Chapter XIX
Reunion’s and Disguises.
The scholar followed the crystal’s instructions until they saw a building close to the main building. The six girls entered and saw that it was larger than the hospital in Ponyville. The girls saw a familiar blue winged man talking with one of the nurses. The girls walked up to him and smiled.
“Hey guys, enjoy the show?” He asked as the nurse walked away.
“It was totally awesome!” Dash yelled.
“How’s Crimson doing?” Twilight asked.
“He’s hurt, but stable. You guys can see him if you want.” He said as he walked towards a set of double doors. The group entered a room and the six girls gasped at what they saw. The red haired man appeared to be completely submerged in a tank filled with green liquid. A breathing mask was attached over his mouth and nose. A few wires were taped over his heart and a few were on his arms.
“What in the hay is that?” Applejack said.
“This is one of our rejuvenation pods.” Ivy said. “The liquid inside the pod helps the body heal a lot quicker than it would on its own.”
“How does it work?”
“Arcane magic mixed with a series of potions.” Rouge said. Twilight approached the pod and her eyes shrank as she saw a massive scar on the man’s chest.
“That wasn’t there before!” Twilight said as she pointed to the large scar.
“We know.” Ivy said. “My guess is that he got that from Grimm.”
“You mean his teacher?” Applejack said.
“Yup, Grimm is one crazy fighter.” Rouge said. “Never met him myself, but from the wounds I saw on Crimson when I would heal him,” The woman then shivered. “more than half the time he looked like he’d been put through a meat grinder.” The group gulped. Twilight then looked at the pod and cocked her head.
“These look like the pods Changelings use.” The five girls gasped as they made the connection.
“That’s because they are.” The group looked towards the doorway to see a man in blue hospital scrubs that matched his hair and eyes. His tan skin had blotches of jet black insect like sections on it. A pair of insect wings were also coming out of his back. “We repurposed them to assist with healing.” His hair was stringy and was almost like a web.
“And just what is a thing like you doing here?” Applejack asked as she narrowed her eyes on the man.
“My name is Dr. Syringe and I’m here to check on my patient.” He said as he walked over towards the pod. “How are you three holding up?” He asked as he looked at the three warriors.
“Good, all things considering.” Cobalt said as he shook his hand. The six girls looked at the action in surprise.
“How’s that supplement coming along Rouge?” The doctor asked as he looked at the purple mage.
“Its getting there. I still need to fine tune it a bit.” She said with a sigh.
“I’m no rush, take your time.” He said as he jotted a quick note down on his chart.
“Supplement?” Twilight asked.
“I’m trying to create a supplement that Changelings can take so it’ll replace their need to feed off love.” She said with a smile.
“Why would you help them?” Dash asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because they’re Changelings!” The flyer yelled. “They attacked and nearly destroyed Canterlot.”
“If I may interject.” Syringe said. “My side did not take part in that.”
“Side?” The six said in shock.
“Oh you guys don’t know do you?” Syringe said. “You see, there isn’t just one main tribe of Changelings. The race is split down the middle. Theres the old Changeling Empire and the New Republic of Changelings. The Empire is what attacked Canterlot.” He said in a flat tone. “They’re the ones who give Changelings like myself a bad name.”
“But you still feed on someone else’s love!” The farmer argued.
“Hey its not my fault I was born like this.” The doctor said as he frowned. “It’s like me blaming you that you eat meat. If I could change it then I could.” He said with a grunt.
“I still don’t like this.” Dash said.
“Frankly I don’t give a damn what you think. I’m here to help people and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Why you-”
“I’d be careful about what you say about my species Ms.Dash.” He said in a flat tone. “Some of the strongest warriors here are Changelings and are very sensitive to racist remarks. Catch my drift?” Dash looked over at the three mages who nodded.
“Not to mention that some of our friends, like Syringe here are some of our friends.” Cobalt said. “You got a problem with him, then you’ve got a problem with us.” The six gulped at the thought of the four mages converging on them. Not to mention a castle filled with mages who’s sole occupation is fighting. “Syringe here has saved our lives more times than I can count. He’s always been straight with us and us to him.”
“But-” The cyan flyer stopped as the group saw movement inside the pod. Crimson opened his eyed and removed the breathing mask. He leaned forward so that his head, chest and shoulders were sticking out of the pod.
