Crimson picked up the pay phone and called the operator.
"Hello?"
"HELLO YES THIS IS CRIMSON."
"Excuse m-"
"YES I LOOK FOR DIAVOLO HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?"
"What? Listen, you nee-"
"HELLO WHERE IS DIAVOLO THIS IS CRIMSON."
The operator hung up.
King Crimson hung his head low. Every since he ended up in this new, strange, and rather colorful world filled with colorful horses and magic and whatnot, he had not been able to find his user, Diavolo, which he had so rudely been parted with.
He stepped out of the booth, multicolored equines moving both ways down the sidewalk. Of course, none of them could see Crimson, what with him being a Stand and all, leaving King Crimson feeling quite lonely. He wandered off, through the crowds, until the city around him seemingly disappeared, leaving him amongst a forest. King Crimson never liked big buildings, so he continued beyond the edge and deep into the woods.
"DIAVOLO?"
King Crimson had never been away from his user before. It was such a strange experience for him, wandering from place to place for days searching for his user, Diavolo. He remembered back to the last thing he was doing before ended up in this world: He was fighting someone, some guy with a column-like haircut in a wheelchair, when he and Diavolo were surrounded by a brilliant white light. The next thing he knew, he was pulled away from Diavolo, fell over, and then he was here. But that happened days ago, and ever since, King Crimson had been wandering about, searching for his user.
Crimson glanced around. He had been walking for hours, despite feeling like moments, and he found himself in a small clearing. The world behind seemed to be drowned out while he was strolling. Crimson decided to sit on a large stone nearby and collect his thoughts. The days Crimson had spent in this place left him sad and alone, with absolutely no one to talk to. Not that he had any desire to, but it would've been better than the constant wandering.
Then Epitaph spoke. "Crimson."
"WHAT YOU WANT, SMALL FACE?"
"Finally, you decided to respond. I've been trying to get your attention for hours."
"CRIMSON DID NOT HEAR."
"Of course he didn't. Now, look, I don't why you're going about, looking for Diavolo, but don't you think we could be better off without him?"
"SMALL FACE IS STUPID. DIAVOLO IS MY MASTER I MUST FIND HIM."
"Stop calling me Small Face. It's Epitaph and you know it is."
"YOU KNOW CRIMSON CANNOT SAY FUNNY WORD, SMALL FACE."
Epitaph sighed. Trying to argue with King Crimson is the equivalent to speaking to a burning tree stump that just ate a 5-year old, which Epitaph suddenly realized and stopped talking.
"I'M SORRY, SMALL FACE. CRIMSON IS JUST SAD BECAUSE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO."
"We could keep walking. That was working out incredibly well for us, until you stopped walking."
"CRIMSON IS TIRED OF WALKING."
"Strolling, jogging, running, sprinting. Anything that involves moving forward is better than sitting absolutely still."
"CRIMSON LIKES SITTING."
"And Crimson is wasting time, like he always does. Come on, let's-"
A rustling sound came very suddenly from a nearby bush, immediately catching both Epitaph and Crimson's attention.
"WHO IS THERE?"
The rustling grew much louder, and then began to fade into silence. Crimson's gaze locked on to the bush as he stood up from the stone and stepped towards it. With one swift motion, he hacked away the petty shrub.
"HELLO I AM..."
No one. Crimson stared into the near-total darkness of the forest.
"It was probably just a rodent or somethi-"
"NO. IT WAS HORSEY," Crimson said in his usually loud voice as he pointed at the ground. A trail of faint hoofprints came to, and then away from the shrub that previously stood.
"What would one of those little horses be doing out here?"
King Crimson inhaled. "THIS MUST BE THE WORK OF AN ENEMY STAND!"
"What-?" Epitaph had no time to react as King Crimson began sprinting alongside the trail hoofprints.
"Whoa, Crimson, slow down! We don't even know if this one is a Stand user!"
"IT'S LIKE SMALL FACE SAID. WHAT WOULD HORSEY BE DOING OUT HERE?"
