn't watch others score mares. The idea seemed rather stupid to Scourge, but it was popular.
Then Scourge spotted his destination. It wasn't too flashy, besides the neon sign of an apple with a knife piercing it.
"Go figure." Scourge thought dryly.
A stallion, slightly taller and bulkier than him stood outside the door. He wore no accessories and had a cigarette in his mouth.
"Great, if this guy jumps me, I will LOSE it." He thought angrily.
Scourge walked towards the door but before he could open it, the big pony stepped in front of the door.
"What'dya think yer doin?" He asked in a deep voice.
"Going for a drink dumbass." Scourge growled. "Got a problem with that?"
"It aint a free show." The bouncer replied gruffly.
Scourge growled before grabbing a couple of bits and tossing them into the bouncer's face before walking into the bar without so much as a glance back.
Scourge had decided to wear his tough stallion mentality for the night. He had been much to soft around Rarity and the other five. He had only acted like that when he and Luna were alone together. Any other time, he was a jerk. He had been ever since he had come back from the war. If he hadn't been a jerk, he never would have left Rarity.
His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of alcohol and the sound of an announcer. Scourge was too late to hear what he had said. But he couldn't understand why a bar would need an announcer until he heard the whooping and jeers of various stallions gathered around a stripper pole. Most of the crowd was comprised of the ponies too shady to show themselves at the dance. It wasn't a great crowd.
"Idiot." He muttered. "The Knife and Apple is a gentlecolt's club. How could you forget that?"
He sat down at the bar and thumped some bits on the counter.
A stallion walked up to him. "How can ah help you?" He asked. He must be related to the apples as he shared a small part of their accent.
"I'll have whatever you recommend." Scourge replied.
The bartender left and quickly returned with a yellow colored drink. Scourge took a sip, it tasted sweet, but it did taste like it had a significant amount of alcohol in it.
"Not bad." Scourge said.
"Name's Hard Cider, ah own this place."
"Who're you?" He asked after a short pause.
Scourge considered refusing to reveal his name, but decided against it.
"Scourge." He replied as he took a long sip, his glass was now half empty.
"Scourge, what kinda name is that?" Hard Cider asked.
Scourge's eyes narrowed. "The kind of name somepony earns for killing just for the hell of-" His eyes widened and he stopped talking as if someone had just grabbed his throat.
"What?!" Hard Cider asked, visibly disturbed.
"I- Er- I just-" He stuttered. "I- don't mean-"
"Calm down. Ah don't think anypony heard you." He whispered.
"I'm sorry I'm just-" Scourge sighed."-Having a bad day."
"That's fine. But were you serious?" Cider asked gently.
"More or less." Scourge said.
Hard Cider decided to learn a little more about this stranger.
The dance was going well, in Rarity's opinion. She took great pride in how great she and her friends looked in the dresses she had made. The music was good and it was lots of fun, but she couldn't stop thinking about Scourge. What if he did something awful? Well... That was more or less his usual routine. Do something stupid, spend threat of the day regretting it, go to sleep, wake up, and repeat. Yes, he was an idiot, but a rather charming one at that.
Rarity decided that as long as Scourge stayed at the boutique, he couldn't do much damage.
"An so I says, gimme one good reason whai ah shouldn't crush you like tha bug you is?" Scourge slurred. Yes, he was quite drunk.
Hard Cider almost burst out laughing, the story was terribly cruel, but the way Scourge told it was hilarious.
"See, I couldn't undershtand what he was trying ta say cuz he was cryin to mush, so I-" Scourge began the ending but stopped and looked at Cider, confused.
"What is it?" Cider asked.
"H-hold on a tick." He said.
He appeared to think for a few seconds asking, "Wh- why am I tellin you dis story?"
"Ah dunno." Cider replied.
"Well, shince you've-" He blinked several times before continuing. "Well, shince you've learned enough about meh" He leaned in close. "I've got a plan!"
"Wait, what?" Cider asked before scourge ran off to the room behind the strip pole.
"Aw shit. This won't end well." Cider said.
As the next stripper finished and went into the back, rustling could be heard in the rooms before Scourge himself walked onstage, levitating a microphone in front of his mouth.
"Yo, I figured you pervs could use a break from the strippers." He said into the microphone.
"No we don't!" One stallion yelled.
Scourge squinted and looked directly at the rude stallion "Yeah, you look like you really need a break from the strippers."
Most of the crowd laughed at this, and while they were distracted Scourge teleported the pole to the room at the back.
A few stallions groaned.
"Don't worry, imma put it back." Scourge said.
Cider was laughing, he still had no idea what Scourge was doing, but he looked so stupid.
Scourge tossed a record to Cider that he must have stolen from the bar and began to sing Rock Bottom by Eminem. (I couldn't get the link in, sorry.)
The music began to play.
"Listen up, this song is dedicated to all the happy ponies."
Several stallions looked around, confused.
"All the happy ponies who have real nice lives, and no idea what it's like to be broke as buck."
One stallion let out a whoop.
The beat developed as Scourge began to rap. "I feel like I'm walkin' a tight rope without circus net. I'm a nervous wreck. I deserve respect but I work a sweat for this worthless check. I'm bout ta-"
Then he abruptly fell off the stage as everypony in the Knife and Apple burst out laughing.
Scourge got up, his cheeks as red as Big Mac's normally were.
"Uh, everypony gets two rounds of drinks on meh!" He yelled as he ran over to the bar.
"This should cover it!" He said as he slammed a bag of bits down on the counter.
"How am I going to get the pole back into place?" Cider called.
Scourge ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time until he broke free and ran past the bouncer, into the pitch black streets.
He sat, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and began banging his head on the ground.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."
Jacknife wasn't a bad pony, he had just been involved with the wrong crowd for much too long. His family, the Knifes, or Knives, as they were normally called were a small band of criminals.
Jacknife and his two associates, Switchblade and Cutthroat, were out to rob somepony so that they could pay their rent. They had been searching all night until they spotted a stallion in a designer leather jacket and a silver, black diamond studded crest banging his head on the ground.
"Jackpot."
Scourge's head was staring to go numb when he heard a hoarse voice call to him.
"I'm gonna need your bits." The voice said.
"How come?" Scourge asked stupidly.
"Because if you don't give them to me, I'll beat 'em out of ya." The voice replied, as an earth pony roughly Scourge's size, with a silver coat and an orange mane stepped into the dim moonlight.
"Pfft. Come take 'em" Scourge challenged.
"Alright, you asked for it." He said as he galloped towards Scourge.
He stopped a couple feet from Scourge.
"Last chance." The stallion said, holding out a hoof.
"Go buck yourself." Scourge replied.
With that the earth pony wound up and threw a punch at Scourge.
Scourge dodged the punch and threw two of his own. One hit the earth pony square in the jaw the other hit him in the nose. Scourge's opponent stumbled backwards as Scourge kicked him in the ribs. Said stallion fell to the ground.
"To continue my earlier question, you need my bits because you don't have a job. You're a loser. I shouldn't have wasted my time with you." Scourge said with an disgusted scowl as he stood over the downed stallion. It seemed he was resisting the alcohol's influence, a sign of extreme mental power.
"NOW!" Jacknife called.
With that, two stallions grabbed Scourge, one on each fore hoof , and held him up.
"What?!" Scourge gasped.
Jacknife wiped the blood from his nose and smiled at Scourge. "It seems the tables have turned, eh?" He asked as he punched Scourge in the face as hard as he could.
