Crimson Fist

Crimson began the debriefing, “Now I know that it’s very strange for you all to be asked to meet up in the castle at the will of a stranger you don’t know, why suddenly shows up one day. Let me assure you I intend only the best for my princess and boss, Twilight. That is why we are here, I am going on a dangerous mission to the Badlands…and Twilight’s coming with me of her own volition.” There were outcries of disagreement, most of all from Rainbow who almost burst into tears on Twilight’s shoulder. “Do not worry I have a plan to help ensure her protection, I just lack the proper materials and designs, I am going to make Twilight personal armor and custom weaponry. The designs are almost done and its trials will take a day or two so in the meantime I need you all to gather the materials. Can you do it?” There was a collective cheer from everypony. “Alright then, I need around a fifty pounds of wolfram and cobalt each, a few quarts of quicksilver, a fair amount of aurum, some specific gems, and a filly sized meteor.” Everypony besides Twilight lost their jaws to the ground, but agreed once they reclaimed control of their mouths. “Do not worry about payment, I will simply transfer the funds to the merchants through Spike whenever you need it. We have five days to do this after daybreak, it will take me two days to finish her armor so I need the materials before then, can we do it?”

“Yes!” they shouted collectively.

“Well then I suggest you sleep well tonight here. The map for venders will be ready for you tomorrow, I wish you all good luck I will be lodging in the forges of the Castle of the Two Sisters by tomorrow.”

With the meeting dismissed the girls retired for the night each in their respective rooms. The tree of harmony had sanctioned out several rooms specifically for the bearers of the elements. Each room was located in separate wings and floors, Twilight occupied the central tower and thus made way for the balcony to fly up there. Crimson followed her to the balcony and sent her off, thus beginning his patrol duties. Twilight waved good night and made her way up to her room. As she got out of eye-shot of Crimson, Rainbow Dash came out of hiding from
behind a cloud.

Despite their isolation Rainbow whispered, “I don’t think Crimson is normal. You remember that race we had he…won.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, “are you sure you’re thinking clearly, you never lose one-on-one. Are sure you’re feeling okay. Plus he was on hoof not wings. I thought he was racing on the ground.”

Rainbow Dash started speaking in a normal volume but in an exasperated tone, “I know that’s what I thought, but he…he didn’t get to the ground he jumped up onto the cloud layers and then he ran. He was faster than anything I have ever gone or seen, he performed a sonic boom when he fell.”

“No way, that was probably yours. What about the dismount from the clouds he must have had a parachute or something.”

“No he had nothing of the sort, he did a swan dive before I head for the ground and when I saw him again he was running on the air and when he landed he just brought his forelegs together and released a shockwave upward. Well I was so shocked I was paralyzed and I would have d…died if he had not caught me. I was going fast enough that when he caught me we flew sideways totally far.”

Twilight was at a loss for an explanation. “He said his armor was magically enhanced, I didn’t give him pegasus feet. Maybe it enhanced his abilities, gave him near flight. His armor seems to have an aura of power around it. Yes that must be it, I’m sure of it.”

“Maybe…but that speed. I could have sworn it was natural. I mean the level of speed was unnatural but its… origin, no, that’s something was natural. You know what I mean.”

“Sure I do, just get some sleep it’s going to be a long day tomorrow and I don’t want to get injured on my mission.”

“I couldn’t live with myself if it did,” Rainbow nuzzled Twilight, “I’m probably overreacting, thanks.” Rainbow flew back to her hiding place and then back to her suite on the top floor of the castle. Twilight flew to her room the conversation a nagging thought in the back of her mind. She pushed that thought away as she got ready for bed. She had just finished bathing and was preening her wings when a knock came at her door.

“Who is it?”

“Applejack, I got a surprise fur yea.”

“Come in then I’m just preening.”

Applejack came in with a confused face, “preening, what’s that?”

“It’s something winged ponies have to do every day, keeps the wings clean and organized. Without it, rain would fowl up a pegasus and they would not be able to control the weather.”

“That’s enough sugar cube, I just wanted to bring you a thank you present, since I can’t find that tall feller.”

“Crimson?” Twilight offered.

“Yeah, that guy. It’s a little box of apple infused chocolates. I had so much free time, you know between Crimson’s wager and his gift I was able to finish that orchard in an hour. Anyway I had been experimenting with chocolate making, but I always started too late.”

“About that wager, did you know what he did to those trees?”

