Chapter XXVI: Return
Chapter XXVI
Return
Ivy’s eyes opened to see herself surrounded by the green liquid. She saw the Changeling sitting across from her. Rouge perked up as she saw the flyer. Ivy poked her head out of her pod and started to pant.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Rouge asked.
“Like I got stepped on by a mountain.” The door opened to show the bandaged blue flyer and six girls. “How long have I been out?”
“You were in and out of a coma for the past four hours.” Rouge said. The green flyer groaned and looked at the blue flyer. He had a massive bandage wrapped around his chest where the mage had cut him. The flyer was also using crutches to get around.
“Has anyone seen Crimson?” Ivy asked.
“He bugged out when the medics took you away.” Dash said as she sat down.
“Jerk.” Ivy grumbled.
“That ain’t very nice.” AJ stated.
“He cut my hair. How’d you feel if someone tore your hat in half?” She spat out. Applejack was about to argue but let out a sigh. “That’s what I thought.” The door opened to reveal a nurse in purple scrubs.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She said with a smile.
“Not a thing.” Cobalt said. “What’s up?” The nurse then pulled out an envelope.
“Someone dropped this on my desk and its addresses to this room.” Rouge picked it up and opened it up. The contents only had the lock of green hair the red mage had cut during the battle. Ivy’s eyes shrank and she grunted.
“Asshole.” She spat out before going back into her pod. The nurse quickly exited the room as the group looked at one another with worried looks on their faces. Rarity squinted and picked up the lock of hair and examined it. The fashionista walked over to the flyer’s pod and tapped on the side.
Ivy leaned her head out and looked at the woman. “What do you want Rarity?”
“Just a quick question. Is all that hair natural?” She asked as she pointed to Ivy’s hair.
“Yeah. Why?” Rarity held the hair in front of the flyer.
“This is a hair extension.” The group looked at one another in surprise.
“I’ve never used them!”
“I figured.” She said as she set the hair down on the table. “With your permission I’d like to conduct a little investigation in your hair.” Ivy bit her lip and gave a reluctant nod.
“Try anything and I’ll send you through the wall.” Rarity nodded and gently ran her slender fingers through the green hair. She felt something odd and gently withdrew it.
“Ah-ha!” She said as she held up a small clip with a bit of green hair attached to it. “The cut pattern matches up perfectly no?” She said as she levitated the two pieces. The group looked in amazement as they saw the cut edges line up with one another.
“So Crimson never cut my hair?” Ivy said in a stunned tone.
“Looks that way.” Cobalt said. Ivy hung her head low and sighed before going back into her pod.
“Yeah, what was that whole crazy transforming show towards the end?” Dash asked.
“That was the demon taking control of his body.” Rouge answered. “Been a while since that’s happened.”
“You’ve seen that thing before?” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah.” The blue flyer said. “A year ago we were on this job in the dragon kingdom with Crimson’s teacher Grimm. He was teaching him how to control the demon’s power better when Crimson lost control and went on a rampage.” The six girls gulped. “We managed to calm him down, but not without injury.”
“How bad did ya get hurt?” AJ asked. The flyer stood up and grunted in pain as he removed his bandages. He picked up his right arm and showed a large scar on his side that stretched from his armpit to his leg. Rouge rolled up her shirt and the illusion vanished to show a large scar across her stomach.
“After we stopped him, Crimson started doing missions on his own for a while.” Rouge said as she rolled her shirt back down. “Before we got assigned to Ponyville we hadn’t seen him in almost six months.” The girls looked at her in shock. “Crow kept tabs on him for us and let us know how he was doing.”
“So where is he now?” Twilight asked.
“I checked his room. Not there.” Rouge answered. “Probably in the library.” Twilight nodded and stood up.
“I’m just gonna go check on him.” Twilight answered as she exited the room. The five girls shrugged and left to go get some food. The two warriors looked at the pod and saw some tears forming in the green flyer’s eyes.
“Ivy?” Rouge said as she looked at her teammate. Ivy leaned her head out of the pod and sniffled. The flyer had an extremely guilty look on her face. “What did you do?” The flyer gulped and looked at the two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three hours earlier.
Ivy’s eyes fluttered open to see the red mage standing across from her pod with a worried look on his face.
“Oh thank the creator you’re alright.” He said with a sigh.
“No thanks to you.” She spat out.
“Ivy I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to lose control like that.” He said in a genuine tone.