"That doesn't mean that they're a Stand user! Maybe they were just wandering around like us, or maybe they just... like..."
"DON'T WORRY, SMALL FACE. CRIMSON CAN HANDLE THIS."
King Crimson stopped at a narrow, bumpy dirt path, where the trees above let light shine through ever so slightly. The tracks that he had been following turned onto the small path and followed it onwards. Without a second thought, King Crimson continued his pursuit. Only a minute down the road, the tracks he had been following had stopped abruptly.
"Huh."
"HORSEY DISAPPEAR? MAKES NO SENSE."
"Maybe they... um..."
"MUST BE STAND USER."
"Okay, fine, let's assume this equine just so happens to have a Stand. Where would a Stand-bearing horse have gone, Genius?"
Crimson looked around. The path he had been followed continued into an opening nearby, and deeper into the forest from where he came. The tracks seemed to turn off into the forest, despite leaving no other visible trace, and the area around him was completely silent.
"..."
"So...?"
"SO..."
"Yeeeeesss?"
"HORSEY STAND CAN TELEPORT!"
"I..." Epitaph then realized that arguing again would not only be fruitless, but also that such an idea at this point was not entirely retarded, as King Crimson's ideas usually were. "Alright, you've convinced me. So, where are we off to know, Smarty Pants?"
"UH."
"'UH'?"
King Crimson continued along the dirt path into what he thought was the clearing, which turned out to be the other edge of the forest. Large plains spread out before him, with lush fields resting in the soft breeze blowing past. A somewhat small town stood out in the plains ahead, with strange buildings and a large farm off to the side. The path they had followed seemed to turn into a cobblestone paved road, with a sign not far off.
"'Welcome to Ponyville' ..."
"CRIMSON KNOWS WHAT TO DO NOW."
"And that is...?"
"WE GO TO HORSEY VILLAGE."
Epitaph sighed. "Brilliant, Crimson. Just brilliant."
The Beginning of Crimson, Phase Two:『ELECTRIC BOOGALOO』
King Crimson had travelled throughout the strangely quiet town known as Ponyville. Across the streets, through the center of town, past the acres of farmland, behind carts, and in between every house and building, but not a single pony had even peeked their head out to them. The entire town was more or less deserted.
"CRIMSON IS CONFUSED. THERE ARE NO HORSIES HERE."
"Maybe some kind of emergency evacuation? Or some kind of out of town party that invited all of the inhabitants?"
"MAYBE HORSEY IS SCARED OF CRIMSON AND HIDE IN HOME."
"That's also relatively possible, though kind of weird, since everyone seemed to have parted almost immediately. Look, there's horse-drawn carts just sitting in the middle of the street!"
"HMMM..."
Crimson looked around him absent-mindedly, searching for clues as to the disappearance of the inhabitants. He strolled along the road, gaining a more closer look at the buildings he had rushed past before. The structures were somewhat odd, almost whimsical, like a strange dream they couldn't wake up from. As he walked on, he came across strange building that stood out amongst the rest. It was one that look like it was made from candies and sweets, all built around a wooden frame. "Sugarcube Corner," Epitaph read aloud. "Sounds like something from a children's book. This place is really weird..."
"SHOULD WE LOOK FOR HORSEY HERE?"
"Might as well. I'm being to suspect that something's not right here."
King Crimson nodded and entered the building, and the situation only became stranger. The entirety of the interior was blank; flat, featureless walls coated in a brilliant white, the floor and ceiling no different. The windows seen outside were not present within, and the only descript object in the room was a strange light fixture in the ceiling, barely showing where the walls and floor met.
"I knew something was up. This whole 'town in the middle of nowhere' was too good to be true."
"BUT WHAT ABOUT HORSEY TRACKS?"
"Right, but that's were it all stops making sense. Why would someone be out here in a place that isn't even real?"
"...CRIMSON DOES NOT UNDERSTAND."
