The 7th Element

As Celestia lifted the sun the next morning, casting light across the land, the two oldest Apple siblings were already up and preparing for the day. Applejack braided her long blond mane and tail while Big Macintosh splashed water on his face to wash away the tired and groggy feeling from the previous night.

“Now I'm not too sure on how quick Crimson'll get up this mornin' to help out.” She told her brother as they headed down the steps. Leaving the house they noticed that the barn door was open, grunts and loud banging sounds could be heard from inside. The siblings quickened their pace and came to the doorway just as something swooshed by them and slammed into the wall beside the door. They looked over to see a pony sized rag doll contorted on the ground, seeming to be full of sand.

“Sorry about that.” Crimson said as he came up to them and flung the dummy over his back. He took it back to his corner where next to his bed were a few new items, a large metal locked case that was nearly as big as he was, a smaller brown instrument case, a light brown backpack and a long white sack that he was now stuffing the fighting dummy into.

“Where did all this come from?” Applejack asked, her and Big Macintosh sharing glances of confusion.

“Well I figured we may be staying here for a few days at least, so I didn't want all of our stuff to just sit there in the woods.”

“How long ya been up?” Big Macintosh asked.

“Woke up about two hours ago.” Crimson replied as he walked past the farmers. “So what’s first on the 'to do' list?”

“Well, first we have ta make sure the spare cart don't need fixed. If not then yer helpin Big Mac haulin' apples.” She said trotting over to the carts and inspecting them. She smiled and turned to the stallions. “We're good ta go.”

Three hours later and nearly all of the ripe apples have been bucked from their branches thanks to the extra effort of Crimson who was nearly as strong as Big Macintosh. As they were bringing the final two carts full Applejack trotted between them. “That wasn't too bad.” Crimson grunted.

“Well we sure do appreciate the help Crimson, this sure speeds things up a bit. All that's left is to trim the branches and clean up fallen wood.”

“Doesn't sound as back breaking.” Crimson chuckled as he popped his neck.

The apple siblings both shared a light laugh before Mac replied. “Nope.”

Crimson looked back to the barn and noticed somepony in front of the barn playing with Crash. He squinted his eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, isn't that your friend Fluttershy?”

Applejack looked back towards the barn. Indeed, it was her timid friend playing with the timber wolf cub. She smiled as they neared the mare. “Hey there Shy, what’s goin' on?”

“Oh, nothing.” She replied, lowering her gaze at the sight of Crimson. “I just wanted to make sure that Crash was doing better.”

Crimson looked down at the timber wolf that was rolling around and tugging playfully at Fluttershy's tail. “He seems to be doing well. Thanks for checking on him though.”

“Say.” Applejack interjected. “Why dontcha take a break Crimson. Ya worked hard enough fer today.” She helped him get out of the cart restraints. “Get a look at the town, didn't y'all say she can show you around today?”

Crimson cocked his head to the side and nodded. “Yeah, I did say that didn't I?” He trotted up to Fluttershy's side and pulled Crash away from her tail. “Ready whenever you are.” She didn't say anything, just bashfully looked away and started towards town, Crimson following along beside her. It felt good to feel the soft breeze blow through his mane and cool him off. Ponyville wasn't too far from the orchard, but it was a decent enough walk that both of them began to feel a bit awkward from the sheer silence between them. Crimson figured that she was a soft spoken mare, but no so much as to not say a word to him. Even the town itself seemed silent, that's when he noticed that it was silent due to the fact nopony was around. It looked as if all the homes and shops have closed up in the middle of the day, the streets were barren.

“Oh my.” Fluttershy muttered. “I hope they aren't frightened.”

“It’s me isn't it?” Crimson asked, he didn't sound surprised.

“The last time this happened was when our friend Zecora first came to Ponyville, but you do look a lot scarier.” She quickly turned to him and stammered. “I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that.”

“Don't worry about it.” He replied calmly. “You get used to it after a while.”

“Let’s go see Pinkie Pie, she isn't afraid of you.” She quickened her pace towards Sugarcube Corner. Shortly after knocking on the bakery Pinkie's head popped out of the keyhole with a huge smile on her face. “Fluttershy, Crimson. Hey guys!” She retracted her head and opened the door.

“How did you do that?” Crimson asked, wide eyed.

“Do what?” The pink earth pony tilted her head curiously.

The stallion shook his head in confusion. “Never mind.” Pinkie Pie stepped to the side to allow her friends inside.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake, we have company.” Pinkie said happily as the owners of the store came down the stairs. A blue mare and an orange stallion.

“Oh, hello Fluttershy.” The male greeted just before they froze at the sight of Crimson. “It’s you, the one that everypony has been talking about.”

“Apparently.” Crimson said as he came forward and offered his hoof. “Crimson Quake.”

Mr. Cake hesitated and looked to Pinkie Pie who smiled and nodded excitedly. The orange stallion shook the strangers hoof with a little uncertainty. “Carrot Cake, and this is my wife Cup Cake.” He motioned to the mare next to him.

“I'm sorry if I come off as intimidating, it’s not really an uncommon thing for me.” Crimson forced a small smile. “I can assure you though, I mean no harm.”

“Who has been talking about Crimson?” Fluttershy asked?

Pinkie decided to answer her. “It was some of the fillies and colts at the school. I overheard them talking about some big, dark, scary stallion in town. Everypony started locking their shops and houses, I didn't know they were talking about you Crimson.”

“No harm, no foul.” Crimson said. “Applebloom must have been talking about me.”

“Please.” Mrs. Cake began as she trotted over behind the counter. “We want to apologize, pick a treat on the house.” She returned with a platter of assorted baked sweets.

“I really shouldn't.” He began to protest before he looked at the plate. “Are those brownies?” He quickly asked, earning a smile and nod from Mrs. Cake. Carefully grabbing one, Crimson fought the urge to lick his lips. After taking a bite his eyes widened before he stuffed the rest of it in his mouth. “My favorite.” He smiled once finished.

“That's good to know.” Pinkie said as she pulled out a pen and notepad from inside her puffy mane.
“Thank you very much Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” Crimson said with a bow. “We should be going though, Fluttershy is showing me around Ponyville.”

“Isn't that sweet.” Mrs. Cake smiled at the timid Pegasus. “She's always going out of her way to lend a helping hoof.” Fluttershy tried to hide the burning feeling in her cheeks.

Crimson trotted up to her side and gave a subtle grin. “Shall we continue?”

The pale yellow pony nodded. “Yes.” She whispered. The duo made their way out to the still bare streets. When noticing the town was still empty Crimson's ears pushed flat. “Come on, lets go see Rarity.” Fluttershy insisted.

“Yeah, sure.” He said, trying to sound like he wasn't saddened. Everypony seemed kind and generous to each other, but fearful of anyone who was different from them at first. Perhaps coming to Ponyville wasn't such a good idea.