Redwing Crimson Moon and the Crimson Guard of the Everfree

Enter the Everfree

Lost foals and living Nightmares!

  A young filly with out her cutie mark trotted through the dark and scary forest.  Her soft blue coat was covered in dirt and her green name was a knotted mess.  On her face was a clear trail of tears from a recent and long stint of crying.  Her name was Gemcutter, an earth-pony from one of the major cities near the forest.  The forest in question, being the infamous Everfree Forest, the largest and most dangerous in Equestria.  She was teased for being a blank flank to the point that she gave up everything in her life and ran as far and as long as she could, crying her little heart out.  Now she was good and lost in a place that she had no business being in, if she valued her life.

Gemcutter walked forward with sad blank eyes, not paying any mind to which way she walked.  She was already good and lost in what she knew was a place that just going near would have gotten her so grounded that she would never leave her room again.  That was not important.  She was so far lost and had run so long that she could not see Celestia’s sun or Luna’s night sky.  In fact, she was not sure how long she had been there.  She ran away at launch and did not stop until she collapsed and passed out from exhaustion.  Now she just trotted forward.  Lost, broken heart and spirit, just wishing that some monster of this cursed wood would just gobble her up and end her suffering.  The problem is that you should be very careful what you wish for and doubly so in the Everfree…

The snapping of a branch and rustling of a bush was all the warning she got before a massive manticore burst out in front of her, missing a poorly aimed pounce, over shooting the foal by a few yards.  It turned and looked at her maw dripping with drool and its eyes full of hunger.  Now two things happened in the span of seconds.  First, the filly screamed her lungs, regretting ever making that stupid wish.  Second, and most importantly she took off running as fast as her little hooves could.  After another second, the manticore blinked once, twice, then thrice before roaring and giving chase.  The filly ran as hard as she could jumping tree roots, ducking and sliding under bushes and bounding off trees for any speed boost she could get.  Right on, her tail, the manticore, was plowing through the trees and shrubs like an angry bulldozer with an attitude problem and worst of all it was gaining on her.  She ran as fast as she could then she saw it; LIGHT, not to far away.  She raced towards it giving a sharp left turn, right for it and by a miracle, dogging a ponce from the manticore causing it to slam heard first into a tree.

Her heart soared as she neared the light.  She did not care if she had somehow managed to cross the whole of Everfree Forest or had simply been turned around and wound up back home.  All that mattered was she was out!  She burst into the warm sun light of Celestia’s dawn, but the sight that met her was not an open field, but a raised plateau over looking a cliff and an endless sea of trees.  The filly trotted to the edge and looked out at the distance, and her heart fell into her stomach like a lead weight.  “It can’t be…how…how can this place be that big?”  She asked to the forest before her.  Her answer was a soft guttural growl from behind her.  Turning at least five shades paler as she slowly turned to see the manticore towering over her licking massive chops as it slowly advanced.  She closed her eyes and prayed to the princesses, Celestia and Luna for a miracle.  She waited for the end to come as its foul breath filled her nostrils.

Then a voice cut through the silence  “Stop right there ugly”, causing the manticore to back off and look around, growling in rage.  “You know it never fails.  Right as my bucking shift ends, I have to find some dumb foal, stupid enough to get this deep into the Everfree, about to be manitcore chow.  Oh well, it’s been a boring night anyways” said the voice.  Opening her eyes, Gemcutter saw a red coated Pegasus with silver mane and tail floating above her in black and crimson amour with silver trimming. By the sound of his voice, she guessed he was from the city of Nighpan.  The manticore glared at the winged warrior between it and its meal.  The Pegasus spoke again.  “Hey kid, what ever happens don’t move, if you do, it well get you, got it?”

“O-OK” was all she could say.  For some reason that acted as the signal for the manticore to attach.  It lunged forward at the two ponies.  Then there was a flash of lightning, the crack of thunder and the smell of ozone and burnt flesh in the air.  She had blinked and it was over.  It had lasted only a second for the whole fight.  The manticores remains lay halfway off the cliff soaking the brunt ground on each side of them in its pooling blood.  The guard before her turned in the air sheathing his sword, which was cracking with electricity as it slid into its sheath.  He landed before her, pulled down the fount of his mask, and lifted up the goggles onto his helmet showing his gold eyes to the filly.

“Ne-how little filly, I’m Redwing Crimson Moon Captain in her highness Luna’s Night Guard and leader of the Crimson Guard unit of the Everfree watch.  So, you ready to leave this forest and head home?”  His voice was much softer now but still held her as if it was her own father talking to her.

“I can’t go back home… I don’t want to…but I… don’t want to stay here…”  The filly started to cry.  Redwing picked her up with his fore hooves and took flight.

He patted her as he flew and said “Shhh…shh…it’s ok.  You can stay with my family for now until you are ready to come home or your family comes for you.  OK?”  The filly just shifted and nodded into his chest plate.  He then started to sing.

“Lay your head little one

Rest and go to bed

The sun is rising in the sky

In addition, it is time for those Luna’s blessed

To lay down to rest.”

Before he finished the fifth verse, the filly was out like a candle.  Redwing chuckled to himself “Never fails, every morning, always at the end of my shift something happens if the night was quiet.  Thank you Luna for letting me be here when she needed me.”