“Crimson! I’m home! Are you here?”
There was no answer as Harmony shut the front door of the house, but she could hear faint sounds from the other room. As she traversed the hallway, the sounds grew louder. Why am I not surprised? And on such a gorgeous day, too. The unicorn shook her head. Standing in the entrance of the sun porch with a cocked brow, she glared at the backside of a red pegasus colt laying in front of a television.
“Crimson Star, get your flank outside. It’s absolutely beautiful out! Why don’t you go out crusading with your friends?”
The colt jumped at the mention of his name. Pausing the game he was playing, he gradually turned around as his mother continued speaking. When she was finished, he had his answer ready.
“I would, Ma, but Tesla and Starry are busy. I figured I’d—”
“What are they doing?”
“I dunno! I didn’t ask.”
Harmony sighed. “Isn’t there something else you could be doing instead of planting your face in front of a screen? Do you have any homework?”
Crimson shook his head. “We finished it at school. I wouldn’t be playing if I hadn’t.” He smiled with as innocent a look as he could, but Harmony didn’t buy it.
“Surrrrrrre you wouldn’t. Let me see your saddle pack.”
Crimson let out a grunt. “Mom, I’m not lying. I finished it at school! Starry, Tesla and I did it together.”
“Then let me see it.”
Crimson groaned. “Fiiiiiiiine…”
At the same moment Crimson got up to get his pack, the doorbell rang. Harmony exited the sun porch to answer it. The second his homework was clamped in his mouth to show his mother, Crimson heard her greet their guest.
“Well hi there, Painted Pen! What brings you around?”
Crimson’s head shot up at the name.
“Hi there, Harmony! Finished teaching already?”
“Yep. Just got back from the Center a few minutes ago.”
Crimson galloped to the front door and spat his homework onto the stairway. “See, Mom? I told you! Hi, Mrs. Pen! Is Tesla with you?”
The blue unicorn mare in the doorway chuckled for a moment before letting her face drop slightly. “No, Crimson, I’m sorry. Tesla’s at home with her father. They’re doing some electrical work in the basement.” The mare turned to Harmony. “I don’t understand that filly at all. I must say, it’s great that she likes helping my husband with the wiring, but I feel like she’s a little too enthusiastic about it. I swear, one of these days I’m going to find her with a fork shoved in a power outlet…” Harmony and Painted Pen shared a laugh. Crimson sighed and slowly started trotting back to the sun porch.
“Ah, ah, ah. Let me see that homework.” Crimson groaned and passed his paper to his mother, who took a quick glance at it, then turned back to their guest. “So what brings our favorite librarian around this way?”
Painted Pen blinked. “Oh, of course!” She levitated a book out of her saddlebag. “You know how I’ve been reading up on Princess Twilight’s books about dark alicorn magic?”
Harmony smiled. “Of course! It’s practically all you’ve talked about as of late." Her eyes went wide for a moment. “Are you trying it yourself?”
Painted Pen shook her head. “Oh, no. Not yet, at least. I want to know as much as I can about it first before I try it; I need to make sure there aren’t any strange side effects. I’d rather not try dark magic in my own home with a filly around, especially if she does have her hoof in an electrical socket…
“Anyway, as I was searching through the books the princess left behind, I found this one on music-specific spells.” She gave the hovering book to Harmony. “I have no idea why it was among the dark magic books—it must have gotten lost in the fray during reorganizing. I’m not familiar with the author, but I thought you might get some use out of it.”
“Music-specific?” Harmony was taken aback. “The only spell I’ve ever used with music is levitation. What kind of spells…” The mare took the book and flipped through the pages. “Oh my. Pitch alteration, frequency shifts, automatic string replacement… I didn’t know spells like this even existed!”
“Ha! I knew you’d find something in there!”
“What the… what in Celestia’s name is ‘Bringin’ the Wubz’?” Crimson started to laugh. “Crimson, what is that? Do you know about this?”
Crimson let out a snort. “Ha, Miss Turner mentioned it in a music class once. I think it’s an intense bass rhythm or something. Believe me, Mom, you wouldn’t use that in a violin lesson.”
He stopped laughing to catch his breath before he remembered. “Can I go back to my game now?”
Harmony looked from the book to the paper in her hoof before turning to Painted Pen. “Did Tesla finish her homework?”
“Why yes, she said she finished it with Starry and Crimson at school today so she could work with her father. I looked it over, and it seemed alright to me. I don’t remember half of the things our foals are learning nowadays, to be honest.”
“SEE?” Crimson chimed.
Harmony looked at the paper; all the answer spaces were filled in.
“Fine, Crimson, you can go ahead.”
“Yes!”
Crimson galloped back to the sun porch as Harmony called after him, “Just don’t sit too close to the TV, alright? One of these days you’re going to get square eyes.” By that point, Harmony could already hear the bells and whistles of the game. She shook her head and looked at Painted Pen, who shrugged in return. “I have to tell you, if not for those kids’ crusading, that colt would never get any exercise. He needs it to keep his heart in shape.”
“Well, I don’t know if you want him to overdo it. The three of them certainly have some interesting stories to tell with all their… excursions. Especially the ones that end with tree sap.”
Harmony chuckled. “Good point.”
“Besides, what can you expect? Level Dasher sets quite the example.”
Harmony sighed. “I know. That colt is so his father’s son.”
The door quietly clicked shut as Level Dasher entered the house. He heard sizzling coming from the kitchen and other familiar sounds from the sun porch. He silently crossed the hallway, passing the kitchen entrance undetected as he made his way to Crimson’s resting place.
