//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty Eight: Symbol, I Have Found You // Story: A Displaced Dragon // by Prince_Zodiac //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty Eight: Symbol, I Have Found You {Symbols POV} After leaving Ashley back home I entered the void to find the scumbag that had displaced Sean and his wife. I walked along a long hallway made of black crystal, seems to be a common trend in the void. Upon reaching the end of the hallway I found a wooden reinforced door. Opening it quietly I peeked in and saw the Merchant at a table with a few screens, watching a few people and trying to decide who to displace them as. Quietly walking over to him I caught a glimpse of someone I knew on one of the screens "Yes, he'll do nicely!" The Merchant crackled before turning around. Once he saw me his pupils shrank to the size of a dot on a page. "Tell me, what were you planning to do to this one?" I placed my finger on the screen in question. He looked over and gulped. "Answer the question." He just looked at me and smirked. "Or what?" I just looked at him dumbfounded. I sighed and turned away. "You obviously know who I am and what I'll do to anyone who is a threat to my friends or family, what the hell do you think I'm going to do?" I held up my fist and it glowed with my purple fire. His smirk never left his face as he started backing up and took a fighting stance. "Very well then." I swung my fist forward and a wave of fire was sent his way. He dodged the attack and pulled out a Skorpion machine pistol. When he fired it the bullets were glowing red. I dodged the gunfire and put up a small wall of fire to deflect the bullets. Once his clip ran dry he tossed the gun away and pulled out an MP40. "Oh you Goddamn Nazi." He smirked and began firing again. I sprinted towards him in a zigzag pattern to avoid the bullet fire until I managed to land a hard uppercut to his jaw. His head hit the roof and he crashed down onto the floor. He got up and sent a wave of red energy at me, knocking me off my feet. As I tried to get up he leaned over me with a blade to my chest. He stared at me with bloodlust until he raised the dagger. When it was about to pierce my heart I grabbed his wrist and redirected it to his own chest. He looked at me wide eyed and slowly looked down to the dagger that had pierced his heart. He coughed up a bit of blood and fell backwards. I was about to leave him to die when he spoke. "You...you can't protect...them all..." He coughed up some more blood and looked at me with a psychopathic glare and smirk. "In the end...one brother shall...fall at the hands...of Xram." He laughed insanely before coughing up more blood and drowning in it. I stared at the corpse with a glare so cold it froze parts of the blood puddle. "I defeated Xram once, I can do it again." I looked over to the screen and saw my twin brother, Zero Shattered, babysitting my foal. "I'll do whatever it takes to defend them. No matter the cost." As I walked out of the door I threw a compressed fireball into the room and it exploded, destroying everything in there. "Now...to send those bands to Sean and his wife." {Epidemic's POV} "Come on, where are you?" Not long after I had gotten home from seeing the Octavia from Symbol's world have their kid, I had sensed her. Abi. She gave off that distress signal that I had given her when I split Abigail's soul. That meant one thing and one thing only. She was in danger. Not only did this let me know she was alive, but now I could find Symbol. I knew it, that bastard hadn't died when he fought off Xram. I don't know how, nor do I care, but he's still alive. For one thing, I needed answers. Like, why the hell didn't he come back. Or, why didn't he at least let us know he was alive? I would get my answers soon enough. But for now that could wait. I have to find Abi. It didn't take me long to find her. She was with some girl I didn't know, probably a displaced, and they were getting attacked by a Nightmare Fuel. I raised its hand in preparation to swipe. 