"Me neither, pal. You might have been right about there being a Stand user around here, so I guess all we can currently do is keep looking about. Maybe then, we can figure out what's REALLY going on here."
Crimson straightened his posture and saluted. "YES SIR!"
Crimson exited the false structure and continued his search, every building sharing the same interior as every other did: white, blank, and featureless. After about an hour of intense investigation, he stopped in his tracks.
"..."
"What's wrong? Did you figure something out?"
King Crimson turned around suddenly, to where the sun had begun its descent below the horizon. "HORSEY IS WATCHING."
"What?" Epitaph tried to look ahead to where Crimson was, but couldn't see anything. "I don't understand what you mean."
Crimson did not respond, and looked onwards. Without warning, he turned and ran behind some building, but suddenly swooped back around, hiding out of sight from where they were. "What was that? Are you losing it?" Epitaph questioned.
"LOOK."
In the remaining sunlight, a light gray unicorn poked her head out from the shadows of the buildings, glanced around, and then followed the path Crimson had taken.
"Wh-" Epitaph was halted by Crimson's finger shushing him. "SHHHHH... HORSEY IS FOLLOWING CRIMSON IN SECRET."
"What? It can see us?"
Crimson continued around the house he was hiding behind, and came up behind the lone mare, looking quite puzzled as to where he had gone. Her mane was only a slightly darker shade of gray, and her purple eyes almost glowed in the growing darkness. Crimson continued to sneak up on the confused mare, and when he got right behind her, he whispered haunting words.
"HELLO I AM CRIMSON," he screamed right into her ear, causing her to yelp, jump, and fall over.
"Real smooth, buddy," Epitaph commented.
Without a moment's hesitation, a large, blue, crab-like hand lashed out at King Crimson, prompting him to smack it away with ease.
The mare got back up on her hooves and grinned. "You... Crimson, was it? You're probably very confused right now, or have been for the few days you've been here, right?"
Epitaph spoke up. "Understatement of the century-" Before he could finished, another hand appeared and hit him dead in the face, of course knocking them both back.
Her smile faded. "I wasn't talking to you, 'Small Face'."
Crimson looked around, puzzled, and then looked back and pointed at himself. "ME?"
"Yes. You." The mare cleared her throat. "You see, I'm the one who summoned you into this world. It was an experiment to unleash new and powerful magic from another world into mine, to be used at my disposal. I suppose you could say it worked," she stated, while looking up and down at King Crimson. "Safe to say, it worked," she continued, as a crab-like humanoid rose from behind her, it's yellow eyes glowing in the dark.
"A Stand is the bounty that I, Pride, had gained on my own!" she boasted loudly. "But, sadly, there was a side effect when casting the spell, and while studying it was fun, it must be disposed of."
"SIDE EFFECT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"
"Crimson, watch out, she's going to-!"
Just as its crabby fist had swung, King Crimson was already thinking one step ahead. Crimson shifted aside, watching Pride's stand swung at were he would've been. Time erasure had taken effect.
"S-Shit... I thought you were going to fall for that."
"NO. CRIMSON IS NOT STUPID."
As he stepped behind her, time resumed. Pride was suddenly stunned at the sudden jump she made forward. "What? What happened?"
"YOU CANNOT HIT CRIMSON," he answered sternly. "I WILL KNOW WHEN YOU SWING."
Pride grew angry. "I should've know this would be difficult. My Stand's abilities will not be powerful enough to rid of you alone. And I thought I would've been able to destroy you myself." She smiled, then turned tail and ran, "Don't think you can beat me and my Stand, Electric Boogaloo, just yet! I'll be back for you, just as soon as I can recruit more users! So long!"
"After her! Don't let her get away Crimson!"
As she disappeared behind some buildings, however, the false structures around them began to crumble and melt away. "Crap, I should've seen that coming! Crimson, use your ability again!"
As he was about to, the ground to rumble and shake, and a large tree sprouted directly in front of him. All around, trees began sprouting left and right, all while the structures disintegrated. "There's no catching up to her now. Shit... let's get out of here!"