Finding his son in the middle of a battle, Level Dasher stood in the doorway for a minute or two. He knew exactly how angry gamers got when they were interrupted. He could relate; it was his job, after all. As the health bar on the screen got lower and lower, Level Dasher slowly and silently approached the colt. When the bar completely emptied, the character on the television fell over, and the phrase every gamer dreaded seeing was plastered all over the screen. Crimson let out a groan as he dropped his head, along with his controller. This was Level Dasher’s moment to strike.
"GAME OVER!"
The young pegasus nearly jumped out of his skin, flipping over onto his back on the pillow he was lying on. The expression on his face quickly switched from one of terror to one of annoyance as Crimson laid eyes on his father.
“DAAAAAAAAaaaadd! Do you HAVE to do that?”
Level Dasher laughed. “Of course! How else am I going to have any fun?”
Crimson grunted and gave his dad a shove as Harmony came into the sun porch brandishing a skillet in her aura. “You better stop sneaking into the house like that, or one of these days you’re going to end up with this in your face!”
Level Dasher noticed that the skillet wasn’t empty. He smiled and asked, “What, shallots?”
Crimson couldn’t help but laugh as Harmony glared down her husband. “You know what I mean, smart aleck. Don’t put it past me!”
Level Dasher didn’t let up. “What if I grabbed your violin to retaliate?”
Harmony’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Then you’ll have a lot more than a frying pan to worry about. Now you two behave while I finish cooking. Or at least try. Dinner’s almost ready.” She went back to the kitchen, muttering something about Ritalin.
Level Dasher turned to his son, who was hitting the reset button on his game. “I’d hold off on starting that up again if I were you, buddy. Don’t get distracted right before dinner.”
“But Dad, she said ‘almost.’ You know what ‘almost’ means with Mom. It’ll be another hour!”
A voice from the kitchen screamed, “I HEARD THAT! WATCH IT BUSTER OR I’M TAKING THAT SYSTEM AWAY!”
“DON’T WORRY SWEETIE I’VE GOT IT COVERED!” Level Dasher called back. He turned back to his son with an urgent look on his face. “Don’t get Mom mad! Especially not tonight!” He pulled a disk case out of his saddle bag and put it in front of the television. “I have something I want to show you later.”
Crimson’s eyes bulged. “Is that—”
“I said later. Now wash your hooves and get ready for dinner.”
“Aaaah, delicious. You’ve absolutely outdone yourself, m’dear.” Level Dasher patted his stomach with satisfaction.
Harmony raised her brow. “Well that certainly sounds familiar. You brought another game home for your son to play, didn’t you?”
“I… uh…” The stallion hung his head. “…yes.”
Harmony sighed. “He's been playing all afternoon, but go ahead. He got his homework done early, so he’s earned it this time.”
“Alriiiiiight!” Level Dasher hoof-bumped his son across the table. “Crimson, when you’ve finished your meal, come on into the sun porch.”
“Will do, Dad. Be there in a sec.” Level Dasher cleared his plate and left the kitchen. Crimson wolfed down the rest of his food before doing the same.
Harmony shook her head. Colts.
Crimson entered the sun porch as the game was powering up. “Hey Dad, this isn’t another FPS, is it?”
“No, I know you’re not a fan of first-pony shooters. This game might look like one at first, but it’s actually a puzzle game. The only thing you use in this is something called a Portal Gun.”
“A what?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll explain. This game has a two-player mode, so we can play it together as I teach you.”
“Sweet!” Crimson hopped onto the pillow on the floor, laying next to his father. “Dad, how come you’re allowed to bring these games home for me to play?”
“Well son, I… the designers like to get an idea of how all the demographics feel about a game’s play style and plot line before advertising. They allow the testers to share the games with certain ponies to see how the audience reacts.”
“Uh… what’s a demo…graphic?”
“Oh, it’s a fancy word for the ponies that the company is trying to sell the games to. This game is actually intended for ponies a little older than you, so you’re what we call ‘outside the intended demographic.’ But you’re still part of another demographic, and this game isn't too violent, so it’s good for us to know how you’ll like this.”
“Sounds good to me!”
After passing the main menu, Level Dasher began the explanation. “So, your portal colors are going to be red and orange, using the left and right buttons on the top of the controller. Mine are light and dark blue. Rather appropriate, if I do say so myself.” Crimson smiled as he looked over his father’s blue coat, then his own red one.
“Would you two not sit so close to the TV, please?” Harmony was standing in the doorway, glaring at Level Dasher. “You’re as bad as he is!”
“Oops! Sorry, sweetie.” The stallion shifted backwards, dragging Crimson by the tail along with him. This elicited a yelp and a glare from the colt, but Level Dasher just shrugged. “Hey, you wanna play the new game? Gotta let your old dad mess with ya a bit.” Crimson smiled and gave his father a small shove. “Alright, mister. Let’s get started.”
Level Dasher draped a wing over his son and started the first puzzle. “Alright, I’ll show you this first one. If you look up and to the left, you’ll see a cube on a platform. You need the cube to complete the puzzle, so you have to get up there somehow. You’re going to use your portals…”
As she stood in the doorway, Harmony couldn’t help but smile. She sighed quietly to herself before she went back to the kitchen to go over her schedule for the next day.
No doubt those two are cut from the same cloth. Like father, like son.
Author's Note
I'm hoping it was clear, but just in case...
For those of you that have not read Through Crimson Eyes, let it be known that the story takes place a fair amount of time in the future. Twilight had moved back to Canterlot in order to more properly perform her royal duties (this was written before the season 4 finale aired). Painted Pen, Keetasari's OC, took over the role of Ponyville's librarian. Since this is a prequel to TCE, it takes place in the same general time period.
As a side note, Painted Pen was given an age boost for this story (with permission, of course— call it an artistic liberty) so she could serve as Tesla's mother.