“Sure he just…” Applejack frowned “come to think of it I don’t know.”

“He kicked and punched each tree, never left a mark or dropped and apple but when he clapped they came down like rain.”

“An odd way I’ll admit but I don’t care as long as he did it.”

“Okay, I just though it is was weird.”

Applejack put her leg on Twilight’s side, “don’t worry about it, he seems fine and well-mannered enough, plus he ain’t a bad view and he ain’t no stick in the mud. Anyway give him my regards.” Applejack left for bed having put Twilight’s nagging thought to a light sleep. Twilight continued preening her wings until she was satisfied with the results. She began to do magical exercises. Another knock on the door interrupted her, this time it was Rarity.

“Dearie I was just dropping by, you see all the excitement had given me a very ladylike hunger, she I made my way to the kitchen and who was there? None other than Crimson Fist, he had prepared these little pastries. Apparently they are gingersnaps with candied orange peel, I must say I was ready to eat the whole batch when Crimson suggested that I should go and see if anypony else wanted any. Needless to say I offered them to everyone, who were utterly enthralled by them. Now here I am giving the last few to you, enjoy and good night.”

“Wait Rarity, doesn’t Crimson seem almost too skilled.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well he is an amazing fighter and craftsmen, you saw his singing talent and his baking talent. He is a great negotiator, a scholar of magic, world-class apple bucker and an undefeatable racer from what Rainbow says. He seems too good to just be a guard.”

“You are worrying over nothing, think of it this way. Your guard is not only a marvelous protector, but he is someone who matches you almost point for point and excels where you are weaker and vice-versa. Although I don’t know where he is weakest.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment before responding “Thanks Rarity, you’ve put my mind at ease, good night see you in the morning.” Rarity shut the door behind herself and Twilight continued her magical exercises with increased vigor her mind clear. She soon decided she was good when she went through a large chunk of Star-Swirled the Bearded expert spells. She then nestled into bed and began to read another volume of combat tactics by her brother. She quickly remembered the cookies and was amazed by their deliciousness. Twilight soon finished both her nighttime reading and snack and was about to fall asleep when a third knock came.

Twilight tired and content swung the door open with magic and was about to yell for them to leave when Crimson appeared through the doorway. “Crimson this is unexpected…what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well in the goings-on of today I forgot your gift, here it is.” Crimson opened a box and inside was a long silver chain with an emblem inscribed in gold. It was a six point star made of amethyst with a smaller diamond star shaped like the first.

Twilight was at the edge of tears, “Oh Crimson it’s beautiful. How did you even come across this?”

“I made it a long time ago, never knew why I made it until now. Anyway, like most things I have it is enchanted, specifically with a fail-safe spell. Very powerful and very useful. It would make me job a lot easier if I had more of them. Anyway…good night, sweet princess.” Crimson let himself out and in his absence Twilight sensed his wake, a feeling of loss. Twilight was again puzzled by her resourceful and enigmatic guard. She looked at her gift, it was more intricate than anything she had ever seen. It was past even Rarity’s ability, who was a master jeweler. The centerpiece was defiantly made of several gems, but there wasn’t a gap to be found as if it was only one gem. Twilight held up to the candlelight and noticed faint writing, too faint for her to see. She surmised that it was the enchantment and placed around her neck, it fit just right. Twilight blew out the candle and put away her book, she slept better than she had since she had been the vessel for all Alicorn magic, which gave her uneasy sleep even after it was removed. A sense of calm hushed the wisps of magic cascading into her subconscious, she felt nice.

Nighttime ruled the sky and the moon, its eternal sentinel, careened through the empty backdrop. Under its watchful eye the town grew silent and restful, each pony being carried away into Luna’s realm of dreams to be bewitched by a dazzling display of their desires. All but one who matched the moon’s eternal patrol, down on the ground the lone silhouette of Crimson made its way to the mountains. The silhouette continued up the mountains until it reached the highest summit, upon this high vista Crimson began to move. His hooves moved in a fluid rhythm and soon the rhythm picked up to incredible speed. Then came the guns which flowed into the movement perfectly. As the moon traced its way across the sky, Crimson did not let up his practice. It was not until the night was nearly done that Crimson left the mountain and glided back to town.