'Seems like the perfect time to test my newly found magic out.' Shortly after getting home from the human world again, I found out that the magic Psychotic had absorbed hadn't gone away. It was still inside of me, and now the Twins, Psychotic, and I could control it. Now was the time to see how well it worked out. I dove at the Nightmare, and knocked it away,bareky saving them. I turned to them with a glare. "So this is where you are huh?" Time Skip One Week {Ashley's POV} Abi and I stared at the figure that had saved us from The Nightmare that had been chasing us. He was a tall boy that looked like he was somewhere along the lines of eighteen. He wore a blood red jacket with black stripes and had blood red hair that was spiked back. He had black jeans, and red shoes, and a red scythe in his hands. The Nightmare he had knocked away stood up and growled at him, then shot fire like I could. He took the flames, his stone cold  expression never changing. Once the flames were done, he leaped at the nightmare again, and sliced it in half with his scythe. The nightmare turned into a purple orb that he caught. Then, he did something that Symbol said only he could do. He crushed it, the remains fading away. Then he turned to us. "So this is where you are huh?" At first I was about to ask what he meant, but then I noticed Abi shaking. “Abi? Are you okay?” “Y-Y-You’re not supposed to be here!” "Then you should have stayed out of danger little sister." ’Litte… sister?’ I couldn’t even begin to understand what was going on. “Abi? What did he mean by that who is that guy?” “W-Well… remember when I said Symbol had a life before he became a displacer?” “Yeah. Why?” “Well, he used to know Symbol. In fact, they became adoptive brothers when they worked together to save a soul that split in two to make me and this other girl. But… he was never supposed to find Symbol until Symbol wanted him to.” "Where is he?" “He’s uh… doing something! He won’t be back for a while so you might as well leave!” "I’m not going anywhere until I talk to him." “Um… I still have no idea what’s going on.” I just looked between the two in confusion. "Who’s she?" “Um… it’s hard to explain.” "Tch, figures." “Well, why don’t we all get introduced?” I asked in a shaky voice. "Very well. I’m Epidemic, the son of Alduin and the combined form of the Twins." “Well I’m Ashley. Nice to meet you.” I held out my hand for him to shake, but he just glared at me. “Okay… no handshake.” “Look Epidemic, Symbol’s going through some training and he doesn’t want to be found right now.” "Then it’s your fault that I did find him." “What? How’s this my fault?” "You were in danger. Because of that a little energy signal went off and I was able to track you down." “Oh… right.” "I’m not leaving until I talk to him." Just then I felt myself being picked up by someone and was suddenly moving very fast. I was being carried bridal style by Symbol and Abi had merged with him. "Symbol? What's going on?" He just looked at me with a stone cold expression. "Something that was never supposed to happen. I'm taking you girls to Canterlot then I'm going to try to fix this mess." I looked back, it seemed that Epidemic wasn't following us. Just then we ran through a portal and appeared outside the train station in Canterlot as the mane six were walking out. "Stay with them and don't try to find me." With that he was gone. Epidemics POV It appears as though he is dead set on not letting me find him. Doesn't he know the amount of sadness his supposed death had caused? Of course he did, he knew yet he still didn't come back. I was going to find out what was going on and possibly bring him back, if I could. "Now where did he speed off to?" I looked around and tried to sense his aura in the world but came up short. "So he's learned how to conceal his aura. That'll make this difficult." I switched into my dragon form and took to the skies. I didn't care if I attracted attention from the ponies of this world, I had a mission to complete. 'Epidemic, I think you shouldn't do this.' "There's something going on here and I'm going to find out what. I don't care what Symbol wants he has a job to do back home." '...You just miss him, don't you?' I sighed and kept flying. Sure enough, there was panic below me. Pretty soon, I could see the Twilight of this world and her friends coming at me from below. My best guess was that they were coming to stop me. Guess they were going to learn the hard way that I was not going to fail my mission. I had waited for a long time for this chance, and they way I came by it couldn’t have been coincidence. {Flashback} ‘Wow. Still can’t believe that someone as strong as Symbol died.’ The Twins and Alduin had just got back from Symbol’s world a few days ago. Octavia had been pregnant with Symbol’s kid, so the Twins had to meet their, sort of, niece. Her name was Screwball, and the Twins thought she was adorable. ‘Is that all you think about?’ ‘Well why wouldn’t I? Power is the only thing that matters in the multiverse. My god, the one that beat Symbol must have SO MUCH POWER!’ ‘Yeah, power we don’t want to have anything to do with.’ ‘WHAT?! Why? That much power would make us unstoppable! So much delicious power.’ ‘We’re never going to get used to you, are we?’ ‘Oh you will, trust me. And once that day comes, you’ll agree with me that power is everything, EVERYTHING!’ "SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" Epidemic could feel the Twins and Psychotic flinch in his subconscious. ‘Geez, what crawled up your ass?’ "I’m trying to find something." Psychotic and the Twins quieted down, knowing exactly what Epidemic was looking for. Marx and Author were the only ones to sense it besides him, that trail of leftover aura. It was hidden well, very well mind you, but Epidemic’s trained senses could spot it. He knew, right then and there, that Symbol was alive. Of course, he had no way to him. That is, until today. ‘Come on Abi. I sensed your distress signal just a second ago. Where are you?’ Suddenly, he sensed a distress aura again. ‘Found you.’ {Flashback End} If it hadn’t been for that signal, then I never would have found him. I don’t care what I have to do, I will get my answers. I looked back down at the mane six and saw Abi talking to them. They all shared unsure looks before teleporting back to Canterlot. Suddenly a portal appeared straight in front of me and a purple blur shot out and knocked me out of the sky before vanishing again. I growled and took to the sky again. I tried tracking the aura but Symbol had managed to scatter it, whatever he's learned since we last saw each other is only going to cause me problems. I suddenly felt something flying towards me, looking back I saw multiple purple projectiles flying towards me with tails of purple fire. I began flying and spinning, the projectiles exploding when they got close enough. Many of them grazed me and I switched out of my dragon form and back into my human form. As soon as I hit the ground I was knocked off my feet by a huge wave of force. Just then a portal appeared in the side of a tree and I was knocked towards it. I threw myself to the side to avoid being sent through it and it closed. "Symbol! Stop being a coward and show yourself!" As expected I got no response. Another wave of the fireballs shot up into the air and chased me. I managed to kick a few away but one came from behind and hit me square in the back. I flinched a little as it had caused a lot of damage. "You've gotten stronger...either that or smarter." Just then something hit me in the back of the neck and paralysed my body. After falling to the ground I felt something grab the back of my collar and began dragging me towards a portal back to my world. 'Epidemic, you can't move. Let me and Amnesia take over.' 'No...I can still do this...' "You ever think about why people do things?" I stopped at the sound of a familiar but yet unfamiliar voice. "No one does something without reason, even if they don't know what those reasons are. People may not have a choice in the matter, their reasons are forced upon them, whether they like it or not." I could feel the twins starting to become uncomfortable. "You're asking yourself what my reasons are, aren't you? You won't get an answer. Not yet anyway." We stopped as we reached the portal. "You are to tell no one about this. Not Vivi, not Lisa and not Auldin." He sighed. "I saw you kill that Nightmare and I'm not gonna ask how you did it, but it seems as though I am no longer needed back home, Screwball will continue where I left off." I was thrown into the portal. As I looked into the portal I only saw a silhouette that seemed familiar but with significant changes. It snapped its fingers and the portal closed. The paralysis wore off and I got to my feet. There was no way I'd let myself be beaten this easily. So I went to the only other person that could open up portals anywhere, I went to Marx. “Marx!” A portal opened and Marx stuck his head out. “What is it Epidemic?” “I need you to open the portal to the world of a, certain displaced.” “Alright who’s?” “She goes by the name Ashley.” “Ashley? Hmm, I think she’s new isn’t she? Her universe is pretty far away in the multiverse, far enough that the passage of time is different. However, if you’ve been there before, then they should be linked.” Snapping his fingers, Marx opened another portal, back to the very world Epidemic just came from. “By the way, why do you want to go there?” “A certain someone is there, and I need to talk to him.” ‘More like beat his ass.’ “Yeah, you’re right. And you’re going to help me.” ‘Wait what? Do you mean?’ “Yes, it’s your turn to fight.” {Third POV} ‘Agh, how in the hell did he find me?’ Symbol was trying to piece together exactly how Epidemic found him. ‘It makes no sense. I mean, unless he got Ashley’s token, which I made sure he wouldn’t, then there’s no way he could find me. Unless… that’s it! Abi must have fallen into danger, that’s how he found me!’ He nodded, concluding that this must have been the answer. “Well, at least he’s gone now.” “Oh I wouldn’t count on that heh heh heh.” Symbol turned to see a person that looked very much like Epidemic. Only difference was, wherever it was red on Epidemic, was blue on this guy. His eyes were also different. The whites of his eyes were black, and his pupils were small blue circles. “It’s nice to see you Symbol.” It was at this point that both Psychotic and Epidemic took the time to look at Symbols new look. His hair was long and grey, he was significantly taller, looking around nineteen. He wore a purple trench coat, grey shirt, purple jeans and grey boots. His eyes were also purple and he had a small buzz of a beard growing at the bottom of his face. “Who are you?” “Oh yes, we were never properly introduced. Well, I’m the newest fusion of the Twins. Epidemic is the representation of anger and rage. I on the other hand, am the representation of the madden lust for power. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, heh heh heh.” “A new fusion for the Twins?” “Indeed heh heh heh. Now, why don’t we sit down and have a nice chat?” Symbol just shot a ball of purple fire at Psychotic, who barely dodged it. “I told Epidemic to leave this place, I’ll do the same for you.” “So you want to do this the fun way huh? Heh heh heh, fine by me!” Psychotic flew at Symbol, his scythe outstretched. He slashed at Symbol whom promptly dodged it and returned the attack by kneeing Psychotic in the stomach, sending him flying. Then, he bombarded Psychotic with purple fireballs, causing a huge explosion. He glared at the smoke cloud, then watched in shock as it proceeded to recede into itself. After a few seconds, he saw that it was Psychotic, absorbing the leftover energy. “Ah, that was a nice little power boost. My thanks to you Symbol, heh heh heh.” “What? How did you?” “Ah ah ha, that would be telling you how I’m going to win this fight, and that wouldn’t work in my favor.” Symbol flew at Psychotic, charging up his fist with magic. He slammed his fist into Psychotic’s chest. Psychotic just smiled and Symbol began to wonder why. Then, he felt his magic draining. He moved away quickly, holding his fist which was now drained of the magic he supplied it with. Psychotic just smirked. then, he charged and slammed Symbol with a magic infused fist straight into his gut.  Symbol was sent flying straight into the ground. “Oh come on Symbol. I expected someone as strong as you to actually put up a good fight.” 'Ok, looks like energy based attacks are useless, gotta switch it up. Time to see if this works.' Symbol got to his feet and put his hands together and closed his eyes. "Mode three, level one unlock!" His body glowed with energy and his hair turned black as did his clothing. "Ok, so it works." "Ha! Trying to hide your energy? Though it does work, to an extent, there’s still a little tiny bit my specialized instincts can sense. This will still make you difficult to track, but now I just want your power even more." "Let me tell you something about 'Mode Three'..." Symbol disappeared. Psychotic tried to track him but to no avail. Just then he was knocked around by several hits that came out of nowhere. Symbol then appeared on a nearby cloud. "...it focuses the energy in my body on speed..." He disappeared again and rapidly kicked his foe in the chest before sending him flying into a mountain. "...in small doses it can have a huge effect, use all the magic energy in my body however..." He came face to face with Psychotic with an ice cold death glare. "...then whoever I'm facing is slower than a slug in slow motion compared to me." Psychotic tried to grab Symbol but he backed away. "I already analysed your fighting style and abilities, don't think I'll make such a simple mistake." “Heh heh heh. Heh heh ha ha. Ah ha ha ha ha. AH HA HA HA HA HA! EXCELLENT! PERFECT! THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! SOMEONE THAT HAS SO MUCH POWER, AND KNOWS HOW TO USE IT ALL! AH HA HA HA HA HA!" “What are you talking about?” “Heh heh heh, once I