“Cobalt’s right Dash. You need to be more open minded.” Crimson said as he glared at the flyer. “I though it was your guys’ job to bring harmony to the world with the Elements. How can you do that if you’re prejudice against another species for being who they are?” The group fell silent. “Looks like you still need to mature a bit.”
“They’re monsters!”
“Oh yeah?” Crimson narrowed his eyes on the rainbow haired flyer. Dash gulped as she felt the man’s red eyes pierce through her. “Then what the buck would you call me then?” Crimson grunted in pain and leaned back into his pod. The cyan winged flyer held her head in defeat. Twilight walked up to the doctor and sighed.
“I’m sorry doctor. Rainbow Dash can be stubborn at times.”
“Its alright. I’m use to it.” He shrugged. “Not everyone is comfortable around Changelings yet, but its getting there. Now that the Empire is starting to crumble, the Republic is gaining power and peace talks have started in a more diplomatic manner.” The group then heard the door open to reveal a bandaged blonde mage.
“Hey guys.” He said with a nod.
“Sup Star?” Ivy said.
“Just checking on Crimson.” He said as he looked at the mage.
“He’s fine. How about you? You got knocked around pretty hard.” Cobalt said.
“I’ll live.” He said with a sigh. “It’ll take Thunder Kicker longer to recover, but I’m not complaining.” He said as he cracked his shoulder. “Asshole deserved what he got.”
“Yeah, still can’t believe that he’d hurt his own teammate.” Applejack said.
“He’s always been like that.” Ivy said with a grunt. The door suddenly burst open to reveal three more people. A tall man with a long brown coat and a cowboy hat then stepped inside. Next to him was a man with jet black wings and had an elegant saber by his side. His jet black hair contrasted his green eyes. Next was another man with dark green hair and had a deck of cards in a pouch attached to his belt along with a set of arcane blades.
“Hey guys.” The Stetson wearing man said with a smirk.
“Bandit, good to see you.” Cobalt said as he shook the man’s hand. “Crater, Ace.” He said with a nod. The other two men gave him a nod. “What brings you two here?”
“Just checking in our favorite trouble maker.” The card holder said. The man then noticed the group of visitors and smiled. “Ace O’Spades.” He said with a small bow. “My associate here is Crater Cracker.” He said as he gestured to the sword wielding man.
“So what brings you guys down here?” Rouge asked. The card user then pulled out his deck.
“You obviously haven’t seen the latest leader board." Ace said as he pulled out a card. A small board made of magic then showed. The mages’ eyes shrank as they saw Crimson’s name in the number one spot.
“Oh shit.” Ivy said as she raced over to the pod and pulled Crimson’s upper body out. “Wake up idiot!” She said as she slapped him across the face. The man instantly woke up and cracked his neck.
“Jeez, what’s so damn important?” Ivy pointed to the board. Crimson looked up and his eyes shrank to the size of pin tip. “Crap. This is not good.”
“Why are you saying its bad? You’re number one.” Dash said.
“That’s why!” He yelled. “If she comes here then-” He was cut off by a loud booming noise. He quickly looked at the group and gulped. “I’m asleep got that?” He said before submerging himself back in his pod. The door burst open and the mages all cringed in fear.
A young woman with long silver hair and an eyepatch over her left eye barged into the room. The woman was donning a white chest plate with matching gauntlets. She was also wearing a pair of white pants that went down to her ankles and were covered by a pair of boots. At her side was a long saber.
“Where is Crimson?” She barked. The group pointed towards the pod. The woman walked over to the pod but was stopped by Ivy.
“L-look Ivory. Crimson can’t-” Ivy shut her mouth as the warrior glared at her. Ivy gulped and backed away. The woman reached into the pod and pulled Crimson’s upper body out by his hair. Crimson played possum and preyed that she wouldn’t hit too hard.
“Is he really asleep?”
“He did just take down an entire team. He’ll be awake in a few hours.” Rouge said. The woman raised her hand to slap the red mage awake.
“Ivory!” The doctor yelled. “I don’t care who you are. It says in the school rules that fighting is strictly prohibited inside the med center.” Syringe stood his ground and gulped.