Scourge's head spun, he had never been expecting to be hit like that. He had fought a few assassins when he worked for Luna, but his victories had always been flawless. It had been years since he had been hit like that.
"You fool. You can't fight me yourself, so you cheat?!" Scourge asked, enraged.
"Pretty much." Jacknife sneered as he hit Scourge again. One of the stallions holding Scourge laughed.
Scourge knew he couldn't take much more of this.
"Fine. Take my bits." He said as he spat out blood. He was too dizzy to use magic.
"Aww look who changed their mind." He said as he hit Scourge again, harder than before.
Scourge hung his head as he spit out a tooth.
"Ya see, I was just going to take your bits, but since you had your little temper tantrum back there, I think I'll just beat you and drown you in the gutter."
Scourge's expression turned from one of defiance to one of horror.
"Pathetic." A voice in his head said to him.
"What?" Scourge asked mentally.
"Scourge, conqueror of every battlefield he has set hoof on, is going to die at the hands of three low life criminals?" The voice asked him. It sounded relatively like his, except it was deeper, and slightly distorted.
"Can you help me?!" Scourge asked, desperate.
"Yes. Yes I can. But you must give me control." It said.
"Control?" He asked.
"Yes, you will be incredibly powerful, but you must give me control."
"How about a trial run of sorts?" Scourge asked.
"Excuse me?" The voice asked.
"Give me a small taste of the power." Scourge said.
"You're hardly in a position to bargain. But alright." The voice sighed
"Who are you?" Scourge asked, he knew the voice was leaving.
The voice chuckled. "Who am I? Hehe, I'm you of course." It said.
Scourge was thrown back into reality as he saw Jacknife winding up again. His crest was dimly glowing. He no longer felt dizzy or drunk.
"STOP!" Scourge commanded, his voice deeper than he remembered.
Jacknife looked very surprised before asking. "Or what?"
"Let me go. Or this will end very badly for you." Scourge replied.
"You're bluffing." Jacknife replied as he wound up again.
Scourge watched as Jacknife threw a punch with every ounce of strength he could muster. Scourge watched the blow advance on him and at the last second, he caught the hoof in his mouth.
Jacknife looked at Scourge with a horrified expression for a split second before Scourge turned his his head quickly to one side.
SNAP! Scourge both heard and felt the earth pony's bone crack.
"AUGH!" Jacknife screamed in agony as he stumbled backwards, clutching his wounded fore hoof.
Scourge then kicked out the leg of one of the brutes holding him, before bringing his fore hoofs together in front of his face. This caused the two stallions to hit heads and then both fall to the ground, dazed.
Scourge grabbed one of the downed stallions and dragged him across the road.
"THIS, is for not fighting fair." He said almost happily as he picked up the stallion and forced his head through an old tree. His head could be seen poking through the other side, but at least he was still breathing.
Jacknife was now scared for his life. But he simply sat, clutching his wounded arm, in to much pain to move. He saw that Cutthroat's head had been forced through an old tree.
He watched in horror as Scourge turned to face Switchblade. As he slowly walked towards the downed stallion, Switchblade groaned and clutched his head, unaware of Scourge. Scourge grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him up. Jacknife covered his eyes so that he couldn't watch what was happening.
"THIS, is for laughing." Scourge snarled.
"JACK! HELP M-" His cry for help was interrupted by a terrible crunching sound.
Jack uncovered his eyes to find Scourge mere inches away from him.
"L-leave me alone!" He yelled.
Scourge smiled at this, revealing a missing tooth. Jacknife watched in horror as another tooth slowly grew in to fill the old one's place.
"W-what are you?" He asked in horror.
An insane look crept into Scourge's eyes as he smiled, but this wasn't the smile of a stallion, it was the smile of a monster.
"I'm your worst nightmare kid." He said as he picked up Jacknife by the mane.
"What are you doing?!" He screamed.
Scourge said nothing as he threw Jack with all the force he could muster. Jack flew twenty feet down the street until he hit the front door of the Knife and Apple, shattering the cheap wood to splinters. Then he fell down the stairs and lay at the bottom, unmoving.
Scourge threw his head back and laughed like the maniac he had become.
"Sweet Celestia, that felt good!" He said.
"Sorry, but the trial run's finished." A familiar voice said.
"What?! No! I need more!" He protested.
"I had a felling you'd say that." The voice replied smugly. "The Elementals are coming for you. They'll be here soon. Each one has a jewel attached to it. Kill them, take the jewels and replace the jewels currently on the crest with the Elemental's jewels. Then the power will be yours."
"I'll do it." Scourge replied. "Wait, crest?! You're the crest?!"
"I'm your past memories and your worst desires coupled with the crest's power." The voice said. "Call me.. True Scourge. I've been waiting a very long time for this."
Scourge sensed his leg's strength returning to normal. He realized that the crest could heal him.
"Such power! I need more, the full potential of this crest will be amazing! Imagine what I could do!" Scourge thought as he galloped back to Carousel Boutique. The fact that it was three in the morning didn't seem to bother him at all.
"Yes, imagine."
Author's Note
Hey, I'm sorry this one took so long. I really hope that this one is worth waiting for. I hugely appreciate any constructive criticism and your comments will all be read! Also, Alexstrazsa is drawing cover art for me! He is hugely talented, a great writer and an amazing artist! You should really check him out. Also, the Knife and Apple and Hard Cider are EIMikkno's creations, not mine. I'd like to thank him for letting me use them. And I'd like to thank Firebirdtops, my dedicated editor. You rock man!
Thanks again, Scourge012 out.
Scourge snorted. What was that smell? He felt hot. Too hot. His eyes shot open and he immediately squinted. There was smoke. Lots of smoke.
Scourge then realized that there was a very good chance that Carousel Boutique was on fire.
"FIRE!" He yelled as he ran to the kitchen, where he presumed the fire had started. He could fight a fire, or he could die trying.
Sweetie bell was getting frustrated. She had burned everything that she had tried to cook for Rarity. Plus, this was the second time this month that she had been dumped here by her parents.
"We're going to Manehattan." They had said. So, for the next ten days, she was going to be forced to stay with her older sister. Sweetie had learned a little bit more about cooking from her mother since the last time she had been here. but unfortunately, the dishes she prepared had only gone from charred black to burned.
She opened the oven to take out the waffles. As she did so, a huge cloud of smoke erupted from the oven.
Suddenly she remembered that you weren't supposed to cook waffles in the oven.
"Oh well." She said as she put the burnt breakfast on the table.
She was about to call for Rarity when a menacing stallion burst through the smoke.
"BURGLAR!" She managed to scream before he covered her mouth with a hoof.
"Shhhh..." He whispered.
"MMMPH!"
"I'm not a burglar." He whispered.
Sweetie raised an eyebrow quizzically as Scourge slowly brought his hoof down from her mouth.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes." He said before he glanced around the room. "So, no fire?"
"No fire." She replied.
Scourge let out a huge sigh of relief as he set her down.
"Why'd you cover my mouth?" She asked.
"I didn't want you to wake Rarity." He replied.
"Oh don't worry. It takes a lot to wake her." She said.
"I, of all ponies, should have known that." He thought as a bundle of extremely inappropriate memories filled his skull, accompanied by a sly grin.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"Sit down. I'll tell you all about myself."
"Okay!" She said happily as she sat down.
Scourge fallowed her as he eyed the burnt food that covered the table with suspicion, not disgust. Because that would be rude.