meet someone like that, my lust of power gets out of control. So much power that I could have, and I WILL MAKE IT MINE!” Suddenly, Psychotic began to change. His body became all black, with a blue outline, and Symbiote eyes. His body also appeared to make his teeth, which were sharp and long. His horns, wings, and tail were also in the same state. There was a definite increase of power in him. “I have waited for someone like you Symbol, because it warrants my full takeover of our body! AH HA HA HA HA HA!” Symbol just sighed. "Mode Three, level two." "More power? Excellent." Symbols hair became longer and his skin became grey. Symbol just stared at him breathing heavily. "Ah… your body isn't used to this kind of power usage yet is it? What a foolish decision to choose that form if it takes so much out of you!" "My golden rule is… never use a form like this… unless you know it's gonna finish the job." Symbol disappeared again. "Alright then. Go ahead and try to hit me, I’m sure you’ll be surprised." Symbol appeared behind him. He punched Psychotic, or at least attempted to. When he did, the part of Psychotic’s body that he tried to punch separated, preventing any damage. "Well... That'll be a problem now won't it?" Symbol asked sarcastically. "Well? Are you not surprised?" "Nope." Psychotic just looked at him dumbfounded. "Why?!" "I literally live with someone with this same ability, and I'm not talking about Abi. And that means..." Symbol held out his arms and they became solid black and metal like. "...I have a counter." Symbol threw a punch, which Psychotic didn't expect anything from. But as the fist neared its destination and Psychotic tried to separate he was unable to. As the attack landed Psychotic was thrown towards the same mountain again. Symbol started to become tired, he cancelled out the technique and grabbed his chest. 'Damnit... I can't keep this up much longer... This body is still developing.' Symbol switched back to his normal self to regain his natural energy. 'Mode Three just takes too much energy, and using armament Haki only accelerates the energy consumption... I am so screwed.' “What’s this? Wasted all of our energy have we? Heh heh heh, perfect. Now you’re vulnerable, weak, and hurt. This shouldn’t be too hard.” Psychotic dove at Symbol and tackled him into the ground. Symbol tried to kick him off, but Psychotic’s body just separated around him. Psychotic carried him into the air, threw him, and blasted him with a large beam of magic. Symbol took the shot, slightly surprised at its power, and then summoned two purple fire blades. He charged and swung his swords, but Psychotic’s body simply separated before the blades could touch him. “What’s wrong Symbol? Can’t beat what you can’t touch?” Symbol slashed again, and Psychotic separated into four balls of symbiote material. They surrounded Symbol before smalls bits of them rapidly launched from one ball to the other, striking Symbol as they did so. Cuts were appearing everywhere on him, and Symbol couldn’t do a thing to move out of the way. Then they stopped, converged on him, and then launched him into the ground. They reformed Psychotic, who was smirking at the spot Symbol had just been launched into. The smoke cleared and Symbol was standing there. “Okay that was definitely different. How are you doing this?” “Well, even though I have control of the fusion, this effect is only temporary. It will not last forever, so I am inclined to do as I was told. I’m not allowed to kill you, nor drain your power, although that order I may ignore, so I might as well tell you. You’ll find out eventually. Basically when I’m like this, I have more control over my body then what is natural. The saying, “Mind over matter” literally applies to me! Heh heh heh ha ha ha!” With that he dived towards Symbol. he separated into four balls of symbiote material, and landed on the ground, surrounding Symbol. Then, spikes grew out of each one, impaling Symbol from four different angles. They then converged on him, surrounding him in an orb of Symbiote material. From inside Symbol was constantly impaled again and again until a lot of his bones were broken. The material got off of him, and Symbol collapsed. Psychotic reformed and walked to him. “It’s nothing personal Symbol, I was doing as I was asked. But now, heh heh heh, I’m afraid there’s one part of the request I must ignore, heh heh heh ha, there’s too much power FOR ME TO IGNORE! HEH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA HA!” He slowly walked up to Symbol