“I haven’t forgotten the rule and who said I was going to hit him?” The group all had a look of confusion strewn across their faces. The woman smirk and slowly leaned her head in to place her lips on Crimson’s. Twilight’s face was blushing profusely as Crimson’s eyes snapped open and recoiled back.
“What the fuck Ivory?” He yelled as he blushed.
“Gotcha, you lying little snake!” The woman the grabbed Crimson by the throat and ripped him completely out of the pod. Crimson felt his back hit the far wall as he slowly stood up. When he got to his feet the woman slammed her fist into the concrete wall crating a large dent.
The group felt the tension in the room triple. The two each had daggers in their eyes. The woman exhaled and wrapped the man in a tight hug.
“Congratulations.” She said with a smile. Crimson gulped looked at the other mages who had the same look of shock and confusion on their faces. “Just don’t get too comfortable at the top. I’ll take you down soon.” She said in a challenging tone
“Yeah right.” He said with a grin. “You’re free to try.” The woman shook her head and smiled.
“Um guys,” Ivy said. The two looked at her. “I know that this is a really touching moment and all, but I think I need to remind you of something.” The green flyer then pointed towards Crimson’s naked form. The two mages blushed profusely along with the six female guests. Crimson hastily dove back into the pod.
“Who are you all?” The warrior asked as she looked at the six guests.
“These are the Elements of Harmony.” Ivy said as she cleared her throat. The warrior looked at the six and smiled.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Um, who are you?” Dash asked.
“I’m Ivory Knightwalker. Captain of team Saint.” She said as she motioned to the three men. Crimson poked his head out of the pod and sighed.
“I see and how do you know Crimson?” Twilight asked.
“These two have been butting heads since they joined the Academy.” Ace said. The two mages grunted at him. “You see, up until today Ivory held the number one spot in our class. Now Crimson took that spot.”
“He won’t have it for long.” Ivory said under her breath. Crimson stuck out his hand and focused some of his magic as a set of clothes appeared in his hand. He pulled them back inside and quickly got changed before stepping out of the pod. “I plan on taking you down before this test is over.” She said with a wicked grin.
“Back at you.” He said with a smirk. A nurse suddenly threw open the door and panted.
“Syringe we need you in the O.R. We’ve got a patient going critical!” The Changeling nodded and quickly ran out of the door. Crimson saw a gurney go past with what looked like an ice sculpture on top. The mage’s eyes shrank and he ran after it. The figure was encased in solid Ice.
“Damn you Angel.” He said as he started to walk away. The group followed him as he walked outside.
“Crimson what is it?” Ivy asked.
“Angel used Ice Break on them.” The mages all gasped as Ivory frowned. The group then saw the familiar Ice mage who had a triumphant smile on her face. Crimson rushed up to her and bore holes through her. “What the hell were you thinking Angel? You could have killed them!”
“So?” She asked with a shrug. “They were my enemy. I took them down. Simple as that.”
“That’s no excuse! We’re not fighting enemies. This is a competition between comrades!”
“Comrades?” She asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Big deal they’re only humans.” She said with a shrug.
“I mean it Angel! If you so much as even think of using that again on a person then so help me, I will take you down.” Crimson said in a serious tone. The group gulped at the man’s expression. Angel scoffed and continued on her way. Crimson cracked his knuckles and grunted.
“What was that about?” Applejack asked.
“Nothing.” Crimson said with a sigh. “I’m going for a walk.”
“Crimson-” Ivy was cut off as he vanished in a flash of red light. The flyer sighed and looked back at the group.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Twilight asked.
“Hopefully.” Ivory said. “Angel has never really embraced his teachings.”
“Teachings?” Dash said.
“He didn’t tell you? Angel was Crimson’s student when he first found her in the Empire.” Ace said. The groups’ jaws dropped. “When Crimson found her she was almost completely a monster. He managed to reach her due to their ties and calm her down,” Ivory started. “but she’s never been able to let go of that hatred towards humans.”Twilight gulped and her hand glowed. “What are you doing?”
“When someone teleports they leave behind a magical signature where they teleported from and to.” The scholar explained.
“So?” Cobalt said.
“I can track and find him.” Twilight said.
“Worried about your boyfriend?” Dash teased. Twilight blushed and grunted before vanishing in a flash of light.
