Honor of Thieves

by CrimsonEdge

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Romance, Original Character, Spike, Sex, Tragedy
Length: 18528

Every thief abides by a set of rules these rules are what differs the pros from the ametuers. Crimson Star is part of a family of thieves that have been in Equestria for centuries and he was the leader of a failed but great hiest before disappearing.

Hide in shadow, don't kill, and in unavoidable situations take the blame for your friends. This is the way of thieves. The rules of a thief must be followed and mustn't be broken. My family has followed these rules since the fall of Discord and the rise of Celestia and Luna. I planned the unthinkable and we were so close to getting what we wanted, but my family's thieving empire came crashing down. I have to get away, I need to leave this world before the guards can get me.

Published 2015-03-26 05:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-07-24 05:10:43 UTC

Prologue

Prologue
///

The code of thieves has many rules, but the most important three are: do not to commit murder, keep promises to other thieves, and adapt to any situation and environment. These are the rules my parents followed and their parents before them. My parents have been gone for a long time, but I still carry the given the head of the family the name 'The Immortal Thief' because of how we performed during jobs. I write now because I am going on the most dangerous job of the century, no of all time, stealing the princess' crown and horse shoes. I have joined the guard and have every inch of the castle mapped down, and when its over my family and crew will be the best of every thief in Equestria. The crowning achievement of my family. I will not do this alone, this isn't a one pony job, I have recruited several childhood friends who were part of the world of thieves. Sapphire, was the brains of the job and besides being my closest friend, she was an intelligent unicorn who gave us the plans of a job or any intel concerning it. Copper was a distant cousin with whom I got along with very well. He was the brawn, being an earth pony he was the strongest of all of us. Then there was Dragonfly, a pegasus and the daughter of my mother's best friend. She was the least experienced of all of us, but had the potential for greatness. Then last was the boss, which was me, but you know about me.

The plan was easy enough sneak in the castle at night, and since the second sister had been banished for 900 years, nopony else that isn't the guard is going to be awake. If any get caught I have told them to pin the blame on me, that it was my plan and they were forced to do it. It may tarnish the last of my familys honor, but I don't want to ruin their lives, they were the only and closest friends I have. In case this is read by anyone other than me, I have used the childhood nicknames so they wouldn't be exposed. I walked my rounds which passed by the princess's room several times and that is the area I knew the best. The two who stood watch are easily knocked out and then I made my way through the princess's room. Everything went according to plan until several other guards burst through the doors and exposed me. Then, I was imprisoned until death, but those fools are glad they finally caught me, the Immortal Thief.

My time in the dungeons lasted several months until my friends got me out. The guards were closing in though and we barely made it out in time. Even though I got to see my friends our reunion wasn't as happy for me as it was to them. My face was plastered on every wall in Equestria, and the damn guard would soon catch me. When I told them what must happen their happiness turned into sorrow. I had Sapphire get preparations for a spell to petrify me for at least a century. I had said my goodbyes to Copper and Dragonfly, but I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye to Sapphire. Since they followed me until the end I gave Dragonfly instructions for being a remarkable thief, then I gave Copper a portion of my wealth, but for Sapphire I gave her my family's name and my place as head, even though she didn't accept. I would never see her again, and that was the worst thing I could imagine. She was the new head of my family and my relatives had died or had been caught, except for Copper and several others. She offered to go with me, but I turned her down, though knowing her she'll probably petrify herself next to me when her magic power was replenished. Now I will live up to the name that was given me, and I will return with help of the descendants!

-The Immortal Thief, Crimson Star.

///

"Hurry up Spike, this house won't explore itself," a purple unicorn.

"Come on Twilight this is just an old ponies tale!" Spike said

"That's what you said about nightmare moon!" Twilight said, "Besides Princess Celestia gave us orders to find out if this legend is true or not."

"Why? I really don't see why we have to go through these ruins on a hunch." Spike complained.

"The princess isn't on good terms with this pony,and she wants to make sure these rumors aren't true." Twilight said, "The only thing that isn't destroyed are the statues in the gardens."

"Yeah whoever made was very good and had an eye for detail." Spike replied poking the statues as he walked by them. "The enchantments aren't bad either, keeping them from deteriorating for a century."

"Stop poking them Spike." Twilight said. "These statues are technically the grave markers of the most infamous thieves in Equestria."

"Sorry Twilight, but how do you know about the graves?" Spike asked.

"The journal had his conspirators names, well their nicknames and there are four statues which is very coincidental." Twilight explained.

"Well it seems like you're pleased at my ancestors statues." a voice said and after Twilight and Spike turned to see a pegasus with red mane and tail he continued, "Sorry, let me introduce myself. I am Fire Wing part of the family of former thieves."

"Nice to meet you my name is Twilight Sparkle and this is Spike my assistant." Twilight replied

"It's a pleasure, just so you know I got my name from the father of the immortal thief and my family say I look like Crimson Star." Fire replied, "But I am a descendant from Copper and Dragonfly's line."

"So can we have a tour through the house." Spike asked.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled, "What he meant to say is we would like to learn your family's history."

"Sure, follow me, I'll make some tea after taking you to the study." He said leading them inside the manor.

Chapter 1

Family History
///

"Well my lineage goes back centuries, we started out as pickpockets and slowly went up from there." Fire said, handing them their tea, "But all that ended after Crimson tried to steal Celestia's jewelry."

"That's why Princess Celestia doesn't get on good terms with him." Twilight said turning to Spike.

"Well she doesn't hold a grudge on the family which is good, but back to the history lesson. Crimson had gotten into the guard as a mole in security to map out the castle for exits and getaway routes, as you already know since you have a page of his journal." Fire said pointing at the piece of paper sticking out of Twilight's bag.

"Yeah, we know his last moments in his time. You may want this back." Twilight said before giving him the paper.

"Thank you." He replied as he opened a glass case that contained an old leather book.

"Crimson must've been really good to have gotten in the guard in a matter of months." Twilight said

"Months?" Fire asked then started laughing, "No, no. This took years of work he was in the guards for two, no three years just to map out the castle."

"He was dedicated was he?" Spike asked.

"Well, a thief must have patience in order to complete a job, no?" Fire said, "Anyway he was caught held in captivity for several months before his friends helped him escape, only to reluctantly turn him to stone as the legend says."

"But the journal says-" Twilight started.

"It said nothing about him ever getting out of his stone imprisonment, does it?" Fire interrupting her, trembling with anger, "Even though it's been a hundred years my family is still hated by ponies who hold a grudge. I have the scars to prove it!"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring up any unpleasant memories." She said.

"Its fine." He continued, "He was turned to stone by his reluctant best friend, Sapphire, which lead to her to turn herself to stone with him."

"Aww that's sweet." Twilight replied.

"That's what I said when my father told me this story." Fire said sitting back down, "She and him were closer than with anypony else. The reason he did it was to avoid being caught, a little extreme in my opinion."

"That was a death sentence for the both of them." Twilight said after putting her cup down.

"Before I forget, what's in this tea it's really good."
Spike chipped in after finishing his drink.

"Oh, just a bit of mint and plants from the garden." Fire said smiling, "And I'm sorry for this. I didn't want it to end this way."

"What do you mean?" Twilight said before losing fainting with Spike following her into unconsciousness.

///

"What happened?" Twilight said drowsily, "Where am I?"

"If you're wondering if you're dead, you're not, just paralyzed from the neck down." Fire said, "And unable to use magic. Don't worry it's temporary, lasts a couple hours to a day."

"Why are you doing this Fire?" Twilight asked, "Where is Spike?"

"He's right next to you, still asleep, I just gave you two some lemon balm tea and a muscle relaxer for you." Fire said blankly, "Its actually very useful for insomniacs."

"You didn't answer my other question!" Twilight growled getting more annoyed, "Why are you doing this Fire Wing?!"

"Please stop calling me that!" He yelled, "That is not my name, it was my father's! Besides my name is Crimson, and I'm surprised you didn't figure it out yet Twilight, I'm a bit rusty at acting. I'll let you in on a deal I'll let you both go if you release an old friend."

"And if I refuse?"

"Nothing, I just want my friend back, being one of the six elements I believe you understand." Crimson said turning glum, "Besides I won't kill you, I still live by the Thieves Code which says murder is forbidden, we're thieves, not killers you know."

"I still won't release your friend, Equestria doesn't need anymore criminals." Twilight said

"Well, I have been out of that shell for 2 months, alone, no one else living here. I almost went insane! She was and is my entire world, and being a thief isn't worth it without her!" Crimson yelled punching the wall next to him.

"I still won't help." She replied a little less annoyed.

"Fine I'll go with you to where you live and have you monitor all of our actions." He said, "Besides knowing you, it would be an opportunity to know how ponies lived a century ago. Aye?"

"Fine I'll have my friends come with the princesses and elements and have your friend free in a day or so." Twilight said before yelling, "Now can you help me and give me an antidote!"

"Only if you hold your end of the bargain." He said gathering several herbs for the medicine.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, I get that a lot... Well used to." He replied placing an assortment of flowers in front of her "Here you'll feel like your body is asleep but that wears off after an hour."

"Why don't you make a tea?" Twilight asked

"I could have crushed 'em, put them in water and stick a syringe in you neck, which would suit you better?"

Twilight didn't argue and after eating the flowers asked, "What about Spike?"

"He'll be awake and be able to move in a few minutes. Until then help yourself to my library." Crimson answered. "Most of the books here may have been stolen for their value, but some are renewed journals of my ancestors, so read anything that catches your interest. Except the journals of my crew, leave them in their cases please."

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Twilight asked

"I have plenty of rooms. There are enough guest rooms for your friends and the princesses, which are on the second floor, and mine is on the third along the rooms my gang stayed in." Crimson said, then turned to leave.

"Ugh what happened." Spike said sitting up and recovering from the tea.

"Well well, look who is starting to wake up." Crimson said as he passed the drowsy dragon, "Twilight wants you to send a letter, so you should go."

Chapter 2

A Thief's Game
///

"Well, are you going to tell your dogs to sit?" Crimson said as royal guards held their spear at his neck, "I invite you here, after all these years, and this is how you treat me, very rude you know."

"It's okay, lower your spears." She said and her guards obeyed, but stayed alert.

"How dare you treat the princess with such disrespect." A white unicorn said.

"Let me guess you're Rarity, element of generosity." He said seeing her surprise and smiled, "And to your left is Honest Applejack, Positive Pinkie, Loyal Rainbow Dash, and Kind Fluttershy, aye? It's so easy to learn so much information in two months!"

"How do you know so much about us anyway?" Rainbow Dash said annoyed at the thief.

"The thieving world has eyes and ears all over Dashie." He said to purposely annoy her, then he turned towards Celestia and Luna, "Now don't you want to hear my offer?"