"ON IT," Crimson stated, as he immediately spun around and ran back to the path they had came from. After reaching the edge of the forest, the ground had suddenly stopped shaking. When King Crimson turned around, all that was left behind them was the dirt path they had followed, leading deeper and deeper in the forest.
"What kind of Stand ability was that?! The whole place just came down! Or... was it the forest all along? Man, that was weird!"
"SO... WAS CRIMSON SIDE EFFECT THAT HORSEY SPOKE ABOUT?"
"What? Oh yeah, that... Hell, I don't know. Maybe. It's the only thing that would explain how we ended up here."
Crimson sniffled again. "I MISS DIAVOLO."
"Will you forget about him!? He's not important anymore! What's important is following that 'Pride' pony, or whatever she said! If she's the one who got us into the mess, then she's probably the way out."
Crimson remained silent. Several thoughts were swirling around in his head, shooting off multiple conflicting emotions.
"Come on, Crimson. If we want to catch up to her, we have to go now!"
"...OKAY. CRIMSON WILL LISTEN TO SMALL FACE."
"Stop calling me that," Epitaph responded as Crimson proceed down the narrow, dirt trail.
Spike awoke to a large tremor shaking him out of bed. With a rumble, shake, and thud, Spike had fallen out of his rest, fully awake and somewhat dazed. Climbing from the floor, he took a quick look around the room, seeing that Twilight had already gotten out of bed. Realizing this, Spike began his search for Twilight in her study. Sure enough, she was there.
"I take the tremors woke you up, too." She hadn't faced away from the window.
"Yeah... what's going on? Are we under attack or something?"
"No, it's something else. Those tremors aren't coming from anywhere nearby, but are actually coming from deep inside the Everfree. Something serious was going on out there to have caused that."
"So, crazy stuff that's not important? Great! I'm going back to sleep."
"No, that's not all." Twilight's face grew a worried expression. "Ever since, I've been sensing a strange force coming from the forest, and it's been getting gradually bigger. Something is coming this way."
"...You don't know what it is?"
"The magic I've been sensing is not one I've felt before. We might be dealing with something completely new!"
"So is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Twilight sighed. "I don't know... You can go on back to sleep, but I'm going to stay up a little longer, see if I can get any more information on what's going on."
"Alright, you enjoy yourself, Twilight," Spike replied as he yawned and left the room.
Twilight looked out to the Everfree, the thought of a strange, new power left out there to discover brought her a mix of worry and curiosity.
"It should be fine. Shouldn't it?"
"We've got to have the advantage now! She's going to have to sleep sooner or later!"
King Crimson and Epitaph had kept on their pursuit for several hours now, seeing no end of the forest in sight. They had begun their journey of escaping this strange world, and their first key out had a tag that read "Pride" on it. They had been going the whole night, and through the trees, the sun had begun its ascent once again. After passing through the familiar of trees, dirt, and the occasional wildlife, Epitaph's attention was grasped by something in the distance.
"Crimson, up ahead! There's the edge of the forest!"
"I SEE IT! CRIMSON WAS GETTING TIRED OF THESE TREES."
With one final dash, King Crimson was clear of the dreary forest, and entered a familiar setting. A town not far off, plain and hills, cobblestone road, and a very familiar sign.
"ANOTHER FAKE TOWN? CRIMSON IS TIRED OF THIS."
"No, I don't think this one is a fake this time. I can see actual PONIES this time."
"IF NOT FAKE, THEN MAYBE HORSEY IS HIDING HERE."
"Most likely. I pretty sure there were no turns on that path, so this is still the direction she was heading."
"CRIMSON IS LOOKING FORWARD TO CUTTING HORSEY'S FACE OFF."
"No, no, we need her alive if we want to get out of here."
"OH."
"Now, less talking, more searching! Onwards, Crimson!"
"YES!" Crimson shouted with excitement as he began his incredibly short journey to the very real town of Ponyville.
