> Even the Ghost Rider needs Love > by PuzzleMaster98 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lone man in a worn leather jacket stumbled forward before finally collapsing on the side of the desolate road, not having the energy to take another step. Behind the man was the smoldering, twisted wreck of metal and shredded rubber that was once a brand new BMW motorcycle. After sitting for a few minutes, the man began to crawl, not knowing where to go or how to get help. His face had several cuts that were oozing blood, and his clothes were torn and stained with oil, gas, soot, and blood. He hissed as a large jolt of pain ran through his head, causing him to put a hand to his head. 'Well Johnny, it sure was SMART of you to go riding on the BR-116 in Brazil when you're currently suffering from alcohol withdrawal.' He bitterly thought to himself. With that thought in mind, he slowly rolled onto his back, hoping that it wasn't broken, and stared at the flaming wreckage of the bike. 'Damn, and I was really looking forward to using it in my next stunt.' He gave a little chuckle, which quickly turned into a coughing fit, blood splattering into his gloved hand as he covered his mouth. 'That ain't good. Better find some help.' Johnny Blaze tried to sit up, but was stopped when he felt a jolt of pain that made him hiss. Taking his hand, he touched his side, and felt a warm liquid flow onto his hand, as well as something hard poking out. 'Great, some broken ribs. And one of them's sticking out.' He laid back down with a sigh. 'I should be in agony right now, but why am i not? Am i in shock?' Johnny couldn't figure any of it out. He had crashed his motorcycle while going over 50 mph. He had several broken ribs, one of which was sticking out, possibly a broken back, a larger possibility of internal bleeding, and he was losing blood at an alarming rate. He stared into the sky, his vision blurring. "Well, i should have expected to die this way. Lying broken and bleeding on the side of the road with a burning twisted motorcycle nearby." He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, opening them as he exhaled. "Can't wait to see you Pop.' With that, he closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness. In a castle nestled among several small homes, a pony sat up in bed, gasping for air. This pony had a horn on her head and graceful wings on her side. She was slightly taller than most ponies, and had a light purple coat with a blue mane streaked with red and violet. A six-pointed purple star surrounded by five white stars adorned her flanks. This pony was none other than the fourth alicorn of Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. She brought a hoof up to her chest, and took in several deep breaths. 'What a weird dream.' She pondered over what she had seen in her dream. She had seen a weird, ape-like creature have a horrible accident with some sort of moving vehicle. It had been able to move away from the flaming wreckage that had once been the strange contraption, but had died once it had moved away to the side of the road. 'Why would i dream about that?' As Twilight pondered even more over the strange creature in her dream, she started to remember what the creature's name had been. 'Oh. What was his name? It was J..Johnny...Blaze? Yeah, that was its name!! Johnny Blaze.' She thought, happy to have remembered the strange creature's name. It was an odd name, but it fit the strange creature. She thought about Johnny Blaze for several more minutes, trying to remember what else she had seen in the dream. Twilight decided to stop thinking about the strange creature, and then went back to sleep, the moonlight shining down on her. In a castle nestled beside a mountain, a pony gasped and sat up in bed. This pony had a horn on her head and graceful wings on her sides. She was taller than most ponies, had a coat color of dark sapphire blue with a mane that waved from sitting up so fast. It was a mixture of dark blues with stars that made it look like the night sky on a clear night. A white crescent moon sitting on an inky dark purple, near black background cutie mark adorned her flanks. This pony was no other than the second alicorn and co-ruler of Equestria with her older sister, Princess Luna, the Goddess of the Night. She brought a hoof up and wiped away the sweat that had formed on her brow. 'What a strange dream.' The sound of her bedroom door being open caught Luna's attention. A white alicorn stood in the doorway, her magenta eyes showing worry as her mane of blues, greens, pinks, and purples billowed behind as though an unknown breeze was blowing. She had an orange stylized sun on her flank. It was her older sister, the Goddess of the Sun, Princess Celestia. "Is something wrong Luna?" Luna nodded her head. "Indeed sister. I have had the strangest dream." Celestia slowly walked over to her. "It must have been quite the dream Lulu. You are breathing quite heavily." Luna groaned at the pet name her sister called her. "Sister, you know i don't like that name. And yes, the dream was rather....odd." Celestia smiled a little, and sat down next to Luna. "What was the dream?" Luna took a deep breath, and started to speak. "I saw this......strange creature. It walked on two legs, like a primate. It was fighting some other creatures like itself." Luna looked at Celestia, who nodded for her to continue. "I saw it start to laugh when the others attacked it, but when it