"First, where is my student?" Celestia said, "I won't hear your terms until I get a report from her."

"She's in the library, I don't think she even slept last night." He said looking towards the library.

"Could you show us the way?" Luna asked.

"Go left and it's the first door the right." He said pointing to the hall, "Now if you'll excuse me I need to grab a few things." Then he watched them head towards Twilight and the library. He then went to the storage room to the right and looked around to make sure he wasn't followed.

'19, 25, 6.' He thought as he turned the knobs to a safe door behind the wine casks. Then he looked around again and went through. The vault was underground and was only almost impenetrable. That was then, and now it's only used for holding what valuables that are left in there, thieving equipment, and Sapphire who was still a statue.

"Ooh!" a voice said, "Look at all this stuff!"

"Oi!" Crimson said looking out the intruder, which was Pinkie, "Pinkie what are you doing in my family's vault?"

"Twilight finished her report and everyone is looking for you." She said

"Tell her to send her guards down here. I need to get someone."

"Who?" She asked

"You'll see." He said before she left as quickly as she appeared.

///

"What do you have planned for us now thief?", Rarity asked standing with the others outside.

"Just simple game I played with my family and friends, but I have a proposition for the princesses." He said standing in front of a hedge maze, "If I win you release someone for me, but I'll stay in Ponyville under the Elements watch, and if I lose I'll serve my jail time with Sapphire with me."

"Why don't we just put you back in the stone." Applejack said

"Either way, I'm going to be imprisoned." He said.

"Fine we have a deal." Celestia said, "Now what is this game."

"It's pretty simple. It's like hide and seek." He explained, "There are two teams, except in this occasion, you will find and catch me." Then he dropped six blowpipes and darts.

"What are these for?" Rainbow Dash asked

"You'll catch me using these." He said picking up a dart, "These darts will stun its victim for two hours, and if you get hit three times you're down for the count."

"What about you?" Twilight asked

"I have six but in a stronger dose, but don't worry it won't kill ya." He answered, "Now since it's six to one I'll use a piece of equipment I own. Now everyone got that."

They nodded in agreement and Crimson explained the rules.

"Rule one no wings, rule two no magic, you will get a signal to show that you are out. Red for the Elements and gold for me. Now happy hunting." Then he threw a smoke bomb down and disappeared in the maze.

"After him!" Twilight yelled

///

"He is a slippery snake is he?" Applejack said as they walked through the maze.

"I heard that Aj, but I won't say you're wrong."

"Where are you, you creep!?" Rainbow Dash yelled turning the corner and getting separated from the others.

"Rainbow, get back here!" Applejack yelled to no avail. Then they saw a red flare rise and they all ran to where the orb came from. When they saw Dash she was lying on the ground with a dart in her flank.

"I thought using magic was against the rules!" Rarity yelled.

"He didn't use magic, he used that cloth right there." A paralyzed Rainbow Dash said, while Pinkie kept poking her body and asking if she could feel it.

"Ooh look at this design, it matches the hedge almost perfectly!" Rarity exclaimed, "I wonder if he made it?"

"He mostly deals with plants and paralyzers." Twilight explained, "It's most likely a family member made it."

"Um, girls can we please leave?" Fluttershy squeaked, "I don't like it here."

"Don't worry Fluttershy this will all be over soon." Twi reassured, and when she turned around to look at her she was paralyzed like Dash was with a dart in her flank.

"Don't worry the guards will come and drop them off in my home with a antidote ready." Crimson said from the shadows.

"We got to stay on our guard girls he could be hiding anywhere." Rarity said, "Why'd he suggest this game anyway? Its so barbaric."

"Did you see that statue in out on the patio?" Twilight asked

"Yes." They all said

"Well he says that statue is actually his friend who cast a petrification spell on herself to be with him, but she could make it temporary." Twilight said with pity towards Crimson.

"Stay in one place and I'll get you one by one." He said then hit each one to prove his point, "I won. Here eat this you'll be able to move, but you'll be numb."

"Well that was hardly fair Crimson." Rarity said now annoy at him, "You had the advantaged no matter what we did."

"Well I wasn't made a thief for nothing." He replied with a bit of smugness in his voice.

"Yeah you mean cheater." Pinkie said sticking her tongue at him.

"The was the only thing I used was the cloth." He retorted.

"Speaking of which, who made it?"

"My mother, she could make the greatest clothing and camouflage. She even made my foal blanket for me after I was born." He said smiling.

"Oh, well she seemed like a nice mare." Twilight replied.

"She was, and my father wasn't such a bad guy either." He added as they reached the entrance and just barely dodging Rainbow Dash going to punch him, "Not so fast with your body being numb, aye?"

"Shut up you cheater!" She yelled incredibly pissed at the stallion.

"A deals a deal Celestia now give them the elements and free Blue Rose." He said ignoring the numb and wobbly pegasus.

Chapter 4

The New Thieves in Town

In the morning everyone had gotten on the train towards Ponyville, and after a couple hours Ponyville was in sight.

"So, this is Ponyville?" Blue Rose asked looking out of the train window

"Aye. That's it right there." Crimson replied

"How do you know what Ponyville looks like?" Twilight asked

"I had to get the Intel somehow," he replied, "and to kill two birds I also purchased a house during my visit."

"You sure had this planned out did you?" Rarity asked

"Well a century being a statue gives one enough time to think." He said, "I am a thief, in case you forgotten, we make plans for the large jobs months in advance."

"I was wondering what's it like being a statue?" Fluttershy asked quietly

"It's like you're sleeping and you're in a dream," he explained, "only you remember what you were dreaming about, you can control it too, its your own little slice of paradise."

"What was yours?" Fluttershy asked again

"I had none," he said, "I just sat in my head and thought about what I would do when Rose and I were free."

"Next stop Ponyville." The conductor said through the speakers.

"So what will you do for a job now that you're done stealing?" Twilight asked

"You only assume we're done," he replied with a mischievous grin, "I never said I was done, but I'll stop for your sakes."

"Good, at least I don't have to worry about my store." Rarity sighed

"Well I still don't trust him," Rainbow Dash said as the train came to a halt, "You hear me, I've got my eyes on you."

Crimson smiled and replied, "Well I guess I won't be bored after all. I hope you can keep track of me."

"Why's that?" She asked

Crimson just got his bag and said, "Two reasons. One I want to see if you can keep up."

"That I can do in my sleep." She bragged

"And two I have the keys to your house." He finished showing a set of keys hanging on his right wing

"How...?" She started then looked through her bag and continued, "Why you little!"

"Let's see if you can catch me." He said then he threw down a ball that exploded into a cloud of smoke, and when the smoke cleared he was gone.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Dash yelled then sped of the platform.

"Geez Crimson, why do you always cause trouble?" Rose said

"You think we should stop her from hurting him?" Applejack asked Rose

"No, he can handle himself." She replied, "Besides this won't be the last time he'll do this, its his way of coping with change. It'll stop in a month or so."

Twilight just looked at her and she took a piece of paper from her bag that was left by Crimson.
///

'Where are you, you ass!' Rainbow Dash thought as she flew over the town looking for the thief. He had been pushing it since he introduced himself. He was a giant pain, and only cared for two ponies, himself and Rose.

"There you are!" She yelled as she dove down toward the stallion, who made it a few miles out of Ponyville, "Now give me my keys!"

"Here, you caught me." He said tossing her the keys as she was leaving he said,"Now listen to me, if you're going to insult me at least have the decency to do it to my face."

"Fine you want me to start?!" She asked, "You're a thieving, obnoxious, jerk whose only talent is breaking into peoples homes and stealing everything that isn't nailed to the floor! I have been watching you since you introduced yourself, and I'd never trust you not to steal anything, even if you promised to stop, because you'll just steal anything of value!"

"Feel better?" Crimson asked

"Actually, yes." She answered smiling, "It feels great to have all of that of my chest."

"Great." He replied, "You and I, we'll be good friends in due time. I know because this is how me and my friends would settle disputes and it made us closer friends because of it."

"Glad to hear it. I'm sorry for what I said." She said holding out her hoof

Crimson did the same and the shook her hoof and replied, "Most of those are true anyway." Then he started laughing along with Rainbow Dash as they walked towards town, "But I always keep promises I make." Then they started towards town.

"I have one question though, what did you learn from your parents?" Dash asked as they entered town.

"We learned the techniques passed on from generation to generation." He answered, "But they have been modified or changed as time passed. Everything from acupuncture to stealth."

"So, what's going on with you and Rose?" She asked grinning at him

"The usual as any couple would live." He replied, "We live together, cook for each other, and sleep in the same bed, I don't see why that's interesting if you already know what our relationship is."

"I still don't see why she's into you." She said, "She's too good for you ya know." They approached his house with the lights on and Rose looking around the rooms.

Crimson looked in the windows, smiled and said, "I say that to myself everyday when I see her lying next to me, but I'm glad we have strong feelings for each other. When we started dating my mom and dad always said 'Don't let her go, if you do you'll regret it', but I know that I'll never let her go."

"Well I gotta go, I'll see ya around Crimson." She said as she flew home.

"Hey Rose, I'm back!" Crimson yelled as he got inside his new home, and he smelled the food Rose had made. When they had finished they went to their room and fell asleep in the new town.
///

Crimson dreamt of a field that stretched as far as he could see, and a tall figure, he asked it, "So what brings Princess Luna into my dreams? Here to see if I'm staying in line?"

"We have a proposition for you, thief" She said

"Sorry, I don't work for Celestia, you, or the guard." He said turning to walk away, "Now let me enjoy my dreams in peace."

"YOU SHALL RESPECT YOUR PRINCESSES!" She yelled in her royal voice.

"Fine," Crimson said removing his hooves from his ears, "What do you want?"

"We want you to procure several items for us." She said.

"Just send me the list and I'll do it whenever I feel like it." He replied

"You will do them when you're told to!" She yelled

"What's the reward for getting these items?"

"That is your choice."

"Fine, just distance the assignments by a few months." He groaned, "I liked to spend some time with Rose."

"She can come with you if she pleases, as well as the Elements." She said, "I tell my sister about this and she may accept it."

"She'll accept if it's not thieving." He said

"You'll be raiding ancient ruins and tombs for these items." She told him, "You can keep whatever you find."

"Fine. When do I start?" He asked, "At least I get to travel again, staying in one place isn't really my thing."

"I'll send the first location tomorrow." She replied, "Shop for supplies and bring anything you need." Then she faded out of the dream and Crimson woke up to have the sun in his eyes.

"Great," he groaned, "Just like that, I'm working for the princesses again."