Dawn came with more beauty than Twilight had ever seen. It was a gorgeous array of bright oranges and yellows with a corona of deep red. Twilight stretched her body out displaying the full span of her wings. Today she felt that lighter than usual, ready to fly. She stepped onto her balcony scanning the horizon, inhaling the heavy air, she soon spotted what she was looking for, Rainbow Dash preforming her early morning exercise. Twilight flew from her landing in a hurry. She was a bit surprised at her own speed, she was faster than usual, and she blamed the good night sleep. Twilight quickly and stealthily flew to a cloud near-by Rainbow who was doing laps around a makeshift course made of loose clouds. As Rainbow jetted across a corner Twilight flew in front of her and magically attracted two clouds to surround Rainbow. Suffice to say Rainbow was quite tangled in the clouds.

As she finally orientated herself to the present situation and escaped she eyed Twilight evilly. “What was that for? I was flying here!” Twilight responded with a cheeky raspberry and flew off. “Don’t think you’ll get off the easy!” Rainbow exclaimed as she activated her flight helmet and zoomed after Twilight’s contrail. Twilight flew with all her might trying to get rid of her nervous energy, but Rainbow with her new gadget was faster than she was and had quickly caught up with her. “Gotcha!” she exclaimed as she tumbled into Twilight and rolled into a cloud. Twilight released a grunt as she fell through the air and hit the solid, but soft surface of the clouds.
“Rainbow how did you catch me so fast?” Twilight asked, “Wait, when did you get that?”

Rainbow’s visor retracted revealing a smirk, a wing long, “Your guard gave it to me. It’s almost as awesome as me don’t you think. He said it made me even faster. I wonder if you can make a full body suit like this that would impress everyone for sure.”

“Well I definitely can say it makes you faster,” Twilight’s gaze changed to a flirtatious one, “but…I don’t think anything could be as awesome as you.” Rainbow turned bright red and backed off a little embarrassed by Twilight’s compliment. Rainbow was about to speak but was silenced by Twilight pressing her mouth against hers forcing a long kiss. Rainbow was resistant at first out of surprise but soon reciprocated the kiss. They held that position for a long minute before breaking for a breath, a string of saliva bridged the gap between them. After the long kiss a long silence held between them each wanting to embrace each other more.

Rainbow spoke first bordering on being hysterical, “Twilight I’m so worried about, I don’t know what to do with myself if I don’t see you for
weeks or if the worst occurs. This Crimson guy, he is definitely a real badass. I’m worried you might be in over your head, he seems like the sort of pony that just attracts danger. I’m just…………scared for you and me, I just don’t want anything bad to happen.” Rainbow broke into tears and fell onto Twilight

Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow’s muzzle and brought her wings around Rainbow’s body, calming her. “Rainbow, you say that like I or any of us never attract danger. Rainbow I’m no longer the unicorn I once was, I’m the princess of magic and friendship an Alicorn who has vanquished great evil. I will never leave you, I promise…but if something happens Crimson will make sure I make it back and protect you as best he can.” Twilight and Rainbow laid on the cloud in an embrace for a long time and watched the sun rise from the ground and bathe them in its warm and reassuring gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes and were lost in their depths before kissing once more. After this kiss they broke away and flew back to the castle where Crimson was waiting in the kitchen along with everyone else, just awoken for breakfast.

Calls of good morning welcomed them as they entered. Crimson was behind the counter preparing breakfast for once on all fours, Twilight was astonished by how big he actually was, bigger than her it seemed. “Good morning to you early birds, you’re just on time for breakfast prepared by yours truly,” Crimson then turned to address everyone, “breakfast is served!” All the ponies crowded around the breakfast table while Crimson, now on two legs, passed around bowls filled with oatmeal and specific plants to each pony.

“Oatmeal, I expected more exquisite food for a stallion of such expertise,” Twilight teased.

“Oh how can you say that, you haven’t even tried it,” Crimson retorted trying to sound annoyed and hurt. At his suggestion she tried it and was amazed as each bite was crisp and crunchy despite its soggy appearance and tasted of fresh cut oranges, a favorite of Twilight. Crimson grinned in victory after she finished, “Now that you are done with your breakfast the hard work begins. I want to extend my gratitude to each of you for helping me, it’s a big favor to ask. I have prepared saddlebags with food, water and a map for each of you to find the suppliers. In addition I have assigned some guards to meet you when you call with these whistles-Crimson showed a small golden whistle-they will help you bring the materials back. Now the best way to do this is to split up, Applejack and Pinkie Pie will be group one. Rarity and Fluttershy you will be joined by Spike to form group two. Finally Twilight and Rainbow you will be group three. I do hope that will do”