laughed, it made my skin crawl with fear." Celestia blinked, and asked, "How could it's laugh make you scared?" "I don't know sister. But i felt incredible power within the creature. The creature.....was powerful as you and me." Celestia was surprised to hear this. A two-legged creature that was as powerful as her or Luna? "Luna, that is indeed a strange dream. But do not worry, it is just a dream." Luna nodded in agreement, and then let out a large yawn, her sister yawning as well. "Well, i think its time we go back to bed." "Alright, goodnight Celly." "Goodnight Luna." Celestia closed the door behind her as she left the room. Luna's room was once again shrouded in darkness, but a single ray of silver light cut through the dark. Luna gave one last yawn and laid down, allowing the comforting light of her moon to make her feel safe and lull her to sleep. > Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny Blaze stood in the middle of a dark desert. The sky was deep red, and the land around him was lacking any significant features. He stumbled around the desert, looking for anyone or anything out of place. But he found no one. He tried to call out for help, but no sound came from his mouth when he tried to speak. Suddenly, a large column of fire appeared in front of him, making Johnny stumble back in shock. A figure stepped out from the fire, causing Johnny to furrow his brow with frustration. It was the Rider, a skeleton on fire wearing leather pants and a jacket, and carrying a coiled chain. The Rider stopped in his tracks and looked at Johnny. "So, we meet again." The Rider said, slightly sneering as he did so. "I have something to say to you." With that, he reached out, and grabbed Johnny by the shoulders. He leaned in, and yelled, "WAKE UP!!!!" Johnny shot up, the Rider's yelling having woken him up. He winced as his head throbbed with pain from getting yelled at by the Rider, causing him to rub his aching forehead with his hooves. 'Wait, hooves?' He looked down at his solid light gray hooves. "What the hell?" He turned his hooves around, and slammed them against the ground to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "What the HELL!!?" Still in shock, Johnny looked around to see where in the hell he was, and found himself in a large forest. "Where in the world am I now?" He said. He got to his hooves, and started to walk forward, wanting to explore the place and find a way out, but fell flat on his face. He slowly got up, and brushed the dirt off his face, but stopped when his hoof touched something on his head. "What the hell do i have on my head?" He muttered, feeling the object with his hoof. It was long and pointy, and was attached to his head. "Aw great!!" He said, as he realized what was on his head. "I have a unicorn horn on my head. So, i guess i'm a unicorn." With that discovery, Johnny continued moving through the forest, using his hooves to get through the brush. As he went through the brush, he felt something flap against his sides. When he turned to look at his sides, his eyes widened. He had wings!! Large wings that were the same color as his coat. He stared at his wings, and reached out to touch them. When he touched them, they extended, allowing him to see their full span. 'I have wings as well. That. Is. Awesome!' He thought, intrigued with the wings. He noticed that he had a black tail, as well as a weird picture on his flank. The picture showed a burning skull with a pair of some pipes criss-crossing in an 'X' shape behind the skull and were shooting orange, red, and blue flames. He was quite curious about the picture, but even more so about his wings. They felt amazing! 'Well, enough with my wings. Time to find a way out of this forest.' And with that, he continued on, forcing his way through the brush. Meanwhile... In the throne room of Canterlot Castle, the focal point of the capital city of Canterlot, the two royal sisters were currently not located in the large and regal room. To those that weren't around the Princesses enough would've thought that they were taking the day off, which is beyond unheard of. But to the guards and staff on duty, especially the bakers and confectionery chefs, this meant the royal sisters of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were currently locked away in either's room, hoping to have at least one day where they didn't have a representative telling them why they should raise taxes on the middle families or have a noble telling them who did what and why the pony who did it should be banished for it. But even when locked away from bothersome petitioners and stuck up nobles, their work was still never done. After deciding that Celestia's room would be a good place to bunker down, Celestia removed her neckpiece as she Luna entered the brightly colored room. "Hahhhh, I just don't understand why our ancestor's thought that royal regalia made of gold and platinum was a good idea. I'm tempted to just sneak out of the castle and get a massage from that spa down in Ponyville." Luna giggled a little as she used her magic to pull off her crown and neckpiece. "Yes, that certainly seems like a nice thought. At least Miss Lotus and Miss Aloe don't constantly fret and worry that a small slip up will result in their spa being shut down. Well, at least after our third visit they stopped worrying." Celestia chuckled lightly as she finally managed to get the rest of her regalia off, setting her crown, neckpiece, and shoes