"No, Blueblood. I don't want to go back to the gala tonight." Rarity mumbled as she rolled over in her sleep.
"Darling please!" She moaned into her pillow.
Suddenly she bolted upright in her bed.
"I really need to stop drinking before I go to bed." She murmured as she dragged herself to the bathroom. The creature that starred back at her from behind the mirror had a messy mane and very bloodshot eyes.
"Oh sure Rainbow, just one more." She groaned as she washed her face and trudged down the stairs.
She stopped and sniffed the air. Burned food. She knew that meant Sweetie Belle would be staying with her.Her parents had begun dropping Sweetie her a lot more often lately. So often, in fact, that she was here once or twice a month.
"Once or twice too often." She muttered as she opened the door to the kitchen.
What she saw next seriously surprised her. Scourge was sitting at the table chumming it up with Sweetie Belle. The two of them were talking and laughing just like old friends.
"Oh hey Raaaaaaarity!" He stretched out her name, causing Sweetie to giggle.
"Good morning Scourge." She replied coldly as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Sweetie made breakfast!" Scourge exclaimed as he crunched a burnt waffle.
"Yes, I could smell it." She said as she sat down next to her sister.
"Holy bed-head." Sweetie whispered to Scourge.
Scourge snickered before asking "So Rarity, you drank a little much? Hmmmm?"
"Yes. Yes I did." She groaned.
Then the trio ate in silence for almost two minutes, Sweetie and Scourge both realizing that Rarity was not in the mood for teasing.
As usual in such situations, Scourge broke the silence.
"So Rarity, are you seeing anyone?" Scourge asked suddenly. It was not a friendly question as his eyes were slitted as he asked.
This question obviously caught Rarity hugely off guard. "Oh, I- I'm- er-" She stuttered.
Scourge let out a quiet chuckle. "Aaaaaaand another one bites the dust." His mind sang.
"YES! Yes I am." Rarity suddenly exclaimed.
"Really?" Scourge asked, his eyes wide.
"His name is- uh- Spike! Yes I am currently seeing Spike!" She said, a bit too quickly.
"REALLY?! You're dating Spike now?!" Sweetie asked, clearly astounded.
"Yes." She replied through clenched teeth.
"Spike the d-" Before she could finish her question Rarity stuffed a hoof in her mouth.
Scourge eyed the pair suspiciously before asking, "Does Ponyville have a gym?"
"Er.. No." Rarity replied. "But you could try Rainbow Dash. I'm sure she'd be happy to train with you."
Scourge pondered this for a few seconds before replying. "Yeah sure. She seems pretty cool."
"Also, you could ask Pinkie if you can borrow her balloon, and you should probably ask Twilight to perform a cloud walking spell." Rarity said, she was talking quickly. It was obvious that she was eager to get rid of Scourge.
"Alright." He replied as he ate the last of his burnt breakfast before he headed out the door.
Scourge trotted slowly through Ponyville's market, a place he hadn't visited in a while. As he walked he hummed quietly to himself.
(Note- the song is The greatest show unearthed, by Creature Feature.)
"Fillies and gentlecolts, mares and stallions... step right up!"
He passed the same green unicorn from the day before, this time sitting with another mare.
"Behind this curtain lies a ghastly concoction of delight, horror, fantasy, and terror!"
Applejack was currently at her apple stand, arguing with another pony who was operating a stand that appeared to be selling carrots.
"Ah told y'all, that there land beside the Everfree is Apple family property!" Applejack snarled.
"I don't think so! We carrots clearly own that section." She replied, her nose high in the air.
"Why you dirty, lyin, no good..." She started, but Scourge was already too far away to hear the rest.
"Your every wish is our command, you every whimsical desire brought to life... but I'm warning you, there's always a price."
He continued walking, not noticing the towering mound of groceries headed towards him.
"Welcome to the greatest show-"
He was interrupted as he crashed into the huge mound of groceries that had been headed toward him. Vegetables of all kinds rained from the sky as Scourge lay on the ground, dazed.
As soon as Scourge regained his seances, he decided to see if anypony was hurt, although it was very unlikely.
"Are you alright?" Scourge called into a particularly large pile of groceries.
Suddenly a familiar yellow pegasus erupted from the mound. Fluttershy climbed out of the mess and began to look at her groceries with disappointment.
She sighed before saying. "Hmmph. That was a day's worth of shopping."
"I'm really sorry Fluttershy!" Scourge exclaimed apologetically.
"Scourge?!" She asked, a blush forming rapidly in her cheeks.
"Uh, yeah. Scourge, that's my name." He replied, not quite grasping the situation for some reason.
"It's really good to see you." She cooed, although she may not have meant to.
"Yeah, it's great to see you too." He said. "But I did spill all of your groceries, I'd be happy to pay for them. I'd even offer to shop with you if I didn't have so much to do."
"Oh, well, um, that's too bad." The yellow pegasus replied as she deflated. (Not Pinkie Pie deflated.)
He handed Fluttershy two hundred bit notes before saying, "I hope this covers it. I'd better get going." Then he galloped off.
Fluttershy stared at the two notes in her hand before releasing a squee. Her day's shopping had only cost less then a hundred bits!
"Idiot. You're a puppet to your emotions like everyone else."
"This love stashing spell should last long enough for you to compete the task at hand."
Scourge stopped outside Sugarcube Corner.
"Well, this is it." He thought to himself "It's time to see if my hypothesis was correct. Sweet Celestia, please let her have forgotten."
He opened the door to find a slightly older light blue mare with a swirly pink mane running the cash register. He took in his surroundings. Sugar, and lots of it. It was no wonder Pinkie was so hyper, with all this, the pink mare was probably in a constant state of sugar rush.
"Hi there." He said as he flashed her his best smile.
"Hi dear, what can I get for ya?" She asked.
"I'm here to see Pinkie Pie actually." She said. "She works here right?"
"Oh yes, she does." The blue pony answered. "She's upstairs foalsitting the twins."
"Thanks." Scourge said as he began to climb the stairs but soon returned to the counter.
"Can I get one of those green cupcakes with the little apple slice on top?"
Scourge climbed the stairs slowly, savoring the cupcake. He slowly pushed open the door he presumed to be the foal's room to find exactly what he had expected, save one key difference. Pinkie was writing in a pink diary while the foals were playing.
"Pinkie?" Scourge called.
Upon hearing this, Pinkie slammed the book and hid it behind her back.
"Hi Scourge, what are you doing here?" She asked as if nothing had happened.
"I was wondering if I could borrow your diar- Er- balloon." She asked.
"Sure. Just let me make sure it's all working fine. What do you need it for? Where are you going? Are you going to see Dashie? Soarin? Well you must have to know one of the Wonderbolts to know Soarin..." She continued spouting the usual plethora of words even as she quickly put the book back on the shelf and trotted off.
As soon as Scourge was sure Pinkie was gone he let out a colossal sigh. "That went much better then expected." He muttered.
The two foals looked towards the door.
"Pinkie?" One started.
"Pie?" The other finished.
"Uh, she'll be right back." He said.
Tears began to brim in both the foal's eyes as they stared at him. Suddenly they both burst into tears.
"WAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAA" They both screamed.
"Shit." Scourge muttered.
"Shhhh. no, please don't cry. Shhhh." She did his best to comfort them.
"AUGH!"
"BE SILENT!"