and placed a hand on his back. Symbol could feel his energy draining, he assumed it was being absorbed by Psychotic. Suddenly there was a ball of fire and it nailed Psychotic, knocking him away. “What the hell?” He looked around and saw Ashley standing there, fire in her hands. “I don’t know who or what you are, but I won’t let you hurt Symbol anymore!” She charged up a ball of fire in her hand and shot it at Psychotic. Being ready for it this time, Psychotic’s body separated, letting the fire ball pass. Once he reformed, he gave Ashley an insane look. “Oh? And who might you be? Heh heh heh, oh wait, I know who you are. Your Symbol’s displaced, aren’t you? Heh heh heh, I don’t have anything to do with you. But that just makes you an open target, heh heh heh, and around me that’s never a good thing! Heh heh heh HA HA HA HA HA!” Ashley held out her hands and they glowed green, then dozens of tiny green balls of light surrounded Psychotic. "Firefly!" The balls ignited and caused a massive explosion. Psychotic tried to absorb the energy but failed. "What they hell?!" Ashley charged forward in a ball of fire and nailed him in the chest. When he tried to grab her his hand slipped right through her, the part he tried to grab had separated into fire. "What?!" Ashley smirked and summoned two fire blades. She spin kicked Psychotic and he was thrown against a tree, she then threw the blades at him and they impaled his chest and stuck him to the tree. She charged her first with energy and sent a huge wave of fire over him. Charging forward Ashley held out her arms and they became black and metal-like, much like Symbols did. She reached Psychotic and punched him in the stomach. She brought her other fist down on his chest. She then began to repeatedly punch him in the face and stomach until she charged up one last punch and landed on his chest, causing an explosion that burst out of Psychotics back. Ashley watched as Psychotic fell to the ground with multiple burns, bruises and stab wounds. Smiling at her victory she moved her attention to Symbol who had his back against a tree and was holding his chest while breathing heavily. "Ashley... I told you not... to come... after me." She rolled her eyes and knelt down beside him. "I couldn't just leave you out here, you still need to teach me how to use observation Haki." Symbol smiled before falling unconscious. "Come on, let's get you to Canterlot where you can rest up." She grabbed Symbols shoulder and they teleported away from the area. Psychotic slowly opened his eyes and punched the ground. "Damnit! I was so close to all that power!" Suddenly a portal opened and a man with spiked green hair, a scarf that covered his mouth, a green tracksuit top with a metal sash over it and jeans walked out. "Who the hell are you?" "My name is Roden Godswell, and I have no business with you demon, I wish to speak with Epidemic." Roden placed his hand on Psychotics head and forced Epidemic out. "You were never supposed to be here young one, it isn't yet time for Neo to return." "And why is that?" "That does not concern you, Neo will return eventually but until that time comes he must remain here where he can develop." Epidemic just growled and stood up. "Sorry old timer, but I have a mission to complete." Roden just looked at him and frowned. "Fine, but if you succeed you are the one that must suffer the consequences." With that Roden stepped into a portal. “Consequences? What the hell is he talking about? Hmph, I don’t time for this.” Epidemic became let loose his dragon phase and took the sky, readying his scythe for an attack. Meanwhile Ashley had teleported to Canterlot, where Twilight and her friends were located. When they all saw the damage done to Symbol, they knew something was wrong. “Oh my gosh what happened?” Ashley looked up as Twilight came rushing to assist. “Someone very dangerous and determined arrived here. Remember that strange human looking thing with wings?” “Well yeah of course.” “He, sort of did this to him.” “Sort of? How in the hay do ya sort of do this ta somepony?” “Well, I don't think it was exactly him. It’s like it was a crazier, more insane version of him.” “So he’s been corrupted by dark magic?” “I don’t think so. I didn’t feel any dark magic, I think it was just some other side of him.” “You’re partly right.” With a gasp they all looked up to see Epidemic above them, glaring at them all. His glare was only intensified by his wings, claws, horns, and tail. “He is another side of something, but it’s not me. Maybe