Crimson Trail

Chapter 2

A Flash of Bad Luck.

Edited by The Metallic Dash

“Akilina it's practice time.”

“Do I have to practice today I was hoping to go to Irus’s birthday party, she is turning 10 you know.”

“I told you the same thing last year. Until you are able to beat me in one on one combat you are not allowed to play.”

“But that is so unfair. Why do I have to train for combat 6 hours a day if we live in a time of peace?”

“Living in a time of peace, where did you hear that nonsense. Anywhere you go, there will always be someone who doesn't agree, someone who wants something,  someone who hates you just for being you. So long as there is life on this planet, there will be conflict and there is nothing you can do to prevent it, all you can do is be prepared to defend your self and the ones you love.”

“But I will only be out for the day. I promise tomorrow I will train twice as hard.”

“The answer is still no. Until you can beat me you will listen and obey.”

“Fine, then I challenge you.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, you do remember what happened last time don’t you?"

A twinge of pain came up with the memory. I had tried to sneak out and it resulted in a bloody affair with me in the hospital. But this time would be different, I am smarter now, I know I cannot beat him in combat, he is way too strong and it would end the same way as before… I need to think, wait I got it.

“I challenge you to an archery contest, best shot with one arrow.”

“And what are the wages for this contest?”

“If I win, I get to go to Irus’s party.”

“But if I win, you have to stay here all day practicing, also you have to take all the swords in the castles and sharpen them by yourself. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

At this we both walked out the back where there was a long bow range set up. I selected my practice bow and the quiver of arrows next to it. My father grabbed a bow and quiver off the wall of them then said.

“Ladies first.”

“With pleasure.”

I walked over and took my stance, drawing an arrow and knocked it, and pulled back as far as I could and aimed down the shaft. With a whoosh I let the arrow fly, just as a second whoosh came from behind me. As I watched the target, the impossible happened, two simultaneous thuds rang out. My arrow about an inch below the center dot and my father's arrow dead center.

“Looks like I win. I know I said I you have to sharpen all the swards by yourself, but feel free to get the blacksmith to show you how to use the Grindstone.”

“But how… how did you beat me. My shot was perfect.”

“Yes it was, but if we both hit the center we would have tied, so all I did was hit your arrow with my arrow to knock it lower allowing myself to win.”

“But that is impossible!”

“When you can harness your inner fire, nothing is impossible.”

