> The Rider > by MorpheustheDream > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New Home, New Life > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Roberto Reyes, or as everyone calls me, Robbie. It has been a week since me and my brother have left Los Angeles. The bad part, at least. You see, I've always wanted my younger brother, Gabe, to have a better life than what I grew up with. He's all I have left, and I had to drop out of school to make ends meet. To keep our home, and to feed us. I always have my brother in mind, so before I ever do something, I make sure to think of how whatever I'm doing could help him. As soon as I saved up enough money, I told Gabe that we would be moving somewhere much nicer than East LA. Now I'm not going to lie, it was difficult for both of us. We both grew up there. It was our home. But as much as it was home to us, it held a lot of bad memories. Our parents disappeared, and our Uncle, Eli Morrow, was a serial killer and a devil worshipper. Two things that were extremely bad, since we were a religious family, and he was a murderer, who killed in the name of the devil. Now, all me and Gabe have left is each other. And he looks up to me as a Hero. I'm no hero. To him, maybe. Same goes for every other innocent in East LA. What no one knows is that I'm almost as bad as my Uncle. Only I don't kill innocents. I punish those who are criminals and sinners. Most of the time they're both. I'm known during the night as The Ghost Rider, a Spirit of Vengeance. At least that was what I was told by the stuntman Johnny Blaze several months back. But now, Gabe and I are on the road to a town called Canterlot. It's a small town, but it was perfect for what I was looking for. A new life, a new start, and a place where my brother can excel in life. The thought of what he'll be able to do later on in life brings a smile to my face. The possibilities are endless, and the sky is the limit. I just have to make sure I don't screw things up in this new town. And since this town is a small one and everyone seems to know each other, hopefully me and Gabe can fit in. But that's a few hours from now, since we still have to arrive to our house and set things up. Well, I have to set things up. I take a look in the passengers seat, and see Gabe asleep. At least this will be a better place for us than LA ever was.. Word of a new student coming to Canterlot High was spreading like a wildfire. Almost everyone wanted to know who the person was, what they were like, what they did during their free time. So many questions were going through there heads, but none more than Pinkie Pie, the schools party planner. She had at least a thousand thoughts going through her head a second, maybe more. But none of her friends bother to understand how Pinkie is Pinkie. They've learned to accept it. This group in particular has been known to be involved in some rather 'Magical' events that happened around the school the past year. We have Rarity Belle, the fashionista. She's very, very generous to those who need it. She's known as one of the gossip queens of the school, always getting news and whatnot from other students. So she's considered to be the most knowledgeable as to who the new student may be. We have Twilight Sparkle, former student at Crystal Prep academy, and major tech geek. And she's very introverted at times, but her friends still love her. And there's Jackeline Apple, or Applejack. The honest farmer that comes from the Apple Family. Rainbow Dash, the loyal athlete whose a captain on almost every sports team in Canterlot High. Fluttershy, the shy, yet kind student who cares for every person and animal she sees is hurt. Even when they're not hurt, she's very kind to them. Even if she's outspoken at times. We mentioned Pinkie already, the schools party planner, and the very random student. No one knows what she may do next. Not even herself at times. And finally, we have Sunset Shimmer. Former Queen of Canterlot High, former bully. But now, a person who always takes time out of her day to help out another person when they need it. Sunset is also the one who shows new students where their classes are, where their locker is, and where everything else is located. Pinkie jumped in front of Rarity, and asked her while up in her face, "Rarity, do you know who the new student is? Well, do ya? Do ya? Do ya?" Applejack pulled Pinkie away from Rarity, as she shot a thankful look over at AJ, and replied to Pinkie, "No, I do not know who the new student is. But almost every in this school agrees that the person is indeed a male. And hopefully, nothing too crazy will follow them and into Canterlot High." While the girls were going on about who the new student could possibly be, she noticed that there were news stories coming out of Los Angeles about the famed Spirit that roamed Eastern LA has disappeared. She raised her eyebrows, looking further into it, and finding out almost all of the news stations say the same thing. The Ghost Rider has disappeared off the face of the Earth. Sunset peeked over at Twilight's laptop, and asked "What are you looking at?" Twilight looked at the girls in front of her and said "Apparently the Ghost Rider over in Eastern Los Angeles has disappeared." Applejack frowned, and said "That legend? Ah've always had a hard time believing that story." Rainbow perked her head up, and turned to AJ. "It's no story Applejack. I've heard from my uncle that he came across the Rider, and how he saved him. And he never lies." Applejack folded her arms, and said "Still, ah don't believe in it. If it did exist, and with all the evil things its done, then God would've struck it down. It looks like a thing straight from hell. With the flaming skull and whatnot." Pinkie appeared between them and said "That's because it technically is from hell!" Sunset shrugged her shoulders in response, and said "Regardless if it's good or evil, you have to admit that ever since it showed up in East LA, the crimes and gangs in that part have drastically