“Really?” She asked in a spite filled tone. The girls eyes cut through him like a knife hot butter. “You cut my hair.”
“Look let me just-” He was about to step forwards when the flyer’s glare stopped him.
“I don’t want to hear it!” She yelled. “I trusted you more than anyone. Then you go and stab me in the back? Thanks a lot Captain.” Her words could give manticore poison a run for its money.
“Listen Ivy I just-”
“You just what? Wanted to win so badly that you were willing to kill me?”
“No, I never wanted-”
“That stunt out there begs to differ.” Her eyes were like daggers. The flyer then felt a pain in her chest and grunted. The heart monitor was beeping rapidly. Crimson ran to the doorway.
“Hey we need a doctor in here!” A nurse instantly got up from her seat and ran inside. She looked at the monitors and gulped. “Is she okay?”
“Not good. She’s going critical.”
“Is there anything I can-”
“You’ve....done....enough.” Ivy wheezed out through the pain. Several more doctors ran inside and examined the flyer. The nurse walked over to Crimson and sighed.
“For the safety of the patient, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” She said in a low tone. “Sorry Crimson.”
“Its fine.” He said as he walked towards the doorway. “Let me know if anything changes.” The nurse nodded and closed the door behind him. Crimson hung his head low and vanished in a flash of light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rouge and Cobalt face palmed at the flyer who hung her head in shame.
“Damn it Ivy!” Rouge yelled. “You of all people should know how Crimson felt after the last time something like that happened.” Ivy bit her lip and held back a few tears. “You know that Crimson couldn’t control it and he barely managed to revert back this time.”
“I know. I screwed up.” She sniffled. “I’ll go apologize and-” She was stopped as the changeling set up a barrier locking her in the pod.
“Oh no you don’t. You’re in no condition to be walking around.”
“What about him?” She asked as she looked at the blue flyer.
“I just came to switch rooms. Figured you could use the company” He said as he walked over to the adjacent pod. “The only thing keeping me up now is the pain killers I’m on.” He said as he stepped into the pod.
“You two focus on getting better. I’ll go find Crimson.” Rouge said as she left the two to soak in the pods. Cobalt leaned back and let the liquids heal his wounds as he went off to sleep. Ivy curled up inside her pod and let the river of tears flow from her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight hastily made her way into the large library of the school. Once again she was almost blown away by the vast amount of information. She quickly shook off the vibe and approached the librarian.
“Ah. Ms. Sparkle.” He smiled.
“Have you seen Crimson?” She asked as she looked at the man.
“Yes, I believe he went into the lounge a few hours ago.” He said as he looked at his watch. “Hasn’t come out since.” He said as he snapped his fingers and a ball of orange light appeared before the scholar. “This should show you the way.”
“I’m only a visitor.” She said as she looked at the ball. “The only reason I was able to walk around here was because Crimson was with me.” The man smirked and pulled out a small bronze badge.
“That should help you out.” He said as he handed it to the girl. Twilight looked at the bronze book shaped pin and cocked an eyebrow. “It’ll allow you to enter most of the levels here, safe the demonology section.” Quill stated. Twilight pinned the pin on her lavender colored blouse and followed the orange ball.
Twilight caught her breath as she got use to the hook and traveling between floors. The scholar followed the ball of orange light through the seemingly endless rows of books. Normally the scholar would be neck deep in the information, but the urge to find the red mage was at the front of her mind.
The scholar stopped as she saw the red mage staring down at a book. Had he been looking any harder, Twilight would have though that he was shooting daggers into the book. The scholar was awe struck at how seriously he was reading. The scholar came up behind him and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
“Fuck a duck!” The mage jumped five feet in the air and dropped the book in fright. Twilight jumped back and fell on the stone floor. As the man landed he spun around to see the scholar looking up at him in shock. “Twilight? What are you doing here?” He said as he helped her up.
“Looking for you.” The man sighed and crossed his arms.
“I don’t feel like talking.” He said as he turned to leave. The woman frowned and teleported in front of him. “Look, what do you want?”
“To make sure you’re alright.” She said in astern tone.
“I just fought and almost killed my best friend. How do you think I feel?” He said as he frowned.
“Which is why I came to find you.” She said in a concerned tone. “Ivy knows that you cut a hair extension.” The man gritted his teeth. “Look what happened wasn’t your fault.