And with that, he walked away.

~~~~~12 years later~~~~~

“Akilina. We need to talk about the project,” The professor stated.

“Right now? But we just started eating,” I asked well gathering another spoon full of hot Split Pea Soup. A little upset at the lack of meat but after living in Equestria for so many years it was hardly a deterrent.

“Yes right now. It is very important and you will probably need to sleep on it any way,” he said sharply.

“OK what is it? Is it about starting construction tomorrow or something to do with the funding,” I trailed off before eating another spoonful of soup.

“It is kind of related to those things... well what I want to ask you is if you could go anywhere in the world where would you go,” he asked a little bit nervously.

“Well that is a hard question to answer. I can’t say that I have really thought about it,” I replied.

“Well think about it now,” he offered.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes before I replied.

“I guess I kind of want to go back to the griffon empire and see if anything has changed since I left. Although if I did that I would probably have to stay clear from a large portion of the city to make sure no one will recognize me. I also kind of want to see Saddle Arabia. I have heard some interesting thing about that place though it is a little far away for my taste. The only other thing I can think of is I have always wanted to watch the dragon migration from in the badlands themselves. None of that tourist bullshit,” I said before gently placing a talon under the soup bowl and giving it a little tilt allowing me to scoop the last of it out.

“Why do you ask?” I said while placing the now empty bowl on the table.

“It’s just that,” he stopped and reorganizes his thoughts then started again.

“Well I have noticed that since we started this project you hardly ever leave the

lab, most of your free time is spent in your room reading up on some magical theory of some kind or another or working with me, hell you haven't even gone flying in months. I can tell because you don't even preen your feathers anymore.”

At this I took a shy glance towards my feathered appendages. And sure enough several of the feathers were misaligned and some grit could be seen between others.

“I just think it is unhealthy for a beautiful young griffon who is only 22 to stay inside all day. You need friends, you need to go out and do stuff for yourself. That is why I am requesting that you do not participate in the construction of the teleporter. Instead I want you to head out and do all the things you want to do. Go to all those places you told me about, just do something for yourself,” he finished with a long sigh.

At first I did not know how to respond to what I just heard. I wasn't sure if I was supposed be outraged or astatic. So instead we just sat there for several minutes in an awkward silence. This was finally broken by the professor saying.

“Don’t even bother arguing with me. My mind is already made up,” he said sternly.

“But won't you need me on the team?” I asked a little shakily.

“Don’t get me wrong your expertise will be missed. But it’s not like you will be gone for ever only a month or even a couple weeks. Think of it as a vacation. I know if you really want to work on this project you will find a way to help even if I say you can't, so don’t make your decision now. Go home and think about it over the night you can tell me your answer in the morning over breakfast. And one more thing doesn’t wait up for me at home. I need to stop at the headmaster's office to find a room on the university's campus so that I can begin construction as soon as the build team gets here,”

At that I got up and slowly walked out of the restaurant without another word. Eventually when I made it back to my room I climbed on to my bed and fell fast asleep.  When I woke up the sun was still down behind the horizon. Not like one to stay in bed all day I got up and ran some hot water into the tub. Before too long I was washing up, cleaning grit out of my wings and paw pads. Before just laying back and letting the water wash away all of my worries.

What am I going to do? Should I be a part of the biggest magical and technological advancement of the age? Or do I take a break and leave it all behind. I do have to admit that the professor did have a point about my lack of personal hygiene since I joined this project. It had just dropped really low on my to do list.

Stepping out of the tub and giving myself a quick shake to flick off the majority of the water. Stopping I Looked around at the soaked walls, letting loose a long sigh I pulled a towel out from the cupboard and began drying them off.

I do have to admit a vacation does sound nice. I would love to go back home to the griffon empire and see how everyone is doing, but it has only been 4 year since I left, I wonder if anyone will recognize me? It is true that I was not fully grown when I left. My height may throw most people off… but it’s not my height that I would be recognized for.

After finishing drying the walls I walked back over into my room hopped up on the bed and began to preen my wings. It hurts at first due to the fact that I had not done this in several weeks and I was a little out of practice. But one by one my

Feathers fell into place.

The big problem of going back to the empire is everyone who sees me will know at a glance that I am a member of the royal family. It’s my damned feather colors. No one would believe I was just born with them. They would know I am a member of the royal family or at least the branch family. And the second they heard my name they would know exactly who I am… I guess I could always try dyeing my feathers. But I am getting off topic I need to be asking myself do I even want to go?

When all the feathers were aligned I hopped off my bed and made my way outside into the courtyard. The sun had started to just peek over the horizon. After a quick check of my surroundings I stretch out my wings and took a running jump into the air.

Oh sweet Celestia it feels good to fly again. I can't believe I gave this up for so long.

I was clumsy at first having to work hard to keep from dropping do to the lack of muscle stimulation over the last several weeks. But soon enough I was doing loops and dives.

I must have been flying for at least an hour because when I had returned to the courtyard that I had taken off in, the sun was a decent way up into the sky. I landed with a soft thud. A rush of adrenaline slowly seeping out of my body as I began making my way back down the hallways to my room. When I opened the door my nose was hit by the soft scent of fried eggs. I strolled over to the kitchenette to see the professor leaning over the stove with a spatula in one talon and a salt shaker in the other.

“Man I have not seen you cook since we got this dorm room,” I said suppressing a giggle.

“Yeah and I remember why I gave it up,” the professor replied quickly.

“Because you can’t cook,” I said flatly.

“Yep you got it. Anyway there are some fried eggs on the table if you’re hungry. By the way how long have you been out?”

“I don't know… a couple hours I guess. And no I have not eaten yet thanks for the eggs.”

“A couple of hours what have you been doing? Did you go down to the library and fall asleep again?”

“Ha ha very funny. And I only did that once,” I said sarcastically.

“But if you must know what I have been up to, I went out flying.”

At that the professor turned around and looked at me with a surprised look on his face. Upon seeing me with my freshly groomed feathers and a thin layer of sweat coating my body he said.

“So you did. I am glad you still listen to me, though I am surprised you were able to make it off the ground with the current state your body is,” he started before clamping a talon over his mouth.

“… Are you saying I am fat?” I said coldly.

“Uum well you see…” he said nervously.

“Think long and hard about the next words out of your beak,” I said giving him a death stare.

“Well I only meant you have not done it for so long you may not have the muscle strength you use to.”

“Oh so you are saying I am weak is that it?”

“um well no err umm” he stuttered.

My mood soddenly lifted and my expression went from grim to happy.

“I am just messing with you. We have been living together for 4 years now. Do you really think I would get so mad at you over something so trivial? And after all you're right I have let my body go after all this time,” I said cheerfully.

“Few that is a relief. I kind of thought you were messing with me but after that bomb shell I dropped on you last night I was not sure. Speaking of which have you decided what you are going to do?”

“Well I have made my decision. But I have one quick question first, when well the prototype teleporter be done?”

“We are scheduled to do are first test in 2 months’ time. Why do you ask?”

“So I know I will have to be back here in 60 days. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

“...wait you are actually going, no arguments, no nothing. You’re just leaving.”

“Well I have had a lot of time to think about it, and I am not just leaving, I first need to get some money together for the trip and map out where I will be going, And do a little packing. But most importantly I need to go over the plans for the teleporter with you to make sure you don't kill yourself when I am gone.”

"Oh well, OK then.” He said bringing over a plate full of steaming pancakes and gently placing them on the table.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful with all the time we spent looking over the blueprints for the teleporter. Packing my travel bag, looking over a map picking out all the places I wanted to go, and trying to find a store that sold some dye that would work on my feathers without being too permanent. Sooner than I was hoping nighttime fell and with it a feeling of sleepiness. So be both went to bed And when morning came the professor and I where off to the train stop.

“Are you sure you are ready to do this?” the professor asked.

“Of course I am, when have I ever backed down from a challenge?”

“That’s what I am worried about… just please be safe and don’t do anything you will regret.”

“I won’t if you won’t” I said back well sticking out my tongue at him.

Then I boarded the train and off it went.