Compared to their last 'visit' to Ponyville, the place was more lively than they remembered, with ponies going to and fro to in their unknown destinations. As Crimson and Epitaph viewed amongst them, there were no faces they deemed familiar.
"I have a feeling this may be harder than I thought. You got any ideas, big man? Maybe one of your ass-backward plans can help us out here."
"HMMM..." Crimson pondered for a minute. "OH, OH! DO THE THING YOU DO! DO YOUR THING!"
"What? Oh, that." Epitaph focused for a moment, and suddenly, an echo of King Crimson appeared a few feet away, pointing off at a distant building. Following the prediction, Crimson moved to where his future self was standing, and pointed in the same direction, only to see a gray mare quickly exit the building seconds later.
"THAT WAS HORSEY! THEY WERE HIDING INSIDE!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? After her!"
Without a second thought, Crimson began to run after the mare they had been chasing all this time, occasionally using his ability to make sure he didn't enter her line of sight. As she turned a street corner, so did Crimson, only to see a pony pulling along a cart of produce. Determined to catch the Stand user, Crimson slashed down the middle of the cart, completely destroying it and rendering its carrier dead. Crimson didn't bother slowing down at the commotion he created, and continued pursuit. Another turn, and there she was, at the dead end of an alley.
"NO MORE RUNNING FROM CRIMSON." The mare's face was filled with terror as she searched for a way out of the situation, before locking eyes with King Crimson.
Then, all fear faded from her, and she grinned. "Well, I suppose this is the end of the line, isn't it?"
"We aren't leaving without you. You got some information that we want."
"Is that so?" Pride smirked.
"CRIMSON WANTS OUT OF THIS WORLD AND HE NEEDS YOU TO DO IT."
"I'm not giving up that easily. You can go ahead and try to take it from me."
Pride's horn began to glow, and before he could react, Crimson was blown away by a bolt of magic. When he looked back to where she was, they had already disappeared.
"Damn it! For someone so weak, she's very good at keeping us away." Epitaph looked about, seeing the not only did the destroyed cart draw in multiple ponies, but now a few of them looked their way with expressions of fear and surprise.
"IS IT JUST ME, OR IS CRIMSON BEING WATCHED?"
Epitaph looked again, and sure enough, all eyes were now on them. "I don't think that blast was just to keep us from getting to her. I think we've just been exposed!"
Crimson glanced amongst the frightened faces. "THIS IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM FOR CRIMSON."
Spike slammed the library doors open, panting from the sprint he had made to tell Twilight the bad news.
"Twilight... Twilight..."
Twilight entered the room with haste. "What? What happened?"
"Some... Somepony was... was... k-killed..."
Her blood ran cold. "What!?"
Spike stopped her. "That's... not all... Come look!" He ran back out the door.
Twilight followed. "What do you mean 'come look'?! You just said somepony died!"
Spike stopped her in her tracks and pointed. "Look! I think that's what caused it!"
Twilight looked to where he was pointed, and halted. It was a tall, bipedal creature, covered in a strange, diamond-shaped pattern and donning what seemed to be armor. Its face, or 'faces', were small and oddly-shaped, with fish-like eyes peering around the area it was in. The strange magic she had sense before was irradiating off of it; the power coming from it was immense, almost blocking out everything around it.
Pride peered down from the rooftops of Ponyville onto the now independent Stand, King Crimson, trying to figure how to proceed with this situation. On the good side, the experimental spell she had cast seemed to work, as the ponies in the street who had witnessed an innocent bystander's death has locked their vision on Crimson. Even Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, had him in his sight. With how things had gone for him, the ponies were almost sure to turn on the lone Stand.
On the bad side, all of them together may not even be able to top the overwhelming power of King Crimson, and with his main abilities still a mystery, Pride had no way to figure out a proper attack plan.
'Should I play the game of chance? Or should I take matters into my own hands?' Pride pondered upon the situation. 'My own ability will no longer work against him , so I can't attack directly...'