neatly by the dresser, which Luna also set her regalia at. Luna then trotted over to the desk, where she pulled out several papers to be worked on. She sighed. "Ohhhh, why must everypony rely on us to solve every little squabble?" She picked up the first paper. She groaned before even reading a third of it. "Is this some kind of joke? A dispute over a tree?" "Now Luna, I know that some of our subjects can be rather...puerile-" "Puerile?! Last week a noble barged in and wanted us to put a mailmare in the dungeon because she lost a package by accident!" Luna slumped and hung her head. "Took me an hour to calm Ms. Hooves down. It breaks my heart to see such a nice mare cry because she made such a small mistake." Celestia moved over and sat down next to Luna. She wrapped a foreleg around the smaller alicorn. "I know that the nobles can be so insufferable, Luna, but we have to endure it. After all, Me forbid what would happen if one of them gained more power than the others." Luna giggled a little at that. "I suppose you are right, Tia." "Good, now let's try to get some work done while we have the time." Luna nodded with a smile and went back to her stack of papers, making sure to write 'Handle it amongst yourselves.' on the paper she had first read. Johnny felt like he had been going through the forest for hours. Although he was in good shape, his face was dripping with sweat, and his sides were starting to ache with each breath he took. "How....big.....is....this....forest?" He said as he sat down to catch his breath, worn out from the hike he had just done. Snap!!! Johnny sat up alert, his heart starting to beat faster. He looked around to find whatever made that noise, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Snap!!! He spun around to where the sound came from, and saw the shadow of some large creature for a split second before it disappeared. "Who's there?!" He heard a loud growl from behind him, and slowly turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the creature before him. It was a wolf, made of twigs, logs, and leaves, and had glowing yellow eyes. "What the HECK did i drink?!!" Johnny stared at the wolf, not quite sure what it wanted. But he soon found out what it wanted when it barked at him, allowing him to unfortunately smell its horrible breath. He immediately covered his nose with his hoof, preventing him from smelling its horrible breath any more. "Man, haven't you heard of a breath mint?" He said, trying his best to not breath in its horrible breath. The wolf growled at this, causing Johnny to back up slightly. That was a mistake. As soon as he took a step back, the wolf jumped at him. He ducked, using his stuntman skills to do so, and ran. He could hear the wolf howl behind him as he ran, but he didn't dare look behind him, for fear that he might run into something if he did. He continued to run, but soon found himself in front of a steep stone cliff. It was too steep to climb, and he didn't know how to use his wings. He turned around, and saw the wolf had arrived, along with 2 other wolves. They stood in front of him, blocking the only way to get out. He looked around for an escape route, but couldn't find one. Sighing heavily, he turned to face the wolves. When he made eye contact with them, he heard laughter. Not the kind-hearted laughter you would here from a kid. No, this was the kind of laughter you hear when you see a bully shoving a kid. The Rider wanted to be let loose. And Johnny was more than happy to oblige this time. > Rider vs Wolves > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny let his grip on the Rider loosen, and the wolves fates were sealed when he did so. He started to chuckle, causing the wolves to become confused. Why was this pony laughing? Didn't it know it was going to die? Smoke started to leak from his body as he continued to chuckle, the laughter and smoke starting to grow with intensity. The wolves stared at him for several seconds, and then one of them jumped him, tackling him to the ground. It slashed him with its claws as it did so, causing him to bleed on his chest. The wolf thought it was all over, and got off the pony, preparing to kill it. Suddenly, the pony started to become covered in fire, scaring the wolves. They had never seen a creature besides a phoenix do that, and it scared them. The pony suddenly sat up, the fire burning off its flesh and skin. When they looked at it's eyes, they saw it's eyes had turned into craters of black and fire. The feathers and skin on it's wings burned into nothing but ash, being replaced by fire and bone. His entire being burned away, his mane nothing but billowing fire and his body nothing but a skeleton. The Rider looked at the wolves, who were now cowering in fear. He slowly pointed a hoof at them, and said, "Guilty." The wolves panicked when they heard it's voice. It's voice scared them so much that they attacked it, hoping that if they attacked all at once, they would be able to beat it. Unfortunately, they were battling the Ghost Rider, not a regular pony. When they jumped him, they saw the creature grin at them, before disappearing with a flap of it's wings. They yelped with shock, and got in a circle when they landed. Rider appeared in front of them again, and one of the wolves ran at him, it's fear overriding any rational thought it might have had. He pointed a hoof at the wolf, and a flaming chain appeared in front of him. He grabbed the chain, and threw it