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Crimson stood before his parents grave and felt the cool wind hit his back. In the wind he caught the familiar scent of lavender. He let out a sigh and turned towards a tree.
“Twilight come out I know you’re there.” He said in a flat tone. A familiar looking scholar came out from behind the tree and gulped.
“How did you know I was here?” She asked as she walked up to the man.
“Your perfume gave it away.” He said as he looked at the librarian. “So any particular reason why you and your friends tagged along wit Ivy and the others?” The woman gulped as she looked into the man’s blood red eyes.
“Well, we were worried when we heard that you went missing.” She said as she hid her blush. “Ivy said that you’d be here for the trials and we wanted to see if she was right.” Crimson’s gaze pierced through her and she gulped.
“I see.” He said with a sigh. The scholar then looked past him and saw the tombstone.
“Is that-”
“Their grave.” He said as he looked at the stone. Twilight gulped and hung her head.
“Crimson, I know you had to fight your parents on your last mission.” The man’s eyes shrank. “Your...I still don’t exactly know what it was that I saw.” Crimson bit his lip.
“I guess you could call him my shadow.”
“Okay, he told us that you had to fight your reanimated parents.” Crimson hung his head in shame. “What happened?” Crimson racked his brain trying to figure out why he not only felt obligated to tell this girl but that he wanted to. Crimson extended his index and middle finger towards the scholar. Twilight gulped as she felt his fingers press against her forehead. The last thing she saw was the man’s red eyes glowing.
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The scholar opened her eyes to see a large dark cave. She looked down at her hands and saw that her body was like a that of a ghost. She heard the sounds of blades clashing and ran down the trail. Twilight gasped as she saw the ice mage get thrown across the room and get knocked out. Crimson steadied himself with his scythe and looked at a masked man who stood motionless. The red mage pointed his blade at the necromancer and frowned.
“Give up! I’ve beaten all of your puppets.”
“All? I think not.” The man said as he pressed his palms together and two caskets popped up out of the ground. “These two were extremely hard to soul trap, but that’s what makes them my favorite.” The two bodies stepped out. A man and a woman. The man had shoulder length black hair and a large hammer was mounted on his back with a pistol was holstered on his side.
The woman had fair skin. A long rifle was placed on her back and held a long rapier in her right hand. Her emerald eyes were in a trance like state and her long red hair went to the middle of her back. Their bodies looked the same as when they were amongst the living. Crimson’s eyes shrank and he started to shake. He dropped to his knees and his scythe fell beside him.
“Since you’re from the Academy I’m sure you know who these two are.” He said with a laugh. “May I introduce Rosario Vermillion and Orion Comet-” The necromancer was cut off as he dodged a salvo coming from the red mage.
“You dare desecrate their graves?” Crimson said in a shaky tone. The necromancer gulped as torrents of red magic started oozing out of the mage. “I will never forgive you for this!” He yelled as a pair of horns sprouted from his head. The enemy cocked an eyebrow and gulped. His eyes shrank as he put the pieces together.
“Oh this is just fantastic.” He said with a laugh. “Its a family reunion!” The reanimated Orion withdrew his large hammer and charged at the red warrior. Crimson was ready, he took a defensive stance and got ready to swing. Crimson dodged the strike and went in to attack. As the blade closed in on its target his body stopped moving. He gulped as he looked into the man’s stagnant red eyes.
The hammer user then brought the weapon around and slammed it into the mage’s side. The force caused Crimson to fly against the back wall and cough up blood. As he opened his eyes the woman with her rapier aimed for his head charged forwards. Crimson quickly dodged it and jumped back from the two. The man grunted as the pair of hand like wings sprouted from his back. The necromancer shook his head.
“I heard that the Academy had a few conduit pets running around.” He said with a chuckle. “I never expected parents to seal a demon inside their own son. They must have hated you.” Crimson’s eyes shrank and felt rage boiling inside him. He glared at the man with his spliced eyes. “Oh that’s a scary face.” The necromancer mocked. Crimson raised his blade and grunted in pain.
