Crimson Dawn woke up. His coat was a dark red and his mane and tail had a black sheen with a single blue stripe down the middle. A metal wing replaced the left one he lost years ago in a war, and the fur on his left flank was covered in a dual scar instead of the “red dawn” cutie mark on his right. Even so, he was comforted by the fact that his sacrifices had not been in vain.

He turned his head to the left. There his wife Rose Thorn slept peacefully, her pink wings covered by the blanket and her horn resting on the pillow. Her leafy green mane was fluffy and unkempt this morning, like she’d been tossing and turning all night.

Crimson slowly, quietly, got out of bed and replaced the sheets to their positions. He walked to the kitchen. Every user page had one - at least one house for the OCs they had as favorites (families were bunked together in bigger ones) and essentially a little fenced-in neighborhood per user. The higher the level of whichever user let them live here, the nicer the homes looked. Right now, by looking at the TV in the living room, Crimson could see his user was Level 11 - Wizard’s Apprentice. He’d been on Equestria Amino since August 2016, and had a fair reputation and follower count.

Crimson started up the stove, opening the refrigerator and bringing out a carton of eggs to scramble and some cheddar cheese. He didn’t know why he liked cheesy scrambled eggs - or eggs at all, for that matter - but assumed it was because his user did. Using his right wing to start the cooking, he saw Rose Thorn come down the stairs.

“Morning, Crimson.”

“You okay, Rose? You look like you had a nightmare.”

“It’s nothing.”

Crimson knew that tone. Living with Rose for so long let him recognize subject avoidance when he heard it. “We both know that lying doesn’t help the problem.”

Rose sighed. “Have you ever wondered who our user really is? I mean, I know our user is like an Overseer and he’s done a fine job so far; after all, he’s Level 11. And our little neighborhood’s bound to expand soon - the neighbors we have are fine, but it used to be just you, and I guess I was here, too. We also have that portal to CrystalSnow’s zone. Everything we have was put here by him.”

“And the dream?” Crimson mixed the eggs around with a spatula.

“I was in a different world. Everypony was a biped. It was just… nightmarish in the way everything happened. It’s too hard to explain. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright.” Crimson went back to cooking. “By the way, our user won’t be back ‘till four. It’s Monday.”

A lavender Earth pony mare with a curly dandelion-blonde mane and tail meandered through the streets of Equestria Amino City. Her user had gone offline an hour or so ago, leaving her to do what she normally did: chat and stay positive. She smiled and waved as a Curator pony walked by, his coat and mane full of luster in the midmorning sun. He waved back, continuing on to wherever he was going.

This mare was named Strong Heart for reasons beyond her comprehension, but, given her patient personality and upbeat attitude, her name fit her well. She had a blue shaded heart behind a white cross for her cutie mark and dazzling sky-blue eyes. Her curly mane flowed in the light breeze as she gazed up to take in the impressive city that was Equestria Amino.

Equestria Amino City, known as EQA by its inhabitants, was a sprawling metropolis of more than 80,000 members, most of whom lived in the suburbs to the west. There was Front Page Square in the very center of the city, where one could go to see the newest features. Challenges and artwork were among the most common, but occasionally theories and stories made their way to it. Just next to the Square sat the administrative building, where the mayor Skyline and his council of Curators worked almost tirelessly to keep the city running. Also lining the Square was the many buildings that housed at least a dozen groups and teams.

But the largest structure by far was the Equestria Amino Catalog, an enormous library built from expensive Harmony stone and adorned with jewels of magnificent shine and perfect beauty. Harmonic drawings of the Mane 6 and Equestrian Princesses adorned the nine Corinthian pillars facing the Square. The entire Catalog was more than six stories tall, and it held the most precious and well-preserved information in the entire city. Copies of backstories of other EQA citizens, artwork, species, fanfictions, music, and more, the backbone of the entire city, were kept here for all to see. The actual hard copies of these precious items were kept in a vault guarded by ponies whose identities were known only to Skyline. The location of the vault was on a need-to-know basis that included the Curators as well, but that was it. Rumors claimed the vault was right under the Catalog building, but, they were just rumors.

Strong Heart walked into the Catalog, where she saw a crimson Pegasus with a robotic left wing sitting in a quiet corner. He was sipping coffee as he read stories from fimfiction on a laptop. “Hello! I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Strong Heart.” She held out her right hoof.

He looked up. “Crimson Dawn.” He shook her extended right hoof with his own. “I live on the east side of town if you want to visit sometime. It’s a little quieter than the western suburbs. Plus, it’s by the sea.”

It was then that Strong Heart noticed the scar on his left flank. He did well to hide it, even though it was unintentional. “What happened to you? Your flank…” Strong Heart trailed off, unsure of what she wanted to say next.

Crimson looked at her. His hazel eyes seemed to tell the entire story, if one looked close enough. But that wasn’t Strong Heart’s strong suit. She stared curiously back at him.

“To put it bluntly, I was protecting my sister from a rampaging Minotaur a few years back,” he finally said.

“That’s pretty terrible. Are you going to be okay? I can help.”

“I’ll be fine. It would’ve been worse had she actually gone on that one-way trip, but I got there just in time.”

“Your wing?”

“Protecting my friends by bringing down a bridge. I was under it when it crashed into the river.”

“Oh.” Strong Heart looked downcast.

Crimson had been staring at his laptop screen for most of the conversation. “Say, you could come to dinner tonight. Just you, me, and Rose.”

“Who’s Rose?”

“My wife.” Crimson stated flatly. “Whoops, wrong tone. I meant to say that more softly. I’m trying to be less serious-sounding when I talk, and it makes me seem like a jerk sometimes.”

“I don’t mind your tone. Actually, I’m quite patient with everypony anyway.” Strong Heart glanced up, briefly contemplating her evening plans. “I’ll be there.”

Author's Note

As said in the description, feedback appreciated!

Also, I may have a cover pic eventually.