~~~~~(60 days later.)~~~~~

As I flew by Ponyville on my strong powerful wings, I had gotten a lot stronger after all the hiking, flying, and hunting I had done over the last couple months. I look down deciding to stop off and get something to eat. I leaned my left wing down and brought myself into a large descending loop eventually landing in front of a bakery named Sugar Cube Corner. looking back at my wings as I folded them against my back noticing the walnut dye making them look much darker than they were supposed to be.

I need to wash that out when I get back home.

Glancing through a window at the menu I decided I wanted real food and not just baked goods, so I walked down the street until I found a restaurant with a nice looking menu. Reaching into my bag I picked out my wallet and glanced inside to see several shimmering bits. I ordered my meal and as I ate it slowly I watched as a large group of ponies started to gather in the main square a little ways down the street from where I was eating. I could see a purple alicorn talking urgently to the crowd of ponies in front of her. Checking the time I decided not to get involved with whatever was going on and just finished eating, paid then started looking for the train stop. After 30 minutes of aimless walking I was completely lost. You would think that a town like this would have signs or something.

“Ugh I should have turned around at that apple farm a couple minutes back. Now I am at some forest in the middle of nowhere. I should probably ask for directions at this cottage up ahead,” I mutter to myself out loud.

Then I realized that there is a much easier solution to this problem, I leaped into the air and after gaining some altitude I looked around for some train tracks and sure enough I spotted them a little ways off entering the city and then leaving in the way of Canterlot. More importantly however I could see a plume of smoke coming from a train heading into the city. If I hurried I think I can make it, so I folded my wings and dropped like a rock a couple hundred feet before whipping out my wings again and going into a sharp turn towards the train stop. The tips of my wings making white streaks in the air from the sudden deceleration of the turn. I turned again then did a quick back flip straight into another dive this one directly above the train stop. I vaguely no tested a cyan Pegasus sitting on a cloud with her mouth opened in awe as I effortlessly made my way down at such great speeds. Landing with a thud I quickly hopped over to the ticket booth and said.

“I need one ticket for the next train to Canterlot.” I said in haste just as the train pulled up behind me.

“15 bits,” the pony behind the counter said in a bored tone.

I paid the fair and grabbed the ticket offered. After getting on the train I saw a small dragon carrying a large stack of boxes and cloth off the train with a white mare in quick pursuit behind him.  After another minute of waiting the train lurched forward and started on its way to Canterlot.

“Excuse me sir but how long of a ride is it to Canterlot?” I asked a train pony walking past my seat.