Scourge's eye's flashed black quickly before he made a slashing motion with his hoof an inch from the foal's faces. This silenced the two foals for a second, then they opened their mouths to resume their relentless assault on Scourge's eardrums, but no sound came from their. They tried again and again, tears streamed down their faces, but not a single sound was heard.
"Foals should be seen, not heard." Scourge growled. "And even seen is debatable."
He moved to Pinkie's bookshelf and easily located her diary.
"Heheh." He chuckled darkly. "let's see just what's going on inside your head Pinkie."
Big Macintosh had skipped the day's chores, a rare occurrence at the very least. He walked quickly through Ponyville, obviously with a clear destination in mind.
Upon arriving at Carousel Boutique he politely knocked on the door before letting himself in.
"Scourge?" Rarity called from behind a rack of dresses.
"It's me, Mac." He called.
"Oh Big Macintosh! What brings you here today?" Rarity asked.
"Scourge." Mac replied simply.
Rarity's face immediately dropped. "What about him?" She asked.
"I think he's got the hots fer Applejack." He replied.
"No way." She replied. Normally, such gossip would have the mare almost jumping with joy, but under the circumstances it barely effected her mood.
"I need ta know if ah can trust 'em." Mac said.
"Trust? Scourge? Those two words don't even belong in the same sentence." She replied.
"So he hasn't changed?" Mac asked, expectantly.
"Not really." She replied. "I mean he has changed a little, but he's still the same stallion."
"Thanks, that's all ah needed to know." Mac replied as he turned to leave.
As he closed the door behind him, Rarity thought about what she had done. She had just ruined any chance Scourge had with Applejack.
"It's for the best." She told herself.
"Holy shit." Scourge exclaimed as he put the book back on the shelf and fell onto his haunches.
The foals had resumed crying normally, but he had barely taken notice.
"What the BUCK?!" His mind asked in a frenzy. "That's what Pinkie writes in her diary? Does anypony else know?" He was pelted with more questions, but had next to no answers.
Pinkie bounced into the room suddenly, with no explanation as usual.
"AUGH!" Scourge cried and he jumped back like a startled cat.
"Scourge? You ok? Why did you scream?" She asked.
"You just caught me off guard, that's all." He replied quickly.
"Okey dokey lokey!" She exclaimed. "The balloon's fine and you can use it whenever you want."
"Thanks." Scourge said. "You're a great friend Pinkie."
"I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm friends with everypony! But thanks anyway." She said.
"I'm gonna go see Twilight. See you later." He said as he walked out the door and into the streets of Ponyville once again.
Mac walked through the door of his house to find what he had been looking for, his sister Applejack.
"Hey Mac, where'd ya go?" She asked.
"Not important." He replied. "Ah need to talk to ya about Scourge."
"Scourge? What about 'em?"
"Are you gonna, well, ah- go for 'em? He asked awkwardly.
"Mac!" She exclaimed. "I've already to ya to stay out of mah personal business. I don't wanna have to tell ya again!"
"He's a bad stallion." Mac said.
"Bad how?" She asked, glaring at him.
"He does bad things. He uses mares. Uses 'em." Mac said.
"I don't believe-" She started
"AJ." He interrupted. "He hurts ponies fer a livin'."
At this, Applejack's eyes grew wide. This was not a fact she had taken into consideration.
"How do I know y'all aint lyin?" She asked.
"Look." She started. "I've know him fer a real long time and I've seen 'em do some things that were pretty awful. I'm telling ya, the stallion's bad news."
"Well then, I guess I'll have to thank ya Mac. Y'all mighta just saved me." She said with a smile as she pulled her brother in for a hug.
"I'm just watchin' out fer ya." He replied as he lightly ruffled his sister's hair. "Now let's go, them apples ain't gonna buck themselves."
"Closed?!" Scourge asked, his eyes wide with surprise. "But it's one in the afternoon!" The library that housed Twilight Sparkle looked just as it always had. However, much to Scourge's dismay, it was locked and a CLOSED sign hung from the door handle.
Scourge knocked as politely as he could and waited for a response. None came. He tried again, louder this time.
"Sorry, the library's closed, come back another time please." A young male voice called from inside the library.
"I'm not here for books," Scourge said. "I need to see Twilight."
"She's not seeing anyone right now." The voice replied simply.
"This is important. Please open the door." Scourge said, his patience beginning to wane.
"Sorry." The voice called.
"Listen buddy I NEED to see Twilight Sparkle now. I'm not taking no for an answer." He warned.
"Please go away." It called.
"Open this door." Scourge said.
Silence.
"Okay. This is your last chance. Let me in, or I will let myself in." Scourge threatened.
Silence.
Scourge growled, his eyes flashed black for a split second as he wound up with his right fore-hoof. He threw a punch as hard as he could, shattering the wood to splinters. Scourge withdrew his hoof, the hole he had make had a circumference only slightly larger than his hoof.
He forced his face through the door's new peephole and looked around. He spotted a purple and green dragon on his back, desperately scrambling backwards.
"Let me in!" Scourge commanded as he withdrew his head. The dragon stood up but didn't move.
"Don't make me partake in any more remodeling!" Scourge threatened.
The dragon nearly vaulted to the door and unlocked it. Scourge walked through and dusted himself off as if nothing had happened.
"I am -er -I -uh" The dragon stuttered, he was literally shaking.
"Scourge placed a comforting hoof on the dragon's shoulder.
The dragon looked up at him with eyes that showed pure terror.
"P-please don't kill me." He whimpered.
"Please don't make me." Scourge replied simply. "Now, enough of that. First of all, nice place." He gestured around the library stupidly. "Second, where's Twilight? And no not that Luna-aweful book series."
"She's- She's in her room, the door's locked. She won't let anypony in." He stuttered.
Scourge took a step towards the young dragon, prompting him to whimper and take a step back.
"You really are terrified of me, aren't you?" Scourge asked with a grin.
"I- I-" He started.
"Relax kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." Scourge said.
"But you-" He started, but was once again interrupted.
"Yeah, the door. Sorry about that." Scourge said, rubbing the back of his neck.
He held out a hoof. The dragon eyed it suspiciously before grasping it and giving a weak shake.
"Alright." Scourge said as he began to climb the stairs to Twilight's room.
The dragon suddenly spoke up. "One question."
Scourge turned around to face him. "What?"
"Why didn't you just pick the lock with magic or teleport inside?" He asked.
Scourge gave the dragon and approving smile before asking him a question in return. "Now where's the fun in that?" Then he proceeded to climb the stairs.
Upon his arrival at Twilight's bedroom, he simply knocked.
Silence.
"Alright Scourge, this must be handled delicately, there's no telling why she won't let anypony in." He told himself.
"Twilight?" He called softly.
He listened intently for a few seconds but heard nothing.
"Twilight? Are you alright?" She called, a little louder this time.
He listened once again, for a few seconds he heard nothing. Then he heard a small, quiet sound.
"Sobbing?" His mind asked.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
Sobbing, still barely audible.
"Alright, I need to get in there." He told himself.
Scourge's horn glowed for a second, then he teleported. But it felt different this time. Usually, he simply felt weightless for a millisecond, then he was where he wanted to be. This time though, the world went black as he felt a sharp tug on his entire being, then he was where he wanted to be. This method felt strange, but was strangely faster, and felt like it took less energy. Though. he had absolutely no Idea how he had managed it. He quickly decided that it wasn't that important.
