//------------------------------//
// Phase Three and Three Quarters:『DAY OF THE DEAD』 
// Story: King Crimson's Bizarre Adventure through Horse World: The Crimson-ing 
// by 81298821227777777_ 
//------------------------------//

Pride peered down from the rooftops of Ponyville onto the now independent Stand, King Crimson, trying to figure how to proceed with this situation. On the good side, the experimental spell she had cast seemed to work, as the ponies in the street who had witnessed an innocent bystander's death has locked their vision on Crimson. Even Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, had him in his sight. With how things had gone for him, the ponies were almost sure to turn on the lone Stand. 

On the bad side, all of them together may not even be able to top the overwhelming power of King Crimson, and with his main abilities still a mystery, Pride had no way to figure out a proper attack plan.

'Should I play the game of chance? Or should I take matters into my own hands?' Pride pondered upon the situation. 'My own ability will no longer work against him , so I can't attack directly...'

Wait. Back up.

'An innocent bystander's death...'

Will it work?

'Hmmm... although, I still haven't work out the "side effect"...'

Is it worth it?

Pride paused, and then snickered. "Of course it's worth it. Now, with a little bit of dark magic, it might just work..."



King Crimson was frozen in place, the eyes of many placed upon him. He searched his mind for any kind of plan to escape the situation.

"Snap out of it, Crimson! We have to act now!"

"QUIET. CRIMSON IS THINKING."

Make a swift escape or barrel through the crowd? Leave no trace or make your presence known? Ruthless violence or strategic diplomacy? What will it be, what will it be? Will the King comply or will he be free?

King Crimson blinked. "What the hell is wrong with you, Crimson!?"

"Uhm... E-Excuse me."

Crimson looked down to face the lavender unicorn that called for his attention. She was clearly afraid, and averted her gaze when he looked down at her.

Twilight chuckled nervously. "May I please s-speak with you for a moment... uh... Mr. C-Crimson?"

What muscles Epitaph had froze solid. "We're done for."

King Crimson crouched down, causing Twilight to jump slightly. "WHAT DOES HORSEY WANT? CRIMSON IS TRYING FIGURE OUT AN ESCAPE PLAN."

Twilight was expecting a quick death, but instead got the vocabulary of a child, which she couldn't tell what was worse. Either way, she didn't plan further than that. "Uhm.. well..."

King Crimson poked her nose, almost causing Twilight to faint, then spoke to Epitaph. "I THINK THIS HORSEY IS BROKEN."

"Maybe they aren't all intelligent? Makes it easier for us to get out of-" Epitaph was cut short by a black and white hand smacking them in the face. When King Crimson regained focus, he saw a slim, black and white figure with green eyes and a ridiculous hat facing them. From the nearby debris, the recently un-deceased stallion walked slowly towards him, his eyes glowing green and a look of malice on his face. The sight of this, of course, caused panic to spread throughout the crowd, sending ponies running in every direction. Twilight, however, stood her ground.

"You're going to pay for doing that to me, King Crimson!" The stallion hissed at him.

Before King Crimson could rise again, four bony hooves sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his arms and legs, effectively pinning him. Twilight began to back away from the sight as skeletal ponies began to rise from the ground, surrounding King Crimson.

"It seems my Stand, Day of the Dead, has already beaten you, hasn't it? That was much easier than I expected!"

Just as it seemed it was over for him, King Crimson responded sternly. "YOUR STAND IS WEAK." Without another word, King Crimson activated his ability, and rose from the ground. He shifted past the skeletons, some still in the ground, and face the enemy's Stand.

"Just like that? That was easier than I expected. Much faster, too. Sad this guy didn't get to develop as a villain."

"IT'S BETTER THAT WAY," Crimson replied, as his ability wore off. With not a moment wasted, he delivered a savage punch to the Stand that faced him, sending the meager Earth pony flying backwards, as well as back to the afterlife he so briefly visited. The skeletons immediately dismantled and collapsed to the ground before disintegrating.

"Man, that sucked. Didn't even 'stand' a chance." Epitaph chuckled slightly at his own pun.

"NEVER USE STUPID WORDPLAY AGAIN, SMALL FACE. DOESN'T SUIT YOU."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Woo, yeah!" King Crimson turned around at the sudden cheer, its source being a baby dragon positioned next to a slack-jawed unicorn.

"Uh, thanks?"

Twilight blinked. "Wha-What? What was that? What just happened? He was on the ground surrounded by skeletons, and then he's causing possessed bodies to fly backwards!"

"I don't know what just happened, but it was cool!"

"NOW, IF CRIMSON IS CORRECT, HORSEY HAD SOMETHING TO SAY?"

Twilight's face went from surprise to joy. "I don't have time to say anything, I've got to tell Celestia about this brand new discovery!"

As twilight hastily left the scene, Spike gestured them to follow. "She means 'Thanks, please come inside'."



Pride watched the whole ordeal from start to finish, the result leaving her stunned.

"That... oh, sweet Celestia. I shouldn't have even considered doing that." She frowned. "What a waste. Although, practice makes perfect, so I guess it wasn't a TOTAL waste. Who knows? Maybe the 'side effect', whatever it may be, will deal with him instead," Pride said to herself, as she began her escape from the town.



King Crimson sat at round table, twiddling his thumbs. While the murder of an innocent would've ended rather badly for him, the stallion's sudden revival seemed to fix the situation for him.

All in all, not a bad day.

Twilight poked her head in from the other room. "Er, what was your name again?"

"His name is King Crimson, and I'm Epitaph."

Twilight thanked them and left the room again. "I would usually protest about how this is a bad idea, but things have been going pretty nicely for us so far."

"CRIMSON KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING."

"Of course you do, buddy."

Twilight re-entered the room. "Now that that's taken care of, we can begin!"

Crimson looked at her puzzlingly. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"I want you to tell me all about you," Twilight stated, pulling up a notepad.

"Anything... specific?"

"Where did you come from? What was it like there? Are there more like you? What was that thing you did earlier-?"

"Whoa, slow down there, princess. Take it easy."

Twilight breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry, this is just way to exciting! Face-to-face with an intelligent alien species!"

"'Species'? Listen, we aren't-"

In the very next moment, Twilight's entire front door suddenly exploded, shaking the entire tree, and almost knocking Twilight out cold. King Crimson, seemingly unphased by the blast, stood up from the seat. As the dust cleared, a figure soon became visible.

A pink figure with black gloves and a cat-like appearance. It kept looking at its hand, then back at Crimson.

"What the hell was that?"

Killer Queen meowed.