Chapter 5

The Ruins Illusions

"Why could we at least stay here for a month or two?" Rose said as her and her friends boarded the train

"I agree with her Crimson, why are we going on this trip?" Rarity asked

Crimson put his bag on his seat and said, "You girls are coming because you agreed, Rainbow Dash, A.J., and Pinkie are in for the excitement, Twilight thought it would be for learning, and Fluttershy was dragged here by Rainbow Dash. I'm going because I'm working for Luna, need I explain more?"

"So you're a treasure hunter now?" Applejack asked

"Or a grave robber if the job demands it." He answered

"How do ya even sleep at night?" Applejack asked with a look of disgust

"I have a cup of lemon balm tea. I don't see the interest of my life." He answered, "Speaking of which I'm taking a nap."

"That pony is so unbelievable." Applejack said under breath

"Deal with it," He replied lying against his head on bag with his eyes closed, "because you're stuck with me."

"Its better just to ignore him A.J." Twilight said

"I don't get emotional on a job," he said, "if we did we could've been killed or caught, so please ignore my heartlessness."

"He's right," Rose said yawning, "we keep emotions and jobs separate, that's what got him caught and imprisoned. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be joining him." Then Rose laid her head on Crimson's back and started to sleep.
///

The ruins Luna told them to go to was at least a day from the train station and was in a thick jungle-like forest.

"Is anyone else getting déjà vu or is it only me?" Crimson asked, "I swear I've been here before."

"How could've you been here? we didn't know this place existed until yesterday." Rose said

"I must be imagining it." He whispered to himself

"It seems like there nothing inside." Twilight said entering in temple, "And what is this?" She pointed at a giant block in the wall with a carving of a mask like object.

"What does it say there?" Rainbow Dash asked pointing at faded out writing under the image, then she looked around, "Wait, where's Crimson?" Everyone looked around to see no sign of the former thief.

"Nice, this thing is amazing!" Crimson said in excitement, "Hey, you aren't to believe this." Then he appeared out the wall to their right, wearing an old mask that looked like he had another eye in his forehead

"How did you do that?" Twilight said in astonishment, "And what is that?"

"This place is larger than it appears." He replied, pointed and said , "And what I'm wearing is that thing it gets rid of the illusions here."

"How did you find that anyway?" Pinkie asked

"There are breezes that come from the walls." He said putting the mask on her, "Look around and you'll see what I mean."

"Ooh, look at all the hallways." She said before Crimson took the mask back

"This will make this job go faster." He said putting it back on, "If this place needs false walls then the loot must be pretty important."

"It must be." Rose said chuckling

"Follow me." He said as he went to a pillar and pushed it. Then, the ground started shaking and a staircase appeared behind the wall of the masks image.

"Well lets shove off." He said putting the mask in his bag.

"Why should we follow you?" Applejack asked with annoyance

"Because Rose and I are the most experienced at things like this." He said, "Besides there are most likely traps, and we won't the Elements to get hurt now."

"Thanks?" She replied

"There's the bottom." Rarity said, "The smell here is awful."

"Well my gut is telling there's something here." He said looking at the basins at the entrance of the stairs, "Rose, could you light these please? It will shed some light on our present situation."

"Sure." Then she took some matches from her bag, lit them, and threw them in the basins. They immediately caught fire and so did others. The lights revealed the entire room which had many doors that led to other rooms or halls.

"We should split up." He said, "Two per door with the exception of a group of one and three."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going alone." He replied looking around, "I have had this weird feeling since we got here, we'll met up back here." Then they went their separate ways with Crimson walking through a false wall.

"I know I've been here." He said looking at the floor.

When they met back together, the only one who wasn't there was Crimson, but the mask he had was in room and it faced the wall where he disappeared.

"That idiot." Rose said, "Why didn't he just wait here?"

"Well it probably fell out of his bag." Twilight said, "Let's go find him."
///

"Crimson, where are you?" Rose yelled only to be answered by an echo, "I'm really starting to get worried. We should have seen a door or something by now."

"I'm sure he's fine there's only way to go." Fluttershy said trying to reassure her.

"It seems like this hall has no end." Twilight said, "it just keeps going on and on."

"Give me the mask." Rose demanded, "We'll at least know if there are any secret passages."

"There's a light up ahead." Applejack said, "Maybe he's over there."

"Is it a way out of this bleak hall." Rarity said before going towards the light. When everyone was in the room there was a stone wall with writings on it, with Crimson standing in front of it.

"What took you so long?" He said looking at the wall, "I need a match or something I can't see what's on the wall."

"What do you need lit?" Twilight asked

"Just this." He answered holding out a long stick with a string at the end.

"A candle? That's it?"

"Yes I need it lit and no its not a candle." He answered, "And when its lit I suggest you run a ways away." Twilight then lit the wick and the others ran into the hallway while Crimson placed it on a certain area of the wall. When he placed it he ran to where his friends took cover then nodded at Rose who did the same. Then an explosion shook the hall and Crimson walked back to wall where the 'candle' was.

"Are you trying to kill us?!" Rainbow Dash yelled

"What was that anyway?" Twilight asked him looking at a new hole inside the wall before becoming furious, "And why did you destroy all that historical writing?!"

"That was dynamite and it would've if Rose didn't put a shield around it." he said pointing at Rose, "That was perfect dear." This caused her to blush and avoid eye contact with him.

"If you want what the said I wrote it down." He answered

"You wrote it in a matter of hours?" She asked suspiciously

"This written down can't be done in mere hours,reading it is a different matter." He said tapping his hoof on his head, "Anyway let's go on, its so close I can taste it."

"How far do you think we have?" Fluttershy asked, "I really don't like it in here."

"Don't know," was his answer, "I don't like it here either so that's why I'm trying to get this over with."

"Well let's get this over with." Rarity said, "Some of us have jobs to do."

"Aye, that's why I wanted to get this over with." He replied walking through the hole.
///

"What time is it?" Pinkie asked after walking for what seemed like hours

"Well it was almost noon when we arrived, so its probably around 11 at night." Twilight answered

"It's seems like this is an old ruin." Crimson responded, "Look, there are windows on each side of the ruin. And that must be our prize!" Then he started running past piles of gold toward the center where a white sword was placed in stone.

"Hey Crimson, you don't think this is It?" Rose asked when she stood next to him

"It most likely is, now let's get it." He answered then grabbed the sword and wrapped it in a cloth from his bag, "Alright girls, we got what we came here for so grab as much as you want and let's get out of here."

"I simply can't wait to get home." Rarity said, "I could use this to buy some new fabrics."

"Aye, you could get anything you need, fabrics, party supplies, animal food, farm repairs, and books." Crimson said as he walked toward the exit, "Besides I'm going to enroll back into the guard."

"Why are you going to enroll again?" Rainbow Dash asked, "You tried to steal from Princess Celestia."

"Well I'm doing this job because of Luna's orders." Crimson said, "If I'm going to work for 'em might as well make it official, aye?"

Chapter 6

A Second Chance

"Really Celly," Crimson said as guards held spears to his neck, "Must this always happen every time we see each other. Sorry but I'm not here for you I have a delivery for Luna, besides I'm already taken."

"Luna, the thief is here with a delivery." Celestia said

"Well nice to see you Crimson Star." Luna said, "He's fine you can lower your guard. Did you bring what I asked for?"

"Well I have two things one is a mask, if you wear it you can see past illusions, and the other is a white sword that we found at the end of the ruins."

"Keep them, they're not what I'm looking for." She said with a disappointed look

"Well don't blame me, you're the one who sent me to some unknown ruin to find something you were looking for." Crimson said, "And if I'm going to be working under you two, why don't put me in my old place in the guard."

"What do you think sister?" Luna asked, "Do you think we can trust him?"

"I'll let you join under several conditions." Celestia said to the crimson haired pony.

"Okay then, shoot."

"You will not steal again, and you have to fight one our best captains." The solar princess said, "And if you win you'll be part of the guard again."
"Fine by me! Bring it on! I'll take on any one of your captains!" He said smiling
///

"You sure you can do this Crimson?" Rose asked as they walked out of the castle garden, "Do you even want to be a part of it again?"

"Aye, it'll make things simpler on getting assignments from the princesses."

"So who are ya gonna fight?" Pinkie asked

"Some captain named Shining Armor." He replied

"You're fighting my brother?!" Twilight yelled, "Better kiss that second chance goodbye."

"You forget I was part of the guard awhile back." Crimson said,

"How do you know Twilight's brother Crimson?" Rainbow Dash asked

"I don't know him personally, only through the info broker." He said, "Even after a century my family still has good connections."

"Just don't get hurt to bad sweetie." Rose said leaning against him as they walked

"I'll try, but it is a fight so I can't make any promises." He said, "At least we can use our own weapons on the field."

"What are ya going to use?" Applejack asked, "Those blowdarts won't help because he may be wearing armor."

"You're right 'bout that but I have a multitude of weapons," said Crimson, "that sword that was in the ruins, smoke bombs, flash grenades, and a pair of digging claws I got from some diamond dogs I worked with."

"How could you work with such animals?" Rarity asked

"They're not really that bad, well that was a century ago, we were good friends until I was a statue." He answered, "So I don't know how or what they do nowadays. Well, I'm going to nap for tomorrow so see ya then."

"See you tomorrow." Rose said following him toward the nearest hotel

"Shouldn't we have told him there open rooms at the castle?" Applejack asked as the couple walked away.

"Well there is the problem between him and Princess Celestia." Twilight responded, "But I can't wait to see him and Cadence again. It seems like yesterday since their wedding."
///

The next day Crimson walked into the training grounds which they train the rookies. At the other side his friends, the princesses, and two ponies he didn't recognize, a white unicorn who kept glaring at him and a pink alicorn. Only Rose stood next to him.

"Crimson this is my niece Princess Cadence, and her husband Captain Shining Armor." Celestia said

"It's a pleasure." He replied only earning glares from Shining Armor, "I'm Crimson Star and this my marefriend Blue Rose."

"Its nice to meet you too Crimson Star, and you as well Blue Rose." Cadence answered

"Well you must be Shining Armor." Crimson said turning his head toward the glaring unicorn, "So you're the colt who ended up being just like me when I was in the guard."

"Insolence!" Shining yelled, "I am nothing like you, you arrogant thief!"

"Well then let's start our little duel shall we?" Crimson said setting his bag down and brought out a pair of metal claws, put them on and moved each claw, "I'm ready how about you foal?"

Shining replied by putting on his helmet and drawing his sword, "We'll see who's the foal when this is over."

"Princess are you sure about putting those two against each other?" Twilight asked

"I put them against each other because Crimson was the highest ranking soldier in his time." Celestia replied, "He had a special talent of getting into ponies minds."