He looked around Twilight's room, trying to find her. Her curtains were drawn and her room was a mess. Shelves toppled over and food and drinks littered the room, most of them barely touched. When his eyes reached Twilight's bed, there was a lump in her covers, roughly the size of the pony he was looking for.
He lightly prodded the lump with a hoof "Twi? You alright?"
This question triggered a blast of concussion magic to burst from the bed, throwing Scourge to the floor a couple of feet away.
Twilight Sparkle quickly rose from the comforter and stared at Scourge, who gave a dry cough.
Scourge looked up at the mare that had just tossed him across the room like a tin can. She was Twilight, but not the Twilight he was familiar with. Her mane was a total mess, her eyes were bloodshot, probably from crying because those eyes were still spouting tears.
Scourge coughed again before rising to his hooves. "Twilight what's wrong?" He asked.
"Did- Did I just..." She trailed off and resumed sobbing. She just stood there her head hung low, tears falling from her face to the floor.
Scourge rushed over and wrapped a comforting hoof around her. "What's wrong?" He asked again, softer this time.
"I don't- don't want to talk about it." She managed to mumble.
"That's fine." He said as he guided her over to the bed.
"You sure did a number on this room." Scourge commented as they both sat down on their haunches.
He returned his foreleg around her shouders as she simply stared off into space.
For some time, they just sat there, Scourge doing his best to comfort the purple mare.
After what felt like hours to Scourge, Twilight finally spoke. "I c-can't believe they're gone." She sobbed.
"Who's gone?" He asked without thinking. As soon as he got an answer, he immediately regretted asking.
"M- my- my p- p- parents." She managed to get out before once again collapsing into another fit of sobs.
Scourge immediately gritted his teeth and looked to the floor. Bad thoughts and memories filling his skull.
He turned the mare's face so that he could look her in the eye. "Twilight I- I know how you feel." He said solemnly.
"What?" She asked, her bloodshot eyes went wide at his statement.
"My parents died about three years back in an accident. It hurt me more than every blow I took in all my years." He said. "Which, actually isn't all that long of a legacy. I'm twenty-five." He cracked a sad smile at the last statement.
"Scourge I-" She started.
"Twilight, listen to me. The worst thing you can possibly do is lock yourself in your room and cry." He said forcefully."You've some of the nicest mares I've ever met as your friends and they'll help you through this rough spot. Trust me. I went through the same thing by myself, and I never told anypony. And now, I really wish I hadn't."
Scourge and Twilight simply stared at each other for a few seconds before Twilight pulled Scourge in for a strong hug, burying her muzzle in his shoulder.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She whimpered into his shoulder.
"It's fine. It was nothing, really." She said.
"I'm sorry, I think I'm going to go see Fluttershy." She said suddenly.
"Yeah, she seems to be your best option in this situation." He said. "Her or Rarity or Applejack."
She stood up to leave, but Scourge stopped her. "Twilight I know this is an awful time, but can you perform a spell for me?" he asked, not meeting her eye.
"Well, I- I guess so." She replied, a little surprised. "What spell?"
"A cloud walking spell. I'm hoping to go and see Rainbow Dash." Scourge said.
"Oh sure, that spell isn't very hard to perform." She said before adding. "I'm surprised you don't know it."
"I'm more specialized in combat magic, actually." He said as the purple unicorn's horn glowed for a few seconds before a red aura slowly rose from her horn and drifted to Scourge's hooves, then circled them for a little while.
"There." She said proudly. "That should do it."
"Thanks Twilight. Oh, and if you ever need anypony to talk to, I'm always there for you."
Scourge descended the steps with Twilight Sparkle at his side. Twilight walked through the door without stopping, but Scourge trotted into the kitchen to talk with Spike.
"Dragon? You there?" He called.
"Yes. And my name is Spike!" He said angrily as he walked over to the pony.
"Spike right. got I-" Scourge suddenly stopped talking as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"Are you okay." Spike asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"You're- You're-" He stirred before his cheeks grew red, he clamped his mouth shut, prompting his cheeks to fill with air. After about two seconds, he burst out laughing hysterically.
"Rarity- she's da-" But he couldn't even finish a sentence. He fell to the floor, laughing and rolling, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
By this time, spike was getting pretty frustrated. "Why are you laughing?" He asked, his claws curled into fists.
Scourge laughed for another ten whole seconds before standing up to face Spike.
He once again put a hoof on Spike's shoulder."Sorry Spike. I gotta go. But heh, thanks for the laugh." Then he trotted off, leaving behind a very confused purple and green dragon.
Roughly an hour and a half later, Scourge slowly stepped out from Pinkie's balloon. It wasn't like he didn't trust Twilight's ability, it was just that he didn't want to take any chances in this kind of situation. He exhaled as his hoof slowly touched the cloud.
"Praise Celestia." He muttered as he walked towards Rainbow's front door. The place seemed to resemble a palace made of clouds, Pillars and rainbow colored waterfalls were everywhere.
"Kinda makes you wonder how somepony working on the weather team could afford something like this." Scourge said to himself admiring the palace in all it's beauty.
Upon arriving at Rainbow's front door he reached out a hoof to knock, but withdrew it before he made a sound.
"I really should stress the fact that I ended either one or two lives last night, and gave another stallion a concussion." Scourge brought a hoof to his chin as he pondered the questions he was asking himself.
He shook a purple hoof dismissively. "I've done much worse than that." He told himself.
"Dash? You home?" He called as he knocked on the door.
Within five seconds the door opened. "Scourge? What're you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You're the iron pony. Correct?" He asked.
She struck a pose and brought a hoof to her chest. "Well I don't mean to brag, but yeah technically I am." She stated proudly.
"Great!" Scourge exclaimed. "Have you ever thought of training anypony personally?" He asked as he let himself in.
"Well yeah I've thought about it..." She said absentmindedly.
"I bet you're wondering why I'm here." Scourge said as they sat down. Dash's living room was as luxurious as the rest of her house.
"Yeah I am actually." She replied.
"I was wondering if you'd want to be like, my personal trainer. Or something to that extent." He said.
"Wow. Really?" She asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah really. I could pay you, I could give you anything you wanted." He said.
"Really?!" She asked, her eyes growing wider.
"Well I don't mean to brag but as you can imagine, my job pays very well." He boasted with a smirk.
"Are you bribing me?" She asked with a smirk that mirrored his.
"Maybe." He replied smoothly.
"Well to be honest, all I really want..." She trailed as she leaned in close to him, her muzzle a mere inch from his.
"...Is you." Suddenly she pushed her lips onto his, kissing him passionately. Scourge kissed her back, if only for a split second, out of instinct before he realized what he was doing.
He pushed her off of him as he got up from the couch and stood. "Rainbow we can't do this. This is wrong and you know it."
She chuckled as she got up from the couch and crouched in front of him, almost like a cat ready to pounce. "It's like you think I'm giving you a choice..." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not."
Scourge bolted for the front door, but Rainbow was faster, so much faster. She was out the window and back in a blur. Scourge tried the door, it was locked.
"But- but that's impossible." Scourge said, backing up against the door. "It was unlocked when I came in."
"You should know Scourge, I'm the fastest in Equestria." She said seductively, flexing her wings.
He turned to look at the door. "I really didn't want to break anymore doors today. But desperate times call for desperate measures." He thought as he took a few steps back from the door and charged it, striking it with his shoulder.
The door flew off it's hinges and fell to the cloud below it. He shook off the impact before sprinting towards where he remembered leaving the balloon.
