The Blood Red Shadow

Crimson Breeze always had something in his life that held him back. For most of it, it was a small group of ponies chasing him endlessly in pursuit of money. Crimson may not have had any himself, but his parents did. After all, his father was a business tycoon from Canterlot, which made his family a big target for thieves. Crimson never blamed his father for what happened. He may now have to live on his own, but he always was one to look on the bright side. He enjoys the life he has now, especially since those kidnappers have finally stopped chasing him.

After being released from the things that chained him down, Crimson finally thought he could enjoy life to the fullest without anything trying to interfere. Little did he know that something was there to get in his way, and it was something Crimson never expected.

It was just another evening to him. Crimson closed up his store and walked the small distance home. Although it was only five minutes or so, he found that it was just enough time to reflect on things that seemed to lodge themselves in his mind. Lately he had been concerned about finding who he really was. There were a lot of things Crimson felt he didn't know about himself. He wasn't sure of what they were, but that uncertainty seemed to get to him sometimes. Its why he now spends his evenings trying to find out.

His small time for reflection had come to an end as he approached his front door. His horn began to glow and a key emerged from his bag, which then slid into the keyhole and unlocked the door. Crimson walked inside, pushing the door closed with his back hoof. He then propped his bag up on the hook next to the door and headed upstairs to his study. Crimson walked through the doorway, lit a few candles and sat down by the window. "Just how I like it" he thought to himself. He stared out the window and watched the evening sky turned dark as the sun slowly vanished on the horizon. "Sometimes the simplest things can be the most enjoyable." He said as the sun finally vanished from view, making way for the moon to fill up the night sky.

He turned his head away from the window and pulled out a thin black book from the small bookshelf next to him. He placed the book down on the table and stared at the cover for a brief moment. It was engraved with his name and his family's crest. "This book contains my deepest thoughts. I feel that the more I add to it, the more I shall soon discover who I really am." He opened the book and scanned through the pages. They seemed to go on forever, dating back to when he was just a young colt, storing all of his memories, deepest thoughts and emotions. "I guess its time to add to the book again" he said as his favourite quill floated over to him. It was worn and tattered, but still very precious to him. Crimson dipped the quill into the ink, turned to a blank page, and began to write.

"My life's rhythm is now more stable than ever. I'm happy on my own. The time I spent with my parents was so troublesome. I love them, but they were forcing me into a life I did not want to live. I'm not cut out for the ritzy life. I guess you could say those kidnappers helped me escape, but I digress. Now that I'm living by myself, I'm actually happy. The ties I have to society are better off severed. I don't need anyone. Not anymore. Friendship isn't something I need in my life now. Hopefully those around me will begin to realise that. If not, I may just have to show them."

"There, that's another page filled. The things I write seem so dark now. Still, better in the book than out in the open." Crimson closed the book and placed it back on the bookshelf. He placed his quill back in the ink and carefully set it down on the shelf. "I'm glad that writing in that book seems to help me. When I write in it, all the pain I feel just seems to slip away" he thought to himself as he blew out the candles and walked out of the study, closing the door behind him. He wandered to his bedroom as it was starting to get late. He climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep, the light of the moon shining down on him through his window.

As Crimson slept that night, unbeknownst to him, someone else was in his home. Inside the study, someone was sitting there, reading Crimson's precious journal. "Heh. You thought you could hide this from me?" They picked up the journal and walked to Crimson's bedroom. The intruder stood there in front of Crimson's bed as he slept there, unaware that someone else was in his room. "I can't wait to show your friends what you're really like. Its unbecoming of somepony like you to hide things from your friends, or whatever you see them as. Enjoy your calm life while you can. Its about to get much worse." They dropped the book on his bed and walked out of the bedroom.

When Crimson awoke the next day, he saw the book laying next to his pillow. "How did this get here? I remember putting it back last night." He scanned the pages, revealling that nothing had been done to it. "Well at least the book is ok. I sure hope nopony read this thing. My life would be ruined if anypony found out about it." Crimson got out of bed, placed the book back in his study and prepared for another day at his store. The whole time he was working, the only thing he could think about was his journal. Did someone read it? Would they tell anyone? Those thoughts kept eating at him. He decided that tonight, he would start taking better precautions. He didn't want more chaos in his life. Especially chaos of this magnitude.