“I am going to kill you!” He barked. The two reanimated warriors then charged. Crimson dodged his father’s hammer but felt the rapier pierce his chest. Crimson recoiled in pain. The woman then pulled out her rifle and fired a bolt of magic from the barrel. The bolt hit the red mage in the shoulder and sent him flying into the ground.
Crimson grunted in pain and tried to stand. He looked at the bodies of his two parents and hung his head in shame. The necromancer laughed again.
“What’s wrong? Why are you holding back?” He chuckled. “Is it too hard for you to fight your own flesh and blood? Or is it too much a burden to kill them a second time?” Those words were the final straw. The red mage looked towards the ceiling and yelled in agony. More magic seeped from his body and the entire cave started to shake.
The two corpses looked at the mage with blank expressions on their faces. The conduit looked at the two with a single tear running down the side of his face. As it fell to the ground the rapier using warrior’s eyes shrank and charged forward. The necromancer grinned. “Finish him.” The red haired woman’s eyes glowed green and raised her rifle.
The bullet struck the man’s gauntlet and bounced back. The redirected salvo hit the woman in the head. The reanimation kept moving and withdrew her blade. The red mage closed his eyes and waited for the pain. What he felt next wasn’t piercing agony, but warmth. He opened his eyes and saw the reanimation of his mother crying as she held him.
“I’m so sorry Crimson.” The woman said a she cried. Crimson froze and slowly turned to look at the woman.
“H-how?”
“What kind of mother watches silently as her child cries?” Crimson’s eyes shrank as he saw a green spell seal on the woman’s forehead shatter. She got to her feet and aimed her rifle at the black haired man. The salvo unleashed from the gun hit him in the eye and a similar green seal shattered.
The reanimation blinked twice and turned to face the stunned necromancer. The raven haired man frowned and swung his hammer. The necromancer quickly dodged the hammer and jumped back.
“What is this magic?” He said as his eyes shrank. The hammer user then jumped back beside Crimson.
“Dad?” Crimson said in a weak tone.
“Sorry about the hit son.” He said with a smile. “What a disgrace. An illusion master like me under a weak mind control spell.”
“Well, we’re both a bit out of practice.” Rose said with a smirk. Crimson tried to stand but only coughed up blood. “Take a seat son.” She said with a smile. “We can handle this.” Crimson grunted and stood up.
“No, I’m sick and tired of everyone protecting me while I sit back and do nothing.” He said as he held up his blade.
“I see you’ve got your father’s stubbornness.” Rose said with a chuckle. The necromancer gulped and started to sweat as he stared at the three warriors. “Looks like we have some cleaning up to do.” He said as he pulled out his hammer. The necromancer slammed his hands on the ground and summoned thirty zombies to his side. Rose looked at her son and couldn’t help but smile.
“You’ve grown so much.”
“I’ll catch you guys up after this.” The scythe user said as he charged forwards and slashed the first five with one swipe. The other two warriors did the same and charged forth, slashing and bashing their way through. The necromancer gulped and watched as his two most powerful pieces were using against him. One by one the reanimations fell leaving only the necromancer.
“H-how? You’re supposed to be under my control!”
“You don’t get it do you?” Orion said.
“There are powers in this world that even magic cannot explain. Ties that can or will never be broken.” Crimson walked forward and picked him up by his throat and slammed his against the wall.
“What do you think we should do?” Crimson asked.
“I have an idea.” Orion said as he locked his eyes to the necromancer. Orion’s red eyes blinked once and the necromancer’s eyes became half lidded. “He’s in a trance, but his magic is running out and he won’t be able to keep us here for much longer.” Crimson sighed and let him go. The necromancer stood frozen as Crimson removed his mask. His face was pale and had short orange hair.
“He still had a point.” Crimson then spun around and slugged both of the reanimations in the stomach. The two grunted in pain and looked at him in confusion.
“Crimson?”
“Why?” The red mage yelled as tears flowed down his face. “Why in the hell would you seal a demon inside your own son? Do you know what kind of hell I went through?” Crimson yelled as tears went down his face. “Everywhere I went everyone looked at me like I was a monster!” He said as he fell to his knees. “Just tell me why.” He said as he hung his head. His mother crouched and looked at him.
“Crimson it’s today isn’t it?” She said in a sad tone.
“Y-yeah.” He said with a sigh.