“You don’t get it do you?” He said as he glared at the woman. “It is my fault. I almost killed my best friend for a second time!” He yelled.
“It was an accident. You lost control and-”
“I shouldn’t have even tried to use that power in the first place.” Crimson yelled. “I shouldn’t have taken things that far.” He said as he sat down. The scholar put a hand on his shoulder and sighed. “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t lose control and look what happened.” He said with a sigh.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Twilight said in a serious tone. “From what I’ve seen, I know that you’d never purposely hurt Ivy or any of your friends.”
“That doesn’t change-” The man was cut off as he grabbed his right arm in pain. The skin was moving rapidly and the scholar could hear cracking noises coming from it. Twilight’s eyes shrank as she saw that his right arm was covered in bandages like a mummy’s would be.
“Are you okay?” She asked as she helped him up. The man grunted and clutched his arm. The librarian moved to his right side and started to remove the bandages. “Here, let me see whats-” The scholar stopped dead in her tracks. The bandages started to turn red as she unraveled them more. When she got to the last one she saw that there was no skin beneath them.
She could easily see the muscular system in his arm along with blood vessels and veins. The man hung his head and quickly re wrapped the damage. “What happened?”
“You saw when my arm was cut off during the fight right?” Twilight gave him a nod. “One of the demon’s attributes is the ability to replace lost limbs. This uses up a massive amount of my own energy and has some...uncomfortable side effects.”
“So you can replace anything?”
“No, my brain and heart are not able to regenerate.” He said in a flat tone. “I can’t even replace a severed finger on my own. Small cuts and bruises are easy to handle.” Crimson frowned. He rolled up one of the bandages and showed a small patch of skin growing. “It’ll take a couple of hours, but it should be fine.” He said as he rewrapped it.
“Anyway I don’t have time to worry. The final is tomorrow and I’m not ready to-” The man was cut off as his gem blinked and vibrated. The man pulled it out to show a middle aged woman with dark brown hair.
“Hello? Is this Crimson Storm?”
“Yes, how can I help you?” Crimson stated.
“Oh thank the creator. Please, you have to help me.” She said with a sniffle.
“Calm down ma’am. What’s the issue?”
“Its my little girl....I think she’s possessed.” The woman double checked her corners. “Please, I was told by a friend that you’re good at this sort of thing.” Crimson frowned and sighed.
“Where’s your daughter?”
“We’re in Willow City.” The man’s eyes shrank. “Please!” She said with tears in her eyes. The man sighed and cracked his neck.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He said as he cut the transmission. The scholar looked at him in confusion. “C’mon Sparkle I might need a hand.” He said as he walked past the girl and towards the main lobby.
“With what?” She asked as she caught up with him.
“I’m going to perform an exorcism and I’ll need our help.” He said as he jumped down to the main floor. Twilight swung down and was right behind him.
“An exorcism?” She said in surprise.
“I usually have Ivy come with me, but she’s currently resting so you’ll have to do.” He said as he walked past the man. Quill perked up and whistled. “Yes?”
“Here’s your book Crimson.” The man said with a grin. Crimson’s face turned bright red and he quickly grabbed the book and hid it inside his coat. The man kept his hood up and walked out of the library. Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked at the man in confusion.
“C’mon I need to grab something from my room.” He said as he walked down the stone hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crow sat behind his desk with the three Princesses glaring at him and gripping their tea cups tightly. The man sighed and looked at the three Princesses with a blank look on his face. Celestia bit her lip and set her cup down and folded her hands.
“I know what you’re going to say Tia.” Crow sighed. “I know and-”
“No, you don’t know!” She stammered. “He is loosing control and I will not have it turn loose a second time.” The sun goddess glared at the man.
“I know and I will deal with it if it should come to that.” He said in a stern tone. “He is still my student and he is under my supervision.” He said as he gripped his cane. Celestia sighed and looked at her sister and niece.
“Luna, Cadence. I wish to have a word with the Headmaster alone.”
“But sister-” Luna stopped when she saw the seriousness in her sister’s eyes. The usually calm pink eyes that were now focused on the man like a hunter is on their prey.
“Alone.” The two younger Princesses gulped and got up. The two winged women walked out of the room and silently closed the door. The solar Princess let out a sigh and cleared her throat. “I am simply expressing concern for my subjects’ well being.”