"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow Dash asked

"When he was training he would always size up his opponents, if was able to predict the way his enemy thinks, his victory was assured." Celestia explained

"That's why he was the boss of our group." Rose added

"Let's begin." Crimson said, "The battle will end when either side cannot continue."

"Sounds fair." Shining replied

To "3...2...1...begin!" The two just stood there waiting for the other to attack. Shining Armor stood preparing to attack, and Crimson sat down digging through his bag

"Are you even taking this seriously?" Shining Armor asked

"I only take things seriously if they're worth my time." Crimson replied still digging through the bag, "You however proved to me, by doing nothing, that you aren't worth my time."

"How can you say I'm not worth it if I haven't done anything?"

"Because you aren't attacking." Crimson replied, "Prove to me that you are worth my time, and I will take it seriously, foal."

Cadence seemed to get angry at Crimson every time he called her husband a foal, "Why does he call him such names?!"

"Crimson and Rose are older than any of us here, save Celestia and Luna." Twilight explained, "He views Shining Armor as an infant even though the two seems to be as old as my friends and I."

"That doesn't excuse his rudeness towards him." Rarity said

"They both know the first hit decides who wins." Rose added, "This is how Crimson gets into other ponies heads." Then after Crimson threw some more insults at Shining Armor he stopped going through his bag he had gotten out an egg shaped object then Rose said, "As soon as he throws that down cover your eyes."

"You what truly separates us Shiny?" Crimson asked smiling mischievously

"Don't call me that you naive colt." Shining growled still standing in the same place

"What separates us is our way of thinking, and I have already won. Now you should cover eyes." Then Crimson threw down the object and a bright light blinded them, and when it ceased There was a hole where Crimson stood.

"Where are you coward?!" Shining yelled, as the fight had already gained a crowd of trainees and soldiers who wanted to see their captain beat this thief.

Crimson popped up behind him, covered in dirt and said, "Like I said I've already won." Then he dug back into the ground before Shining had a chance to strike him. Then Crimson dug in the area under the captains nose and before Shining had time to react Crimson had the tips of the left claw at his throat.

"You cheater!" Shining yelled

"That is the way I think, do anything it takes to win and do it quickly." Crimson said getting out of the hole he made, "I see that you are worth my time and will enjoy working with you."

"I will beat you next time." Shining said then he turned to the soldiers and said, "Everyone this our newest captain, Crimson Star. He will be the Ponyville captain and there will be a list where you can volunteer to work under him."

Chapter 7

The New Captain, The Former Thief

"Well, I will be taking leave." Crimson said, "It was nice meeting you two, you make a lovely couple and I look forward to seeing you again."

"Why are you leaving?" Twilight asked

"Let Rose explain, I'm getting something to eat." Crimson said walking away.

"Sorry about his attitude these things are a strain." Rose said putting a claw in the bag and showing them the inside of the other, it was covered in carvings and symbols.

"Is that enchantment spell?" Twilight asked

"Yep, I made it myself." Rose replied with a bit of pride in her voice, "I designed it so the user would be able to move each claw like any other limb."

"You two surprise me." Cadence said, "You don't seem to be the thieving type. More creator than stealer, the timed petrification spell, and this enchantment are pretty well made."

"I accept your compliment with the highest honor." Rose said bowing

"Crimson doesn't seem to like being a thief either." Cadence said, "He seems to be more of a warrior than he seems."

Shining Armor scoffed and said, "That's one way of putting it."

"He does actually, but he had been a jeweler at one point and a blacksmith at another." Rose said, "We all had many jobs in our lives, mostly toward helping our thieving gang. But he does live by certain rules that make him seem that way."

"I know this is off topic, but what were your friends like?" Fluttershy asked

"Well, Dragonfly's name was actually Gold Halo and Copper's was Silver Cross." Rose said walking towards the castle garden, "Halo was an apprentice to Crimson, so her codename wasn't the same as ours. We would call ourselves by our eye color that's why my name was Sapphire."

"Well what was Crimson like before the thieving started." Rarity asked following behind with the others.

"He was pretty normal, despite him getting into fights almost everyday." Rose said

"That doesn't sound like him." Twilight said, "Why'd he get into them anyway?"

"First it was bullies picking on us," Rose explained, "then when we were grown up it was jerks that were hitting on me."

"So every fight he was in was for you?" Applejack asked

Then Crimson appears and said, "Aye. As Rose has told you, she was bullied a lot when we were young, mostly because she didn't have a cutie mark at the time the other was because she was cold around others."

"Well you are chivalrous aren't you Crimson Star." Rarity said giggling

"You could call it that." He replied, "I call it being in love with a beautiful mare," This caused Rose to turn red and look at the ground, "I did have a crush on her back then, and that grew into love over time." After saying that Crimson got a bunch of 'Aww'-s from the girls. Then he whispered something into Rose's ear, then she got up and followed Crimson.

"Where are you going?" Shining asked

"Well we were going to get something to eat." Crimson said

"What?! We thought you just ate." Cadence said

"I did, but I'm still hungry." Crimson said, "I also wanted to see if Rose would like to get a bite to eat or buy a few books for our new home." Then the two started walking towards the exit.

"Why'd you embarrass me like that?!" Rose yelled as they left the training grounds

"It's not embarrassing if its true, dear." Crimson replied chuckling

"Well it was embarrassing to me." Rose said

"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you somehow." Crimson replied putting his wing around her

Rose giggled and said, "You buy dinner, and maybr I'll accept your apology if I like it."

///

Twilight knocked on the door of room 206 of the Canterlot Inn, which had the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle.

"Are you sure this is the right room?" Rarity asked

"This is the room he said they were staying in." Twilight said knocking harder

Then Crimson opened the door and yelled, "Can't you read the bloody sign we're trying to sleep in here!" Then he calmed down when he realized that it was his friends, "Sorry about that, thought you were the housekeeping. Me and Rose had a long night."

"What was keeping you two up?" Twilight asked

"Do you really want to ask that question?" Crimson replied, "You may regret it. Think about it, two ponies madly in love in the same room sharing the same bed."

All six of them started to turn red from embarrassment and told Crimson to shut up.

"Hey, you asked." He said chuckling, "So why are you here?"

"We're heading home so you should get packed and get ready to leave." Rainbow Dash said.

"Crimson? Come back to bed." Rose called from the room.

"I'm sorry to say this but we're heading home so we gotta get up." Crimson replied

Rose groaned and appeared from the dark room with her hair in a mess and said, "Fine, hopefully we can continue in our own home."

"Sure, anything for you." Her answered then rubbed his nose against his, then he turned to the others and said, "Before we go I need to get some books for Rose, she's been asking for them since we here. Twilight you've lived here can you tell us where we can get some spell books."

"Yeah there are several a few blocks from here." Twilight replied

"Here that hun? Let's get head out." Crimson said as Rose brushed her hair.

"Oh, and before I forget, Celestia wanted you to go through these papers." Twilight said pulling a large stack of papers from her bag.

"What are these?" He asked when the papers were set down

"Requests for soldiers to work under you." Twilight answered, "Some of it is hate mail from soldiers who look up to my brother."

"Thank you for bringing this to me Twilight." Crimson said putting the papers in his bag, "I'll look through these when I get home. For now I would love to go get a few books for Rose and myself."

Crimson and Rose started walking away she Rose said, "Sweetheart I already have enough spell books."

Crimson laughed and replied, "I know I just wanted an excuse not to do the papers until we got home."

"But you promised we'd do something when we got home!" Rose whined

"I guess the papers will be done tomorrow then." Crimson said, "I'm still getting a few books as proof."

Chapter 8

Not So Idle Threats

A week after they had returned to Ponyville, Crimson was reading through his ancestors journals.

"What is she looking for?" Crimson said flipping through the pages

"Crimson you're not going to find out what Luna's looking for from those old books." Rose said, "Besides we need to get those soldiers from the train station."

"Okay, I just had a suspicion that's all." He said then chuckling nervously.
///

At the station there were a six soldiers, three who volunteered and three who hated Crimson with every fiber of their being, there were two for each race male and female

"What are we doing here?" A male earth pony said, "I didn't even volunteer for this."

"Half of us didn't volunteer." A male unicorn replied, "I only volunteered so I could get close his sister!"

"Where is our captain anyway?" A female pegasus asked

"Probably stealing something from one of townsfolk." The male earth pony replied

"Now why would I do that soldier," Crimson said from behind the group causing them to jumped away from him, "I promised Celestia to renounce my thieving ways. Now, what are your names?"

The first to start was the female pegasus, "My name is Rain Melody.."

"Mine is Morning Dew." The female unicorn added, then moved revealing a female earth pony with a scar on her neck, "The earth pony next to me can't speak, but her name is Green Leaf." Crimson looked at Leaf for a moment then whispered something into Rose's ear, then Rose went off.

After that he looked to the males, the unicorn's name was Silver Scroll, the pegasus called himself Snowy Sky, and the earth pony's was Blank Canvas.

"Well now that's out of the way let's us begin your training." Crimson said, walking toward a field outside the town.
///

"Get up soldier!" Crimson yelled at Silver Scroll who was lying on the ground.

"Sir, I think he's unconscious." Morning Dew said

"Sir you may have gone a little overboard." Rain added

"It's not my fault they train you so poorly." Crimson answered, "Maybe that'll teach him for pestering Rose and start to obey orders."

"Are you sure he isn't dead?" Canvas asked

"Yeah he's still breathing." Snowy Sky replied.

"Let this be a warning, I will not take slackers." Crimson said, "Got it!"

"Yes sir!" They replied.

"Someone take him to the hospital, I wouldn't be surprise if he has a concussion." Crimson said as Scroll was carried away by Canvas

"I'm pretty sure you're insane captain." Rain Melody said

"It wouldn't be uncommon." Crimson explained, "Now I think training is done for the day."

"Sir, what do we now?" Morning Dew asked

"Unicorns go to Twilight, pegasi go to Rainbow Dash, and one of you find Canvas and tell him to go to Applejack." Crimson said then turned to Leaf, "Miss Leaf go to my home and see Rose, she needs to see you for a few hours." Then they went to the places Crimson told them to go and he was left alone in the field.

Crimson, alone, wondered what he wanted to do. He and Rose didn't need any food, nor any herbs he got those from the Everfree forest or some from the small bushes in his garden in Ponyville.

'Now they'll listen, I tried to be nice but they pushed me too far.' he thought, 'Silver Scroll won't be a problem anymore.'
///

Hours later Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were looking for Crimson for dropping his soldiers on them.

"Where in tarnation can that pony hide? Ponyville ain't even that big." Applejack said looking around.

"I can't believe that one of the soldiers was hitting on Rose." Twilight said, "Still, Crimson putting him in the hospital is too far."