“I’m glad to see that Crow kept his promise.” Orion said as he sat next to his son. He picked up the scythe and looked at it. “Where did you get this?”
“From a Colossus’ tomb when I took the initiation test.” The two adults eyes shrank.
“Who taught you how to fight?” Rose asked.
“Grimm.” The two gasped. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re correct.” He said as he hung his head. “The rest of my team learned from them too.”
“Y-your team?” Orion asked.
“Yeah, I’m the captain of a squad who have the other three.” The man patted his son on the back.
“Taking after your mother I see.” He said with a smile. Rose sat on the other side of him and wrapped her arms around her son.
“I’m so sorry.” She cried. “I never wanted any of this to happen. You had to grow up all on your own.”
“Mom its fine. I-”
“No, its not! I knew what would happen to you if we sealed him inside of you.” She cried. “You were hit by one of his magical attacks and were dying. I sealed him to save your life.” Crimson felt his throat dry up at the words. Crimson heard a loud cracking sound and saw her leg cracking like a clay pot.
“Looks like our time is coming.” Orion said.
“How did you guys get trapped by him anyway?” Crimson asked as he looked at the necromancer.
“We never left this world son.” Orion said. “We stayed behind to watch over you. We always found it hard to watch as you grew and we could do nothing.” Orion said as tears formed in his eyes. “One day we got lost and the next thing we knew we were fighting you. We tried so hard to fight back but the necromancer’s spell was too strong. Until your mother saw your tears.”
“I never could bear to see you crying.” She said with a sigh. “So about this team of yours?”
“My Lt. is Ivy Evergreen.”
“Silver’s daughter?” Orion asked.
“Yeah.” The two looked at one another in surprise. “Then there’s Rouge, she’s....complicated and is the brains of our group. Lastly there’s Cobalt.”
“They sound like good friends.” Rose chimed.
“Yeah, they’re the best.” He said with a smile. Another crack appeared on the man’s face.
“Crimson, can you ever forgive us?” The raven haired man said. Crimson felt his eyes watering again and rubbed his eyes. “We wanted to be there for you so many times but-”
“You’ve always been with me.” He said with a smile. “Somehow, I knew you were there. All those times I felt like someone was watching me, it was you wasn’t it?” The two reanimations cried and hugged the man as their bodies continued to crack. “Looks like your time is up.” Crimson said with a sniffle. The three then stood up and smiled.
“There maybe one thing we can do.” Rose said as she held out her two weapons. The man did the same. Orion’s glowed a magnificent white, while Rose’s glowed light green.
“What are you doing?” Crimson asked.
“We’re transmitting the last bit of power into weapons so that you can use them.” Crimson’s eyes shrank at the words. “We were never really there for you growing up. Now we can be.” Orion said as the color from his body faded and more cracks formed on his body.
“I think we can finally move on.” Rose said with a smile. Crimson hesitantly took the weapons and smiled through the tears. “Crimson,” she said with tears in her eyes. “we love you very much.”
“I know.” The spell was fading and their bodies started to disintegrate.
“One last thing. Happy birthday.” Rose said as the two vanished. Crimson let out a sigh before hurrying over towards the ice mage. He pulled out his transportation gem and put it in Angels hand before activating it. The mage then vanished in a flash of red light. Crimson looked at the weapons and smiled. He clenched his fist and let out a sigh. He withdrew his scythe and made a series of slashes in the shape of a pentagram.
He stepped in the middle of the shape and made his hands glow before slamming them on the ground.
Time for the final lesson. He thought before vanishing in a flash of light. Twilight sung to her knees as the memory collapsed. As the memory shattered she could see the shape of a ghost like figure with a cane watching from a distance.
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Crimson removed his fingers from her forehead and looked at the scholar who had tears in her eyes. The red mage sighed. The man was cut off guard as the scholar wrapped him in a warm hug. The man was blushing profusely and gulped as Twilight buried her face in his chest.
“I’m so sorry that you had to do that.” She sniffled. The man gulped and gently patted her on the head.
“It’s fine. At least I got to see them agin one last time.” He said with a sigh. Twilight wiped the tears away and smiled. “I need a drink. Wanna come?”