“I understand that.” He said as he folded his hands. “Keep in mind Tia,” He said in a flat tone. “putting our....history aside. I will protect my students from anything that may threaten them, even the royal guard.” The Princess then felt the air in the room grow heavy and a light green aura enveloped the man. “Be sure to remember that.” He said as he turned around in his chair.
Outside the room Cadence leaned against the stone wall and sighed. The woman saw several students looking at her in surprise. Her eyes narrowed as she spied a familiar red haired man walking with her sister in law. She quietly followed them down the hallway and towards the center of the school.
“So where are we going?” Twilight asked.
“To take out some demon that’s taken up hold in Willow City.” Cadence gulped at the name. “It’s probably a low ranking spirit, but you can never be too careful with these kind of situations.”
“What was that book Quill gave you?” The man’s face turned scarlet red.
“N-nothing. Just a book.”
“Are we going to use it for the exorcism?”
“Nope. Just some light reading.” The two stopped in front of a large globe. The man walked up to a keyboard and pressed a few keys. The globe spun back towards them and a message board appeared above a dot. “There we go.” He said with a sigh.
“What is this?”
“Warp station.” He said with a sigh. “Allows us to fast travel to anyplace with a travel hub.” Crimson said as he cracked his neck. “Most major cities have one. Think of it as a long range teleportation spell.” He said as a seal in front of the man started to glow. Crimson stepped on the seal and motioned for the scholar to follow.
Twilight hid her blush as he put an arm around her. “Word of advice, hold on.” He said and he wrapped his arms around her and the two vanished in a flash of light. Cadence silently giggled to herself and happily made her way back down the hall.
The two found themselves in the middle of a large room with a seal on the floor. Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw the fine marble pillars cut to near perfection. The floor was the same and had intricate designs carved into it. Twilight staggered forwards and dropped to her knees. The woman felt ill and quickly made her way over to the nearest trash can.
The man shook his head and gave a small chuckle. “Yeah, I remember my first time using it.” The woman groaned as the man helped her up. “C’mon, we gotta get going.”
The two were then approached by the woman who had contacted the man. She looked completely exhausted. Her hair was a mess and she had tear stains coming down her eyes.
“Are you Crimson?” The man put one of his fingers to his lips and looked around. “Sorry.” She said in a hushed tone.
“Where is she?”
“My home. I’ll take you there. Please lets hurry.” She said as she hurried down towards the road. The woman looked at Twilight in confusion.
“My temporary assistant.” He said in a flat tone. The woman nodded and hastily lead the two out the door. “What symptoms does your daughter have?”
“Talking in weird tongues, odd marks appearing on her body, vocal changes and all sorts of odd things.”
“These marks, what do they look like?” He asked as they quickly walked down the street.
“Animal bites, scratches and an odd symbol.” She said in a panic filled tone. The man gritted his teeth and nodded. Twilight noticed that a lot of people were giving them odd looks. “I’ve consulted a priest, but I’ve heard that you’re a specialist.”
“In a way.” He said as they approached a plain house with a brown wooden door. The woman made her way through the small home with the two mages following close behind. The sounds of animal like screams could be heard coming from upstairs along with a man’s voice yelling. Twilight gulped.
The three came to a pink painted door with a few stickers on the outside. The door suddenly opened to show a man in a white suit and a sun imprinted on the front. The man was visibly sweating and his face was white as a sheet of paper.
“By Celestia.” He said in a panic filled tone. Crimson rolled his eyes and patted him on the shoulder.
“Sit this one out Padre.” He said as he looked at Twilight. “Wait outside till I find out what we’re dealing with.”
“O-okay.” She said with a gulp. Crimson went inside and locked the door behind him. He looked at the girl who’s wrists were tied to the bed posts. Here eyes were dried out and the veins were clearly visible. Her skin was like paper and her hair was almost completely grey. The girl didn’t look older than seven.
The man cracked his fingers and pulled up a chair. His eyes narrowed and his pupils focused on the possessed girl.
“My names Crimson Storm. What’s yours?” The girl remained silent. “Ah, silent treatment huh?” He chuckled. “Look, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way.” The girl let out a monstrous roar and spat some black sludge in his face. The man sighed and wiped the sludge off his sleeve. “Okay, hard way it is.”
The man stood up and set the chair aside. Crimson started to walk around the room and look at some family pictures. “Twinkle Shooter. That’s a nice name.” The possessed girl’s eyes were focused on the man. “Look, leave the girl’s body now and I’ll put in a good word for ya.” The next words that came out of the girl’s mouth was more like a series of screeches.