"I'm fine that he let me teach those pegasi they should learn from the best flier in Equestria." Rainbow said.

They found Crimson lying in the shade of a tree near the border of the town,, he opened one his eyes toward them and said, "Please leave me alone."

Twilight ignored him and yelled, "ARE YOU PROUD OF WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!?"

He got up looked at her straight in the eyes and said, "Aye, I am proud. You know why? Because I can't work with ponies who slack around, and I wanted to prove a point to those others." His expression turned dark, "And I don't appreciate ponies who wake me up except Rose."

Twilight backed away afraid of him and Applejack took her place and said, "How dare you threaten her like that you, you..."

"Go on say it, thief, liar, jerk." he laughed, "I've been called worse than that. So listen here, the only thing I care for is Rose and I don't want to lose her again!"

"That doesn't mean you can send ponies to the hospital!" Rainbow Dash said

"I'm heading home, when you get a reasonable argument you know where to find me." he said as he purposely bumped into Applejack he whispered in her ear, "Oh and Applejack, honestly I do care that I put him in the hospital. He's just lucky I didn't break his legs." Then he flew away

"You want me to get him?" Rainbow asked

Twilight sighed, "No let Rose take care of him, we already told her about what he's done." Then the three went back to their usual day.
///

"Crimson what is wrong with you?!?" Rose yelled as he walked through the door later that night

"Rose don't worry I'll sleep on the couch." he said walking to the closet to grab a pillow and blanket

She glared at him, "No you won't, tomorrow you'll go to that stallion and apologize to him! I don't need protecting and you know that!"

He sighed knowing he'd lost the argument, "Sure anything for you Rose." then he looked at her, "So how'd Green Leaf react to your treatment?"

She walked to him and hugged him, "Well she'll be able to speak in the next month or so, the doctors who treated her weren't as advanced as I'd thought they'd be over the past century."

He hugged her back and kissed her cheek, "Thank you Rose, I owe you one."

She let go and looked into his eyes, "Let that be a thank you of getting me out of that stone, okay."

"Alright. Come on let's go to bed."

Rose held out her front hooves to him, "Carry me." Crimson smiled and let her wrap hooves around his neck and carry her to their room.

Chapter 9

The Painful Past

A few weeks past and the six soldiers returned to Canterlot and Crimson spent his time mostly reading and avoiding being social to any pony, unless Pinkie made him go to Sugarcube Corner and made him taste the sweets she made in which he would burn off the sugar by running through the Everfree. Rose on the other hoof was trying to be a good friend to the Elements and their neighbors and reported to Twilight about what Crimson had been doing, since he hardly spoke to her since the argument they had.

Twilight invited Rose to have some tea at the library one day and asked, "Rose what happened to Crimsons parents, he doesn't seem to like to talk about it and avoids the subject altogether."

Rose placed the cup on the table next to her and looked at the ground, "We don't like to talk about it Twilight, but I'll tell you about it about it, I just hoped Crimson doesn't mind."

As if on cue Crimson behind Rose and said, "Go ahead Rose, I don't mind." Then he got on the couch and put his head on her side, "It's been so long but it still feels like it happened yesterday."

Twilight tried to wonder how he got in without making a sound but let it go when Rose started the story, "We were both 14 at the time, and I guess it was like any other day, we didn't have that manor until Crimson was in charge so we lived in a small house in Canterlot... Crimson and I were like any other adolescent pony, puberty and all that, that's when he brought home his first marefriend. When he introduced me to her, I acted calm but I was so sad and angry. Whenever I saw them I felt like that and I wanted to cry, and one day when he went to get her for a date I did cry and I couldn't stop." She started to tear up

Crimson sat up and kissed her and said, "That was the last date that I had with her."

"Yes, but you broke my heart Crimson. Your mom had to console me she said that it's just a simple infatuation and that you just had a crush on her. And when you stopped seeing her I was still angry at you." She said leaning on him

Crimson kissed her again and replied, "I'm sorry sweetie I had no idea that I hurt you. I promise I'll never do it again."

"Sorry to interrupt," Twilight said, "but could you please continue. I would like to hear more."

"Sure Twilight, I apologize." Crimson said with sincerity, "Would like me or Rose to continue?"

"I would like to hear it from Rose, since she already started." Twilight replied

"Like I was saying, when he returned home he said he didn't want to talk about how it went. I remember that he seemed heart broken."
Rose looked at him then looked back to Twilight, "I remember asking if he wanted to talk about it, and he just said leave him alone. Then, out of nowhere, he asked me why ponies betray one another." Crimson nodded remembering it, "He told me how she cheated on him and she tried to lie to him about it even though he witnessed it."

"Then I kissed her and asked her to marry me when we're older," Crimson finished making Rose blush, "I told my parents the next morning and they accepted it."

"But the next month Crimson's parents went on a job and never came back. We waited months for them to return, then our worst fears had come true, they've been killed."

Twilight looked to Crimson who had the look of pure hate on his face, "Do you know who did it?"

"Other thief families have their own ways. Some, like mine, don't kill and others kill for what they want." Crimson said, "Some just kill for money. Somepony probably found out who my parents are after they robbed them and sent murderers to kill them."

"He's right, about the family part. We're not sure how they died, but it wasn't natural they were in perfect health." Rose said putting a foreleg over him.

He looked at Rose his expression softened, "Rose, being a thief makes one paranoid and that's what I believed happened. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be taking my leave, I don't want to be reminded of a painful memory, and Rose I'm still not strong enough to hear it again just continue without me." He walked to the door and left.

Twilight watched him as he left, "I guess it still hurts him to think about it."

"You have no idea. I was the same when I lost my parents, but I was hurt just as much when his died." Rose looked to the floor, "He changed that day, but the scariest part of when we found out was that he didn't cry."

"He was probably trying to stay strong for you Rose." Twilight replied

"He didn't cry because he wanted to kill whoever did it." Rose looked at her, " I was afraid of him at that moment. I could feel his blood-lust that day and it scared me."

Twilight gave her a worried look, "I don't won't to know what would happen if he lost you."

Rose gave her a grave look and said, "He would get rid of every principal his parents taught him."
///

Applejack was working at the Orchard when she saw Crimson lying under one of the trees, "What are you doing here you darn thief?"

Crimson opened one of his eyes and looked at her, "It all depends, can you put aside our petty differences? If not I'm just trying to take a nap."

She groaned, "Fine, what do you want?"

"Believe it or not the guard doesn't pay well, so I want to work here." He said getting up, "If I don't I'm just going to get fat and lazy, and I don't want that."

"How do I know you're not going to rob us blind?" She said glaring at him

"As the Element of Honesty I knew you would dislike me and what I did." He raised his right hoof, "I promise on my parents grave that won't rob your family. Now do you accept the offer or not?"

"Fine, but I expect you to be here early." Applejack held out her hoof to him, "But I'll be watching you like a hawk."

He shook her hoof, "Got it, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get something to eat." Then he started walking away toward Ponyville.

Chapter 10

An Honest Days Work

///

Crimson woke up an hour before dawn with Rose lying next to him. He got out of bed trying not to wake her up. Before he left the room he softly kissed her cheek and whispered, "I'll see you at lunch Rose." Then he made himself breakfast and headed out to Sweet Apple Acres. By the time he got there Celestia was just about to raise the sun and he waited by the fencepost. He was waiting for fifteen minutes leaning on the fence with his eyes closed.

"You ready to work Red?" Applejack said walking to him

He glared at her and replied, "Please don't call me that, I think I prefer 'thief' than that name."

"Sure, but tell me one thing why are ya working when have so much money already?" Applejack said walking past him and toward the

"I promised Rose that I would start a new life without the money and she wanted to be apart of it." Crimson said walking next to her, "Besides, we specialized in artifacts that couldn't be sold in regular markets, and nobility who would flaunt their wealth to the poor."
he chuckled, "They deserved it."

She stops in front of the trees and said, "Okay Red now get to work." Which got her an angry look from Crimson

"Where do you want me to start?" He said glaring at her

"This entire acre right here, and when yer done begin on another acre. Each acre will get ya 40 bits." She said and he walked past her and started kicking the first trees in his path

After a few hours Applejack decided to give Crimson a break and give him something to drink. When she found him he had just bucked a tree and its apples fell in the buckets, "Hey Red, have yourself a break."

He groaned, "I asked you kindly not to call me that." He sat down under the shade of one of the trees.

She handed him one of the bottles, "Well it's better than saying Crimson all the time."

"You're just going to keep calling me that are you?" He asked getting a nod from the farm girl, "Thought so." He drank the apple juice.

"So why is the thief working here again?" She cocked her head at him

"Celestia severely cut my paycheck, as part of the deal we made for me being in the guard." He sighs, "At least I have some income." Crimson gets up and goes back to work
///

Rose went to the library to keep discussing her and Crimson's lives before all of this and probably learn a new spell or two. When she entered the library she was greeted by Spike.

"Hey Rose how's it going?" the baby dragon said putting away books Twilight finished reading.

She shrugs, "Oh everything's fine, Crimson's working with Applejack and I decided to see Twilight before getting him for lunch."

Spike goes and gets Twilight

"Honestly, it's a little boring here, I'm not used to sitting around not doing anything." She sighed and started looking through the books.

Twilight enters the library, "Hey Rose here to talk about yours and Crimsons lives?"

Rose turns to her and nods, "Yes Twi, and discuss some family secrets, the ones that me and Crimson agreed on." She sits down at a table with a chess board on top of it, "Wanna play?"

Twilight nods and across from her, "I'll go first."

"Fine by me." She smiles, "Now make your move."

Twilight moves a pawn and starts their game.
///

About an hour Rose groan as she lost to Twilight, "That was a good game I haven't lost in a long time."

Twilight giggled at her, "Did Crimson or any of your friends play?" Twilight starts resets the pieces back to their original places.

Rose nodded and smiles saying, "Yeah, Crimson played, but he stunk at it, Silver didn't know how to play, and Halo hated the game entirely." Rose giggled, "It was always funny to see Crimson lose. He'd always think of new ways to beat me, then mope when he lost."

Twilight laughed, "He sounds like a colt."

Rose kept giggling and replied, "He basically is. He just doesn't like to show it though, boyish pride an all that nonsense." She looked at the clock, "Oh, I got to go, I promised Crimson that we'd have lunch together." She started to leave the library.

"Well you two have fun." Twilight said smiling at her and walked to the door with her, "Well I hope we could play again."

Rose nodded and started to head to Sweet Apple Acres
///

About an hour Rose groan as she lost to Twilight, "That was a good game I haven't lost in a long time."

Twilight giggled at her, "Did Crimson or any of your friends play?" Twilight starts resets the pieces back to their original places.