He arrived at the spot, but his only method of transport was gone. He looked up to see it tied to a cloud some two-hundred feet above him on another cloud.
He heard a giggle and turned to see Dash slowly advancing on him. Pure lust burned in her eyes.
Scourge took a step back onto nothing he quickly withdrew his hoof and looked over his shoulder. It was a very long way down. He shook his head. He had but a single option left. He was going to have to try and talk his way out of this.
"Rainbow, this is wrong. You know it. I know it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this. But we can't." He said.
Rainbow slowed by only the tiniest degree as she asked. "Why not?"
"This is it. It's the only way to get her to stop. You have to tell her." He thought desperately.
"Because I already slept with Pinkie!" He nearly yelled.
Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Scourge, her eyes wide. She took a step back. "You- you-" Suddenly her face turned red, and her cheeks filled with air. She began laughing hysterically. She fell to the cloud, tossing and turning as she laughed.
"W-why are you laughing?" He asked, dumfounded.
Dash suddenly zipped away and returned wearing a wig, still laughing. A wig that looked exactly like Pinkie Pie's hair.
"WHAT." Scourge breathed.
"You- you should see the look on your face!"
Scourge's surprise quickly turned to anger. "How could you do this?! Do you have any Idea how guilty I felt?" He began advancing on Dash. "This is too far! This wasn't pranking, this was just cruel!"
"I-I'm sorry I didn't think-" The cyan pegasus started to apologize, but was cut off.
"You know what? Screw you!" Scourge said, raising his voice. "Now I want you to get Pinkie's balloon for me. I'm going back to the surface."
"But Scourge I-" Again she was interrupted.
"NOW." He barked.
She flew over to the balloon and pushed it to the could Scourge jumped in before it was tethered down and began descending. Unfortunately, the balloon was a rather slow method of transport, so Scourge had plenty of time to think.
"You have to admire the work that went into that prank." His mind stated. "Pinkie must have had to get you so plastered that you would take off your crest, then she would have to feet so to drink until you passed out, or get you to pass out by some other methods. And where would they get a wig-"
"Shut up." Scourge muttered.
Scourge walked throughout the door of Rarity's home. He considered how everything that he had done today had been a complete waste of his time.
"Back so early?" Rarity called, fitting a few jewels on yet another dress.
"Yeah that whole thing with Dash isn't going to work." He replied, ascending the stairs to his guest bedroom.
"Oh, and why not?" She asked, curious.
"Remember that whole sleeping with Pinkie Pie deal?" He asked.
"Yes, but I real don't see wh-" Scourge cut her off.
"Prank." He growled before closing the door.
Rarity gasped and sat down on her couch. "But- but they stopped pranking. They kept taking it too far and hurting ponies. Why would they start doing that again?" She asked herself.
No answers came. None at all
*EDITOR'S NOTE*
First of all, I am sorry for the ridiculous delay. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, it was way overdue.
Secondly, I wand everyone to give an enormous hand to my editor, Firebirdtops. He is an extremely great editor and I would appreciate it if you end and read his stuff! As always, constructive criticism is much appreciated!
Well, that's pretty much all I have to say, see you all in the next chapter!
Scourge lay on his back, beside his bed, ready to begin training. Pure determination burned in his eyes. He wasn't going to allow some random creatures to be the death of him. He took a breath, put his fore-hooves behind his head, and began doing sit ups.
"One. Two. Three. Four..."
"Hundred ninety-eight... Hundred ninety-nine.... Two hundred!" He groaned as he collapsed. He rested for sixty seconds before starting push ups.
"The things I do for this bucking nation." He muttered.
Scourge galloped quickly on his way to the Everfree Forest. Upon arriving, he dropped his saddlebags and began some cool down stretches before starting his next session.
Once he had rested, Scourge looked around at the dense woods. Selecting a towering maple, he struck out with his left fore hoof. Satisfied with the impact, Scourge hit the tree with the flat of hoof again. He had always thought trees would make good punching bags and it seemed he had been right.
Scourge fell back on his bed, exhausted from a day of training. This would be his daily routine for the next week, excluding combat training. He fell into a dreamless sleep almost immediately.
Scourge tensed as he focused every fibre of his being into performing magic. After a few seconds of this, a bast of black magic shot from his horn. taking a large chunk out of the earth some twenty feet away.
"BOOYAH!" He yelled as he punched the air triumphantly.
After the week ended, Scourge felt much stronger. His muscles didn't ache as much as they usually did after training this intense and he seemed to be gaining strength faster then usual.
"Must be the crest," he muttered as he stopped in front of the doorway to Twilight's residence.
Scourge knew that all six mares would be at Twilight's place, as he had heard Rarity talking about a sleepover for that night.
He needed to tell them that he was facing these things, even if Rainbow and Pinkie were a couple of jerks and Rarity hated him.. and Mac had probably turned Applejack against him... and this would probably scare Fluttershy shitless. At least Twilight might be happy to see him.
Scourge politely knocked on the door and waited for a response.
"Hello?" Spike's familiar voice called.
"Are you gonna keep me outside all night?" He called with a grin on his face. He then heard fast footsteps before the door swung open.
"Scourge! It's great to see you!" Spike said nervously.
"Where is Twilight and her little band?" asked Scourge.
"Upstairs!" Spike said quickly, pointing a claw at Twilight's bedroom.
"Yeah?" Scourge replied as he looked to the door. "Alright, thanks." Then he rushed off to the room.
After Scourge shut the door behind him Spike muttered, "It took me over two hours to fix the front door, thanks for asking." Then he pulled his mirror out from behind one of the bookcases where it had been hidden.
Scourge opened the door to find all six of the mares he had been looking for, although their faces were covered in a strange, green goop. Well, except for Rainbow Dash, who had been looking at the other five like they were idiots before Scourge interrupted them.
"Scourge?" Fluttershy asked quietly, being the only pony with a mud mask and no cucumbers on her eyes.
"Scourge? Scourge is here?" Rarity said as she jumped up. "Where?"
"Try taking the food off of your eyes for a few seconds." Scourge muttered.
Rarity and Twilight approached him, while the remaining four held back.
"Scourge!" Twilight said as she took the cucumbers off her eyes. "I'm sorry. I bet you are upset because you weren't invited. I really just thought that it was sort of an event for ma-"
"Actually no. I'm not." He said, interrupting her. "I need to tell you something." He took a deep breath and continued. "The day after tomorrow I'm going to-"
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you darling, but I believe that I should bring something to your attention." Rarity suddenly said.
Scourge's eyes narrowed.
"Ponies have seen you around town lately and they've been saying... Things." She continued.
"Things?" He asked, annoyed that he had been interrupted.
"Yes. They've been saying you look... Dark and- and twisted." She said unsteadily.
"That's ridiculous." He said.
"Um, actually..." Fluttershy said, taking a step forward with a mirror in her mouth.
Scourge took the mirror and looked at his reflection and nearly gasped in surprise. It was true. The purple in his eyes had nearly faded completely to black and those same eyes had very dark circles under them. He touched them to find that they were actually the colour of his coat now. The overall colour of his coat had also darkened significantly.
He set the mirror down.
"I'm fine." He growled.
"There's- there's something else." Twilight said delicately.
"Enlighten me." He snarled.
"Well, I've noticed that whenever you use any kind of magic... You're expelling significant amounts of dark energy." She replied.
"That's- well, that's even more ridiculous!" He shot back.