reduced. So that has to mean whatever it is, is kinda good right?" Fluttershy looked up from the ground and spoke softly, "Even though it uses brutal methods of bringing out 'Justice'." Rarity spoke again, ending the talk of the Rider. "Enough of this, girls. We should focus on the new student, and make him feel welcome. After all, it will more than likely be a new experience for him, coming to a new school and all." Pinkie started bouncing in place with a wide grin on her face. "That means I get to plan a "Welcome-to-Canterlot-High" party!" Everyone laughed, and Sunset told Pinkie, "Then you best get started Pinkie. Because he'll be arriving tomorrow." > The Rider Has Returned > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several hours have passed, and we have finally arrived in the town of Canterlot. My first opinion of this place: it's a nice and peaceful place. I can tell because the Rider isn't picking up anything major coming from inside the town. This puts a huge smile on my face. This means that whatever bad people reside in the town won't be much danger to Gabe, since the local police will more than likely handle it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to go on a quick run of the town later on tonight. Right now, me and the movers were bringing the rest of our stuff into our new home. Now I'm not gonna lie, it's probably the cheapest house we could get, but that's to be expected. We weren't able to get anything like a mansion or anything like that. That would be a goal that's far out of reach. Maybe later on in life, possibly. But right now we're sticking to the realm of what's possible. Once all of our things, like the couch, the lamp, kitchen items, mattresses, etc. were inside the house, the movers had left after collecting payment. I stood in the front room and looked at all the things that had to be done. Most of the items were in their respective rooms. All that needed to be done really was set them up. I decided the go ahead and start with the more difficult room right now, and that was our bedrooms. I walked towards the end of the house, and entered Gabe's room first. I looked all around, and made a mental map in my head as to where things would most likely go. "This'll take a while." I say to myself as I brush a hand through my hair. The school day over, and Principal Celestia and her sister Vice-Principal Luna stayed late that evening, needing to finish up the schedule of a school event that would be announced the beginning of next week. Luna was weary of doing another event, since almost every single one this year has had something happen. And it was almost becoming a common occurrence ever since the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle. The two woman were heading towards Celestia's BMW, which she held as a prize possession. "Luna, I understand your concern. But trust me when I say that I'm sure that nothing bad will happen." Luna shook her head as she entered the passenger seat. "You said that about the Battle of the Bands, and look what happened there." Celestia chuckled lightly, remembering fully well what happened. "That was out of our control. Besides, how were we supposed to know what those three would do?" Luna sighed and leaned her head against the chair. "I suppose that's true. But still, if I find the slightest hint of something like what happened the last couple times possibly repeating, I will not hesitate to shut the event down before it even has a chance to start." Celestia started up the car, and exited the staff parking lot. "That wouldn't be fair to the students though." Luna looked out the window and saw a custom 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, with an engine coming out of the hood of the car. "We can continue this conversation later on when we're home, okay 'Tia?" Celestia nodded her head silently, knowing Luna could see her from the corner of her eye. They continued to drive in silence for a few more minutes on a seemingly empty road. The car Luna saw earlier went down another road away from them five minutes ago, and the road seemed pretty empty. Which was pretty rare, since there was always at least someone out and about at this time of night. Mainly because they were heading too work, or for another unknown reason. The car stopped at a crossroad where the light was red for them. They then started to hear the tires of a car squeal loudly, as if it was in a huge rush. The two ladies looked at the source of the sound, and saw a vehicle rushing towards there direction. Suddenly the car stopped in the middle of the road, and the two noticed that there was someone in the back of the vehicle, now noticeably a truck. But what scared them was the fact that the man held a military grade rocket launcher. They also saw two people in the driver and passenger seats, and they held a weapon of sorts. The group didn't seem to notice the car just several feet away from them, so Celestia shut the car off, hoping they wouldn't be noticed. Celestia and Luna watched the three men in fear and curiosity, when they both saw the man in the passenger seat point out to a vehicle coming to them. The man in the back of the truck held up the rocket launcher and fired it at the car. Both Luna watched in horror, knowing that they were about to witness a murder right before their eyes. As the rocket hit the car, it did a flip mid air, then landed back on the ground without taking any damage whatsoever. The only difference was the fact that the car was now on fire, driving towards them. The wheels was spewing out fire as it drove, and the engine was now on fire too. The flaming car rammed into the vehicle as it was shoved back several feet. The man in the back jumped out of the way before it collided, and he landed onto the ground hard. As the car stopped, the ground around the vehicles suddenly burst into flame, making it difficult to see past the flames. One of the men got out of the car and tried to run, but he got dragged onto the ground and was pulled behind the car. They heard