“It’s about a 4 hour train ride mama,”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile.

Now what to do for the next 4 hours.

Looking out the window I saw something I was not expecting. A familiar cyan Pegasus was in hot pursuit of the train. We locked eye contact for several second before I abruptly closed the blinds to the window.

Crazy ponies I swear I will never understand them.

The rest of the train ride went by pretty uneventful. I found a newspaper under my seat and when I opened my blinds several minutes later I did not see the stalker Pegasus again. When we finally made it to Canterlot I could hardly wait to hop off the train and fly home as fast as I could. When I got home I slipped the key into the lock and with a click I walked inside to find no one in site. Although there was a note left on the table.

To Akilina if you are reading this you are at home right now, and I am unable to greet you because I am working on the teleporter out of town. We got our own warehouse for constitution and I will probably be spending most nights out there. Sorry I was not able to greet you in person but please come and stop by when you can. Address is on the back of this paper. See you soon.

Letting loose another big sigh I looked out the window to see it starting to get dark.

It’s too late to head out now I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow.

At that I walked into my room to see a freshly washed lab coat laying on the bed with an ID badge clipped on to the front. Smiling at that I placed my bag in the corner but not before taking out my journal in which I had all my adventures over the last 2 months written in.  Sitting down on my bed I updated it with what had happened today then placed it on my nightstand before I walking into the bathroom. Running some water I began scrubbing my feathers to wash out the dye. When I was done I dried off and went back to my room before falling asleep.

I was awoken by the sun shining through my window onto my face. Rolling over and looking at the time I quickly shot out of bed. And went looking through the kitchen for something to eat. Several minutes later with a full stomach I was throwing on the lab coat the professor had gotten me, grabbed the note from off the table and was quickly streaking through the air.

I understand that they got their own warehouse but where the hell is it?

As I fly alongside a road leading out of Canterlot I was starting to worry about missing the first test. a small plume of smoke could be seen off in the distance I poured on the speed and in several minutes a large Quonset with a compound of sorts attach to it came into view. Landing on top of the roof of the smaller building attached to the Quonset. I could hear a small humming coming from the building and the smell of ozone was sharp in the air.

I need to find the professor and surprise him.

Hearing the whispering voices of a group of people I crept over the edge of the building and peered over to see a much larger group of ponies then I was expecting.  After giving a quick glance around for the professor I was a little disappointed not to see him. I slipped back on to the roof but stopped when I heard something one of the ponies was saying. Staying up on the roof I listened in on their conversation without making a sound.

“Look, all you have to leave now to make sure you will be clear from the blast. Auxiliary and I need to make one last appearance so that not to raise any questions about where we have gone,” the first pony said.

“Is everything set up,” a second pony asked

“Yes the magic grid has been rigged and the totem has been misaligned,” the first pony replied.

“OK good is there any other questions,” the second pony asked

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” a third pony asked?

“It’s too late to ask that now there is no going back after this. Equestria is not ready for this technology. It will put hundreds of train ponies and merchants out of business the easiest way to stop that from happening is to destroy it with all the plans inside. And if that means killing some griffons in the altercation, then so be it,” the first pony replied.

My blood ran cold with what I had just heard. They were going to kill a bunch of griffons just to make sure some ponies did not lose their jobs. I need to tell the professor as fast as I can but if I fly off now they will see me. I slowly creeped over to the far side of the roof and glided down to the ground and quickly looking around for the entrance. When I finally found it I ran inside and followed the signs in the hallway to find the control room. I quickly opened the doors to see several griffons standing in front of a large glass dome looking into the large Quonset where the teleporter could be seen gathering magic.

A couple griffons looked back at the door at the sound of the door opening one of whom was the professor. Who quickly ran over and embraced me in a hug.

“You made it. I was so worried something happen to you... you look so beautiful… how was your trip,” he asked sincerely.

“O also I have something for you” he said well pulling out a small box

Inside of which he pulled out a small pendant on a thin gold chain. The pendant was shaped like a pair of wing but an intricate series of spiral patterns was etched all across the surface. The material however could not be explained it shimmered with a faint glow and looked to be a light gray but it danced with distant colours.

“I made it for you on my free time. It not only looks awesome but it’s made out of a alloy we developed for amplifying magic so long as you wear it you will always be able to channel you magic to where ever you need it,” he told me as he gently placed it around my neck.