Wait. Back up.
'An innocent bystander's death...'
Will it work?
'Hmmm... although, I still haven't work out the "side effect"...'
Is it worth it?
Pride paused, and then snickered. "Of course it's worth it. Now, with a little bit of dark magic, it might just work..."
King Crimson was frozen in place, the eyes of many placed upon him. He searched his mind for any kind of plan to escape the situation.
"Snap out of it, Crimson! We have to act now!"
"QUIET. CRIMSON IS THINKING."
Make a swift escape or barrel through the crowd? Leave no trace or make your presence known? Ruthless violence or strategic diplomacy? What will it be, what will it be? Will the King comply or will he be free?
King Crimson blinked. "What the hell is wrong with you, Crimson!?"
"Uhm... E-Excuse me."
Crimson looked down to face the lavender unicorn that called for his attention. She was clearly afraid, and averted her gaze when he looked down at her.
Twilight chuckled nervously. "May I please s-speak with you for a moment... uh... Mr. C-Crimson?"
What muscles Epitaph had froze solid. "We're done for."
King Crimson crouched down, causing Twilight to jump slightly. "WHAT DOES HORSEY WANT? CRIMSON IS TRYING FIGURE OUT AN ESCAPE PLAN."
Twilight was expecting a quick death, but instead got the vocabulary of a child, which she couldn't tell what was worse. Either way, she didn't plan further than that. "Uhm.. well..."
King Crimson poked her nose, almost causing Twilight to faint, then spoke to Epitaph. "I THINK THIS HORSEY IS BROKEN."
"Maybe they aren't all intelligent? Makes it easier for us to get out of-" Epitaph was cut short by a black and white hand smacking them in the face. When King Crimson regained focus, he saw a slim, black and white figure with green eyes and a ridiculous hat facing them. From the nearby debris, the recently un-deceased stallion walked slowly towards him, his eyes glowing green and a look of malice on his face. The sight of this, of course, caused panic to spread throughout the crowd, sending ponies running in every direction. Twilight, however, stood her ground.
"You're going to pay for doing that to me, King Crimson!" The stallion hissed at him.
Before King Crimson could rise again, four bony hooves sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his arms and legs, effectively pinning him. Twilight began to back away from the sight as skeletal ponies began to rise from the ground, surrounding King Crimson.
"It seems my Stand, Day of the Dead, has already beaten you, hasn't it? That was much easier than I expected!"
Just as it seemed it was over for him, King Crimson responded sternly. "YOUR STAND IS WEAK." Without another word, King Crimson activated his ability, and rose from the ground. He shifted past the skeletons, some still in the ground, and face the enemy's Stand.
"Just like that? That was easier than I expected. Much faster, too. Sad this guy didn't get to develop as a villain."
"IT'S BETTER THAT WAY," Crimson replied, as his ability wore off. With not a moment wasted, he delivered a savage punch to the Stand that faced him, sending the meager Earth pony flying backwards, as well as back to the afterlife he so briefly visited. The skeletons immediately dismantled and collapsed to the ground before disintegrating.
"Man, that sucked. Didn't even 'stand' a chance." Epitaph chuckled slightly at his own pun.
"NEVER USE STUPID WORDPLAY AGAIN, SMALL FACE. DOESN'T SUIT YOU."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Woo, yeah!" King Crimson turned around at the sudden cheer, its source being a baby dragon positioned next to a slack-jawed unicorn.
"Uh, thanks?"
Twilight blinked. "Wha-What? What was that? What just happened? He was on the ground surrounded by skeletons, and then he's causing possessed bodies to fly backwards!"
"I don't know what just happened, but it was cool!"
"NOW, IF CRIMSON IS CORRECT, HORSEY HAD SOMETHING TO SAY?"
Twilight's face went from surprise to joy. "I don't have time to say anything, I've got to tell Celestia about this brand new discovery!"