the man's scream as it was suddenly silenced. They also saw the man that was on the ground be confronted by something. The next thing they saw was blood splatter all of the side of the car. Finally, the man in the drivers seat was about to drive away, when he got hit by something invisible from the distance that Luna and Celestia were at. They both saw the man slump out of the window with blood flowing from the mans mouth. As they looked on in horror as to what just happened, they saw the face of what exactly did this to the group, and it was an image straight out of hell. The person, no, thing had a flaming skull, and it looked right at them as it entered the car, and drove off, leaving three dead bodies, and big fire in the middle of the road. When the two thought for sure that the thing was gone, Celestia started up the car and drove quickly to her and Luna's home. Both of them were in shock, but none of them knew what to say. Luna finally spoke up as they entered their garage. "I'm pretty sure that we just saw a fucking demon." > First Day Of School > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The time was 6:30 in the morning. Officially an hour and a half until I was to take Gabe to school. I was busy cleaning myself off before I attempted to wake my brother up. I had come back to the house late after going on one of my nightly patrols, and I unfortunately had to deal with a group of 3 criminals. I had seen all they had done by looking into their eyes. The three had committed murder, rape, and they stole anything they could get their hands on. Plus whatever group they were with somehow bribed the Police Force to not go after them. So as I normally did with these kind of people, I took them out. Otherwise, they would continue to do whatever they did while going unchecked. But what confused me the most was the weapons they were carrying. They had an RPG, and several assault rifles. They were military grade weapons, yet how exactly they got them was what my mind kept coming back too. There was just no way that they could have stolen them from the National Guard base several miles outside of Canterlot, so how? I kept going through several theories in my head as I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. I had just got a call as soon as I entered my car. "All available units, we have a 1-87 at the corner of West Point Road and Steel Drive. Be noted that the scene is pretty gruesome." I sighed and grabbed the receiver, and spoke into it. Officer Armour, calling in. 10-76 on that 1-87." I let go of the send button, and I got a reply back from dispatch. "Copy that Armour." I started up my police cruiser, and began to drive over to the crime scene. It was more than likely a gang confrontation gone wrong. Then again, I wouldn't know for sure until I got there. It took several minutes to get there, as traffic was relatively light during the early morning hours. By the time I arrived, I saw that there scene was already being covered by my fellow officers, and that there was a few news stations at the scene, reporting whatever information they have. I stopped my cruiser, and stepped out as I started to make my way towards the person that stood waiting for me to arrive. I walked over to him, and said "Alright Jason, what do we have here?" He pulled out a notebook he had in his pocket, and led me over to the 3 victims. "From the looks of it, this seems to have had something to do with the local gangs. But what confuses everyone is to why they had military grade weapons. Scar-H's, MP4's, and RPGs." I looked at the weapons, and kneeled down in front of them. "Is there any security footage from the nearby buildings?" Jason shook his head. "All of the nearby security camera's were shut down during the time the crime happened. But were lucky to report that the Traffic Center's CCTV camera managed to not be shut down, and captured everything." He pulled out a tablet and handed it to me. "They sent it over, and this is what they captured." I started up the video, and watched as I saw the truck in front of us suddenly stop. The people inside tried turned around, and started to fire upon whatever was coming at them. The I then saw a flaming car drive right into the car, which would explain how the car seemed to bend. As the flaming car stopped, and what stepped out made my heart almost stop. It was the goddamn Ghost Rider. I stopped the video, and handed the tablet back to Jason. "I know what all happened here." Jason looked at me and took the tablet. "How do you know, sir?" I stood up and brushed my hair. "Because, I had a run in with the Ghost Rider back in Los Angeles when I was visiting the city with my family and to-be wife back then." School had started, and it was a beautiful Wednesday morning. The sun was shining bright outside, and there's wasn't a cloud to be seen in the sky. Twilight and her friends were speaking in the hallway, and they were talking about the gruesome murder that was reported this morning that happened overnight. Pinkie was especially worried, since the murder took place a block away from Sugarcube Corner, the place where she works at. As the conversation was going on, Twilight got a message from her brother. She took out her phone, and looked at it and paled considerably. The other girls noticed, and Rarity asked "What's wrong darling? You look like you've seen a ghost." Twilight nodded her head fast and said "You could say that. I just found out that something from my nightmares came back and is here." Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and asked "What could be so scary that it haunted you for years, only too come back?" Twilight kept the pale complexion on her face, and she softly said "The Ghost Rider's here in Canterlot..." > Encounter with the Devil?! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The girls had several expressions on their faces. Some with fear, others with awe and disbelief. Rainbow was the first to get over the sudden revelation. "Hold on, how do you know that the Ghost Rider is here in Canterlot?" Twilight looked right at her, and replied "Because my brother is a police officer, and he told me. That murder that happened last night? That was the Rider's work." Rarity hugged Twilight to help comfort her, and Applejack asked "And how exactly does your brother know it was the Rider?" Twilight sighed and leaned back against the locker that was directly behind her. "I suppose I should tell you. I know, and so does my brother because my family went to Los Angeles for my brothers wedding with Cadence. It happened late at night, as I was with my mom and Cadence as we traveled through the shopping districts of LA, looking for a place for Cadence to decide on what kind of dress she wanted to wear, along for her bridesmaids." ~~Flashback~~ Nearing midnight in the city of Angels, and it seemed that it was just as busy and never seemed to stop, just like the Big Apple, New York City. The City That Never Sleeps. My mother, Cadence were walking along the sidewalks looking at the different stores, mainly looking for a dress shop for the dresses that Cadence's bridesmaids would be wearing. My father was out taking my brother looking for a style of Tuxedos to wear for his and Cadence's special day. Right now, I was with my mom and Cadence as we walked through a shopping district. And for some odd reason, all of the shops were closing pretty early. I wasn't the only one who noticed, as my mom was questioning to herself why this was happening. Finally though, we found a dress shop that reminded me of the Carousel Boutique in Canterlot The three of us went inside. The lady was of Hispanic heritage, with a tan on her skin, along with her brown eyes and black hair. She had a dress with a floral design on it, and she had on a pair of gray high heels. "Hi, and welcome to the Flora Oni Boutique. Is there a design that you're looking for, or are you wanting something custom?" Cadence smiled and walked over to the woman, and started chatting with her. I paid no attention as tow hat was being said between the two. I looked out the window of the Boutique, and noticed a group of five men with grey hoodies over there head, as they reached for something in their pants and made their way to the entrance. "Uh, mom?" I got her attention, and she looked to where I was pointing, and the next this I know that happened was a gunshot being fired in the air, and the five men entered the place with their guns pointed at all four of us. "Okay, who runs this place? Answer me now before people start getting hurt!" The man with the gun pointed at me said, and the lady in the floral dress answered shakily. "T-That would be me." One of the thugs grabbed a bag, and walked over to the woman and pointed the gun at her head. "Head to the register, and put everything in the bag. Now!" The woman was crying, and it was easily seeable as she had tears running down her cheeks, doing as they said while begging for them to not kill her. I was still in shock, when one of the thugs looked outside and noticed all of the lights in the area had turned off, and he rushed back inside, speaking with panic in his voice. "We need to finish this right now man! Take whatever she has in the bag and let's go! Mom, Cadence and I wondered what they were talking about, and why they were in more of a rush when the engine of a Charger was heard outside. I risked a glance outside and I saw the vehicle on fire. The njgine had flames coming out of it, and the wheels were on fire. "Dammit, he's here! Run for it!" The man holding the bag dropped the bag and the gun he was holding, and ran out the back door with two of the others following him. The last two thugs turned their guns onto the vehicle and started shooting at it. The gunfire caused me to cover my ears from the loud banging noise, which left ringing in my ears. My mom ducked behind something while grabbing me, and I saw Cadence go behind the counter with the lady. When the gunfire stopped, I looked over the rack I was hiding behind, and saw a flaming person. Well, more specifically, his head was on fire, and where a face and head should be, was nothing but a skull. The demon held up both of the criminals, as they gasped for air and kicked the man holding them up to no avail. The demon then grabbed the both of their heads, and smashed them into each other with so much force that their heads cracked open upon impact with blood flowing freely down their heads, staining the floor. I started to wretch at the sight, as I've never seen something so brutal before in my life. The demon heard me make some noises, and went to investigate. He tossed the rack to the side, and looked at me and my mom with those blank eyes. He looked over me and my mom, then decided to leave the building and back into his car, where he drove off. Hopefully to find the three criminals that escaped. ~~Flashback End~~ The girls were shocked, to say the least. Sunset then asked with a hint of worry in her voice, "Okay, that's how you know of the Rider. But how does your brother know who he is?" I stood up from my current position and straightened my clothes out, finally calmed down. "The three criminals that escaped through the back of the store? They managed to come across my brother and my dad. They knew the Rider was coming after them, and when he showed up, they held a knife up to my dads throat and their guns pointed at my brother." I sigh a little, remembering what my brother said happened to those three. "I'm not going to say what the Rider did to those three, but after that night, there was no trace of them anywhere. It's almost as if they disappeared off the face of the earth." And before anyone could say anything else, the school secretary, Ms. Ravens' voice came in through the overcom. "Would Sunset Shimmer please come to the main office please?" Sunset smiled a little and said "Looks like it's time for me to escort the new student. I'll be seeing you girls later." She waved at the others and made her way towards the main office, ready to greet the new student.