*Translation
“You can’t understand a thing I’m saying and I wouldn’t tell you anything if you could!” The girl screeched. Crimson cracked his neck and sighed.
“I can, and you will.” The girl’s expression went flat. The man snapped his fingers and a gem appeared in his hands. The girl cringed back as the man got closer. Crimson cracked his neck and the girl let out a loud screech. The man then heard a series of hard knocks on the door.
“Crimson? Is everything alright in there?” Twilight asked.
“I’m fine. Keep that door closed.” He ordered. The man turned his attention back to the possessed girl and a small pentagram formed on his left palm. The screeching continued as Crimson’s eyes narrowed as he saw the wrist restraints on the girl were starting to rip.
“If I go then this girl goes with me.” The man sent a red blast of energy at the girl.
“I’ll drive you out like poison is drawn from a wound.” He said as he fired another bolt over her head. The ties around the girl’s wrists snapped and the girl lunged herself at the man. Crimson then heard the door behind his burst open to reveal a hulking man with short brown hair. The man had a large club in his hand.
The young girl jumped five feet in the air with her fingers aiming for the man’s red eyes. Crimson raised his left palm and slammed it into the girl’s forehead. The group’s eyes shrank as they saw the man’s hand pass though the girl’s head and rip out what looked like a black cat out of the small girl’s body.
The small girl fell to the ground in a heap as Crimson stabbed the shade with the gem. A gut wrenching scream escaped the object as it seemed to get sucked up into the jewel. Crimson cracked his neck and sighed as he looked down at the now black gem. The man stormed over to Crimson and slammed his fist into his jaw. Twilight gasped as the man raised his bat.
“Before you decide to beat my face in, might I suggest that you check on your daughter?” He said as he pointed to the girl. The group looked down and the man quickly picked up the small girl in his arms. The man’s eyes were sick with worry.
“Twinkle?” The man said in a worried tone. The girl’s hair returned to normal along with her tan skin. The girl opened her dark hazel eyes and blinked.
“Daddy?” She said with a smile. The man felt tears fill his eyes and hugged his daughter. Twilight helped Crimson up and the man rubbed his cheek.
“Few days rest and she’ll be fine.” He said as he looked at the family. Crimson then turned his attention to the scared priest. “Afternoon.” He said as he threw his hood up and walked towards the front door of the house. The woman chased after him and smiled.
“Thank you.” She cried. “How much do I-”
“I have my payment.” He said as he held up the black gem. Crimson turned and went out towards the street. He stopped to let Twilight catch up. “Twilight.”
“Yes?”
“Keep a distance of at least thirty feet behind me till we get back to the travel hub.” He said in a flat tone.
“Why?”
“Just do it.” The man’s eyes were like two red daggers that seemed the pierce the scholar’s soul. “Please.”
“Fine.” She said as she rolled her eyes.
“No matter what happens. Don’t interfere.” Before she could ask, Crimson started walking down the street. Once he was a reasonable distance away Twilight started following the man. Twilight faded in the crowd and saw that heads were turning towards the man and the people started to whisper to one another.
Crimson kept his eyes forwards and focused on getting to the travel station. A large man then barged into him. Crimson looked at the man and nodded. “Sorry.” The man looked down and spat on his shoe. Twilight’s eyes shrank and was about to jump on but held back.
Crimson kept walking and the stares and looks continued. The people were looking at the man like he had just kicked their dog. As he reached the steps of town hall a brick was thrown from the crowd and slammed into the back of the man’s head. Crimson fell down on the hard steps and grunted in pain.
“You got some nerve coming back here freak!” A man yelled. The crowd soon followed suit. The crowd grabbed rocks and started hurtling them at the man. The rocks were wrapped in a light purple aura and stopped in mid air.
“Damn it Twilight.” He said in a hushed tone as the girl made her way through the crowd and stood in front of the red haired man.
“What is wrong with you people?” She yelled. The scholar helped the man up and put his left arm over her shoulders. “Why are you doing this?”
“He ain’t human!” A man yelled.
“He destroyed this town sixteen years ago and killed my son!” A woman yelled with tears running down her face. Twilight’s eyes shrank at the words and looked at the man who was bleeding from his scalp.
“This is where the demon attacked.” Crimson answered with a cough.