“Magic levels at 70%... teleportation in 2 minutes,” said a griffon standing in front of a control panel.

“It’s incredible” I said weekly before remembering why I was in a rush.

“Look you need to listen to me; you need to call off the test.” I said quickly

“Call off the test. Why,” the professor asked a little worried

“Because when I got here I saw a large group of ponies and they were talking about how they sabotaged the teleporter. Saying Equestria was not ready for this technology.”

“Magic levels at 80%... teleportation in 1 minute 30 seconds,” said the same griffon from before.

“What are you share? what they do?” he asked an edge of tension on his voice.

“I don't know... they said something about misalignment of the totem”

Seeing the cold hard look on my face and hearing the edge of panic in my voice he quickly turned around to the griffons and said.

“Power it down.”

“What?”  A collective gasp.

“I have received information that the totem may be misaligned. We need to power down and do a check.”

Everyone hearing the urgency in his voice they did not complain. Instead they all turned back to their stations and started flipping off switches. Although after a couple of seconds a confused murmur began to pick up.

“Umm professor everything is off although we are still gathering magic 90% and rising,” a confused griffon said.

“Oh shit, that's right, they said something about rigging the magic grid. They must have removed all the shutoffs.” I said.

The professor's eyes went wide at hearing this and before I could react he shouted.

“Everyone get out and as far away as possible there is going to be a full magical meltdown,” he yelled as he ran over to hold the door open for the others.

A panic filled the room as all the scientist inside started running out into the hallway as fast as they could. But then I worried griffon came running over to the professor and said.

“But my son is still in my room at the barracks. Is there no way I can save him?” she said with tears rolling down her beak.

“What room is he in?” I asked quickly.

“24. He is in room 24,” she replied.

“You can't be serious,” the professor said.

“It's way to far to make it in time,”

“What, you think you could get there faster. Believe me I got this.” I said with confidence.

At that I dropped my lab coat then spread my wings and before anyone could say anything else I had flown off down the hall. A left turn and then a right turn and then straight another left. I shot through the hallway at unbelievable speeds. I hardly had time to read the signs to see where I was going. All I know is that there was a kid in need of my help and I was going to help him. Sure enough I found myself in a hallway with room numbers on all the doors.

“24… 24 where are you 24,” I said out loud to myself.

Finding it I bucked open the door to find a griffon no older than 5 playing with some blocks in the corner.

“No time to explain. Your mother needs you.” I said when making my way over to him.

Scooping him up as fast and as gently as I could I flew back the way I can as fast as I could… I saw the exit but then the worst possible thing happened. I felt a shock wave hit me and an extreme wave of heat coming up from behind me. Just then I busted out of the door and saw the group of griffons about 1000 feet away. But still flying as fast as I could I was still feeling the heat on my back getting hotter and hotter. I knew I could not outrun the explosion but what ever happened I was not going to let this little kid die. With a yell of anguish I threw that little griffon so hard I felt a ligament tear in my arm. But I didn't have time to worry about that because a fraction of a second later I was engulfed in whiteness.

~~~~~ 30 seconds earlier from the professors perspective ~~~~~

All of the scientist and myself ran from what we know was going to be one of the biggest magical discharges ever. Then we felt it a shock wave so powerful it knocked some of the griffons out of the air. We all stopped and turned to see an orb of swirling blue and green magic engulf the Quonset and expand out from there. At the same time the doors to the lab burst open and Akilina came flying out carrying a small griffon in her arms. She was flying incredibly fast though not fast enough to outrun the explosion, everyone know she would not be able to get away. But then something happened that no one was expecting, she slowed and then threw that kid so hard I swear he broke the sound barrier. Then with a smile across her beak she closed her eyes and was engulfed. Several griffons flew out to catch the kid as he fell and I could see that the tips of some of his feathers were burnt, all in all he seemed alright though but I was too focused on the explosion to pay much attention to him. It expanded another 100 feet or so before slowing and then it stopped altogether. Then in a blink of an eye the magic dissipated leaving a scorch mark across all the land it touched. The most surprising thing was that the facility was still there although heavy melted, with some large chunks missing altogether. Despite the fact that the lab was still there Akilina was nowhere to be seen. At the realization that she was gone a single tear drop rolls down my beak and to the dropped ground.