“Sure.” She said as she followed the man. In the tree the scholar once hid behind, a large black crow with green eyes cawed as a single tear ran down it’s beak. Crimson saw the black bird fly out of the tree and smiled. The two mages walked into the main building and sighed. They stopped outside a large wooden door marked with the letter R. “What’s this place?”
“This is the Ranger’s quarters. Every rank has a lounge” he said as he put his hand on the door and it swung open. The inside was pitch black. As they entered the door slammed shut and the lights were flicked on.
“Surprise!” The two mage’s hearts jumped into their throats as they saw the five girls and the other warriors with smiles on their faces. Pinkie then zoomed up to the man with a smile on her face.
“Well, did we surprise ya?”
“For the second time. Yes, Pinkie. You got me.” Crimson said as he rolled his eyes. Pinkie then lightly smacked him across the face.
“That was for not telling us it was your Birthday!”
“Technically, it was two days ago.” He then saw the room decorated with balloons and streamers. “Where did you get this stuff?”
“I never leave home without my party cannon.” She said as she withdrew a bright blue cannon with a button on top. As she pressed it the man’s vision was clouded by confetti.
“How did she-”
“It’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it.” Twilight said.
“Fair enough.” Ivy then attempted to tackle hug him. The red warrior easily dodged the attempt and chuckled. “Nice try Ivy but-” The flyer’s body then turned into a cloud of smoke and the red man felt a familiar pair of arms grab him from behind and squeeze.
“Gotcha!” She chimed.
“Ivy! Spine crushing!” He breathed out. The green flyer let him go and laughed.
“Still, Happy Birthday.” She said with a smile.
“How many times have I told you I hate parties?”
“675, but who’s counting?” Crimson let out a sigh and shook his head before taking a seat with his team.
“So how are you feeling?” Ivy asked.
“Better, but still injured.” He said with a sigh.
“Grimm must have done a number on you.” Cobalt said.
“Yeah,” He said with a sigh. “by the way. He, Warren, Hawkeye and Vex are coming to watch us.” The three drinking warriors spat out their drinks in shock.
“What?” The three yelled.
“Grimm told me that they wanted to see the effects of our training. He gave me the final and he wants to see if I passed or not by having me fight in the trials.” The green flyer’s eye twitched.
“Are you nuts. THEY are coming here?”
“Yup, oh and Warren is still pissed.” Crimson said as he looked at Cobalt.
“Oh shit.” Cobalt gulped. The six girls then made their way over to the group of mages. Dash looked around at the rowdy individuals that were sining songs and joking with one another.
“Is it always like this?”
“Yup.” Ivy said with a smile. “We like to party. Well, most of us anyway.” She said as she looked at the red hared man. A Changeling then walked up beside the group.
“Hey everyone.” The Changeling was female had dark golden hair and orange spliced eyes.
“Yo what’s up Sunny?” Cobalt said as he gave her a friendly nod.
“Not much.” She said as he sat down. Sunny then felt the glares of the farmer and cyan flyer on her. “Hello.” She said in a happy tone. The two just scoffed at her. Pinkie smiled and walked over to her.
“Hi my name is Pinkie Pie!”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sunny.” She said with a smile. “I’m the bartender here.”
“Cool. I’m a pastry chef and party thrower.”
“I noticed. It’s certainly lively.”
“Awwe, thanks.” Pinkie said with a smile. “Do you wanna be my friend?” She asked. Dash and Applejack looked at her in shock.
“Sure.” The woman said with a smile.
“Are ya’ll insane Pinkie?” The farmer said. “She’s a Changeling!”
“Yeah Pinks, seriously.” Dash interjected. “I mean we know a lot of different people but Changelings?” Dash said with a shiver. Crimson and the group frowned at the two.
“Awwe, c’mon Dashie. She may be a Changeling, but she seems nice and wants to be our friend.” Pinkie chimed. The Changeling hung her head.
“Its okay Pinkie. I don’t want you to get in trouble with your friends.” The Changeling said.
“It’s okay Sunny!” Pinkie said. “You can never have too many friends.” Sunny gulped and extended her hand to shake the cyan flyer’s. Dash grunted and smacked it away.
“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled.
“What? She’s a Changeling! An insect. You saw what they did in Canterlot and I don’t care about what they did or didn’t do!” Dash yelled. The woman shrank back and gulped. The woman then backed away and tripped over herself. The woman fell and quickly picked herself up and hurried back to her post.