"Yes darling, I've sensed it as well." Rarity replied.
"Is something wrong sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she too, stepped forward.
"Yes! Yes!" Scourge suddenly yelled. "Dash and Pinkie bucked with my feelings for their own amusement, My best friend Mac thinks I'm a complete douche, and to top it all off the same things that almost killed me in the desert are coming back the day after tomorrow to finish what they started!"
After what must have been over twenty seconds of awkward silence, apart from Scourge panting, Twilight broke the silence.
"Is that what you wanted to tell us?" She asked quietly.
"Yes." He breathed. "Yes, that's why I'm here."
"Scourge if yer gonna fight these things and they're as dangerous as ya say, we could get the Elements of Harmony and help ya out." Applejack offered.
"Yeah!" Rainbow added "We'd be even stronger together!"
"No." Scourge growled. "I'm doing this alone."
"But we'd be so much stronger as a tea-" Twilight started.
"What are you, freakin' stupid?!" Scourge snarled.
Everypony in the room stopped and stared.
"Basically, I'm kind of a big deal. If any of you had fought in any of the fights I had fought in, you'd be bucking dead." He was now an inch from the purple unicorn's face. "So I think that I can handle a couple of freaks."
He turned to leave.
"Don't come looking for me. After this I'm going back to Canterlot." He said, and then he was gone.
As everypony else stood there gaping, Pinkie Pie, who had been silent throughout this conversation, whispered something quietly out the door.
"I'm sorry Scourge."
(Note: Song is Iridescent by Linkin Park)
Scourge slowly walked into one of the few moonlit clearings in the Everfree Forest. He imagined his hoofsteps were in time with the opening piano. It was one of the few slow songs that he actually enjoyed listening to.
Upon reaching His destination, Scourge closed his eyes, lowered his head, and began to sing quietly to himself. It always had helped calm his nerves in battle before.
"You were standing in the wake of devastation."
"And you were waiting on the edge of the unknown."
"And with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying 'save me now!'"
"You were there, impossibly alone."
"Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?"
"You build up hope, but failure's all you've known."
"Remember all the sadness and frustration, and let it go."
"Let it go."
Scourge sighed and opened his eyes.
"This is it."
Well, I hope you enjoyed this gargantuan cliffhanger. I, as always enjoyed writing it and would like to thank my awesome editor Firebirdbtops. It seems that I may have spelt his name wrong in previous notes.
Scourge012, out.
Scourge witnessed a flurry of movement, a bright light, and then they stood before him.
Six alicorns had arrived in the clearing. Scourge had to shield his eyes as one of them seemed to give off a bright light. The six of them, all appearing to be comprised completely of a single element, each had a gem of some sort reside below their horns. They appeared to be created from pure light, darkness, fire, ice, stone, and wind and from what Scourge could make out, their jewels were diamond, a piece of obsidian, ruby, sapphire, a shiny brown rock, and an emerald. None of them were seemed armed, but then, neither was he.
Scourge took a step back, this was not what he had been expecting. Each one of them must have been twice his size.
Without warning, the stone elemental rushed towards him, both front hooves raised, prepared to crush Scourge into dust.
Scourge ducked out of the way a split second before the mighty hooves struck the ground. He looked back to see that the stone elemental was now stuck in the ground, trying furiously to wrench it's front hooves free.
Scourge took his chance.
He clambered up onto the back of the monster, wrapped his front hooves around it's head and quickly wrenched it to the side, producing a satisfying crunch.It instantly went limp and fell to the ground. Scourge blinked twice before cracking a smile.
"That's it?" He yelled at the other elementals who had strangely stood unmoving the whole time.
The ice and fire elementals immediately sprung into action, the first unsheathing two blades from within its hooves, and charged as the second prepared for the same.
Scourge jumped backwards to avoid being sliced in half before firing a blast of dark energy that severed the ice elemental's right hoof at it's shoulder, as well as knocking it over.
He sprinted forward, grabbing the blade as he went. He swung the sword in an attempt to behead his fiery opponent, but the blade simply passed right through.
It responded by shooting a fireball that hit Scourge in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. He managed to bring his sword up as he backed away, but it didn't let up. The fire elemental continued launching fireballs at him, but his stolen sword seemed to deflect them pretty well.
Suddenly he heard a scream. He looked up to see a familiar grey pegasus plummeting from the sky, a trail of fire and smoke behind her.
His eyes went wide.
"Derpy!" He exclaimed before he teleported.
Derpy Hooves had absolutely no idea what was going on. One second she was making a delivery, then she was plummeting from the sky, her wing ablaze, and now she was in the arms of some strange stallion.
Suddenly, she was on the ground, her savior leaning over her.
He tapped his hoof on her forehead.
"Look at me." He commanded.
She strained to focus her eyes on this stallion and after a moment or so of concentration, she was staring into what use to be a familiar pair of eyes. Now the irises were almost completely gray.
"Okay, you're fine." He said. "Stay here. don't move."
Then he was gone.
Derpy looked to the group where he had been standing and noticed that the earth looked almost... dead.
Something was wrong. That she was sure of.
Scourge was now back in the clearing. Those three long distance teleports had left his magic energy rather low, so he would have to be careful from now on.
He ducked behind the corpse of the stone elemental to avoid being blasted by the fireballs now being hurled his way.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. He could easily suffocate a fire, and he was hiding behind something that would surely do the job.
He coated the corpse in magic and slowly pushed it forward until he was a mere five feet from his target. Then he pulled it apart to grains of sand, before covering his enemy from head to hoof in stone.
He heard something behind him and turned to face the danger. The ice elemental, minus one hoof and sword and rose to it's back hooves. It slashed the air angrily and charged.
Scourge ducked beneath a slash that surely would have taken off his head and delivered a powerful kick to his opponent's midsection. His enemy fell to the earth. Before it could react, He stomped on it's rear left leg as hard as he could, shattering it.
But the monster didn't give up. It stabbed one of it's swords into the earth and attempted to push itself back up. Scourge kicked it with all the strength he could muster, sending huge cracks up It's head.
It fell to the earth, unmoving.
Scourge was panting. He was nearly exhausted, both physically and in terms of magic but he was optimistic. He could win this.
Before the wind elemental could react, it too was coated in stone. Only Light and Darkness remained.
Speed had never been one of Scourge's strengths. He had never won a race in his life, he had always emerged victorious in battle because he was strong and brutal when he fought.
He had witnessed fast before. Rainbow Dash was fast. The Wonderbolts were fast. But these things they moved with absolutely incredible speed and grace. Before he could even blink. Light had pinned his front hooves behind his back and Dark had punched him in the stomach so hard the breath was forced from his lungs.
Light dropped him and he crumpled like a leaf. Dark grabbed him by the mane and held him up before Light. This creature actually appeared to be capable of changing it's expression. It gave him a look that was part distain, part respect. It was clear that it eyed him as a fellow warrior.
Light unsheathed a sword that seemed to glow in the darkness. It strangely held it in it's front hooves, raised to decapitate Scourge. A painless death, which was not what he deserved.
Scourge had managed to regain enough of his breath so that he could think straight. He had one chance, only one thing he could do that came to mind.
A blast of concussive energy left him, throwing both his assailants to the ground, but they were already rising once again. Scourge grabbed Light and Dark with magic and pushed them against each other. Light and Dark don't mix, everypony knows that. The reaction was immediate. He held them together as hard as he could, they both started to expand slightly, energy building within them.