like a lasso at the wolf. The wolf barely had a chance to react when the chain hit. The chain wrapped around the wolf, causing it to howl in pain as it was burned by the chain. Its fellow wolves came to its aid, but could not break the chain. The wolf howled even more as it burned more from the chain. Soon, all that was left of the wolf was ash. The Rider jerked the chain, causing it to wrap around his body, and then looked at the other wolves. They looked at him, and then tried to run away, whining and yelping with fear. The Rider stood there for a few minutes, and then cackled with glee. He was in need of a good chase, and these wolves were providing him with one. Well, he would gladly accept the chase. The wolves hadn't paid for their transgression against his host. He flared his wings, and took off after them, twin flames trailing after him on the ground. The wolves ran, their tails between their legs. They knew that they had made a mistake in attacking that pony, but they didn't know how big of a mistake it was. They felt intense heat behind them, causing them to look behind them. Their eyes widened as they saw the flaming creature coming after them, embers drifting in the wind. This scared them even more, causing them to run even harder. But it was no use. The flaming creature was catching up. Ghost Rider grabbed the chain wrapped around his body, and whipped it around a few times, getting ready to strike them down. He threw the chain at the wolves, making them yelp in fear. The chain hit one of the wolves, and wrapped around one of its legs, causing it to fall down and howl in pain as the flames started to lick along its body. The other wolf continued running, not daring to look at its comrade. The Rider yanked on the chain, ripping off the limb it had wrapped around, while the flames burned the limb to ash. The wolf howled in even more pain, the loss of the limb having been almost too much for it to take. The flames on its body burned it quickly, soon leaving a large pile of ash. The Rider scowled slightly at this, the chain wrapping around his waist. He had hoped that these wooden wolves would have been a challenge, but they weren't. He flexed his wings, and started after the final wolf, it having gained some ground while he had taken care of its comrade. As the wolf ran, it felt the air around it start to warm up. Soon, it was sweltering. The wolf ran harder, despite the soreness in its chest and side, and the heat. Suddenly, a flaming chain flew over it, and struck the ground in an arc, setting it ablaze. The wolf stopped, just shy of the flames. It was trapped. It turned around, the heat increasing rapidly. The strange creatures soon appeared in front of it, flapping its flaming bony wings. The Rider landed, chain in hoof as he approached the cornered wolf, leaving flaming hoof prints as he did so. It had been a good chase, but it was time to end it. The wolf growled and whined, fear and panic coursing through its system. The wolf ran at him, and slashed at his face, hoping to injure him. But the wolf only dislocated his jaw, and broke its claws, causing it to yelp in pain, the flames having burned it slightly. The Rider just stared at the wolf as he took a hoof, and reattached his jaw, looking at the wolf with flaming eyes. Fear overrunning common sense, the wolf jumped at him, jaws open wide to bite him. He stepped to the side, and socked the wolf in the jaw as it missed him, making the wolf fly towards the flames with a loud yelp of pain, as it's jaw broke from the punch. The wolf landed on the ground, and felt the flames touch its rear legs. It howled, and tried to crawl away from the flames. But the Rider would have none of that. He walked over to the wolf, and grabbed its head, crushing it as he did so. He then pushed the wolf's entire body into the flames, and watched it burn to ashes. After that, Rider walked into the flames, and absorbed them into his body, not wanting to harm any innocent creatures in the forest. He had enjoyed the fight and chase a little bit, but it was time for Johnny to return. As the Rider went back inside of Johnny, who had watched the fight form inside the Rider, his flesh and feathers returned, ending with him looking the same before the fight. The cuts made by the wolves stayed, but slowly started to heal, the Rider helping. Johnny sighed in relief, standing as he did so, the chain wrapped around his waist. The Rider hadn't gone overboard with the fight this time, but had made their deaths swift. And the forest was still standing. He dusted himself off, wiped the sweat off his brow, and continued onward through the forest, wondering where he could find civilization. Unbeknownst to him, he had been watched by a figure in the shadows. The figure looked after Johnny with surprise on its face, as well as what appeared to be a blush. After staring in the direction he had gone for a few minutes, the figure turned and walked away, pondering what it had just witnessed. While Johnny was running from the wolves.... Twilight had invited Celestia and Luna to her castle for a friendly meeting. While they were on their way, she had her assistant Spike the dragon help her prepare for their visit. "Come-on Spike!" Twilight said excitedly. "We still have to reshelf the library!" Spike groaned. "Twilight. We just reshelved the library yesterday." "I know!" Twilight exclaimed. "And I want the library to look perfect for the princesses arrival." With that, they