“He doesn’t deserve anything less then death.” Another crowd member yelled. “Specially since that green girl ain’t here to save him like last time.” The crowd started to walk towards the man with malicious intent. Twilight frowned and felt a tear form in her left eye.
The crowd stopped when they saw a large amount of lavender aura escape the woman’s body. Her eyes were glowing with magical energy and the ground around her started to crack under the pressure.
“Anyone that wants him has to go through me first!” She yelled as she stood in front of the crowd.
“We don’t want to hurt ya ma’am. Ya got no reason to protect him.” A man stated.
“You just said that you want to hurt the man who’s saved my life on more than one occasion. That’s reason enough for me protecting him.” The rocks that still hung in the air were then rotated back towards the crowd. The mob gulped and backed away.
“I know that I wasn’t here when it happened and I’ll never know the pain you all felt. The ones you’ve lost and the hatred you feel towards the demon.” She sniffled. “But there’s one thing you should consider.” The mob looked at one another in confusion. “Think about how Crimson feels! He is forced to relive that nightmare everyday! Forced to live with the thing that took the two most important people in the world away from him!” The red mage was awe struck at the words.
“Look at yourselves!” Twilight yelled. “Would those who’ve died want you to become this? People looking to kill a man for something that was completely out of his control?” The scholar wept. “If that’s what you think then you’re even worse than the demon that attacked here!” The crowd fell silent and the rocks fell to the ground in a heap as the magic started to fade away.
Twilight still held her ground and here eyes were like two sharpened blades ready to cut into anyone that dared oppose her. “C’mon Crimson. Lets leave this place before I do something I’ll regret.” She said as she took the man’s arm and lead him up the stairs. The mob dispersed and went back to what they were doing before the purple tyrant tore them a new one.
Twilight sat down on a bench close to the hub and held her head low as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Crimson said with a sigh.
“They were going to kill you.” She said as she sat up.
“I knew they would.” Twilight looked at the man in confusion. “Remember when I told you about the goblins that almost killed me?” Twilight recalled the conversation at his welcome party. “These people set that trap. They never thought that I’d survive.”
“That’s horrible!”
“They wanted my head on a platter. Didn’t care how.” He said as he sat back. “Ever since that first attempt, they’ve tried to assassinate me dozens of times. I lost count after forty.” Twilight put a hand to her mouth in shock. “The last time, Ivy came with me and threatened to snap their spines in half if they tried it again.”
“Why did you do it? Keep coming back I mean.” Twilight asked. The man stood up and took the mage’s hand in his own and teleported out of the building. Twilight opened her eyes and saw a massive crater in the center of a green park. The crater was easily twenty meters in diameter with a small flat scrap of earth protruding from the center of the crater.
“Is this where they-” The man gave a single stiff nod.
“This is where the demon was defeated and sealed inside of me.” The man then pointed out towards the protrusion. “I remember waking up on that thing. Lying on my back with Crow looking down at me with tears in his eyes. I can still smell the flames of destruction and the sight of my parent’s bodies lying down next to me.” He hung his head in shame.
The man then walked over to a large black rock that was ten feet high and had a fine polished finish. The rock was riddled with hundreds of names etched into it. “I’ve memorized every name on this stone and can repeat them alphabetically, by age, gender you name it.” He said with a sigh. “I keep coming here to remind myself what was lost and to make sure that something like this never happens again.”
Twilight looked at the man and gulped as she saw the seriousness in his eyes. Twilight sniffle and wrapped her arms around the man in a tight hug. “Come tomorrow, it won’t matter anymore.”
“Why’s that?” She asked as she let go.
“The final test of the trials is known as the mirror. One literally faces off against himself and because of my...nature. I’ll be lucky if I even survive.”
“Hey don’t talk like that.” Twilight said.
“If three hundred of the strongest mages of the last era couldn’t fight the demon then what chance do I have?” He said with a sigh. Twilight narrowed her eyes and slapped the man upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?”
“For being an idiot!” She scowled. “You honestly think that you don’t stand a chance? You’ve beaten an Ursa minor, faced off against a new Nightmare Moon and fought possibly the scariest woman I’ve ever seen with a pair of wings.”
“Ivy is a kitten compared to what I have to fight.” He said as he gestured to himself.
“So you’re just going to give up?”
“I didn’t say that.” He said as he pulled out a large crystal like the one he had used on himself during the fight with the dragon slayer. “I the chips are down and I have no choice then I’ll use this.” The crystal was clear and was easily two feet long.
“What is that thing anyway?”