Rose nodded and smiles saying, "Yeah, Crimson played, but he stunk at it, Silver didn't know how to play, and Halo hated the game entirely." Rose giggled, "It was always funny to see Crimson lose. He'd always think of new ways to beat me, then mope when he lost."

Twilight laughed, "He sounds like a colt."

Rose kept giggling and replied, "He basically is. He just doesn't like to show it though, boyish pride and all that nonsense." She looked at the clock, "Oh, I got to go, I promised Crimson that we'd have lunch together." She started to leave the library.

"Well you two have fun." Twilight said smiling at her and walked to the door with her, "Well I hope we could play again."

She turned around and looked at Twilight, "I'm sorry about not telling you about some of the family tradition."

Twilight shook her head, "Don't quiet about it Rose, we always have tomorrow."

Rose nodded and started to head to Sweet Apple Acres
///

Rose got the orchard and saw Crimson panting by a cart full of Apple barrels. Applejack was standing next to him laughing, "I win again Red."

He growled at the farm girl, "I asked you not to call me that."

Rose walked to them and said to Crimson, "Come on now, don't be a sore loser, Red." She giggled as she said the nickname that A.J. gave him

Crimson groans as she giggles at him, "Please don't you start too, since I lost Applejack is telling that name to the other Elements."

Rose kisses his head and smiles at him, "It could be worse. Now let's get lunch you big lush."

Crimson nods and looks back at Applejack, "Thanks for the work. I'll be working with the others for the next few days, or weeks depending if I have any assignments from the princesses."

Chapter 11

The Birds and the Thieves

///

The next day came and Crimson slept through the morning with Rose, who was lying her head on his chest snoring softly. A soft knock came came on the door and Crimson opened an eye and slowly got out from under Rose. He groaned as he walked, his legs ached from yesterday

"Cripes I'm out of shape." He got to the door and saw Fluttershy when he opened it, "Ah, what can I do for you Fluttershy?"

"I wanted to know if you and Rose could help me with the animals?" She asked hiding behind her hair, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Crimson rubs his eyes, "Sure I'll help, but I'm not really good with animals." He yawns and looks toward his room, "I just need to wake up Rose."

Fluttershy nodded, "Alright I'll see you two later." She started to walk away.

Crimson walks back to the room and Rose was sitting on the bed, "You're up, I thought I'd have to wake you."

She giggled and said, "You know better, I hate to be woken up, especially after we had a long night." She gets up and kisses his cheek, "You remember the last time that happened?"

"Yeah I got a vase thrown at me." He chuckles, "Then I had to make you breakfast." He smiles and kisses her cheek, "We're going to be helping Fluttershy, with animals today, If you don't mind."

"Oh not all." She says as she starts to brush her hair, "I'd like to help her. Besides we could get a pet like that Phoenix we had back in the day."

"Shouldn't he still be alive? They do live long lives." Crimson said, looking at her, "He was there when my family started stealing."

Rose shrugged and started on her tail, "If he wasn't at the home he's probably gone. He was always close to anypony who's the head of the family."

"Well I'll call him when I get the chance, I miss him." He walks to the kitchen and makes breakfast.
///

Crimson and Rose get to Fluttershy's cottage and looked at all the animals that were there.

"So what do you want us to do Fluttershy?" Rose said looking at bunnies that were hoping to Fluttershy.

The yellow Pegasus fed the bunnies and looked back to them, "Could you clean them please, then I could use some help cleaning the chicken coop."

Rose nods and Crimson looks somewhere else and sighs. He replies, "Aye, let's get started." He goes to where the animals were usually cleaned.

Rose looks at Fluttershy, "Sorry if he seems glum, he just remembered about an old bird he had as a pet."

"Ooh what kind was it, I think there are a few birds he might like." She brightens up and smiles at her

"It was a family pet it was basically one of a kind." She sighs, "He was a Phoenix, it was his family tradition for it chose the head of the family when the previous head died."

"I've only seen a Phoenix and they are marvelous. Princess Celestia has a pet Phoenix that is absolutely stunning." Her eyes sparkle as she says it, "Does he have a cage to stay in, I have a few you could have."

Rose shook her head, "He didn't stay in a cage, he could go anywhere he wanted."

Crimson whistles to Rose as he cleans a pig and says, "I hate to interrupt your conversation, but could I get some help Rose?"

Rose looks at him and calls back, "I'll be there in a moment Darling. We better start working, I'll bet he wants to see his friend."

"I'd like meet him too, if that's okay with you." She said holding in her excitement, "What was his name"

"His name was Pyre." Rose replied then started to walk to Crimson and help him.
///

After the two finish washing the animals, they were filthy from head to hoof.

"We're done here Fluttershy, where's the coop?" Crimson asked, "I kinda want to get cleaned off." He looks at his body as the mud dries on him.

Fluttershy gasped, "Oh it's right over here." She walks to the other side of her cottage

Rose looks at him and smiles saying, "I call the master bathroom first."

Crimson groans and says playfully, "You suck Rose, I wanted to be first to bathe."

She giggles and brushes his chin with her tail, "Well to bad." She followed Fluttershy

"Then I'll try to call Pyre." He sighs and goes to the coop with them

The coop was in good condition, but the interior was strewn with feathers and chicken poo. All in all it wasn't as bad as the thieves thought it would be, after an hour the three finished the coop and Crimson and Rose left to clean themselves up.

Crimson stays outside while Rose cleans herself off. He takes a deep breath and whistles loudly, even he stopped he listened as it echoed in the distance. After a half hour he sighed and turned around to wash himself off.

"Any much sweetie?" Rose asked as he got in the house.

"No." He growled as a tear rolls down his cheek.

Rose kisses his head, "I'm sorry sweetie, I know how much you liked that phoenix."

He turned to her and said, "That bird was more than a simple pet, he was family. He chose the leader of the family for almost a millennium." He sighed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

They went to bed afterwards and at midnight there was a knock at the door, Crimson got up and growled, "Who is at the bloody door at this time of night?" He got out of the bed and walked to the door.

Three ponies stood there wearing hooded cloaks, two stallions carrying carrying something and a mare. The mare walked to him and asked,"Are you the thief in the stone, the Immortal thief?"

"It depends on who's asking." He looks at her, then to the two stallions who were carrying a large object

The mare bows to him, "We are the keepers of the Phoenix." The stallions set down the object and bow as well, "We were chosen to care for the bird until your return."

"Come inside I want to know how my old friend is fairing." He says moving out of the way, "Just don't wake up my sweetheart, for your sakes that is."

"Yes sir we will bring his cage in." They say in unison and they bring the object in the house something moves inside, caw-ing.

"I'm guessing that he wants to see me?" He says, looking at the cage, "Or he hates the cage."

The mare sighs, "Yes sir he has waited for a century to be next to the leader of the family again. And another few hours to get out of the cage."

"Then let's tell the rest of the family I'm back." He smiles at them, "Send letters to every family member, the Thieves masquerade will be held for the first time in a hundred years."

Chapter 12

The Way of the Family

///

Rose was walking around town a few days later, Crimson sent the three on their way two days after they finished the letters. Pyre helped them by delivering the letters to the Twilight and the others, as well as nearby family.

She thought to herself, 'We'll need to decorate and have some pony cater, but knowing Crimson he asked some ponies to do that, already.' She sighs and looks at her surroundings and saw the Carousel Boutique, 'I should see Rarity for a new dress.'

She goes to the Boutique and walks in, hearing the bell ring as the door opens.

Rarity was working on a dress when Rose arrived. When the bell rang she looked to the door and smiled, "Oh Rose, darling, thank you for letting me decorate the ballroom for the masquerade." She hugged her.

"Please don't thank me I didn't know about the until Crimson sent Pyre's caretakers to deliver the letters to the family." Rose replied, "I'm a little surprised that he chose you to decorate."

Rarity gave her an evil look, "Why? Did he say he hated my work?"

Rose shook her head, "No it's just that, well, he has a difficult time trusting other ponies that he doesn't know well."

"But you said he was happy to have you at his home." Rarity said confused at what Rose said

"That was before the training. After we learned what we knew he got paranoid." Rose sighed, "He still made friends, but it was hard for him to trust them."
///

Crimson looked through the window at the library, where Twilight was asking about the masquerade ball he was throwing.

"Crimson I you were done with that life!"

He looked at her after that last remark, "Twilight, you think I would break a promise if it would take me away from Rose. This ball is basically a family reunion, which is long overdue."

"Crimson it's called the Thief's Masquerade, what is it about besides being a thief?" She looks at him angrily

"Twilight when I was 15, I took on responsibilities as head of the family." He says looking at her, "I thought of a way to bring the family together, so I made a party to celebrate the creation of our thieving ways."

Twilight chuckles, "Tell me how your family works."

Crimson sighs again, "Fine give a pencil and paper and I'll show you how my family is set up."

She hands him a piece of paper and a pencil, and grabs a notebook and quill, "Ready when you are."

"My family is large, so there are four clans." He starts drawing on the paper. "Each clan has a name, but you'll learn those later." He shows her a diagram with four circles on the below one on the top of the page.

Twilight wrote everything down in her notepad, "I'm taking a guess that the families are under the command of the head."

Crimson sighs,"Yes and no, I told you it's complicated. Certain clans hates the others, so some defy the leader."

Crimson tells Twilight about when he was a child he planned to change that when he was head of the family and his gang, except Rose, were all from those families, Halo's mother married into a different family.

"Sounds like you tried to do something good." Twilight said looking at him.

"We were hated." Crimson sighed and looked at the ground, "There were conspirators to try to get rid of me, but they didn't last."

Twilight looked at him and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean they are no longer part of the family. If a certain amount of rules are broken, we'd take their memories." He scratches his head, "Then we dump them in some part of Equestria."

"That's awful!" Twilight said with a disgusted look on her face

"That's what should happen!" Crimson stood up, "They were killers and traitors, we did what we had to do."

"But they were your family." Twilight argued

"I made it so they knew who they were when they died, isn't that good enough." He walked to the door, "It was never easy to do that Twilight, but I did what I had to do." He looked back at her with a sad expression, then left the library.
///

Crimson walked the streets of Ponyville, "She'll never know what it was like, stripping the memories of my family members." He blows a sharp whistle and Pyre flew to him, "You have always been a good friend, now have you sent all the letters to the members that haven't been exiled?"

Pyre caws, and ruffled his feathers.

"Good, now we'll be heading home in a while." He pets the bird's head, "Has family already started to flock there?"

The Phoenix caws again and he jumps on Crimson's back.

"Alright we'll meet you at the house, the family house." He says looking at the Phoenix as the bird nods then flies off. Crimson kept walking towards home so he could pack his suit.