went into the library, Spike grumbling as they did so. Once inside the library, Twilight flared up her magic, and levitated all of the books off the shelves into the air. Spike grabbed his feather duster, and dusted the shelves, while Twilight sorted the books in the air. Once he had finished, Twilight placed the newly sorted books onto the shelves. They stepped back, and looked at the shelves proudly. Spike wiped his brow with a claw, thankful to be done with the shelves. "Alright Spike. Now that we are done with that, let's check the checklist." Spike sighed, and picked up the checklist off the table. "Ok. We've dusted the hallways, cleaned the doors, and reshelved the library." Spike looked at the list again, and grinned. "That's it Twilight! We did it all." "Are you sure Spike?" Twilight asked, levitating the list over to her. "I was certain we still had to-" "Twilight, we did everything on the list. Don't worry," Spike said, cutting her off. Twilight sighed. "Ok Spike. I'm just so nervous about the princesses visit. I mean, why are they coming today? Did something happen?" Spike huffed, a bit tired of her worrying. "Don't worry. I'm sure the princesses just want to spend some time with you, that's all." He went up to her and gave her a hug. "Don't worry." Twilight took a deep breath, and returned the hug. "Thanks Spike. I don't know what i would do without you." Spike smiled, and said, "No problem Twi." Just then, they heard a knock on the castle doors. "Oh! That must be them!!" Twilight exclaimed. "Come-on Spike. We don't want to leave the princesses waiting." Spike nodded, and joined her as they headed to the front doors. When they arrived at the front doors, Twilight opened them with her magic. "Welcome, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna." Celestia and Luna nodded, and walked inside. "Hello my dear student." Celestia turned to the guards. "Wait for us outside." "Yes your majesty." Celestia then turned back towards Twilight. "So how have you been Twilight?" Twilight smiled, and walked alongside them as they went to one of the sitting rooms in the castle. "I am doing fine, princess." "Twilight, please. Your a princess as well, so no need to call me princess. Just call me Celestia." "Uh. O-ok Celestia." Twilight managed to say. Luna, who had been listening intently, asked Twilight, "How have your dreams been Twilight?" Twilight smiled, and responded. "They have been great! Last night i had a dream about a-" She stopped herself, not sure if she should tell them about the strange creature she saw in her dream last night. Celestia noticed this, and asked, "Twilight, what is it?" "Well, princesses," Twilight said. "I had a very weird dream last night." Luna looked at her sister, intrigue on her face. "What was it about?" Twilight took in a deep breath, and then began to tell the sisters her dream. As she told them her dream, they listened with rapt attention. When she mentioned the condition it had been in the dream, the sisters gasped, alarmed at the state it was in. After she finished telling them the dream, the sisters sat there, surprised at the dream she had. "Twilight," said Luna. "Did this creature have a name?" Twilight nodded. "Yes. It was a strange name." "May i ask what the name was?" said Celestia. Twilight nodded, and said, "Johnny Blaze. It's name was Johnny Blaze." Luna replied, "That is a strange name, but it fits a strange creature." Twilight then said, "So, how has the court been for you, Luna?" Luna grimaced, and then launched into a tirade about how snobbish the nobles acted, causing Celestia to chuckle. Luna glared at her, causing her to chuckle even more. "And, what is so funny?" Celestia giggled. "Oh, nothing." Luna frowned. "It most certainly was not nothing, dear sister." Celestia started giggling even more, but then suddenly stiffened, catching the attention of Twilight and Luna. "What is it sister?" Luna asked. "I feel something powerful, sister. Something as powerful as us," she said, looking at Luna as she spoke. Twilight and Luna gasped. Something as powerful as Celestia? "Is it Cadance?" Twilight asked, hoping she was right. She had wanted to spend some time with her babysitter after all. Celestia shook her head. "No, my dear student. It is not Cadance, but somepony we have never met." Luna asked, "Where are they sister?" Celestia sat there for a few minutes, and then responded. "They are in the Everfree. That is where i feel it." Twilight gasped. "The Everfree!!? Why there?!!" "I do not know, my dear student. All i know is that they are there," said Celestia, standing up as she spoke. "Where are you going, dear sister?" "I am going to head to the Everfree to find them." She turned to Twilight. "Twilight, please summon your friends. We will need them if this thing turns out to be hostile." "Yes princess." Twilight said, nodding her head. "Come-on Spike. We need to get our friends." Spike nodded, and left the room, Twilight alongside him. Luna looked after them for a few seconds, and then turned to her sister. "Sister, is it really as powerful as you say it is?" Celestia took in a breath, and nodded. "Yes Luna. It is." Luna slowly nodded and stood up, her question having been answered. "Well dear sister. Let us follow Twilight to the Everfree and confront this creature, whatever it may be." "Agreed, dear sister." With that, the two sisters left the library, heading through the castle halls to meet up with their guards and Twilight.