“When the Crystal Empire came back I discovered that some of the crystals there can act as types of conduits and trap souls within them.” He said as he held the gem on his hands. “I use them to seal away demonic entities that slip out and cause trouble like that girl I just helped.” He said as he pulled out the smaller gem.
“Why is that one smaller?”
“Smaller the demon the smaller the gem I can use. Since mine is stronger I need to use stronger gems.”
“So you can get rid of that thing in you?” She asked in a happy tone.
“Not exactly. There’s a price I pay for using this on myself.” He said as he made the gem vanish.
“What’s that?”
“I die.”
“..........”
“..........”
“You what?” She yelled.
“Basically, I’ll get sucked into the gem along with the demon.” Twilight slapped him again. “Geez, why are you hitting me?” He said as he rubbed his cheek that now had a bright red hand print.
“Why in the name of Equestria would you do something so stupid?” Crimson narrowed his eyes and pointed out to the crater.
“That’s why. When a conduit dies the spirit trapped inside of them is released. If that thing comes out again, it’ll mean death and destruction for everyone I care about.” He stated. Twilight gulped. “I’m a soldier Twilight. It’s my duty as a soldier to protect humanity. No matter the cost.”
“You make it sound like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Pardon my language, but that’s bullshit.” The mage was taken back by the usually proper woman’s language. “We’re only human. Its in our nature to make mistakes.”
Once again, the man was thoroughly stunned at how the scholar had looked through him. Her dark purple eyes saw through any facade and analyzed him better and faster than any psychologist ever could.
“No point in arguing with you is there?”
“Nope.”
“Still my decision stands. If things get too bad then I’m pulling the plug.” He said as he put the large crystal back in his jacket. The red haired man then noticed that several people were staring at them. “Lets get out of here.” He said as he grabbed the girl’s hand and teleported them back to the transport hub. A thought came to the indigo haired scholar and grinned.
“Hey, is it possible to teleport to Canterlot from here?”
“Yeah, why?” He asked as he cocked an eyebrow.
“I just need to grab something real quick.”
“Thought you lived in Ponyville.”
“Not originally. I was born and raised in Canterlot.” The man looked at his pocket watch and shrugged. It was only four o’clock. The man selected the capital city and the two vanished in a flash of light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crow sat at his desk behind a mountain of paperwork. The man yawned and sipped his cup of coffee as he heard a knock at the door. The man set down his coffee and folded his hands.
“Come in.” The door opened to reveal the crystal Princess.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She asked with a smile.
“Not at all Princess.” He said with a warm smile. “Just going through the never ending river of paperwork.” He grumbled.
“You’re preaching the choir here.” She said as she sat down.
“So how can I help you?”
“I was just curious about Crimson.” She said in a sweet tone. The man’s face immediately hardened and a scowl appeared across his face.
“As I’ve told Celestia, he has some issues with the demon but-”
“Oh no. Its nothing like that I assure you.” The man relaxed and sat back. “I was looking for things on a more...personal level.” Crow blinked in surprise at the words.
“Well, he’s usually quiet, let’s his actions speak for himself, he loves to read. Must get that from his mother’s side.” He noticed that the young Alicorn’s eyes were focused on him. “Might I ask why you’re interested in him?” Cadence then made sure that the door was locked and that no one else was in the room.
She waved the man closed and spoke in a hushed tone.
“I have it on good authority that Twilight has a crush on him and Crimson seems to have taken a shine to her as well.” Crow’s jaw hit the floor and looked at the Princess of love in surprise.
“Celestia’s student? No.”
“Yes!” Cadence giggled. Crow then barreled over in laughter. Cadence looked at him in bewilderment and cocked an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”
Crow calmed down and told the Princess about the incident that occurred between the two children sixteen years ago. Cadence grabbed her face and squealed in delight. “I remember Twilight telling me about a crazy red headed boy rescuing her doll. That is so cute! Do either of them know?”
“I don’t think so. Which makes this even better!” He yelled with a laugh. “Oh Cadence, we have to get these kids together.”
“My thoughts exactly. I haven’t seen Twilight like this since she was just a little girl.” She sighed as she remembered the small girl. “However there is one snag.” Crow raised an eyebrow at the words. “My husband.”
“Why would the Captain of the Royal guard object to-”
“Twilight is my sister in law.” Crow’s calm expression shattered.
“So your husband is Ms. Sparkle’s-”
“Yup.”