“Rainbow!” Twilight said. “That was completely uncalled for!” The scholar yelled. A small glint of silver then shot across the room and landed just next to the cyan flyer’s head. Dash gulped as she looked at the knife that was less than a centimeter away from her ear.
Rainbow looked out to see everyone in the room giving her a death stare. A silver object then crashed into her and slammed her against the wall. Dash chocked and saw Ivory glaring at her with rage in her eyes.
“Disrespect one of my comrades again and I’ll gut you like a fish.” Ivory said in a calm tone. Dash gulped and felt a large wave of fear wash over her. “I’d leave if I were you. Before things get ugly.”
“Take the advice Dash.” Crimson said sharing the same icy stare. “It doesn’t matter who or what you are. We look after each other and the only reason why you’re not a stain on the wall right now is because we give our guests one warning.” The red mage then walked over to her and glared at her. “Listen and listen good. If you look down on my comrades again then I’ll punch you so hard you’ll land back in Ponyville without flapping your wings.” Dash gulped and her eyes shrank. “Get it?”
“G-got it.”
“Good.” He gave Ivory a nod and the knight backed off. Dash gasped and panted heavily. Fluttershy quickly rushed to her friend’s side and helped her up. “We’ll see you out.” Crimson said as the rest of his team and the girls got to their feet. After they walked out of the lounge Crimson and his team looked at the six and sighed.
“Honestly Dash what were you thinking?” Twilight yelled.
“Ah have to say RD. ya went a little overboard.” The farmer said.
“You’re siding with them AJ?”
“Ah’m no fan of Changelings, but the poor girl was trying to be nice and ya shot her down. Heck she could have hurt herself when she fell.”
“That wasn’t my fault. She tripped.”
“Only because you acted so hostile towards her.” Twilight said.
“Whatever.” Dash grumbled. Rouge stepped forward and glared at the flyer.
“So you honestly think that you can’t get along with Changelings?”
“Yes.”
“News flash.” Rouge snapped her fingers and a light purple light enveloped her. As the light faded the girls all gasped as they saw patches of black insect like skin on her arms. Rouge also had fangs and a pair of butterfly wings coming from her back. Her spliced purple eyes bore holes through the flyer. “You’ve been hanging out with one for almost a month.”
“Rouge.” Cobalt said as he put a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. Rouge let her go and scoffed before walking down the hallway towards her room. Cobalt glared at the flyer and ran after her. Ivy followed suit leaving Crimson glaring at the group.
“Ya know, I said that Rouge could trust you guys and I almost convinced her into telling you her secret and not pass judgement. Guess I was wrong.” He said before going after his team.
“Crimson wait-” Twilight was cut off as he vanished in a flash of red light. Twilight sighed and frowned at the flyer. The farmer then stepped between the two.
“Look ya’ll its been a long day and we all could use some rest.”
“I agree with Applejack.” Rarity said with a yawn.
“Yeah, we still have to watch for Crimson tomorrow.” Pinkie said. Twilight exhaled and let her anger go as she walked down the hallway towards the guest wing with the girls following close behind. Twilight opened her room to reveal two double beds. One was already occupied by a soundly sleeping dragon. Applejack was sharing a room with Mac. Pinkie and Dash were sharing a room while Rarity was with Fluttershy.
Twilight snapped her fingers and her clothes morphed into pajamas. The scholar laid down on her bed and silently drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back on the island surrounded by the red river, three cloaked figures stood before the skinny white haired man. The elder was donning a pale colored cloak. The largest one was donning a red cloak and had a large broad sword on his back.
One had a feminine physique and a whip attached to her side as a white hood covered her head. The last was a tall man who wore a black shroud and his mask had an elongated nose. A pair of odd pistols were at his side.
“Is everything ready?” The elder asked.
“Yeah, been a while since we’ve been there.” The woman said.
“Its time to see if their training has paid off.” The gunslinger said.
“They’d better not disappoint.” The red warrior commented as the elder walked through the group and cracked his neck.
“Lets not keep them waiting then.” He said as a long scythe appeared on his back. “We ride!” He yelled as four horses appeared beneath them and the group charged off.