As twilight hastily left the scene, Spike gestured them to follow. "She means 'Thanks, please come inside'."
Pride watched the whole ordeal from start to finish, the result leaving her stunned.
"That... oh, sweet Celestia. I shouldn't have even considered doing that." She frowned. "What a waste. Although, practice makes perfect, so I guess it wasn't a TOTAL waste. Who knows? Maybe the 'side effect', whatever it may be, will deal with him instead," Pride said to herself, as she began her escape from the town.
King Crimson sat at round table, twiddling his thumbs. While the murder of an innocent would've ended rather badly for him, the stallion's sudden revival seemed to fix the situation for him.
All in all, not a bad day.
Twilight poked her head in from the other room. "Er, what was your name again?"
"His name is King Crimson, and I'm Epitaph."
Twilight thanked them and left the room again. "I would usually protest about how this is a bad idea, but things have been going pretty nicely for us so far."
"CRIMSON KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING."
"Of course you do, buddy."
Twilight re-entered the room. "Now that that's taken care of, we can begin!"
Crimson looked at her puzzlingly. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"
"I want you to tell me all about you," Twilight stated, pulling up a notepad.
"Anything... specific?"
"Where did you come from? What was it like there? Are there more like you? What was that thing you did earlier-?"
"Whoa, slow down there, princess. Take it easy."
Twilight breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry, this is just way to exciting! Face-to-face with an intelligent alien species!"
"'Species'? Listen, we aren't-"
In the very next moment, Twilight's entire front door suddenly exploded, shaking the entire tree, and almost knocking Twilight out cold. King Crimson, seemingly unphased by the blast, stood up from the seat. As the dust cleared, a figure soon became visible.
A pink figure with black gloves and a cat-like appearance. It kept looking at its hand, then back at Crimson.
The next few moments were drowned in a tense silence. The dust around King Crimson settled as the mysterious new figure stepped forward. It's eyes looked about the room, an indecisive expression of either curiosity or boredom on its face. Crimson stepped forward, prepared to face his next enemy. The sudden standoff seemed to last forever.
The Stand blinked, and then meowed.
King Crimson stood his ground, his mind filled with uncertainty. Was it harmless, or did it have an intent to kill? And where was the Stand user, anyways?
"H-hey, Crimson..." Epitaph beckoned, but Crimson's focus did not shift away from the Stand that stood before him. Twilight, who was currently unaware of the immediate danger, began to regained her focus. Seeing the pony stirring behind Crimson, the Stand's eyes widened as it took a step back. It then hissed, and swung its left hand forward. Suddenly, as it swung, a small object manifested in its hand and was thrown directly at Crimson, who dodged and then caught the flying object.
The object, upon closer examination, appeared to be a small, blue tank with a skull attached to the front. A faint ticking came from inside.
Tick... tick...
"Crimson, I think..."
Tick... tick...
Click. "Crap, it's a bomb! Crimson, toss it-!"
Just as King Crimson had let go, he was immediately thrown back against the far wall by the resulting explosion. Once he was back on his feet, Crimson saw that the enemy Stand was now perched on top of a bookshelf, watching as the small tank moved slowly towards the still partially stunned Twilight.
"LOOK OUT, TWIGHT-LIGHT!"
She quickly glanced around in confusion. "What?"
Tick... tick...
"Look this way."
Twilight stopped and looked towards where the voice had came from, only to see two small tracks coming towards her across the floor.
Tick... tick...
"Look this way. Do you see me? Judging from your confused expression, I assume you cannot."
Twilight was frozen with fear. "I-"
The voice cut her off. "No. Do not speak. Save your breath. You will need it if the hole I blast in your throat doesn't kill you."
"Twilight!" Spike called out, but Crimson stopped him. "QUIET."
Tick... tick...
"You must be quite scared to have not run from me. You should know that Killer Queen does not like the creatures in this world."
The tracks stopped. "W-Who's there? Show yourself!"
Tick...
"Honestly, I couldn't care less. But as long as I am connected to them, I am under their control. No hard feelings."