“Pony feathers.” He grumbled. “Crimson always had a knack for wanting things that are almost impossible to get.” Crow face palmed.
“Yeah, those two mix about as well as oil and water.” She sighed. “Course he doesn’t have to know just yet.” Crow raised an eyebrow at the Alicorn.
“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, are you suggesting that you withhold information from your husband in order to get his younger sister together with the person he possibly hates more than Chrysalis?”
“Possibly.” She said with a weak grin.
“Despite your innocent demeanor, you are very crafty.” Crow chuckled.
“I learned from the best.” Cadence said ina happy tone.
“Quite. Where are they anyway? I haven’t seen Crimson since the match ended. No doubt he’s off sulking somewhere.”
“I followed them to that transport hub.” Crow looked at her in surprise. “It sounded like Crimson had a job to do and Twilight tagged along.”
“What was the town?” He asked as he sipped his coffee.
“I think it was Willow City.” Crow spat out his coffee and looked at the Princess with fear spread across his face. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s where the demon attacked sixteen years ago.” Cadence then realized the danger. Crow rifled through his pockets and pulled out a small red gem.
“What’s that?”
“It allows me to keep an eye on him. It gives me Crimson’s location by locking onto his mother’s gauntlet.” He ran his magic through it and it glowed brightly. “Looks like he’s in Canterlot now.” He sighed. “Your husband is still in the empire right?” Cadence gave a nod. “Good.” Crow sighed as he put the gem away. The man then saw the young Princess had a concerned look on her face. “Something wrong?”
“I just remembered something that might be a problem.” She gulped. “Celestia.”
“Don’t worry about her.” Crow grinned. “I have an idea. It’s difficult, but it might just work.” He said as he scratched his chin and a mischievous smile spread across his face. “Despite being an immortal goddess, Celestia has one weakness.”
“Really? What?”
“Sorry Princess. Its a secret.” He chuckled. “Just leave her to me.” The pink winged woman got to her feet and showed herself out. Crow put his feet up on the desk and chuckled as he thought of a way to utilize the sun goddess’s flaw.
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
784 users online
1,043,933 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Is her flaw… cake?
Cakesssssssssssssssssssssssss.XD or Bananas. Banana CAKESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
All of you are wrong, her weakness is songs.
oh did i noticed a justice leauge batman reference with the talking in different speech XD.
Ahh..... Thank Celestia, I needed this update. And I certainly wasn't disappointed in any way, shape, or form.
WHA!? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!?
I hate to say this but as of now, this seems rather like a cop-out explanation.
3706616 YES! Someone gets it!
3707265 Read the chapter where they fight.
I wonder... when does the romance happen...
3707849 At the end of the story.
[quoteTwilight narrowed her eyes and slapped the man upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?”“For being an idiot!” She scowled.]Amanda Show reference?
3708318 Not intentional, but glad to see that someone else knows the show.
3708488 I'm a 90's kid so stud like this makes me feel old
3708573 Likewise.
remember when SpongeBob use to be good? and Hey Arnold?:
If Ivy never used hair extensions then how did that get in her hair? What is the book Crimson checked out? Can Crow take on Celestia? What is her weakness? Did the upcoming Paranormal Activity 5 give you the inspiration for that exorcist scene? Why does Shining Armor hate Crimson?(I feel like there is more to it than what we see)
3707340
Apoligies for my vagueness. I meant the Hair extensions.
When did Crimson manage to attach the hair extensions to Ivy without her noticing?
Or did he simply use a sleight of hand to fool her?
That was the part I was confused about.
3708852 Those were the days.
3709531 When they were fighting he slipped it inside her hair.
3708880 Never seen any Paranormal Activity movies. A few questios will be answered next chapter.
3710383 Pokemon was so the shit back then. Now, like everything else, they dragged out way too long
3710562 Damn straight. I was more of a Yu-gi-oh person, but still. Now all that good stuff is like a coma patient silenetly begging to be put out of its misery.
3710612 Amen. How bout Eliza Thornberry and Rug Rats?
3710627 Classic.
3708167 oh... so no kiss yet?
3712103 Not yet.
3712335 oh...
(You think you could update heart of the ocean?
)
Kufufufufu~ Can we expect another update for any other stories soon? Sorry I dont mean to sound like im rushing you, but good god these are good. Kufufufufu~
F1utt3rShI~
(Daemon Spade)
cake