Rose arrived several hours later. She looked around the house and found Crimson in the study, "So how'd it go with Twi?"

Crimson shrugs, "She wanted to know how it's built, then I told her how we dealt with the rule breakers. Then we argued about that and I left soon after."

"Well I'm not a big fan of it myself." Rose said walking to him.

"No pony is, but it keeps everypony safe from them." He sighs and pulls her in with his wing, "But they are never truly forgotten."

Rose leans against him and adds, "We always remember them."

"I have to go to help with getting the family settled, so I'll see you when in a few days." He says before kissing her head, "Send Rarity when she finishes your dress."

She nods and kisses him, "I'll see you then."

Crimson grabs his bag and leaves heading toward the train station. When he gets there the Phoenix caretakers were waiting for him.

The mare looks at him and says, “Are you ready sir?”

Crimson nods, “Yes I've been wondering how much the family has improved.”

Chapter 13

The Truth of the Thieves

///

A week passed since Crimson left, and everything was going well. Rose still socialized with the town's residents, then finally added the mask and sword to the catalog of magic artifacts and items the family acquired over the years. There came a knock at the door and she went to answer it, when she opened it she saw Twilight.

When Rose saw her she smiled, “Oh, Twilight please come in, I just added the two artifacts into the catalog.”

Twilight looked at the book she left on the coffee table and said, “May I look through it?”

Rose nods and replies, “I see no harm in it.”

Twilight smiles and immediately goes to the catalog and looks through it. The book contained the information of hundreds of artifacts, listed with by the name either she or Crimson made.

Rose sat next to her and said, “I decided to name the mask ‘Sixth Sense’.” She giggles, “Not the best name, but it fits, nonetheless.”

Twilight giggles then notices that some of the older entries have red lines under the name, “What do those red lines mean.”

Rose's smile fades, “Those items are cursed with black magics that we keep locked away, hopefully forever. The crew and I have only gotten a few.”

“Why do you collect them?” Twilight asked

“Several reasons, mainly because they could harm the family.” She replied, “We don't steal just for the sake of stealing, sometimes we do it to help others. We're not as bad as you think Twi.”

“Then why steal from others when these things are around?” Twilight asked, still going through the book.

“The family steals, because we're thieves, it's simple as that.” She looks at the purple unicorn, “The ones we deem dangerous we lock away, ones that aren't are kept or sold for money.” She looks at h the time and gets up, “Come on we should get to the train station, we'll be leaving soon.”

“Can I take this with me?” Twilight asked holding the book, “I'm not finished reading it yet.”

Rose nods, “Yes, I won't mind.” She goes and gets her bags, “Come on let's get the others.”
///

When they arrived to the station the were greeted by a couple of cloaked ponies. They bowed to Rose and gestured to them to follow.

Pinkie smiled, “Hiya, my name's Pinkie, what's yours?”

The mare started walking, “You will know our names in due time.” The stallion nodded and walked next to her. By the time the got to the manor they looked around and noticed there was much more life to it. Ponies walking around talking to each other, some arguing, and some in an arena sparring against each other.

“There are so many ponies here.” Rarity said, “Are they really part of Crimson's Family?”

The stallion nods and looks at them, “Yes all of them are, including us. Now let us show you where Crimson is.” The ponies start walking one of the three sparring arenas set up at the manor. Crimson was standing in the arena surrounded by ponies. He stood on one side and the a another pony who was panting.

Crimson smiles and goes to the pony, “Good at least I know that the clans aren't complete crap today.”

The other pony chuckles nervously, “Well it's an honor to hear that sir.”

Crimson sees Rose and the others and goes to them, “Nice to see you again.” He kisses Rose's cheek and hugs her.

“Hey sweetie.” Rose says kissing him back, “Whatcha doing?”

“Evaluating this current generation of family members.” He smiles at her, “Could be better, but they can work more.”

The hooded ponies turn to Rarity, and the stallion says, “Miss Rarity, please allow me to show you to the ballroom.”

“Oh please, let me give some beauty to this drab house.” She said then looking to Crimson who had a face of minor annoyance, “No offense to you or your family.”

Crimson looks to the hooded mare, “Gather the family to the main hall, I have an announcement to make.”

Fifteen minutes pass and all the family members were in the main hall.

Crimson stands at the top of the stairs, and says to them in a loud voice, “Family, friends, welcome to the Manor Latronum! Now tonight will be the long awaited Thieves Masquerade!” Cheers erupt from the crowd.

He silences them and continues, “Now please welcome my, esteemed guests, the Elements of Harmony.” The crowd cheers again, “Everything will be done by sundown so please make yourselves at home.”
///

At sundown the ballroom was filled with family, who marveled the décor that Rarity had done in several hours. The family all wore masks, as well as Crimson, who wore a Wolf mask, Rose, a puma, and the others wore masks that resembled their favorite animal. A waltz was being played Crimson and Rose started dancing together, Twilight and the others were a ways away, watching the two. Crimson whispered something into Rose's ear and they left.

“Where are they going? They're going to miss the party.” Pinkie said.

Rainbow looked to the others, “Should we follow them?” Two stallions came from the group one with a fox mask and and the other, a panther.

The one with the fox mask bowed and looked to Twilight, “Miss Sparkle, would you care to dance?”

The other did the same, but looked at Rarity, “And would you like to dance, Miss Rarity?”

Spike stood next to her, “Sorry, she's taken.”

The panther looked to the baby dragon and replies, “Why don't we let the lady decide whom she will dance with.”

Rarity looked to the two, and took the hoof of the stallion, “Just one dance, I promised Spike I'd dance with him during the party.”

“I understand madam.” He looked to Spike, “It's only one dance, I have no intention of dating her, I don't think it will work out. “

“You better not.” Spike said puffing smoke from his nostrils. He wondered if Twilight agreed to the others offer, and looked to where she was, she wasn't there. He looked around and saw her dancing with the pony who asked. Rainbow Dash left them to follow the couple. When she found them they were on the roof under the stars

She heard what they were talking about, Crimson said to Rose, “Rose, you are my best friend and the only mare I'll ever love.”

Rose giggled and replied, “Crimson I know, you tell me that everyday.”

Crimson laughed and continued, “Then will you marry me?” He said

Rose squealed and replied, “Of course, why would I ever say no?”

“So, when should tell the others?”

“Hmm, when we get everything planned out. Now what should we do about the eavesdropper?” Rose said said so Dash could hear her. Rainbow Dash try tried to get away but Rose held her still with magic.

“So, Dash, please keep quiet about this, we are going to tell everypony about this when we leave.” Rose looked at her, “Or I'll, literally, take everything you own and hide it for a year.”

Crimson said to the cyan pegasus, “Trust me she'll do it, she's done it to me when we were kids, most of the time she forgot where she put it.”

Rainbow Dash gulped and nodded nodded, “Yes ma'am.”

“Good.” She says letting her go, ”Let's go back to the party, shall we?” She holds her hoof to Crimson.

“Yes madam.” He replies taking his new fiancee's hoof, “Let us return.”

Chapter 14

Family Legends and Customs

///

Twilight was still dancing with the stallion when the three returned, and Rarity had started to dance with Spike.

Crimson looked to the Twilight and her dance partner and said, “She seems to be enjoying herself. As well as Spike.”

Rose looked at him with a soft smile and asked, “Then why don't we join them?” Crimson smiles back at her and took her hoof, leading her to the crowd of ponies.

As time passed other stallions came to ask the other four if they would dance with them. Applejack and Pinkie Pie accepted the first request, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy accepted the second pony to ask. Each of them enjoyed themselves while they danced. Soon the current song ended and was replaced by a waltz.

Twilight smiled at the pony she was dancing with, “So what's your name, you haven't told me it.”

He gave her a soft smile, “My name's, Somber Night, Miss Sparkle.”

“It's a fitting name for a thief.” Twilight replied, giggling a bit

Somber chuckled, “I guess so. So what do you want to know about our family? I'll be willing to answer what questions you have, only if you agree to not tell anypony outside my family and the other Elements.”

Twilight thought over the offer for a few moments, “I agree with your conditions.”

“Then follow me.” He walks through a few groups of ponies and heads to the library, Twilight followed close behind, “Tell me Twilight have Crimson or Rose told you any details about our family, and why the head is called the immortal thief in the first place?”

Twilight shook her head, “Well Rose told us what their time was like a century ago, but they kept most things about the family to themselves.”

Somber sighed, “Well the rules have changed over the years. Many of the family aren't thieves anymore, but some find the life exciting, myself included.” He gets to the manors library and looks through the bookshelves, “Ah here it is.” He sets the book on a table. Twilight looked at the book's title, ‘The Shadows and the Light’.

She looked at it in awe, “I haven't heard of this book.” She looked through it.

“This is the story of how we became who we are today, here let me show you the portrait of the pony who began it all.” He flips through the pages of a picture of a scarred stallion, with the name Black Dagger, “There are two books, one is here under the family's protection, and other is in an unknown location.”

“Why is he called the immortal thief though?” Twilight asks tilting her head.

“Because his experiences are passed to the heads of the family, so they can be added to and perfected.” He looks out the door, “Dagger's memories of his teachings and those of the other heads are in Crimson. No personal memories are there, just what they learned, then the chosen are put in special training from the leader before them.”

“So, the reason the patterns of the thief have been the same one hundreds of years is because of memory transference?”

“Correct.” Somber replied smiling at her.

“But what was he before a thief?” Twilight asked looking through the book.

“We don't know, but seeing how was buried, I'm guessing a soldier.”

“What about spells?”

"Dagger was a unicorn, so he knew a variety of them." Somber looked at the bookshelf, "And they are transferred like memories, so Crimson knows them, but can't use them."

Twilight looked at the portrait in the book, “Well we don't need to worry about Crimson using spells.”

“Yep.” Somber chuckled and smiles at her. The music started to fade, “Looks like the party's over. Let's head back.” He walks out the library, with Twilight walking next to him.

Crimson was standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the family members, “Ladies and gentlecolts, I have an announcement. I have proposed to my special somepony, Blue Rose, my new fiancé.” Most of the family cheered at the two ponies, including Twilight and her friends.
///

The masquerade was over a half hour after the announcement. Most family members had left the manor, but few stayed. The keepers stayed in several rooms on the floor below. Crimson looked to Rose, sleeping by his side. He kissed her cheek and left the room. He went to the garden and looked around.

He looked to the night sky and smiled, “Try calling me a coward now Silver Cross, I asked her.” He sat down as tears ran down his cheeks, “I just wish you two were here to see it.”

He lies down in the ground and stayed there for a few minutes. His ears twitch and he sighs, “You can come out from the shadows.”

Rose went to him, then pets his head, “I miss them too Crimson. Come on let's go back to bed.”