if we meet again I’ll tell you what that truly was.” “Meet again? What do you mean by that?” “I mean I’m taking Symbol home, and I don’t care if I have to kill each and every one of you in order to do it.” “W-What?!” Twilight and the others started to panic, but Ashley kept her cool. “Oh yeah? Go ahead and try! I beat the guy that beat Symbol pretty easily, what makes you so different?” “Difference is, Psychotic is better meant to fight those that have a lot of energy. His keen energy sense can detect even the most well disguised energy signature. He can also absorb and steal energy from others. You however, are not fighting Psychotic. You’re fighting me, Epidemic, and I assure you our attack strategies are very different. I will not be concerned about gaining your power, I already have my own. Now, before this battle starts I'll give you a choice, surrender Symbol to me, or die.” “Bring it on!” Ashley took up a fighting stance as did Twilight and her friends. “Very well, then take a good look around you, for this is the last place you’ll ever see.” Epidemic dove at Ashley and the girls, causing them all to dive for cover. Ascending into the air again, he fired off a couple blasts of fire at them all. He hit his targets dead on, and everyone was sent flying. Ashley recovered first and fired off her own blasts. Epidemic dodged them and flew down at her, scythe at the ready. He swung and she barely dodged. He was about to swing again, but then got hit by a blast of magic from Twilight. He didn’t even budge, only slowed down for a second allowing Ashley to roll out of the way. He gave a look of fury towards Twilight, who wilted under his gaze. Ignoring her, he went back to his real target. Ashley had taken cover and started to charge up a ball of fire. Epidemic was about to go for her when… “Hya!” Rainbow Dash came in with a judo kick, aiming straight for Epidemic’s face. He however, caught her leg and tossed her right into an incoming Applejack. Pinkie Pie fired her party cannons, which Epidemic destroyed with blasts of magic. Twilight ran in front of him and shot a beam of magic at him, which he simply walked through it to her. He grabbed her horn, stopping the spell instantly, and threw her to the side. By this point, the girls had bought Ashley enough time to build up a huge ball of fire in her hands. “Take this!” She threw it at him as hard as possible and smirked when it hit her target. It exploded, creating a huge dust cloud. Ashley couldn’t see a thing, but she knew that there was no way anyone could survive something like that. Then, in the smoke, she saw a figure. ’N-No… no way… how could anyone… survive that?’ Epidemic walked from the smoke and closer still to Ashley. She grunted and rushed him. She threw a punch, which he simply dodged, and returned with a knee to the gut, and followed it up by a blast of magic, sending her flying into a wall. With difficulty, she separated herself from the wall and rushed him again, this time with a fist of fire. He caught her wrist and squeezed, forcing her to kneel from the pain. He held up one hand and charged up a ball of fire in it. He looked into her eyes as he was about to throw it and kill her, and saw something. Determination. That’s what he saw. Even though she knew she was dead she was still willing to fight on for her friends. For the ones she cared about. In that moment, Epidemic knew he couldn’t kill her. She had a life to live, things to do, people to meet, places to go. If he ended all of that right here, it would have been too cruel. So he didn’t. He let go of her arm, and dispersed the ball of flames. “W-What are you?” “If Symbol truly does have his reasons to stay, then so be it. I will wait until he returns. But, tell him this.” Epidemic turned to Ashley with a glare. “The moment he decides to return, I want answers.” And with that he was gone, disappearing into a portal that opened up behind him. He walked out, leaving Ashley to wonder just what the hell was really going on. If Symbol had a life before, why didn’t he go back? Why wasn’t Epidemic supposed to find him yet? And maybe the most important of all, what happened to Symbol in the first place? As Symbol lay in a bed in Canterlot Castle recovering from his wounds, a dark figure entered the room. "My plan to have Epidemic bring him back has failed, looks like I have to do it myself." The figure grabbed Symbol and tossed him through a portal. "I have to make sure no one gets in my way, let's see how little Ashley does without her teacher for awhile!"