Suddenly, both of his adversaries went critical. The blast threw him to the ground as he screamed.
He slowly got to his hooves and surveyed the clearing. All that remained of the elementals were their gems, nothing more. Actually, that was inaccurate. The sapphire was nowhere to be found. Scourge looked around, holding his side.
He gasped.
Pain.
No.
Agony surged through him. He looked down to see a blade piercing his chest. It lifted him up, then twisted. Scourge coughed, sending a torrent of something warm down his chin and coat.
The blade was withdrawn, and he fell to the earth.
The last thing he saw before the world faded was his own hoof and a growing pool of blood.
Notes of the Author
I know that this is long overdue. I will try my best to get the next chapters out as quickly as I can. As always I would love to hear your feedback! Comments and likes are much appreciated.
So that’s it then? You’re finished? Done? I must say, I’m very disappointed. I expected much more from you, Scourge.
Scourge’s eyes opened quickly, as he sucked in a breath.
“I’m alive?!” He thought to himself, “That’s impossible! I should be-“
“Dead?” A deep, distorted, and disembodied voice asked before chuckling darkly, “You are.”
“Then, how am I breathing?” He asked as he got to his hooves, “And how can you read my thoughts?”
“Because,” The voice started “I am you. Look around, does this place look familiar to you?”
Scourge surveyed his surroundings. He was in the same clearing as before, with a couple of key differences. For one, all the trees were missing their leaves. Also, there was no sign of the sun or moon, making it hard to see clearly. As if that wasn’t enough, a thick fog blanketed the entire clearing evenly.
“Yes.” Scourge answered plainly.
“You died here.” The voice told him, “You failed here.”
“Well, I’m dead,” Scourge shot back. “so I don’t see why all this matters.”
“You’re here because my patience is wearing thin,” The voice told him “and because I’m not finished with you.”
“Who’re You?” Scourge asked, “My boss? Because, I don’t see why you think you have auth-“
“Why do I have authority over you?!” The voice asked, clearly angered. “That is not for you to know. Our deal is, that you do as I say and you’ll get what we agreed on!”
“And what is it you wanted me to do?” Scourge asked.
“Kill what has been attacking you. It’s as simple as that.” The voice answered. “I’m going to send you back so that you can finish what you started.”
The voice’s volume increased, “If you fail me again, you have my word that I will make you scream for something as sweet as pain.”
Thunder crackled over Scourge’s head and lightning flashed. Suddenly, a bolt hit Scourge, vaporizing him.
“Do you think he’s alright?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t know, but I hope so.” Twilight Sparkle answered.
“We should’ve gone with him.” Rainbow Dash said.
“He didn’t sound like he wanted us to.” Fluttershy added.
All six mares sat around a game board, still at Twilight’s house. The mood was not at all cheery since Scourge had left. All of them were worried about him, even though they were positive he wasn’t going to come back, even if he survived.
“Just out’a curiosity,” Applejack started, “What did he say when he meant ‘Bucked with my feelings’?
The cyan Pegasus hung her head in shame. “Me and Pinkie, we played a prank on him. We made him think-“
Pinkie Pie interrupted her friend. “It was my idea!” Tears were forming in her eyes, “We made him- we made him think he had slept with me.”
“What?!” Twilight gasped, “Pinkie, we said no more pranks for this exact reason. We knew you and Dash would take it too far!”
“We didn’t mean to hurt him.” Pinkie whimpered, “I don’t know, when I was around him, it just seemed like a really good idea. It was almost like something bad was affecting my judgment. I’m sorry.”
Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail were not as fluffy as they usually were, her eyes misty.
Scourge slowly opened his eyes this time, as if awakening from a deep sleep. The first thing he saw was ice, and that the ice was moving.
The Ice Elemental was desperately trying to pull off his crest with its remaining hoof, not yet noticing Scourge’s resurrection.
“That’s mine.” Scourge growled as he grabbed the monster’s hoof.
The creature tried to pull away, but it had weakened, and Scourge was once-again at full strength. This was going to be a very one-sided fight.
Scourge began with a punch to the face that sent his opponent sprawling. When it attempted to rise, he hit it again, and again, and again, until his enemy was little more than chips of ice.
“Right then.” Scourge said as he gave his hoof a shake. “Who’s next?”
He looked around but the clearing was empty. His opponents had vanished, leaving only their jewels behind.
Then, the black diamonds on his crest began to shake, and one by one they fell off and clattered to the ground, until only the largest center one remained.
“Wait a tick...” Scourge said, quite confused.
But the process continued despite his confusion. The jewels of the fallen enemies slowly levitated into the air, before flying at him and attaching to his crest.
That’s when the pain started. He felt raw power ripping through his very being and he screamed. The pain continued growing, more and more intense, until his mind realized that the only possible escape would be to shut down.
And so it did…
“Huh?” Scourge started. He hadn’t woken up this time. He had simply, been there. But where was “There”? That was the question.
He looked, but all he saw was white. There was no up, no down, no right and no left. It was nothing but an endless space.
Then he heard clapping. That was good, it mean somepony else was here too.
“Hello?” He called, “Is anyone there?”
“Just you and I.” A familiar voice said.
“Oh!” Scourge exclaimed. “You brought me here.”
“That I did.” The voice said as a figure began to fade into existence.
Scourge was more than a bit surprised. Most of the figure was covered in a pitch-black cloak that actually seemed to be constantly moving. Said cloak covered the right side of the figure’s face as well as its right hoof. It appeared to be a pony, from what Scourge could see, although it must have been the size of Princess Celestia, if not bigger. Its coat was a slightly lighter black than his cloak. Its face was horribly twisted; the eye that he could see was just as black as his cloak. But, that was the thing: the eye was all black. There was no sign of a pupil or iris of any sort. Its teeth were all sharp, every one like a razor, and as white as if it went to a dentist daily. Light actually seemed to reflect off them.
“You’ve done well.” The figure smiled, revealing even more of its hideous maw.
“You didn’t say anything about pure energy ripping me apart, or the jewels falling off my crest when you gave me this job!” Scourge spat.
“Didn’t I?” The figure asked, the smile ever-present. “I’m terribly sorry, I must’ve forgotten.”
Scourge’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I’ve finished my job, do I get my reward?”
“Ah yes, your reward.” The figure replied. It nodded it’s head and a cage made of ebony bars immediately appeared around Scourge.
“What?!” Scourge cried as he grabbed hold of the bars. “You liar! You worthless piece of-“
“I kept my promise.” The creature said calmly as it approached the bars. “Do you not feel stronger?”
Scourge thought about that for a second before replying. “Yes.”
“Well, you can be as powerful as you want,” It said. “In there.”
And with that, it turned and began to walk away.
“No!” Scourge roared. “You worthless waste of pony anatomy! When I get out of here I’m going to break you in half!”
The creature suddenly reappeared, it's eyes narrow. “My name is True Scourge.”
True Scourge awoke in the clearing this time. Still bearing his hideous smile he quickly got to his hooves, dusted himself off, and started walking towards Ponyville.
There was work to be done. It was time to take back what was his.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
That's right, I'm back. I'm going to try to release chapters sooner from now on and I'm sorry for the recent delays. To anyone who ever thought this story was dead, I assure you that I will tell you if it's dead. I will formally cancel it.
Now, I'd like to thank my fantastic editor, Firebirdbtops (spelled it right this time!).
P.S. If anyone was wondering, this fic takes place after season 2 ended, but before season 3 began.