Crimson nods and stands up. He kisses her cheek and walks with her.

The morning came soon when the two got to bed. Crimson was the first to wake and he went downstairs to tend to his garden. Crimson picked a few large branches of rosemary from the garden and went back inside. He lit a fire and threw the rosemary into it causing its scent to fill the house. Everypony was awake in a few minutes.

“Crimson why are you burning rosemary?” Rose said as the element stood behind her.

Crimson smiled at her, “It's a nice fragrance, and it cheers me up.”

Rose hugged him as the others were wondering what happened.

“Come on girls let's head home.” Crimson gets up and heads to the front door, “Anypony in the family is welcome to stay as long as they want, just be sure to clean up after yourselves. I don't want this place to be a sty."

Chapter 15

A Lesson Learnt

Spike looked around the cart everypony was sleeping, except for Crimson and Pinkie. Crimson was looking out the window and Pinkie was trying to guess what he was looking at, the answer being no every time.

Pinkie poked his nose, “Come on Crimson tell me what you're spying with your little eye.”

“I'm not really looking for anything I'm just looking out the window, thinking about family.” He sighs

Spike looked at him, “They were fine when we left.”

Crimson looked at him, “I don't consider them family, sure we're related by blood, but I don't know any of them. My real family has been gone for awhile.”

Spike scratches his neck and Pinkie tilts her head, “What do you mean?”

Crimson closes his eyes, “You should already know by now.”

“Boy, he's a real downer right now.” Pinkie looked to Spike

Crimson opened an eye, “Do you really want to know why I'm like this now?” He leans in toward her, “Because, I realised something a long time ago.” He looked to Rose, who was sleeping on his shoulder, “That the two of us would leave everything behind, because of a mistake I made.” He gets up, sets her down gently, and heads toward the car door, “Tell Rose I'll be home later tonight.” He leaves the train car and flies away.
///

“He what?!” Rose yelled when they arrived back in Ponyville.

Spike nodded, “That's what he said.”

Rose groans and puts her hooves to his temple, “I swear his pride is going to be his downfall.”

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, “Do you know where he goes?”

“No, there's even things he wouldn't tell us.” She sighs, “Now let's get to work on that dress Rarity.”

“Sure thing darling.” Rarity smiled at Rose.

“How can ya not worry about him? I mean he could do something reckless.” Applejack said as she looked at Rose

“Oh, Crimson’s capable walking home.” Rose giggled, “He’ll be fine on his own, besides the more he worries me the bigger his punishment is.”

Twilight tilted her head, “Like what kind of punishments.”

Rose looked at Twilight smiling, “Last time he made me worry before our petrification, I took away his right to drink cider.” She giggles, “He's not an alcoholic but I liked to see the look on his face when I drank it in front of him.”
///
Rarity sat at her desk where she made dress designs, thinking of ideas of Rose's dress. She looked to Rose, “So what's going on with Crimson?”

“He's sad that Halo and Cross can't attend our wedding. We were a family and it was hard on him when we left them.” Rose sighed, “And the last thing Cross and Crimson did was fight.”

“Was the fight about what happened when he said he wanted to be petrified?”

Rose nodded and sighed, “It was hard on all of us. I almost lost a lover, Cross lost his best friend, Halo lost the one pony she looked up to, and Crimson lost everypony he called family, besides me.”

Rarity looked at Rose, the blue mare staring into space holding back tears, “Don't worry darling they must have had great lives.”

Rose nods blinking away a tear, “Yeah you could be right. It's just that when I woke up from that being that statue it seemed like it was all a bad dream and I would see him lying next to me telling me it's alright.”

Rarity looks as a tear rolls down Rose's cheek, “Deary don't worry about staying I've gotten all your measurements.”

Rose wipes the tear away, “Thank you.” Rose leaves the shop and walks home. When she arrived there was no one there. She went to her bedroom and lied on the bed. She took an old, faded, picture of Crimson’s crew and smiles with tears rolling down her cheeks, “If we could only have brought you two along with us, but I couldn't, I didn't have the energy for the others.”
///

Crimson yawned as he walked into the town. He looked around at the empty streets as he walked home. He saw the door to his home. He unlocked it and went inside and was immediately got slapped by the blue unicorn.

“How dare you leave me without telling me first!” She growled at him, “Just for that, no cider until I say you can have it.”

“As long as you don't cut my supply to the whiskey I'm fine with it.” He goes to the cupboard and gets a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey from the pantry.

“Crimson what's wrong?” Rose went to him and leaned against him.

“Let's just say I saw a ghost today and I have to deal with the loss of our loved ones.” He pours the whiskey into the glass and quickly downs it, “Oh, I found a book you might be interested in. If you want to read it it's in my bag.”

Rose got the book and started to read through it, “Crimson whoever wrote this is either a genius or crackers. Most of the stuff written here is complete malarkey. It’s full of theories that aren't even possible!.” Rose giggles to herself, “It even says that every pony can use magic, not just unicorns and Alicorns. And secret organizations run the world.”

Crimson laughs lightly, “Well there are secret organizations, but they are far from ruling the world.” He takes another shot, “Besides I found it in a old shack a few miles from where I left the train.” Crimson gets another glass and pours the whiskey into it, “Here drink up.” He smiles as Rose takes the glass.

“Fine.” She smiles and drinks from the glass, “Now come on Crimson, let's go to bed.”

“I'll meet you there in a few minutes.” He puts the whiskey away and the shot glasses in the sink, then lies next to Rose. He kisses her head as the two slowly fall asleep.

Chapter 3

The New Life

After Twilight and the others released Blue Rose, she collapsed, and while they ran to her Crimson told them not to worry. He went through the same thing when he was free. So he picked her up and took her to her room and placed her on her bed.

"Thank you." He said when he rejoined them, "I owe you more than you can ever imagine."

"So how long will she be asleep?" Twilight asked

"A day or two," he answered, "but please let me show you how grateful I am." With that he went to the vault and didn't come back for several minutes

"What do ya think he's getting?" Applejack asked. When he returned he brought six hexagonal gems.

"These are the first things I stole with my gang." He said, "We didn't sell them because, they reminded us of how well we worked together."

"Thank you," Rarity said, "but don't you the original owners would want these?"

"The original owners were museum curators, and displayed these replicas of the Elements of Harmony." He explained

"So, these are glass?" Rarity asked

"Far from it, they used real gems for these displays." He said, "The replacements were glass."

"I still think we shouldn't accept stolen items." Twilight said, "But we will anyway."

"Don't think of them as gifts more like tokens of friendship," He said, "since I'm going to live in Ponyville. Anyways I need to take care of the garden so feel free to go into town."

"What time is it?" A voice said from the staircase, "Where's Crimson too."

Crimson immediately went to her and said, "I'm here Sapphire, and besides you should be resting."

"I'm not as weak as I look." She replied annoyed, "I want to talk to your friends anyway, I want to know what happened over the past century, and I'm extremely hungry."

"Sounds fine to me." Twilight said as the others nodded in agreement, "It's settled then, come on Blue Rose." Then she walked down the stairs and out the door with the others.

"All alone again." Crimson sighed, "What a crazy couple of days."
///

"I'm so sorry about how Crimson acted to you." Blue Rose said after she heard what he's done, "He's not like that most of the time, but he does go overboard every once in a while."

"The only reason he did it was to free you." Fluttershy said

"Well that does sound like him always trying to protect me." Blue sighed, "He's been that way since we were young."

"How'd you two meet anyhow?" Applejack asked

"Oh, I guess we met a few months after my parents died." Rose replied, "After they passed I was just a homeless orphan living on the streets. I stole food, pickpocketed, and only looked out for myself. That changed when I tried to steal from a couple that looked like tourists." Then she started giggling at the memories, "The looked the part map, looking around, and not knowing anything else about the area."

"I guess tourist are easy for you then?" Twilight asked

"Well if they didn't find out, but this couple did, and when they caught me the stallion said, 'What a sad looking filly, what should we do dear?'" She said mocking the stallions voice, "Then his wife replied 'I kind of feel sorry for her. Where are your parents dear?' I told her they died and she only said, 'That settles it, you're going to stay with us!' Then they walked to the train station with me struggling to free myself."

"That's sweet of them." Rarity said, "Now what did they say to you on the train?"

"They said that my pickpocketing days were over, and I'll be getting a better life." Rose answered, "They also told me that they had a colt around my age that I needed to get along with, and when we got there they said 'Crimson we're home!' and he came running down the stairs to hug them. When they introduced me to him, he was so glad to have another friend to play with, I on the other hoof was not as enthusiastic."

"What you do then? Did you run away? Were you mean to him?" Pinkie asked

"Yes to the last two questions Pinkie." Rose answered, "I was always trying to run away, only to be caught and dragged back by Crimson, and I was always angry at him for no reason. That changed when I started school, I kept pushing ponies away and I was so mean to them. It started causing problems for me, and bullies started to pick on me for multiple reasons mostly because I didn't get my cutie mark. It stopped when they cornered me and Crimson stood up for me." She started to tear up thinking of it, "Since then Crimson and I were inseparable we did almost everything together and he protected me as if I were a younger sibling. But his parents didn't really adopt me, they only took care of me until they had passed away."

"Then you just stayed with him?" Rainbow Dash asked, "How can you stand him, he's a complete pain in the neck!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yelled

"What? I'm just saying." She retorted

Blue Rose just giggled and replied, "Yes he can be a pain, but you haven't known him as long as I have. Once you know him you'll learn that he's actually a sweetheart."

"So when did you guys start stealing?" Dash asked

"After elementary school I think, we started training around that time." Rose replied, "When we finished training in general, we were grown up and we started dating. Then five years later we tried to steal Celestia's crown and here we are now."

"So, you two still going out?" Rarity asked

"Yes actually, we are at that point where share the same bed." She replied before blushing and earned a chorus of laughter from the others, "Please forget I said that!"

"Well at least you two still complete each other." Twilight said giggling at the embarrassed unicorn, "Anyway it's getting dark we should probably head back."

"Besides Crimson and I need to pack if we're going to Ponyville." Rose said heading towards her home.

When Crimson and Rose finished packing they were exhausted, Rose from not sleeping when she needed it and Crimson was working all day.

"You know you could have shown more respect towards them?" Rose brought up as he was lying in bed

"Freeing you was the only thing on my mind at the moment." He replied, "Nothing more, nothing less, I apologized when it was over."

Rose only sighed and laid next to him then said, "Dash is right you are a pain in the neck."

"I've been called worse and it doesn't get to me." Crimson said, "And besides I'm glad to have you back." Then he kissed her then laid down and fell asleep.

"I love you too Crimson." She said then she fell asleep next to him.