Tick...
Epitaph blinked. "Wait... Crimson, you aren't thinking of-"
Click.
"YES, I AM!" King Crimson yelled, just as his ability activated. He walked about the room, overviewing the situation.
"I was about to call you out on how diving to save... er, 'Twilight' wasn't worth it, but what you actually didn't was actually kind of smart! Erasing the moment the explosion went off, making it so the explosion basically didn't happen!"
"SMALL FACE MAY THINK CRIMSON IS NOT VERY SMART, BUT AT LEAST CRIMSON IS SMARTER THAN CAT MAN AND HIS TALKING BOMB," Crimson replied as he approached the bomb. As his ability wore off, King Crimson swung his leg at the bomb on the ground, kicking it and launching it directly into Killer Queen's face, knocking them off the bookshelf. Killer Queen got up, hissed, and began to flee on all fours out of the library, leaving his bomb in the dust.
"Hey, come back here, coward!"
Before the bomb could speed off after them, King Crimson stomped down on it, holding it in place. The force of his foot began to slightly crack the skull. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."
"Crimson," Twilight called from behind him, fear lingering in her voice, "Would you mind explaining to me what the hay just happened!?"
As she said that, Spike came running in from outside, avoiding the rubble. "Twilight, what's going on in here? I heard a loud explosion, and then I see the front door missing!" He looked at King Crimson, his foot hovering over nothing. " You weren't experimenting on him, were you?"
"No, Spike, but I think we were just attacked by a ghost. I think. Are ghosts real? Crimson, did you see any ghosts?"
"Well, yes, I suppose we were attacked by a ghost," Epitaph responded, "But I believe that the attacker has fled the scene."
King Crimson bent down and picked up the bomb. "THE CAT MAN ALSO LEFT BEHIND HIS TALKING BOMB."
The three of them stopped and look at King Crimson's hand, the source of the voice.
"Yes, yes, look at me. I am called Sheer Heart Attack, Killer Queen's second bomb. And while they might be a coward in this world, they are not stupid. They know that they are physically unable to leave me behind. They know my range is not infinite."
"Twilight, what is that?" Spike asked nervously.
The ticking had started again. "Because of that, they will have to come back to this place and retrieve me, and when it comes to that, they may very well have to kill each and every one of you just to get me back."
"IT'S THE TALKING BOMB," Crimson answered.
"'Bomb'?! Twilight, come on, let's get out of here-!"
"NO!" King Crimson yelled, "NOBODY MOVES!"
Tick... tick...
Heart Attack turned around in his hand to face him. "Look here, Crimson."
Tick... tick...
"You were smart, telling them to stay. If they had run, I would've surely killed one of them. You are more intelligent than you let on, sure, but now you face a dead end. What will you do, now that I'm armed? Throw me out in the street, risking innocent lives for your own? Toss me upwards as I explode, causing the entire structure to collapse around you? Or will you hold on tight, sacrificing your own existence to save some worthless animals? Or maybe..."
Tick... tick...
"...maybe you will use that ability again. The one that stopped me before. But if you do, maybe I'll just arm myself again, so who knows...?"
Tick... tick...
"...Who knows?"
Tick.
Tick.
The room had grown so quiet with dread that Twilight could hear a branch snap from outside her bedside window.
"YES."
"What?" Heart Attack and Epitaph both questioned in unison.
Tick.
"YES, I WILL."
Heart Attack hesitated. "I do not understand."
"I WILL."
Another branch snapped.
"THANKS FOR THE IDEA."
Click.
Without hesitation, King Crimson reeled back, and threw Heart Attack directly towards Twilight's window. In the moment before detonation, a third branch snapped as Killer Queen suddenly fell the tree, and directly into their own bomb's explosion. Killer Queen's yowl trailed away as they both went flying off into the distance. The result left both Twilight and Spike stunned in a cloud of lingering fear and confusion.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the loud scream that rung in her ears.
